As the two divisions of the puppet army in Linzhang County began to defend together, Linzhang County began to fall into the atmosphere of a big war.

More than 6,000 puppet army troops began to deploy around the county seat, and Guo Qing and Cheng Wenxuan took the opportunity to ask the Japanese for guns and artillery to guard against Linzhang County.

Since the beginning of the war, the Japanese troops have won many battles, and most of Yan Xishan's arsenals have not had time to evacuate, so they have become trophies of the Japanese troops, and the Japanese troops are not short of weapons and ammunition, and the Japanese army has responded to the needs of Guo Qing and Cheng Wenxuan.

In the eyes of the top generals of the Japanese army, using the Chinese against the Chinese is the best strategy.

Some weapons and ammunition began to be transported to Linzhang County, and with these weapons and ammunition, the puppet army troops worked harder.

The bandits in various parts of Linzhang County took the opportunity to rob the people's property on a large scale, and they carried out open robberies in Linzhang County on the pretext of searching the troops of the Eighth Route Army.

Linzhang County became hell in an instant, and these puppet armies and bandits who took advantage of the Japanese invasion of China to develop were sometimes even more hateful than the Japanese.

On August 20, 1938, Huang Gang's 1st Battalion, Liu Jingnuan's 2nd Battalion, Zhang Wenbin's 3rd Battalion, Zheng Guanzilin's 4th Battalion, Ge Haifeng's Cavalry Battalion, Li Jiaxin's 3rd Artillery Battalion, Chen Zhengwei's Reconnaissance Battalion, Independent Regiment Guard Company, Baggage Company, Mortar Company, and Mountain Artillery Company began to arrive in Linzhang County.

At the same time, the cavalry regiment of the 129th Division, the new first regiment, the 115th regiment of the 688th Division, and the 689th regiment also began to assemble in the county near Linzhang County.

On the afternoon of 20 August, the head of the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army issued an order to organize the Zhangnan Corps into the Zhangnan Corps, with Sun Weiguo as the commander and Zhao Lerong as the chief of staff, and the combat mission of the Zhangnan Corps was to eliminate the puppet army bandit units entrenched east of the Pinghan Railway and on both sides of the Zhanghe River, steadily expand the Shanxi-Hebei-Henan base areas, and cultivate local anti-Japanese armed forces.

At the same time, the 129th Division's Youth Anti-Japanese Column and the Eastward Column were each deployed in the southern Hebei region as the reserve of the Zhangnan Corps and under the command of Sun Weiguo.

So far, the Eighth Route Army has gathered nearly 10,000 troops in Linzhang County and nearby areas, of which the 688th Regiment of the 115th Division is the main force in the regular army.

The four infantry battalions of the Sixth Army Division participating in the battle are the elite of the elite and the main force of the main force.

After the order to form the Zhangnan Corps was issued, Sun Weiguo set up a headquarters in a small village five kilometers south of Linzhang County.

Because of the confession of the bandit Hu Yidao, Sun Weiguo has an understanding of the general situation in Linzhang County.

The largest puppet army in Linzhang County is Cheng Ximeng's first division of the puppet army and Guo Dehui's second division of the puppet army, these two puppet army units have more than 6,000 people, and they accept the most weapons and ammunition from the Japanese, and even have artillery in the troops.

At present, the most powerful bandits in Linzhang County are Li Tai and Cheng Daohe, Li Tai and Guo Dehui are related, he has more than 2,000 bandits, and Cheng Daohe and Cheng Ximeng are cousins, Cheng Daohe also has more than 1,000 bandits, these two groups of bandits are the most powerful bandits in Linzhang County.

According to what Sun Weiguo learned from Hu Yidao, the bandits in Linzhang County did all kinds of evil, and they were even more vicious than the Japanese when they did evil things.

Especially when Sun Weiguo seized a lot of property from Hu Yidao, Sun Weiguo was even more determined in his heart, that is, all the bandits in Linzhang County must be completely annihilated.

If such puppet bandits stay, it will be a disaster, and sooner or later they will endanger the anti-Japanese troops and the general public.

Taking advantage of the temporary inability of the Japanese troops to protect them, Sun Weiguo planned to cut them down to the roots.

The ministries had now arrived at the designated location, and Sun Weiguo began to give them combat orders.

All the divisional units of the Sixth Army entered Linzhang County to fight, while the troops of the 129th and 115th Divisions annihilated the puppet army and bandits near Linzhang County and fought in response to the divisional troops of the Sixth Army.

Considering that the troops of the 129th Division and the 115th Division also had brigade-level commanders to command the operation, Sun Weiguo did not give them detailed combat orders.

For the troops of the Sixth Army Division, Sun Weiguo and Zhao Lerong formulated detailed combat missions, and the marching routes of each department were marked out by Sun Weiguo.

The troops of the 1st and 2nd Battalions attacked Zhangliji, Coriander Battalion, Ducunji, and Li Jiaxin Artillery Battalion in the western part of Linzhang County.

The troops of the 3rd and 4th Battalions attacked Baiheji in the eastern part of Linzhang County, called Gouji, Zhangcunji, and the mortar company of the independent regiment cooperated with the mountain artillery company.

Zhong Jian, the commander of the Independent Regiment, commanded the guard company, the baggage company, the reconnaissance battalion, and the cavalry battalion to go to Sun Weiguo's headquarters and serve as the reserve of the Linzhang County combat troops.

In accordance with Sun Weiguo's order, after receiving the combat order, all units made five-day preparations and dispatched reconnaissance units to conduct detailed reconnaissance of the targets of the attack.

There are a lot of bandits and puppet troops in Linzhang County, and considering that some of the bandits and puppet soldiers are likely to be forced, Sun Weiguo also made preparations in advance.

The people are an important pillar for the Eighth Route Army to be able to fight behind enemy lines, and without the support of the people, it would be difficult for the Eighth Route Army troops to fight behind enemy lines.

Sun Weiguo's first consideration in fighting in Linzhang County was the issue of popular support, and he had to ensure that the people understood the policies of the Eighth Route Army and knew that the Eighth Route Army was an anti-Japanese force.

As Sun Weiguo's order began to be transmitted, the various departments immediately began to carry out the order, and the instructors of each company and the instructors of each battalion immediately began to form a working group.

They secretly went to various villages in Linzhang County to publicize the policies of the Eighth Route Army.

In the next few days, except for the troops of the 129th and 115th Divisions who launched combat operations in the county near Linzhang County, Linzhang County was still silent.

In addition to the reconnaissance units and political work groups carrying out tasks in various villages, the troops of the Sixth Army Subdivision of the Shanxi-Hebei-Henan Military Region did not engage in any fighting with the puppet army bandit troops.

However, in the county seat of Linzhang County, Guo Qing, the deputy commander of the Second Division of the Imperial Cooperation Army, learned through bandits that part of the Eighth Route Army had entered Linzhang County.

After getting this situation, Guo Qing's first thing was to get in touch with the stubborn bandit Li Tai in Linzhang County, he gave Li Tai two heavy machine guns and three light machine guns, Guo Qing asked Li Tai to organize bandits to kill the troops of the Eighth Route Army that entered Linzhang County, but Guo Qing did not inform Cheng Wenxuan of this matter, he wanted to make a contribution in front of the Japanese army.

"Deputy division commander, we just got the news that Guo Qing got in touch with Li Tai, and Li Tai dispatched more than 500 bandits to start the operation, and they seem to be planning to take action against the Eighth Route Army that has entered Linzhang County." As soon as Guo Qing and Li Tai took action, someone came to Cheng Wenxuan to make a report.