due to the completely unexpected communist moves, the nationalists simply could not gather enough strength to stop the enemy. After a fierce battle that lasted two days and a night, the communist right column successfully defeated the nationalists attempted to stop them and eventually managed to reach their planned destinations, the Mountain Sun (Shan Yang, 山阳) and Zuoshui (柞水) regions in southern Shaanxi. Although the nationalist force was in hot pursuit, it was only a matter of time before the communist right column reached safety. It did so by the end of August 1946 by reaching the communist base in Shaanxi, with no major nationalist forces in their way any longer. Wang Zhen's 359th Brigade suffered the heaviest communist casualties in the campaign: 2,917 were lost, and only 1,983 remained when the surviving forces reached Shaanxi, where their number were boosted when 3,000 troops had to be sent to the brigade to make up the loss. The Left Column On July 17, 1946, the communist left column reached the Nanhua Pound (Nan Hua Tang, 南化塘) region after the right column. By this time, the nationalist 1st Brigade of the 1st Division previously defeated by the communist right column had regrouped and blocked the path of the communist right column. Although the communist right column managed to attract the enemy to itself and away from the communist left column, this also meant that the communist Right Route had been cut into two sections. With two nationalist divisions in pursuit, the nationalists had hoped to wipe out the communist left column in the valley of Nanhua Pound (Nan Hua Tang, 南化塘). The situation was apparent to both sides and Li Xiannian made plans to open the path to Shaanxi for the communists by defeating the nationalist 1st Division first. The 37th Regiment of the communist 13th Brigade was to attack the enemy while the 39th Regiment was to outflank the enemy from the left, while the 38th Regiment was to provide cover at the right flank of the 37th Regiment. After a fierce battle that lasted the entire night, the nationalist 1st Division was once again beaten by the enemy before the other two nationalist divisions could catch up and participate in the fight, and the communists successfully continued their westward march afterward. On July 20, 1946, when the communist left column reached the region of Zhao Family's River (Zhao Jia Chuan,