When Wang Haitao was about to walk to the position of the 1st Brigade, he saw that the 1st Brigade had set up a cordon at the intersection and arranged for a platoon of troops to be here. Wang Haitao is quite in favor of this arrangement of the First Brigade, and with such a cordon, in case of an emergency, the First Brigade can also make a timely response on the position and will not be caught off guard.

The platoon commander on duty in the cordon was a veteran of the former 211th Division, who knew Wang Haitao, and saw that the division commander was coming with the commander, so he hurriedly asked the soldiers to stand up, and shouted after standing up and saluting: "Hello sir!" After Wang Haitao returned the military salute, Wei Hai said to the platoon commander: "Quick, inform you Brigade Commander Wei, the military seat is coming to inspect." ”

The platoon commander replied, "Yes, sir!" and ran into cover and called the command post. Wang Haitao said to Wei Hai: "Let's keep walking." After saying that, he took the lead and walked forward. I didn't go far before I saw several figures appear in the distance. Wei Hai said: "Military seat, Brigade Commander Wei, they are here. ”

Wang Haitao stopped, and when the visitors approached, they saw that Wei Bolin, the commander of the first brigade, He An, the commander of the first brigade and the first regiment, and Wu Kui, the commander of the second regiment, had already greeted him. After several people came to Wang Haitao, they stood up and saluted and said: "The military seat is good, welcome to the military seat to come to the first brigade position to inspect!"

Wang Haitao returned the military salute and said: "I went to the 93rd Division, passing by the position of your independent division, and take a look by the way." Brigade Commander Wei, tell me about the situation of your position!" Wei Bolin replied next to Wang Haitao: "Yes, military seat." The main position set up by our brigade on the mountain has a total of five lines of defense, the first of which is set up at an altitude of 200 meters from the road below the mountain, from which the road below the mountain can be completely blocked by the use of heavy machine guns. I arranged for the 1st and 2nd Battalions of a regiment and two heavy fire companies to be stationed on this line. ”

Wang Haitao listened to Wei Berlin's explanation while walking, stopping from time to time to observe with a telescope for a while. When he arrived at the command post of the 1st Brigade at the top of the mountain, Wei Bolin also basically explained the situation of the five lines of defense. Not far from the command post, Wang Haitao saw the artillery position of the independent division, where 36 Japanese 75-caliber field guns and 12 Japanese-style 120-caliber howitzers and shells were arranged neatly, and the ground should be leveled and meet the requirements of the artillery position.

Wang Haitao pointed to the artillery position and said: "Brigade Commander Wei, this artillery position must be camouflaged, otherwise the Japanese planes will bomb it once, and these artillery pieces will be all over." Wei Bolin should have been negligent on this point, after Wang Haitao pointed it out, Wei Bolin blushed and replied: "Military seat, it is the negligence of the lowly duty, and the lowly duty will be ordered to do it immediately." ”

At the command post of the 1st Brigade, Wang Haitao rested for a while, and then said to Wei Berlin: "Go, Brigade Commander Wei, go and see your several lines of defense." Accompanied by Wei Hai and Wei Bolin, Wang Haitao carefully inspected several lines of defense. To say that this mountain is still relatively steep, the slope of the ground is large, and it is quite difficult to climb. The 1st Brigade also made good use of the terrain, and the position of the two lines of defense really had the momentum of "one man is the pass, and ten thousand people are not open".

Wang Haitao inspected the whole position, and it was past noon, because he came down from the mountain, and after arriving at the foot of the mountain, Wang Haitao gathered his guard battalion and prepared to continue to Pingxiang City. Before leaving, Wang Haitao encouraged Wei Hai and Wei Berlin, and told them to rectify the few problems they saw. After seeing that Wei Hai and they all agreed, they left with confidence.

The convoy continued to march on the winding mountain road until more than eight o'clock in the evening, when the convoy reached the city of Pingxiang. The north gate of Pingxiang City has not yet been closed, and you can see the lights outside the city gate from a distance, a group of soldiers lined up outside the city gate, and two jeeps parked next to the team. Seeing the lights of Wang Haitao's convoy, Li Yuanhong, commander of the 93rd Division, and Mu Suzhong, deputy commander of the 93rd Division, walked down in the jeep.

In addition, Li Chunshan, deputy brigade commander of the 277th Brigade, Tang Weiren, commander of the division's heavy artillery regiment, Tang Weichu, commander of the division's guard regiment, and Jin Zigeji, commander of the division's armored regiment, were waiting outside the car. As soon as Wang Haitao's car stopped, Li Yuanhong and the others hurriedly greeted him. When they came to the front, several people stood up and saluted at the same time, and Li Yuanhong said: "Welcome to the military seat to inspect the 93rd Division's station. ”

Wang Haitao returned a military salute and said: "In the morning, I went to the position of the Independent Division to take a look, and I delayed some time, but I made you wait for a long time. Li Yuanhong hurriedly replied: "Yes, the military seat has worked hard all the way, please go into the city to rest, and prepare a banquet for the military seat to catch the wind and wash the dust." "Wang Haitao originally didn't like his subordinates to do this, but the 93rd Division was the old foundation of the Sichuan Army, and the two brigade commanders, Mu Suzhong and Huang Gang, were transferred from the Sichuan Army, so Wang Haitao still had to give them this face.

