Wang Haitao's troops stopped at Yongzhou City for repairs, which made Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama excited. Although the total annihilation of the 13th Division also made Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama very nerve-wracking, after all, the 116th Division and the 13th Division were lost in the hands of the Chinese army, and the two lieutenant generals and division commanders were also broken one after another, which made it difficult for Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama, the commander, to explain to the headquarters and base camp of the Central China Dispatch Army.

However, if in the next battle, he can command the army to inflict heavy losses or destroy the ace of the Chinese army, the 90th Army, then no matter how great the losses are, it will be nothing. If he can kill or even capture alive Wang Haitao, the commander of the 90th Army, then it will not be a problem for him to become a hero and be promoted to general. However, it was not until the 13th Division was shattered that the 39th Division had just arrived at the designated position, and the basic defensive positions had not yet had time to be built.

If the Chinese army launched an attack on Hengyang immediately at this time, then the battle plan formulated by itself was likely to be defeated due to the lack of preparation of the 39th Division. Therefore, Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama was angry that the 13th Division could not hold out for a few more days. However, the Chinese army did not rush to attack, but stopped at Yongzhou City to rest, which made Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama overjoyed.

The reason why Wang Haitao had to rest in Yongzhou City for three days was because he had already seen the ambush that the Japanese army had prepared for him, and in order to take advantage of this opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the Eleventh Army, Wang Haitao naturally needed to make full preparations. This battle will also determine the fate of the 90th Group Army, whether it will emerge as a sudden force in the national army, or whether it will be covered up and calm down, depending on the outcome of this battle.

In order to win this battle, Wang Haitao also gave everything he had to fight hard. First of all, the troops, this time Wang Haitao used the 90th Division and the 210th Division and the 211th Division of the 91st Army. In the Battle of Yongzhou, the 91st Army lost more than 2,000 troops, and Wang Haitao needed to draw new recruits from the independent division to make up for it.

In addition to leaving a 105 howitzer regiment of the heavy artillery brigade and a mixed armored regiment of the armored brigade to Longzhou, Wang Haitao also brought three heavy artillery regiments, two mixed armored regiments, and an independent anti-aircraft artillery regiment to Yongzhou, and even an independent rocket artillery battalion that would not be used in normal times was also brought over. This separate rocket artillery battalion is armed with fifteen Type 63 130 mm self-propelled rocket launchers.

This is the big killing weapon that Wang Haitao got back from the arms warehouse, and its power is more terrifying than the 130 heavy cannon, and it is even more shocking. Wang Haitao only let Tang Longzai try it out in the Battle of Changsha before, and after knowing its performance and effect, he put it away, the main reason is that there are too few, and only more than 300 shells are available for a rocket launcher.

In addition, a modified armored car regiment also arrived in Yongzhou City, this armored car regiment includes a vehicle-mounted recoilless gun battalion, a vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft fire battalion, and a vehicle-mounted heavy mortar battalion. This armored car regiment may not be as powerful as light armored vehicles, but they are more versatile and flexible.

Finally, the infantry unit was replenished with weapons and ammunition, and this time Tang Renli of Longzhou also took out most of the inventory, not only replacing the light and heavy weapons that were seriously worn out by the whole army, but also replenishing them with five base numbers of ammunition. What excites the troops the most is that the bazooka of the offensive has also been replenished a lot, and now basically each platoon can be allocated two bazookas and twenty bazookas*.

Finally, three days passed, and Wang Haitao left a battalion composed of heavy troops and lightly wounded people in Yongzhou City to serve as guards, and he led all the troops to kill in the direction of Hengyang. The pioneers were a mixed armored battalion and units of the 460th Brigade. In the Battle of Yongzhou, the 460th Brigade was ordered to rush to Gaoxi Town, preparing to cut off the retreat of the 13th Division, but it did not expect that the 13th Division chose to fight to the death and did not retreat, so the 46th Brigade waited for more than ten days without firing a single shot. In order to prevent the brigade commander Wei Bin from complaining too much, the task of pioneering the way was handed over to the 460th Brigade.

The distance from Yongzhou to Hengyang Highway is 240 kilometers, fortunately, the highway is still easy to walk, but it is impossible to arrive in one day. In the evening, Wang Haitao chose to settle down in Qidong Town. According to the report of the reconnaissance brigade, the Japanese army ambushed and surrounded the area in a basin 30 kilometers southwest of Hengzhou.

After calculating for a while, Wang Haitao said to Su Zuxin: "Old Su, with today's marching speed, our army's forward will enter the basin tomorrow afternoon, that is to say, it will enter the Japanese ambush circle." However, the Japanese army will definitely not only move against the forward troops, but will also have to wait until we have all entered the ambush circle, which means that the Japanese army will not move until three or four o'clock in the afternoon. ”

Su Zuxin smiled and said, "Commander, in my opinion, the Japanese army will not do anything against our army tomorrow." Look at this ......," said Su Zuxin, pointing to Yumu Mountain on the map. He saw Wang Haitao's eyes looking in the direction of his finger, so he continued: "According to the information sent by the reconnaissance brigade, the Japanese Third Division has set up heavy troops here in Liangmu Mountain and built a large number of strong fortifications, why is this?"

Wang Haitao thought for a moment and said: "Old Su, do you mean that the Japanese army is waiting for us to attack Yumu Mountain with all our might?" Su Zuxin nodded and said: "Yumu Mountain is the only place to go to Hengyang, and it is also the last barrier in Hengyang. Therefore, our army is bound to storm Yumu Mountain.

