After listening to Tang Yishi's answer, Wang Haitao responded: "Okay!" Let Tang Yishi sit down, and then said to Wu Jianzhou, the commander of the armored brigade: "Brigade Commander Wu Jianzhou, your armored brigade will cooperate with the 211th Division to launch an attack on the Japanese army, how to cooperate, you and Tang Longzai's division commander will negotiate by yourself, and my request to your brigade is to cooperate with the 211th Division to attack Zhennanguan again on the premise of ensuring that there will be no major losses!"

After Wu Jianzhou stood up, he replied loudly: "Yes, military seat! The armored brigade guarantees to complete the mission!" Wang Haitao glanced at everyone again and said: "This attack, our victory, will ensure the stability of the rear base in Longzhou for a long time, and also ensure the safety of our family." I hope that you will fight bravely to kill the enemy, so that the Japanese army will tremble at the mention of our 90th Army! After you go back, you will hurry up and make preparations, and I will inform you of the specific attack time before the attack, and the meeting will be adjourned now!"

After the meeting, Wang Haitao left Tang Yishi, commander of the Heavy Artillery Brigade, and Tang Yiqun, commander of the 271st Brigade. Wang Haitao asked Tang Yiqun: "Yiqun, your brigade has to lurk lightly on both sides of the road from Pingxiang to Zhennanguan, the mountains are high and the forests are dense, and the Japanese army cannot be discovered, I'm afraid it will not be so easy! I will give you 15 hours, can you reach the position?"

Tang Yiqun looked at the map and calculated for a while, and then replied: "Military seat, the total length of the highway from Pingxiang City to Zhennanguan is only eighteen kilometers, and our brigade is lightly armed, fifteen hours is enough." It's just that there are no heavy weapons, and I am afraid that I will not be able to stop the main force of the Japanese army that has retreated. Wang Haitao replied: "Our goal is to wipe out the living forces of the Japanese army as much as possible, not to completely annihilate the Japanese army, and the ambush of your brigade is also to destroy more Japanese troops as the main task. If necessary, let the Japanese soldiers go, and then follow the pursuit. ”

Tang Yiqun also understood the task at this time, and replied: "Yes, military seat, I understand!" Wang Haitao looked at his watch and said: "It's five o'clock in the afternoon, and the shelling of the Japanese army will start at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, so you can immediately return to the army and lead the team to set off!" Tang Yiqun stood up and responded: "Yes, military seat!" Then he gave a military salute and turned to leave.

After Tang Yiqun left, Wang Haitao said to Tang Yishi: "Yishi, your heavy artillery brigade will launch an artillery bombardment of the Japanese army at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, focusing on the fortifications built on the Japanese artillery positions and defensive positions, and trying to open the passage for the attacking troops. In addition, your brigade should be fully prepared with anti-aircraft weapons to prevent Japanese planes from attacking them. Tang Yishi left the room one by one.

There were only two people left in the conference room, Su Zuxin and Tangshan Leopard, Wang Haitao looked at Tangshan Leopard and said: "Mountain Leopard, your guard brigade is the elite of the whole army, good steel is used on the sword, I will give you a difficult task, do you dare to take it?" Tangshan Leopard smiled and said: "Military seat, our guard brigade was brought out by you, and you know our strength best, as long as it is the task you give to the military seat, our guard brigade does not dare to accept such a thing!"

Wang Haitao shouted: "Okay! It is worthy of being a guard brigade! I order you to send two guard regiments to lurk outside Zhennan Pass for 18 hours, looking for an opportunity to take Zhennan Pass!" Wang Haitao's words surprised Su Zuxin, and Su Zuxin hurriedly said: "The military seat is slow, the two regiments of the guard brigade are rushing to attack Zhennan Pass, not to mention whether they can take Zhennan Pass, even if they take Zhennan Pass, as soon as the main force of the Japanese army has retreated, with the strength of the two regiments, can they hold Zhennan Pass?"

Wang Haitao looked at Su Zuxin and said: "Chief of Staff Su, how could I not know that the guard brigade is taking a risky attack this time, but if the Japanese army relies on Zhennan Pass to stabilize its position and defend it accordingly, what a loss it will cause to the attacking troops! So I think it's worth taking this risk." Wang Haitao's words made Su Zuxin stunned, and Tangshan Leopard said on the side: "Military seat, Chief of Staff Su, don't worry, I will personally lead the team up, and the guard brigade will complete the task to the death!"

Wang Haitao said with a serious expression: "Mountain Leopard, listen, I don't want you to swear to stop the enemy, what I want is Zhennan Pass! First of all, we must ensure that we take Zhennan Pass, and after taking Zhennan Pass, if we can't stop the main force of the Japanese army, you can release the opening and let the Japanese army pass, but the main position of Zhennan Pass must be firmly grasped in your hands, understand?" Tangshan Leopard replied: "Yes, military seat!

As soon as the meeting ended, the commanders of the various units returned to their respective units in a hurry, the 211th Division and the 93rd Division immediately changed guards, the positions outside Pingxiang City were taken over by the troops of the 211th Division, and dozens of light tanks and heavy armored vehicles of the armored brigade also quietly drove to the positions of the 211th Division.

The first thing Tang Yiqun, commander of the 271st Brigade, and his three regiment commanders did after rushing back to the unit was to order the reconnaissance battalion to set off immediately, conduct reconnaissance on both sides of the road from Pingxiang City to Zhennanguan, and find a suitable ambush site without alarming the Japanese army, and open a road for the follow-up troops. An hour after the reconnaissance battalion set off, the 271st Brigade set off lightly in three routes with regiments as a unit.

In the previous battles, the Guard Brigade did not have many opportunities to accept the task alone, but now the Tangshan Leopard came back and said that the military seat had handed over the task of the surprise attack on Zhennanguan to the Guard Brigade, and the three regiment commanders all stared at the Tangshan Leopard with expectant eyes. Tang Shanbao ordered without hesitation: "Tang Fu, your regiment stays behind to protect the headquarters of the army, if the military seat is a little missing, you come to see me!"

Tang Fuli replied later: "Don't worry, as long as I Tang Fu is here, there will be no mistakes in the military seat!" Tang Shanbao nodded, turned to the other two regiment commanders and said: "Li Li and Sun Linhai, give your two regiments half an hour to prepare, and set off immediately after half an hour, and bring all the weapons and equipment." Li Fugen was informed that the three companies of his gravity battalion were following the three regiments. The second head Li Li and the third head Sun Linhai responded, and quickly turned around to prepare.

The highway from Pingxiang City to Zhennanguan is only eighteen kilometers, and if you go along the road, the guard brigade will have two hours to arrive, but now it is necessary to cross through the mountains, high mountains, jungles, moats, and nights, these are all difficulties to be overcome. That is to say, these Guangxi soldiers can run in the mountains and jungles, coupled with years of continuous training, so that they can move freely in such a terrain after carrying an average weight of 30 kilograms.

In both regiments, there were soldiers who lived in this area of Pingxiang City, and these soldiers were very familiar with the terrain in this area. These soldiers also lived up to their expectations, even at night, they also had their own way to recognize the way, with them to open the way for the troops, the march of the two regiments saved a lot of effort, without alarming the Japanese army, like a sharp arrow, straight to the Zhennan Pass.

In his headquarters, Wang Haitao continued to receive various reports that the three heavy artillery regiments of the Heavy Artillery Brigade and the heavy artillery regiment of the 93rd Division had already adjusted their guns on their positions and were waiting for the order to open their guns at 8 o'clock in the morning. The armored brigade and the two brigades and six regiments of the 211th Division were all ready to attack. At the same time, the self-propelled grenade and artillery regiments will also attack with the 211th Division as supporting firepower, and it is the 211th Division Guard Regiment that covers them.

At three o'clock in the morning, Tang Yiqun, commander of the 271st Brigade, sent a telegram to the headquarters, reporting that all three regiments of the 271st Brigade had entered the ambush position. Among them, the 542nd Regiment set up an ambush at Paizhi Mountain, the 543rd Regiment set up an ambush at Fengwei Mountain, and the 544th Regiment set up an ambush at Daqingshan. Wang Haitao took the map, found the three ambush locations of the 271st Brigade, and marked them on the map one by one.

Time passed little by little, and at five o'clock in the morning, the eastern sky had already appeared white, and all the troops had been in place, only the Tangshan Leopard's guard brigade had no news for a long time. Su Zuxin looked at the sky, looked at his watch again, and said to Wang Haitao, who was sitting at the conference table: "Military seat, it's five o'clock, why hasn't there been any news from Brigade Commander Tang......?"

Wang Haitao sat there motionless, and after listening to Su Zuxin's words, he said in a deep voice: "With the ability of the guard brigade, there will be nothing, maybe the mountain road is too difficult to walk." No matter what the situation of the guard brigade is, the attack will start on time at eight o'clock!" Su Zuxin could only nod and agree with Wang Haitao's opinion. In fact, the guard brigade did not encounter any trouble along the way, but there was an accident.

Tangshan leopard led the troops and inserted it into the south of Zhenguan in the mountains and jungles. There are local warriors who are familiar with the terrain as spearheads, and the journey is not slow. At three o'clock in the morning, the troops had already arrived on Xiaoqingshan. From Xiaoqingshan to climb two not too high hills, you can see the Zuopu Mountain Fort of Zhennan Pass, this fort built in the Qing Dynasty is the highest point of Zhennan Pass, and if you take it, Zhennan Pass will take half of it.

When Tangshan Leopard heard that he had approached Zhennan Pass, he looked at the time, ordered a twenty-minute rest, and sent his soldiers to explore the way. After resting, the troops continued to advance, and after walking for only an hour, the spearhead returned to report that the Japanese camp had been found in front. Tangshan Leopard immediately ordered to stop the advance and asked the top soldiers to report the situation carefully. It turned out that the front was Gulong Mountain, and climbing Gulong Mountain and walking west for a thousand meters was the Zuofushan Fort of Zhennan Pass, but on the top of Gulong Mountain, the pioneers found a Japanese barracks.

The barracks were fenced with barbed wire, and there were watchtowers and sandbag fortifications at the gates, and six Japanese sentries were found. As for how many Japanese troops were in the barracks, it is not very clear. Tangshan Leopard saw that the time was already half past four o'clock, and time waited for no one, so he immediately took two combat teams to the vicinity of the Japanese military camp with the top soldiers to observe the situation in the military camp.

Outside the barracks, Tangshan Leopard held a telescope to observe for a while, this barracks does not occupy a large area, there are more than a dozen tents inside, there are four Japanese soldiers patrolling, and there are two guard towers, each with a machine gun and a searchlight on the sentry. It is a piece of cake to take this place with the strength of the Guards Brigade, but there is no guarantee that no shots will be fired, that is, there is no guarantee that the Japanese army will not be alarmed, which is very tricky.