So Wang Haitao didn't say anything, everyone got into the car, Li Yuanhong's car led the way in front, and Wang Haitao's car followed behind. In the guard battalion brought by Wang Haitao, except for the personal guards of one squad, the rest of the personnel and vehicles were all led by Tang Weichu, the head of the 93rd Division Guard Regiment, to be settled. Li Yuanhong's car soon came to a stop in front of a restaurant.

Wang Haitao got out of the car and looked up to see the three words "Sihailou" written on the plaque. Li Yuanhong walked over and said: "Military seat, I have set up a banquet in this Sihai Building to catch the wind for the military seat, and the military seat is invited!" Wang Haitao nodded and walked in. Li Yuanhong chartered the entire third floor, and the guards standing guard at the staircase saw Wang Haitao and Li Yuanhong coming, and hurriedly stood up and saluted.

went up to the third floor and sat down at the wine table in the private room, and Mu Suzhong began to beckon the guys to serve wine and food. Wang Haitao took advantage of this opportunity and said to Li Yuanhong: "When I was in northern Shaanxi, I heard that Little Japan was coming to attack my Longzhou, and after I rushed back, Chongzuo had not yet started fighting, but you Pingxiang had already started fighting here. How is it, after so many days of exchanging fire with the Japanese army, how is the situation?"

Li Yuanhong replied: "Junza, the little Japan that attacked this time is worse than the little Japan we encountered in Burma. The attack power of the second division of the Japanese army is even stronger, and the 55th Brigade is a waste of what is independently mixed into it. Without heavy artillery, Little Japan would not even be able to attack the defensive positions on the periphery of Pingxiang City, let alone threaten Pingxiang City. ”

Wang Haitao asked again: "What are the casualties of your division?" Li Yuanhong replied: "Our division only suffered slightly more casualties in the first few days before the Japanese army began to attack, and lost more than 300 people, more than 200 seriously wounded, and more than 400 lightly wounded. After withstanding the onslaught of the little Japanese for a few days, the defense behind it was much easier, and now there will be some casualties when the little Japanese shelling and aircraft bombardment, and at other times, the Japanese army will either cower and not move, or will withdraw after a tentative attack. There were basically no casualties. ”

Wang Haitao was relieved at this time, for a full-strength division of 15,000 people, after more than ten days of defensive battles, less than 1,000 casualties were killed, which is really nothing. At this time, the guy began to serve the food, Wang Haitao also changed the topic, and the atmosphere in the private room suddenly relaxed. At the banquet, Wang Haitao gave a general account of his trip to northern Shaanxi, because many officers of the 93rd Division were transferred from other national army units, and Wang Haitao would not speak as truthfully as he did in Chongzuo, and he did not say many things.

After a full meal, it was already late, Wang Haitao was busy for a day, and he was a little tired, Li Yuanhong sent Wang Haitao to the place where he was staying, and then said goodbye and left. Early the next morning, Li Yuanhong rushed to Wang Haitao again and asked Wang Haitao to go to the headquarters of the 93rd Division. When Wang Haitao came to the headquarters of the 93rd Division, he saw that there were already many officers waiting for him at the conference table in the large conference room.

The guards at the door of the conference room saw Wang Haitao and Li Yuanhong coming together, and after standing upright, they shouted loudly: "Commander Wang, Division Commander Li has arrived!" The officers at the conference table stood up at the same time. Wang Haitao smiled and strode to the position of the chief officer at the head of the conference table, and Li Yuanhong also walked to the first position on his right hand. Wang Haitao pressed his hand, motioned for everyone to sit down, and then sat down himself.

Li Yuanhong did not sit down, but stood there and said: "On behalf of all the officers and men of the 93rd Division, I welcome the inspection of the military seat in front of the 93rd Division. With that, he sat down. Wang Haitao stood up, looked around and said: "The people sitting here are all old people who have followed me Wang Haitao from birth to death for many years, and I am not here to say any instructions, but to meet with you." ”

Seeing that the expressions of the people sitting below relaxed, Wang Haitao continued: "The 93rd Division has always been the main division of our 90th Army, and it has never been ambiguous since Xiaori. Pingxiang City has been the gateway of Longzhou and Guangxi since childhood. From the big one, it is the gateway to China. You are now stationed at this gateway, behind you are thousands of compatriots, your parents and relatives, little Japan wants to break into this gateway and harm our country, our homeland, our compatriots, and our families, everyone says, can we agree?"

At the same time, the officers present at the table replied loudly: "Absolutely not agree! Never agree!" Wang Haitao then said: "Yes, we will never agree! Little Japan is stretching out its claws to us, and we must strike at them fiercely, cut off their claws, and let them know how powerful our Chinese soldiers are! On the Chongzuo side, I have put three main divisions to deal with the small Japanese who landed in Qinzhou Bay, and you only have your 93rd Division and the independent divisions behind you available. Everyone knows the situation of the independent division, I don't need to say more, I can only say today that whether or not you can block the attack of small Japan depends on your 93rd division.

"Have faith!" the thunderous reply sounded again. Wang Haitao said again: "Very good, I also have confidence in you! When this battle is over, I will personally set up a wine for you to celebrate!" Wang Haitao sat down after speaking. Li Yuanhong stood up again and said: "Please rest assured, our 93rd Division is the last person to fight, and we will ensure that Pingxiang City will not be lost!"