Xue Yue
As the local nationalist frontline commander-in-chief Xue Yue learned the news of communist offensive to the west of Xuzhou, he was surprised because it had completely disrupted his original plan of exterminating the Communists and overrunning their bases in the border region of Hebei – Shandong – Henan provinces, and based on his intelligence, it was simply impossible for the enemy to be ready and launch an offensive of this scale in such a short time. Still dubious about the enemy's capability of launching a campaign against the superior nationalist force on this scale, Xue Yue's initial reinforcement plan was mainly geared toward as an eradication campaign with the following troop deployment: