Knowing that Wang Haitao arrived at Yichuan County with his troops, Wang Zhen, commander of the 359th Brigade of the 120th Division, and Tang Ziqi, political commissar, welcomed them out of the city. When the 359th Brigade was stationed in Nanniwan, Wang Zhen heard that a Kuomintang commander had come to the headquarters, and Wang Zhen did not take it seriously, but some officers who went to Yan'an to participate in the training came back and talked about the content of the training, and Wang Zhen's impression of Wang Haitao changed.

In this blocking battle in Yichuan County, when Wang Zhen learned that Wang Haitao was the commander-in-chief of the front line, he couldn't help but say: "How can you call a Kuomintang officer to command the battle of the Eighth Route Army?

After meeting Wang Zhen, the brigade commander of the 359th Brigade, and Tang Ziqi, the political commissar, the two sides exchanged a few words, and Wang Haitao asked Tangshan Leopard to choose artillery positions for the 1st and 2nd Artillery Regiments in the city, and asked the 1st Battalion of the Central Guard Regiment to rest at the station. He proposed to go to the position outside the city that was being repaired. So accompanied by Wang Zhen and Tang Ziqi, Wang Haitao came to the place outside the city to repair the position.

The 359th Brigade was still rushing to repair its positions in the same way as it had been doing, and Wang Haitao found problems at a glance: there were no anti-artillery holes on the ground, the trenches were dug too straight, which was not conducive to dodging shrapnel from artillery shells, the heavy firepower was unreasonable, it was impossible to block the Japanese offensive route, the depth of the position was not enough, and it was impossible to flexibly transfer troops, and so on. Wang Haitao pointed out these problems one by one, and asked Wang Zhen to order immediate rectification.

Wang Zhen was reluctant to listen to Wang Haitao at first, but after asking why, and Wang Haitao explained the reason in detail, Wang Zhen had to be convinced, and at the same time issued an order to rectify. Wang Haitao also transferred a platoon from the guard company to guide the officers and men of the 359th Brigade to rectify the position fortifications. After inspecting the position, Wang Haitao and Wang Zhen returned to the command post in the city, and Wang Haitao was busy getting in touch with the reconnaissance company.

It had been five days since the Japanese army had forcibly crossed the Yellow River, and it was only less than 100 miles from the place where the Japanese army crossed the river to the county seat of Yichuan. The main reason was that Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami, the commander of the 9th Brigade of the Japanese Army, was worried that he would suffer a loss if he went deep alone, so he marched with a cautious and cautious mentality along the way. That's not enough to cover a hundred miles in five days.

The Japanese army had divided its forces two days earlier, and the brigade commander, Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami, personally led the 38th, 39th, and 40th Independent Infantry Brigades as the main force, and the target was the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army in Yan'an. In addition, the 36th and 37th Independent Infantry Brigades, led by the commander of the 36th Brigade, Yoshino Naoyasu Osa, rushed to Yanchang County, aiming at the logistics base of the Eighth Route Army.

The reason why the Japanese army knows about the situation of the Eighth Route Army is because in the Battle of Zhongtiao Mountain, the Japanese army captured a large number of Chinese troops, including a small number of the Eighth Route Army. The Japanese army organized the surrendered Chinese army into the "Imperial Cooperative Army", and used traitors to lead the way, and the Imperial Cooperative Army was used as cannon fodder to sweep the territory of the CCP in northern Shaanxi.

The Japanese army that attacked the Yellow River was not only the independent mixed 9th Brigade, but all other troops went to attack the Kuomintang-occupied areas, and only sent the independent mixed 9th Brigade to sweep the northern Shaanxi region. In the eyes of the Japanese army, although the Eighth Route Army had more than 30,000 troops, but the equipment was backward, it was really vulnerable, an independent mixed brigade, plus an artillery brigade to assist in the battle, a cavalry brigade and three regiments of the Imperial Cooperative Army, with more than 10,000 troops, even if it could not eliminate the Eighth Route Army of the Communist Party of China, it could make the Eighth Route Army chaotic for a while, so as to facilitate the main force to attack the areas occupied by the Kuomintang.

However, Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami, the commander of the Ninth Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade, was a person who had fought with the Eighth Route Army, and he knew very well that the Eighth Route Army was difficult to deal with. However, when he raised the issue of insufficient troops, he was scolded by his superiors, saying that he was afraid of the enemy like a tiger, timid as a mouse, and unworthy of being a samurai of His Majesty the Emperor.

Soon after the departure, his cronies, the captain of the 36th Infantry Brigade, Yoshino Naoyasu Daisa, met with Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami and came up with an idea for Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami, that is, this sweep did not need to destroy the Eighth Route Army, and if the logistics base of the Eighth Route Army could be destroyed, then he could explain it to his superiors. When Major General Kenyoshi Ikegami heard this, he said that this was a good idea, so he did it! Only then did Yoshino Naoyasu Osa lead two infantry brigades, an artillery squadron, and a regiment of the Imperial Allied Army to attack in the direction of Yanchang County, and he himself took the remaining troops to attack Yichuan County to attract the main force of the Eighth Route Army.

