General Peng Dehuai's loud words made the room quiet for a moment. After a while, General He Long took his big pipe from his mouth and said, "This Commander Wang Haitao is very good at dealing with the Japanese army, otherwise he would not have made so many military exploits. However, whether his set is suitable for our Eighth Route Army is a key question. ”

General He Long's words caused a discussion to resound in the room that had just quieted down. After Mao and Zhu, who had never spoken, glanced at each other, Commander-in-Chief Zhu said: "Okay, everyone, if Commander Wang Haitao and his 90th Army can join our Communist Party, it will be a good thing to boost the morale and morale of the army." It's just that people may not look down on our Eighth Route Army.

In terms of position and status, he is already a general of the national army, the head of an army, and has 100,000 elite troops in his hands, and Lao Jiang has to be polite to him. In terms of firearms and supplies, looking at the gifts sent by others, I compare it with him to ask for food. This Wang Haitao can dominate one side by virtue of the strength in his hands, so why should we suffer and be burdened here? Now we must first establish a good relationship with him, so that even if he does not join our Eighth Route Army, he will become friends with us.

In addition, I think that the troops brought by this Commander Wang are definitely not simple, and we must try our best to learn the combat methods of others, and if Commander Wang says that he wants to train our troops, some people may not be convinced, right? However, I think that Commander Wang is sincerely willing to help us, not to mention anything else, which of you will use those dozens of artillery? With advanced weapons, if they cannot play a role, they will fail. ”

When Commander-in-Chief Zhu said something, everyone nodded secretly. At this time, Chairman Mao also said: "All of you here are the senior generals of our Eighth Route Army, and we Eighth Route Army and we Communists must have a broad mind and absorb experience from all aspects, so that we can continue to make progress." I think that this Commander Wang Haitao came to Yan'an, which is a rare learning opportunity for us, and we must seize this opportunity to see how big the gap between us and others is. ”

Mao and Zhu both expressed their positions, and everyone no longer had ideas, and the topic turned to how to learn from each other. In Wang Haitao's room, Wang Haitao didn't drink much, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, thinking about how to do a training for the CCP's army. Suddenly, there was a voice at the door, and when Wang Haitao heard it, it was Tangshan Leopard who was asking the guard if he had slept, so he shouted outside: "Mountain Leopard, come in." ”

After Tangshan Leopard walked in, Wang Haitao asked: "Mountain Leopard, it's so late, you still haven't rested, do you have something to do with me?" Tangshan Leopard smiled and said: "Junzao, I checked the sentry, and when I saw that the lights were still on in your house, I came in to take a look." By the way, their people seem to be very unconvinced of us? I saw that the people who helped us unload the truck in the afternoon, I used two companies to fight absolutely that they couldn't find the north. ”

Wang Haitao was stunned for a moment, and found that he was a little wishful thinking, just thinking about training others, but he didn't know if people could afford him. Wang Haitao thought for a while and said: "Mountain Leopard, you let the soldiers prepare tomorrow, and we may have to do a confrontation exercise with the Eighth Route Army." Tangshan Leopard replied nonchalantly: "Do you still need to prepare for a confrontation exercise with them?

Wang Haitao's face was cold, and he said: "Mountain leopard, don't underestimate others, these soldiers of the Eighth Route Army are also fighting from the sea of corpses and blood, if it weren't for the poor weapons and equipment, you may not be able to beat others." Besides, I told you that if you lose the exercise because of carelessness, you, the brigade commander, will not do it. ”

Seeing that Wang Haitao's tone was very serious, Tangshan Leopard realized that Wang Haitao attached great importance to this confrontation exercise, so he also became serious and replied: "Don't worry, I will prepare well with my brothers, and I will never disgrace the military seat." Wang Haitao's face eased at this time. Wang Haitao is not worried about the technical and tactical level and combat effectiveness of his subordinates, just as Tangshan Leopard said, it will not be difficult for his two companies to deal with a regular regiment of the Eighth Route Army, but they must not be careless, and they must give full play to their combat effectiveness.

With Tangshan Leopard's assurance, Wang Haitao has a bottom in his heart, and the following is how to get the CCP to agree to conduct confrontation exercises. Wang Haitao was thinking about these problems all night, and he didn't sleep soundly. Early the next morning, Wang Haitao got up and went to his unit's station. Tangshan Leopard had gathered the soldiers and was ready to go out for exercise, which made Wang Haitao nod with satisfaction.

Next, Wang Haitao personally led the team to conduct a 10-kilometer armed cross-country run. The fighters were heavily armed, and the weight on the back of one of them was thirty kilograms. ran up with Wang Haitao. Along the way, Wang Haitao's team made everyone look sideways and discussed. The Central Guard Regiment was also exercising, and the regiment commander Wu Lie and several battalion commanders under him were discussing while looking at Wang Haitao and their running figures.

