When they were in Lingbao County, with the help of Wang Hongliang and his guerrillas, Wang Haitao and his team successfully crossed the Yellow River on a sheepskin raft from Fengling Ferry and entered Shanxi. Entering Shanxi Province was the world of Yan Xishan's Jin Sui army, and the central army's control over Shanxi was very weak. And now just after the Central Plains War, the Japanese army occupied Taiyuan, and the main force of the Jin Sui army was on the front line of Zhongtiao Mountain to block the Japanese army, and there were very few Jin Sui troops here in Yuncheng County, and the Japanese army did not have many troops, which became a vacuum zone.

Such a vacuum zone naturally became the world of the Chinese Communists, and the guerrillas were extremely active in the Yuncheng area, and Wang Hongliang was in contact with Liu Mingchang, the head of the Yuncheng County Guerrilla Brigade. This is a middle-aged man about forty years old, his appearance is not good, and when he stands there without speaking, he is an authentic Shanxi farmer. But Wang Weikuan has great respect for this captain Liu Mingchang.

Wang Haitao asked curiously, and only then did he know that when Wang Weikuan returned to Yan'an last time, he passed through Yuncheng County, and it was also this captain Liu Mingchang who was responsible for escorting him. On the road, he happened to encounter the sweeping Japanese army, and in order to cover Wang Weikuan's safe departure, Liu Mingchang's only relative, Liu Xiaoshan, who was the nephew of the squad leader, led his squad away from the Japanese army. Wang Weikuan was safe, and Liu Xiaoshan and a squad of soldiers were all sacrificed.

Liu Mingchang didn't say much, but Wang Haitao could see that his prestige among the guerrillas was extremely high, and as long as he expressed his position, no one would oppose it. The group marched north along the Yellow River. The Yellow River is the key place for the Chinese army to deploy defenses, in order to prevent the Japanese army from crossing the river, as long as the west bank of the Yellow River can cross the river, there are national army troops stationed, in order to avoid the national army's guards, Liu Mingchang led Wang Haitao and his party to march north.

This part of the journey is not very easy to walk, and various characters appear from time to time. There were small units of the Jin Sui Army and a search team of the Japanese army, but the most of them were the reconnaissance teams organized by traitors. These detective teams are in groups, either on bicycles or on foot, scurrying around the countryside, constantly harming the common people. Wang Haitao's subordinates couldn't help but want to teach these dog traitors a lesson several times, but they were all stopped by Liu Mingchang.

Liu Mingchang's words are very clear, Wang Haitao and his line are too important, and the superiors have repeatedly emphasized that they must ensure the safety of Wang Haitao and his party at all costs. It's not difficult to deal with a few dog traitors, what I'm afraid of is to startle the snake. Wang Haitao also understood what Liu Mingchang meant, and said to his subordinates: "These dog traitors are having fun now, but they can't grow rabbit tails one by one, and it won't take long to settle accounts with them." Let them go first, and the overall situation is important. This extinguished the anger in the hearts of the warriors.

For safety, Liu Mingchang took Wang Haitao and them day and night, and walked for three days before passing Hukou Town. Hukou Waterfall is famous all over the world, the Yellow River from Hukou Waterfall here from the plain into the valley, the original open water surface, shrinking into a waterway that is only a few tens of meters wide, the turbid wave scene is indeed shocking. After dozens of miles of Hukou Town, there is a river beach called Lao Ye Miao Beach, which is the place where Wang Haitao and his party crossed the river in advance.

Liu Mingchang connected with the people who came to answer by the Yellow River, and after explaining some things, he turned around and came to Wang Haitao and Wang Weikuan to say goodbye to them. Although Liu Mingchang has not said much in the past few days, Wang Haitao is extremely appreciative of his accurate judgment of the enemy's situation and his sophistication in handling things. Now seeing that he came to say goodbye, Wang Haitao shook Liu Mingchang's hand vigorously.

At the time of the breakup, Wang Haitao untied his 54-style pistol from his waist and handed it to Liu Mingchang, who also recognized Wang Haitao as a true friend in the past few days, and accepted it after thanking Wang Haitao for his gift. In the end, Wang Weikuan talked to Liu Mingchang for a long time before letting Liu Mingchang leave with his men. As soon as Liu Mingchang left, the people who came to pick him up urged Wang Haitao and them to get on the boat. Hedong is still the territory of the Jin Sui army, and only after crossing the Yellow River can it be regarded as entering the territory of the CCP, and it is really safe.

As soon as the Yellow River was crossed from Lao Ye Miaotan, it entered Yichuan County, which was already under the jurisdiction of the 18th Group Army, that is, the jurisdiction of the Eighth Route Army of the Communist Party of China. There was also the Eighth Route Army stationed on the bank of the Yellow River, and Wang Haitao saw the army wearing the uniform of the Eighth Route Army, which couldn't help but make him feel a sense of closeness. However, the troops of this Eighth Route Army, in addition to their spirit, spirit, and spirit, are not bad, and their equipment is really too simple.

Judging by the number of people, it should be a company of more than 100 people, there is only one Czech light machine gun, and the weapons in the hands of the soldiers are also different, most of them are Hanyang-made, and a few are holding 38-type rifles. There are also a lot of patches on the military uniform. Wang Haitao looked at it and said in his heart that this equipment is worse than the Sichuan army, is this a regular army?

