On the afternoon of September 17, 1938, the 110th Division directly under the North China Front of the Japanese Army, and the troops of the 4th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade began to assemble in Baoding, Wangdu, and Dingxian in Hebei Province.

The 110th Division of the Japanese Army and the troops of the Fourth Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade formed the East Road Combat Force, and the commander of the 110th Division, Lieutenant General Sangmu Chongming, was responsible for the unified command of the 110th Division and the troops of the Independent Mixed Fourth Brigade, and the combat mission of the 110th Division was to launch an attack on Quyang County, Laiyuan County, and Fuping County, which were controlled by the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, and to attack and advance from east to west to suppress the troops of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.

At the same time that the 110th Division of the Japanese Army and the 4th Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade in Hebei Province began to assemble at the predetermined location one after another, the 109th Division of the Japanese Army in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province quickly moved north, and the 109th Division would reach Xin County through the Tongpu Railway, where they would join the 26th Division of the Japanese Army under the jurisdiction of the Mongolian Army and independently mixed into the Second Brigade.

The 26th Division of the Japanese Army stationed in Mongolia and the troops of the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade began to enter Shanxi through Chahar Province, and they would quickly move to Xin County in the northwest of Shanxi.

After the Japanese 26th Division, 109th Division, and the 2nd Brigade of the Independent Mixed Brigade met in Xinxian County, they would directly attack Wutai County in Shanxi Province and launch an attack from west to east.

The 26th Division, 109th Division, and 110th Division of the Japanese Army were independently mixed into the Second Brigade and the Fourth Brigade and Regiment to carry out an east-west flank attack on the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region by adopting a flanking attack.

At the same time, the troops of the 1st Division of the North China Front Army, which had been seconded from the Kwantung Army, quickly took a train to the vicinity of Zanhuang County and Jingcheng County, where they assisted the garrison Japanese troops in these two counties and guarded the troops of Sun Weiguo's Honorary 2nd Division in Pingding County.

Once the troops of the 1st Division of the Japanese Army arrived in Zanhuang County and Jingcheng County, then the Japanese army deployed the 1st Division, 21st Division, 114th Division, independent garrison, and mixed into the 3rd Brigade around the Honorary 2nd Division in Pingding County.

However, fortunately, among the many units of the Japanese army, except for the 110th Division and the 4th Independent Mixed Brigade and Regiment that quickly completed the assembly, the rest of the Japanese troops were on the march.

The deployment of the Japanese army has not yet been completed, and for the troops of the Eighth Route Army, they still have a chance to quickly implement Sun Weiguo's battle plan.

It's just that so far, the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army still hasn't issued any orders, and Sun Weiguo's battle plan seems to have been temporarily shelved.

At 6 o'clock in the evening of 17 September, the Japanese army deployed the 7th Wing of the Independent Field Heavy Artillery in Xiyang County and Yangquan County, and the 8th Wing of the Independent Field Heavy Artillery began to shell Pingding County.

SEVENTY-TWO 150MM HOWITZERS, TWENTY-FOUR 105MM CANNONS, A TOTAL OF NINETY-SIX ARTILLERY PIECES BEGAN TO FIRE AT BINH DINH COUNTY.

The focus of the Japanese attack was on the county seat of Pingding County, and hundreds of large-caliber shells began to fall on the county seat, and in an instant, the county town began to turn into ruins.

All the houses collapsed, and craters appeared on the ground.

Fortunately, the troops of the 2nd Division of Honor had already dug anti-artillery holes and tunnels, and after the Japanese artillery fire began, the soldiers and civilians all took refuge.

But even so, more than 100 soldiers and civilians still paid the price with their lives.

Two field heavy artillery wings of the Japanese army fired for 40 minutes, and thousands of shells were fired into the county seat of Pingding County.

At 6:40 a.m., the two independent field heavy artillery of the Japanese army began to stop firing, but this did not mean that the Japanese army began to end firing at Binh Dinh County.

Twenty minutes after the 7th Wing of the Independent Field Heavy Artillery and the 8th Wing of the Independent Field Heavy Artillery stopped firing, at 7 o'clock in the evening, the Mountain Artillery Wing of the 21st Division of the Japanese Army and the Field Artillery Wing of the 114th Division of the Japanese Army began to carry out artillery bombardment of Binh Dinh County.

