Hu Zongnan
In early November 1946, Hu Zongnan, the commander-in-chief of the nationalist 1st War Zone in an attempt to concentrate nationalist force to attack the communist capital Yan'an, redeployed two nationalist reorganized divisions Shaanxi from southern Shanxi. Only two nationalist divisions were left for the local defense of southern Shanxi, and in Lüliang region with a total of ten counties, there was only one regiment of the nationalist 2nd War Zone, assisted by local security brigades totaling ten thousand. The communists decided to take this opportunity by taking the region and annihilating the nationalist garrison in the process.