At this time, the person who led the team came over, saluted Wang Haitao and said: "I am He Jun, the commander of the first company of the second battalion of the independent regiment of the 120th division of the Eighth Route Army, and I was ordered to greet General Wang and his party. Wang Haitao also returned the military salute and said: "I am Wang Haitao, and I have Lao He Company Commander." While speaking, Tangshan Leopard also gathered the two companies and lined up and waited for departure.

Company Commander He led a platoon to take Wang Haitao and them to Yichuan County, and the remaining two platoons were still stationed by the river. Wang Haitao regretted it a little at this time, he shouldn't have come with Wang Weikuan. If you hadn't come together, the road might not have been so smooth, but you can take out the contents of the storage ring, and now you can't take things out of the storage ring like a trick in front of so many people, right?

At this point, it is useless to regret it, Wang Haitao can only take one step at a time. So Wang Haitao took the officers and soldiers of two companies and a platoon of the Eighth Route Army to Yichuan County. The difference between the two troops on the road is quite obvious, although Wang Haitao's troops have been marching for many days, and their bodies are also dusty, but just now they still tidy up, and now they are at least dressed neatly, steel helmets and leather shoes have been polished, which is not bad.

The difference in equipment was even greater, with each officer and soldier of the Eighth Route Army having one rifle, a bullet belt on his back, and four in a cloth bag at his waist*. In Wang Haitao's team, the soldiers had eight Type 6 or 7 heavy machine guns and 36 light machine guns in their hands, and the other fighters were all Type 56 submachine guns except for the sniper who carried a sniper rifle on his back and a 54-type pistol in his waist. There were also four disassembled 82-caliber mortars in the ranks.

The equipment of Wang Haitao's team made those people in the Eighth Route Army drool, and they couldn't wait to grab it immediately. Wang Haitao also heard a whispered discussion from the ranks of the Eighth Route Army: "Lao Li, what kind of machine gun do you see it? Why have I never seen it?" "How do I know? I haven't seen it either!" The whispered discussion made the company commander of He Jun blush, turned his head and glared fiercely at the person who spoke.

Although Wang Haitao felt that the weapons and equipment of the Eighth Route Army were really poor, he did not dare to underestimate them at all, maybe they started a positional war, such equipment has limited combat effectiveness, but these people who command them, no one can underestimate them, as the so-called lion leads a group of sheep, and can also beat a group of lions led by sheep. This is such a group of teams with extremely poor weapons and equipment, but they can use the right tactics to constantly destroy the enemy, expand themselves, and finally have the last laugh.

During the break, Wang Haitao deliberately narrowed the relationship between the two teams, and took out a lot of canned meat to give to Company Commander He and them. The soldiers of the Eighth Route Army were still more interested in the weapons in the hands of Wang Haitao's men, and as soon as the relationship between the other party became close, they gathered around to ask questions.

Wang Haitao's subordinates did not hide it, explained the weapons in their hands, and taught the soldiers of the Eighth Route Army how to use these firearms. After more than an hour, the two teams continued on the road, and at three o'clock in the afternoon, everyone finally arrived at Yichuan County. As soon as Wang Haitao and the others approached the county seat of Yichuan, they saw that there were many soldiers guarding the city gate, and a group of people were waiting for them on the main road in the middle.

After Wang Haitao and the others approached, this group of people also greeted them. Wang Weikuan, who was walking beside Wang Haitao, saw the person who was coming clearly, and said to Wang Haitao: "Brother Haitao, General Ye Jianying, Chief of General Staff of the Eighth Route Army, personally greeted you. Wang Haitao was stunned for a moment, although Wang Haitao was prepared for meeting many revolutionary predecessors on this trip to northern Shaanxi, but as soon as he set foot on the land of northern Shaanxi, he met Ye Jianying, a heavyweight senior, and he was unexpected.

General Ye Jianying, who is one of the top ten marshals in later generations, is a figure that Wang Haitao's parents need to look up to in later generations, not to mention Wang Haitao, a junior like Wang Haitao, now that this big man has appeared in front of him alive, Wang Haitao has been prepared for a long time, and his heart is also excited and uneasy. At this time, General Ye Jianying had already greeted him with a smile on his face.

Wang Haitao didn't wait for General Ye Jianying to come to the front, he took two steps forward, stood up and saluted: "Wang Haitao has seen General Ye!" Ye Jianying replied with a military salute and said with a smile: "Ye has heard of General Wang's name for a long time, and when I saw it today, it really deserved its reputation." Wang Haitao and his subordinates deserve to be the division of the tiger!" Wang Haitao replied: "Haitao is ashamed, it is all his soldiers who fought bravely to kill the enemy, and this is the only way to break through a little bit of fame, which is not enough to worry about. ”

Then Wang Weikuan introduced several people behind Ye Jianying to Wang Haitao, Wang Haitao heard that these people were also revolutionary predecessors, including Xiao Jinguang, commander and political commissar of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Left-behind Corps, Cao Lihuai, chief of staff, Chen Zheng, magistrate of Yichuan County, and He Changgong, commander of the Yichuan County Garrison. Wang Haitao was excited to see Ye Shuai at the beginning, and then calmed down and greeted everyone one by one.

After the cold hustle and bustle, Wang Haitao, accompanied by General Ye Jianying, entered Yichuan County together. Ye Jianying and others led Wang Haitao all the way to the county government to sit down, and Tangshan Leopard and they were also accompanied by He Changgong to rest in the courtyard next to them. After everyone sat down, Ye Jianying said: "General Wang can take a break from his busy schedule this time and come to visit us in northern Shaanxi, and I would like to express my greatest welcome on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. ”