Around the same time the nationalist Reorganized 8th Cavalry Brigade left Qingyang to reinforce Heshui on May 29, 1947, the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column reached Cypress Plateau, the chokepoint of the traffic to Heshui. The exhausted communists did not even bother to build any temporary fortifications. Luo Shaowei (), the commander of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column deployed the 3rd Battalion of the regiment to the south of the road, while the 2nd Battalion was deployed atop Northern Plateau (Bei Yuan, ) in the north, while the 1st Battalion acted as reserve. With the exception of a single platoon on guard, the rest of the exhausted communists camped in the open and went to sleep. At 5:00 AM on May 30, 1947, the nationalist reinforcement approached the communist camp, and made contact with the communist platoon on guard. Once hearing the gunshots, the communists immediately jumped to their feet and 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was the first one to act. Zhang Peiran (), and Qiu Deshan (), the commander and the political commissar of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column immediately organized their troops and directed machine gun and mortar crew to fire at the nationalists. Zhu Zhongxin (), the political commissar of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the Instructional Brigade of the communist 2nd Column was just getting up to urinate when the battle broke out, and he immediately woke up his troops and with the help of Zhang Shunguo (), the battalion commander, led their battalion to reinforce their comrades.