On the same day, the communist force from Shandong under the command of Chen Yi (communist) received order to move to regions including Si (泗) County, Xiuqian (宿迁) and Shuyang (沭阳) to defend off the possible nationalist attack on Shuyang (沭阳) from Suqian (宿迁), or the possible nationalist attack on Huaiyin from the town of Oceanic River (Yang He Zhen, 洋河镇), and the troops begun their new deployment on September 8, 1946.
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After receiving this telegraph from Chen Yi (communist), Su Yu and political commissar Tan Zhenlin (谭震林) made one last attempt to avert the Chen’s decision by telegraphing back on the same day, claiming that the situation for the communist in Huaibei was not optimistic and both Huaiyin and Huai'an were threatened, so taking Hai’an (海安) should not be a priority, and their troops should be give up the mission and turn northward to defend Huaiyin and Huai'an.
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Otherwise, the communists would attack westward into the region of Suining (雎宁) and Xiuqian (宿迁), so that the communist standing in Southern Shandong, Shuyang (沭阳), Huaiyin and Huai'an would remain favorable, and Su Yu still should direct his force to take Hai’an (海安).
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Furthermore, all of the communist bases in central and northern Jiangsu were lost as a consequence because the natural barriers that would help to defend these communist bases such as Lake Hongze, Lake Gaoyou (Gao You Hu, 高邮湖), and Grand Canal of China were in nationalist hands when Huaiyin – Huai'an region was lost by the communists.
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The collapse of the communist bases in northern and central Jiangsu as a consequence of the fall of Huaiyin – Huai'an region meant that the rural area as a rich source in grain production and providing soldiers was no longer within the communist grasp.
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The first option was to move to Shuyang (沭阳) in the north to face the incoming nationalist Reorganized 74th Division and 69th Division thus securing the link to southern Shandong, but this would leave only the communist 9th Column to defend Huaiyin, which was obviously not enough.
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The nationalist victory resulted in a great blow to the morale of the enemy when Huaiyin, the capital of the communist base in central Jiangsu was taken by the advancing nationalists.
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The nationalist assault was with lightning speed that was completely unexpected by the enemy: on August 10, 1946, the nationalist Reorganized 28th Division and the Reorganized 74th Division struck the regions of the town of Oceanic River (Yang He Zhen, 洋河镇) and Storage Village (Cang Ji, 仓集) and threatened Huaiyin directly.
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Su Yu and his political commissar Tan Zhenlin (谭震林) were concerned about the next move their comrades would make, and from September 5 thru September 7, 1946, they had sent four telegraphs to Chen Yi (communist), strongly recommending that his communist force from Shandong should remain in Huaiyin and Shuyang (沭阳) regions so that the communists could concentrate their forces to ensure victories.
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Chen Yi (communist) was forced to readjust his troop deployment again: the communist 5th Brigade and the 13th Brigade in central Jiangsu were ordered to Huaiyin to help the communist 9th Column to set up a defensive line along the southern bank of the Grand Canal of China, the communist forces attacking Hai’an (海安) abandoned their original plan and turned to Huaiyin to reinforce the threatened city.
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On September 12, 1946, the nationalist 7th Army crossed the Grand Canal of China and took Siyang (泗阳), approaching Huaiyin.
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Pi Dingjun (皮定均), the communist commander of the 13th Brigade gravely underestimated the nationalists when he reached Huaiyin with the 1st Regiment of the communist 13th Brigade, and ordered each of three regiment of the 13th Brigade would have two of their battalions sent out to counterattack the nationalists.
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The communist high command telegraphed back on August 29, claiming that the nationalists had struck eastward across the Lanzhou-Lianyungang Railway and thus threatened Huaiyin and Linyi, so it was impossible to for the communist troops to rest for a month continuously.
Huai'an (淮阴), named Huaiyin before 2001, prefecture-level city of Jiangsu
In 580, after Northern Zhou captured the region between the Yangtze and Huai from Chen, Emperor Xuan made an attempt to recapture the territory, and Xiao served in the campaign along with Emperor Xuan's nephew Chen Huiji (陳慧紀), but after he was unable to capture Guangling (廣陵, in modern Huaiyin, Jiangsu), he withdrew.
Born Hua Tingyou (滑庭友) in Huaiyin, Jiangsu province in 1901, Hua graduated from the No. 6 Normal School of Jiangsu Province in 1924.