Wu Lie said with a little disdain: "What's the use of being able to run? If you can run, you can win the battle?" The commander of the first battalion smiled and continued: "Of course, the Kuomintang team must be able to run, so that when they escape, they can run." The words of the battalion commander made everyone laugh. Seventy minutes for a ten-kilometer armed cross-country run is qualified, but these elites only took 55 minutes to finish, which is also related to the gentle terrain here in Yan'an and the lack of mountains.

After running the trail, Wang Haitao washed up with everyone, and after breakfast, Tangshan Leopard took the soldiers for tactical training, and Wang Haitao walked to Commander-in-Chief Zhu's office. Halfway through, Wang Haitao happened to meet a soldier of the Eighth Route Army who came to look for him, and the soldier told Wang Haitao that Commander-in-Chief Zhu was waiting to see him in the office.

Wang Haitao came to Commander-in-Chief Zhu's office, and Commander-in-Chief Zhu, Chief of General Staff Ye, General Peng Dehuai, as well as Division Commander He Long of the 120th Division, Deputy Division Commander Xiao Ke and others were all there. Wang Haitao saw all these people yesterday, but there are two other people, although Wang Haitao didn't see them yesterday, he also recognized them at a glance. One is General Secretary Deng of the General Secretary of the Reform General Division of the later generations, and the other is the supreme general of the Eighth Route Army who died in the War of Resistance against Japan, General Zuo Quan, deputy chief of staff.

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, after Commander-in-Chief Zhu introduced the two to Wang Haitao, Wang Haitao shook hands with the two and said hello. Now there are Commander-in-Chief Zhu, Chief of General Staff Ye and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng in the room, and no one else talks much, only the voice of Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng Dehuai in the room. Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng said: "Commander Wang, your team can inflict heavy losses on the Japanese army again and again, and my old Peng admires it in my heart." However, Commander Wang said yesterday that he would train our army, and we are very much looking forward to it, but I don't know when and how Commander Wang will train us?"

Wang Haitao had already thought of his rhetoric last night, and when he saw that Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng had directly raised this question as soon as he came today, he said unhurriedly: "You are all great experts in tactics, and I am a junior in my life, and I don't dare to move an axe in front of Luban, but I also have some experience in the continuous confrontation with the Japanese army in the past few years. I don't dare to say anything about training, let's learn from each other's strengths and learn from each other's strengths, our common enemy is the little Japan that invaded China. When Wang Haitao said this, he couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw that everyone in the room was smiling.

Looking at the eyes of everyone who wanted to listen to themselves, Wang Haitao continued: "I think so, just talk and don't practice lip service, I want the troops I brought to carry out a confrontation exercise with the troops of your Eighth Route Army.

Wang Haitao's words were first approved by Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng, and then everyone also agreed. Next, everyone studied the methods of this confrontation exercise and various operation methods. Wang Haitao often held confrontation exercises in the troops, most of which were confrontation exercises at the regimental level, and he had even conducted them at the brigade level several times, not to mention such exercises at the company and battalion level, and even Tangshan Leopard could arrange such exercises without difficulty.

Under Wang Haitao's skillful explanation, the methods and rules of the exercise were roughly decided, and the time was also set for three days later. Some specific details will depend on the specific situation. The Eighth Route Army, as the red side, had to hold a command center during the exercise, and Wang Haitao's troops, as the blue side, had to capture the headquarters within the specified time.

At Wang Haitao's insistence, the red side was a main battalion with 350 men, and the blue side was a standard company with 220 men. Considering the authenticity of the exercise, both sides used real guns, but the bullets were specially made drill shells. This kind of exercise ammunition was not available and could not be made by the Eighth Route Army, but Wang Haitao sent the company commander and more than a dozen soldiers of the reconnaissance company to the Huangyadong Arsenal to help him make it overnight.

The task of the exercise reached the first battalion of the Central Guard Regiment of the Eighth Route Army, and Wu Lie immediately called the commander of the first battalion over, and while giving the task to the commander of the first battalion, he gave a good explanation to the commander of the first battalion. This confrontation exercise spread like a gust of wind among the military and people in Yan'an, and not only the officers and men of the first battalion were gearing up to teach the Kuomintang a lesson, but even the non-military cadres of the Chinese Communists were eager to watch it with great interest.

The three days passed quickly, and on the morning of the third day, the outside of the exercise site was surrounded by countless soldiers and civilians in Yan'an. In addition to the troops on alert duty, the rest of the troops in Yan'an were also pulled over to watch the exercise. Directly opposite the venue, a platform was erected, on which the principal leaders of the CPC Central Committee and the Eighth Route Army would also watch the exercise.

The exercise was scheduled to start at 8 o'clock in the morning, and at 7 o'clock the scene was already full of people, and at 7:40 a.m., Chairman Mao, Commander-in-Chief Zhu, and other leaders sat down on the viewing platform, and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng arrived at the scene as the commander and chief referee of the exercise. The 1st Battalion of the Central Guard Regiment and the guard company brought by Wang Haitao wore red and blue armbands respectively, and they were already neatly arranged, waiting for Deputy Commander-in-Chief Peng's order to start.