The commander thought about it, if our army attacked the mountain in a hurry, and killed one division from each flank, what would happen to our army? If the rear road was cut off again at this time, what would be the consequences?" Wang Haitao smiled and replied: "With the strength of our army, it is enough to use one division to attack the position of Yumu Mountain, and there are still two divisions that cannot cope with the attack of two divisions of the Japanese army?"

Su Zuxin also smiled: "We will naturally not be afraid if we are prepared, but Yokoyama Yong doesn't know our strength, with his experience in fighting in China, he uses three divisions to surround our army, and he already looks up to our army." Wang Haitao also smiled: "There is nothing wrong with Hengshan Yong's arrangement like this, after all, our army wants to fight Hengyang, and Yumu Mountain can't get around." However, after this battle, I'm afraid that Yokoyama Yong will lose all his old book. ”

Su Zuxin also smiled and responded, and suddenly Su Zuxin pointed to a place on the map and said: "Commander, look at this ...... again" Wang Haitao looked at the map, and the place Su Zuxin pointed to was a small town called Qishi Town. Su Zuxin continued: "Commander, it is extremely important for our army to retreat in case of defeat, and this town is just in the southwest of the basin, as long as there is a force guarding here, it can support the main force to attack, and it can also cover the main force retreat." In my opinion, this town is of great importance, and I suggest that the commander should have his headquarters here. ”

Wang Haitao understood what Su Zuxin meant as soon as he heard it, this town is the safest place in the overall situation, it can be attacked, and it is convenient to retreat, and there will be no danger if he stays here. However, if you don't personally command such a big battle, you still won't be at ease. So Wang Haitao said: "Well, this town is indeed important, so I will transfer two guard regiments, plus a regiment of the headquarters guard and reconnaissance brigade to you to command, and you will be stationed in this town." ”

Su Zuxin's face turned bitter when he heard this, and he hurriedly said: "Commander, I think it's better for you to personally sit in the town, I will go to the front line to command the battle, and my ability commander should be clear." Wang Haitao smiled: "Okay, you old Su, you always want to go to the front line, but you leave me behind." I am the commander, the commander of the front line or I come, you can sit in the town of Zhashi to lead the overall situation, and second, you can also ensure the retreat of the whole army. It's a big responsibility, and you belong to it!"

In Su Zuxin's wry smile, Wang Haitao, as the commander, forced him to agree. However, Su Zuxin also understood that if he really went to the front line to command the battle, his prestige in the army was far inferior to Wang Haitao, and it was impossible for him to make his officers obey his orders like Wang Haitao. So I had to agree. In the evening, the discussion between the two can be regarded as a rough plan for the war that began in the Ming Dynasty.

The next day, the troops continued to advance, and at noon, after the 460th Brigade of the vanguard arrived at the town of Zhashi, Wang Haitao asked the troops to stop advancing, and all officers above the brigade level rushed to the headquarters for a meeting. Half an hour passed, Wang Haitao also arrived at Zhashi Town with his headquarters, and more than a dozen generals under his command also rushed to the headquarters. Wang Haitao didn't care about resting, and announced the meeting after seeing that everyone had arrived.

This meeting is Wang Haitao's announcement of the war mission. Wang Haitao spread out the map on the conference table, and then said: "Ladies and gentlemen, some of you already know, and some of you still don't know that Little Japan has ambushed three divisions around the basin in front of it, trying to eat our army in one bite. And I happened to plan and fight to the death with the three main divisions of the Eleventh Army in the basin in front. ”

The entire conference room was silent, and everyone stared at Wang Haitao with excited eyes. Wang Haitao continued: "The judgment of Chief of Staff Su and I is that when our army carries out a strong attack on the Yumu Mountain position garrisoned by the Japanese army, the 39th Division of the Japanese army will fight from the north, and the 68th Division will kill from the southeast and besiege our army on three sides.

If so, we will have to resist the enemy on three sides. Now I will lay out the plan of the battle against the enemy. The basin in front of me is 15 kilometers from here to Yumu Mountain, and 10 kilometers from Yunpan Mountain, where the 39th Division of the Japanese Army is ambushed, to Shiniufeng, where the 68th Division is ambushed, so I will deploy the 130 Heavy Cannon Regiment of the Heavy Artillery Brigade five kilometers in front to ensure that the entire basin is within its attack range. The 152nd Heavy Howitzer and Artillery Regiment will move with the 90th Division, and the 122nd Howitzer and Artillery Regiment will move with the 210th Division. The rocket artillery battalion and the heavy mortar battalion in the armored car regiment will act with the 211th division.

The 90th Division was responsible for the frontal attack on the Yumu Mountain position, the 210th Division was responsible for the counterattack of the 39th Division of the Japanese Army, and the 211th Division was responsible for the counterattack of the 68th Division of the Japanese Army. I will take a regiment of guards to act with the 90th Division. The headquarters here is led by the chief of staff of the Soviet Union, the 2nd Guards Regiment, the 3rd Guards Regiment, the 2nd Reconnaissance Brigade Regiment, and the anti-aircraft fire battalion of the armored car regiment. This battle is a matter of life and death for the 90th Group Army, and I hope that you will sincerely cooperate in the battle and achieve another great victory!"