Hu Zongnan
In early July 1946, Hu Zongnan, the nationalist commander-in-chief of the 1st War Zone sent the nationalist Reorganized 1st Division and the Reorganized 27th Division northward to link up with the nationalist force from Linfen and Jiexiu (介休) under the command of Yan Xishan, the nationalist commander-in-chief of the 2nd War Zone, hoping that the nationalist would dislodge the communists controlling the southern section of the Datong-Puzhou Railway. The communists under the command of Chen Geng and his political commissar Xie Fuzhi in turn, planned to annihilate the nationalists before they could link up with each other. The communist 4th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan (晋冀鲁豫) Military Region was tasked with this job with the help of units of the communist Taiyue (太岳) Military Region.