THE 21ST DIVISION IS A POLICE RESERVE THIRD WING DIVISION, AND THEIR SUBORDINATE MOUNTAIN ARTILLERY WING IS EQUIPPED WITH 36 75MM MOUNTAIN GUNS, WHILE THE 114TH DIVISION IS A SPECIAL DIVISION, AND THEIR SUBORDINATE FIELD ARTILLERY WING IS EQUIPPED WITH 336 75MM FIELD GUNS AND 120MM HOWITZERS.

The 84 artillery pieces of the artillery wings of the two divisions and regiments began to shell Binh Dinh County again, and one shell after another began to hit Binh Dinh County one after another.

Pingding County, which had been bombed beyond recognition by 96 heavy artillery pieces, was once again shelled by the artillery wing of the division and regiment at this time, and it was naturally a ruin.

Black smoke rose in the air, and there was hardly a complete house in the entire Pingding County, and the smell of gunpowder smoke filled the air, with the occasional smell of blood.

The artillery wings of the two divisions of the Japanese army carried out a full 50-minute artillery bombardment, and it was only after 7:50 p.m. that the Japanese artillery completely quieted down.

In the underground bunker of Pingding County, the troops of the Luo Hongyi Guard Battalion have begun to closely protect the personnel of the division headquarters.

In order to prevent being wiped out by the Japanese artillery, division commander Sun Weiguo, political commissar Shen Wei, and chief of staff Zhao Lerong were scattered in different bunkers, so as to reduce the number of all the main leaders of the division headquarters who were killed.

After the Japanese shelling stopped, Shen Wei and Zhao Lerong were escorted by guards to Sun Weiguo's underground office.

At this time, Huang Guohua, chief of the operations section, had already arrived here, and he was reporting to Sun Weiguo on the casualties of various units with Han Wei, an operational staff officer.

This time, the Japanese army dispatched four artillery wings, two of which were heavy artillery wings, and their shelling of Pingding County brought great losses to Pingding County.

It is impossible to estimate the loss of farmland, not to mention the number of houses lost, even after the shelling of cultivated land.

Listening to Huang Guohua and Han Wei's reports, Sun Weiguo's brows furrowed tightly, his right hand couldn't help but clench into a fist, and his eyes looked coldly towards the map.

"Battalion Commander Yang, has there been a telegram from the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army?" Sun Weiguo's eyes looked at Yang Tiezhu, the commander of the communications battalion, and he asked in a solemn tone.

"Division commander, there is no telegram from the headquarters for the time being." Yang Tiezhu immediately replied.

"Contact Zhong Jian, commander of the Honorary Second Regiment, Yue Wu, Chief of Staff, Liang Zerui, commander of the Honorary Sixth Regiment, Hong Zhiqiang, Chief of Staff, and Jia Leiping, commander of the reconnaissance battalion, and let them come quickly."

Sun Weiguo immediately gave Yang Tiezhu an order, he knew that he couldn't continue to wait, if he continued to wait, I was afraid that he would suffer a loss.

Even if he did not receive an order from the head of the Eighth Route Army Headquarters, Sun Weiguo had to quickly transfer his troops out, and he had to go to Wutai County to complete his battle plan.

Against the Japanese troops, if the 120th Division, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, and the Honorary Second Division are scattered, it will inevitably give the Japanese army every opportunity to break through.

On the contrary, it is very likely that the three forces will win when they join forces to fight, and Sun Weiguo judged this.

Although the combination of the three forces would increase the number of Japanese troops, Sun Weiguo was very confident that he would be able to inflict heavy losses on the Japanese troops.

At 10 o'clock in the evening of 17 September, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region sent an urgent telegram to the Honorary Second Division, and Commander Nie seconded weapons to Sun Weiguo.

At 11 o'clock in the evening, the commander of the 120th Division, He personally sent a telegram to Sun Weiguo, and the commander of the division carefully inquired about Sun Weiguo's battle plan for the decisive battle of retreat.