In fact, Wang Haitao really didn't pay attention to this group of men and horses led by Major General Kenji Chishang, three second-rate infantry brigades, two artillery squadrons each equipped with eighteen 75-caliber old-fashioned mountain guns, two cavalry squadrons plus two regiments of puppet troops with little combat effectiveness, if they were all their own troops and there was a brigade, it would not be difficult to completely annihilate the enemy.

But after seeing the weapons and equipment of the 359th Brigade, Wang Haitao couldn't help but sink in his heart. The 359th Brigade is the main force, and the soldiers are still mainly Japanese-made Type 38 rifles and Hanyang-made rifles, and a platoon has a few medium and formal rifles that are good guns, a platoon has two light machine guns, and a company has only one Mark heavy machine gun. There was also a serious shortage of ammunition, with only 10 rounds for a rifle.

The 717th Regiment and the 718th Regiment outside the city were about the same, and although the number of the teaching regiment left behind in the city was only 800 people, it was slightly better armed and equipped, with four 60 mortars and 20 shells. This is also against the second-rate brigade of the Japanese army, if it is against a brigade of the permanent division of the first class of the Japanese army, the 359th Brigade will not be able to block the attack of the Japanese army at all.

Wang Haitao's plan was to completely annihilate the invading Japanese army, so it was indispensable to outflank the Japanese army. In the command post, Wang Haitao put forward the battle plan, and Wang Zhen, commander of the 359th Brigade, and Tang Ziqi, political commissar, had no objections, so which unit to use to outflank the rear of the Japanese army became a question to be discussed. Wang Haitao originally planned to use his own guard company and the first battalion of the Central Guard Regiment to outflank the Japanese army, but now after looking at the situation of the 359th Brigade, Wang Haitao is even more worried that the 359th Brigade will not be able to hold Yichuan City.

As soon as the Japanese army rushed through Yichuan City, then the matter was in trouble. After discussing for a long time, Wang Haitao made a decision, using the 359th Brigade Teaching Regiment in the city and his own guard company to copy the rear road of the Japanese army, and the first battalion of the Central Guard Regiment strengthened the defensive strength of the positions outside the city, and the task of defending the city was handed over to the Yichuan County Garrison. Wang Haitao originally wanted to take command in the city, but it was extremely important to copy the enemy's rear route, and Peng Shaohui, the commander of the teaching regiment, did not know the situation of his guard company, and he might have made a mistake in command.

In the face of thousands of Japanese troops, if there was no cooperation of the teaching regiment, they would definitely not be able to stop the Japanese army, and let go of the Japanese military petty. Thinking about this, Wang Haitao said to Brigadier Wang Zhen: "Brigadier Wang, I'm afraid that this battle will require Brigadier Wang to sit in the city and command the overall situation. ”

Wang Zhen had to obey Wang Haitao's command because he was pressed by military orders, and now when he heard that Wang Haitao took the initiative to lead his troops out of the city to copy the rear road of the Japanese army, he really couldn't ask for it, how could he still disagree? So he said in a loud voice: "Commander Wang, don't worry, I promise to hold Yichuan City and not let a little devil go over." Wang Haitao saw that Wang Zhen was a little careless, and his heart couldn't help but sink again.

Wang Haitao said in his heart: "Do you think that little Japan is so easy to deal with? Even if it is a brigade under my command, it must be blistered up for 12 points, let alone a brigade like you?" Wang Haitao said to Wang Zhen: "Brigade Commander Wang, I see that the firepower of your troops on the position is too thin, I am afraid that it will be difficult to block the attack of the Japanese army. Although the power of the Japanese 75-caliber mountain artillery is not large, it is not well concealed, and it will still bring casualties, and you must use the artillery of the artillery regiment to knock out the Japanese artillery positions as soon as possible. ”

Wang Zhen agreed with a mouthful, and Wang Haitao saw that Wang Zhen should have responded, but how much was put into his heart is unknown. But the 359th Brigade must be the Eighth Route Army, and Wang Haitao can only sigh secretly. However, Wang Haitao still found Wu Ting, the commander of the artillery brigade, and repeatedly told him to send observers to pay attention to the coordinates of the Japanese artillery positions and completely destroy the Japanese artillery positions as soon as possible.

The things in the city, Wang Haitao should have arranged and explained everything, and then it will be up to Brigadier Wang Zhen to command the battle. At this time, Wang Haitao and Peng Shaohui, the head of the teaching group, led the guard regiment and the teaching regiment out of the city overnight. As soon as Wang Haitao left, Tang Ziqi, the political commissar of the 359th Brigade, was anxious to ask the 1st Battalion of the Central Guard Regiment to send two companies to strengthen the front-line positions of the 717th Regiment and the 718th Regiment respectively.

Wang Zhen was a little unimpressed by this, Wang Zhen said to Tang Ziqi: "Old Tang, how many times have we been people who have broken through the life-and-death struggle, how can we fight and use Kuomintang officers to teach? Tang Ziqi replied: "Old Wang, I think what Commander Wang Haitao said makes sense, he is also a person who has fought bloody battles with devils for several years, and there are so many achievements there, he should know devils better than us." ”