彭德怀
Peng Dehuai and his headquarters of the communist First Field Army would meet a similar danger several days later when the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade once again made the same debacle: when the attacking communists withdrew to Northern Shaanxi via Eastern Gansu, Peng Dehuai ordered the 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade to guard the region from Duzi (屯字) town to Xiaojing (萧金) to secure the safe passage for the headquarters and the communist 1st, 4th and 6th columns. When the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade approached the Duzi (屯字) town, it discovered that town was already occupied by its nemesis: the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division. Without asking the permission and reporting the discovery, the 5th Regiment of the communist 3rd Garrison Brigade withdrew southward to Taiping (太平) Town. As a result, the divisional headquarters of the nationalist Reorganized 82nd Division led by Ma Jiyuan (马继援) met head on with the headquarters of the communist First Field Army led by Peng Dehuai, who was unaware of the situation. Both sides were extremely cautious in the battle because neither knew the strength of the other, and had the nationalist unit not commanded by Ma Jiyuan (马继援), but any other lower ranking officers who would attack aggressively, Peng Dehuai would have been killed once again and the headquarters of the communist First Field Army would have been totally destroyed for sure.