In the stage of the great sabotage of the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, within the scope of the 129th Division's sabotage, the busiest senior commander probably had to count Zhou Xihan, the commander of the left wing column. Although he had three regimental political commissars under his command, after all, he could not completely replace the political commissar, chief of staff, and director of the political department of the column.
Zhou Xihan made an exception to serve as the commander of the column as the chief of staff, so in addition to serving several terms, he was also afraid that he would make a mistake, so as to live up to Chen Geng's strong recommendation and the trust of Chief Liu Deng.
With three years of experience in fighting against Japan, Zhou Xihan has mastered the habits of little devils, that is, they can't afford to lose, and if you hit him to the point where he is overwhelmed, he will definitely retaliate. As soon as the general offensive began, he asked his staff officers to set up lookout posts on three heights in different directions of Yangtou Cliff. At the same time, he also personally organized a reconnaissance network of Taiyuan and the neighboring Yuci and Taigu, and constantly sent all kinds of scouts and small units to investigate the enemy's situation.
In those days, Zhou Xihan slept very little, sitting in the command post, he didn't even dare to close his eyes, and he didn't dare to take a nap, just worried that if he was slightly distracted, he would cause losses to the troops and the migrant workers who broke the road. After a long time, his two eyes were boiled until they were red, and his eyelids were slowly swollen, but he couldn't take care of it.
Since August 25, 1940, Zhou Xihan has grasped the situation that the Japanese army began to increase troops to Yuci and Taigu. It is already certain that the Japanese army will report a big reply. In view of the enemy's movements, Zhou Xihan not only ordered the 16th Regiment to send additional troops to monitor the enemy, but also demanded that all units, including the 16th Regiment, enter a state of combat readiness, and at the same time seize the time to continue to break the road.
On August 30, it was confirmed that the Japanese had assembled two infantry brigades and an artillery brigade in Yuci County and one infantry brigade in Taigu.
At five o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, Zhou Xihan went to the Southwest Highland Lookout to observe the enemy situation. Taking advantage of the afterglow of the setting sun, he used his telescope to repeatedly search and reconnoiter in the direction of Yuci, and found that more than 10 kilometers away, on the mountain beam between Changning and Gaoping, there was a column of the enemy's march, which appeared and disappeared from time to time, crawling eastward like ants.
The enemy came as expected, and Zhou Xihan judged that the enemy was preparing to make a detour from the left side of the left column in an attempt to copy the rear of the left column.
Troops must be sent to stop them at Gaoping!