On August 21, 1946, the Nationalists began their push toward Suining (睢宁), Xiuqian (宿迁), and Taier Village (Tai Er Zhuang, 台儿庄).

Second, the Communist force in Shandong would regroup at Siyang (泗阳) and the eastern bank of the Grand Canal of China to have a month-long break.

The Communist force from Shandong under the command of Chen Yi should strike eastward to Suining region and fight the enemy, and then rest for a short period, and repeat the process, so that morale would remain high.

Both sides subsequently had to cease their operations due to heavy rains that followed and by the end of August 1946, the Communist force from Shandong under the command of Chen Yi withdrew to the east of Siyang (泗阳) to regroup and re-supply.

The second option was to strike the town of Oceanic River (Yang He Zhen, 洋河镇) to fight the Nationalist force of the New Guangxi Clique, which would be at least two divisions strong, but this would not worth it.

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 to September 7, 1946, they had sent four telegraphs to Chen Yi, 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.

On the same day, the Communist force from Shandong under the command of Chen Yi received order to move to regions including Si (泗) County, Suqian (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 began their new deployment on September 8, 1946.

The first was to ask not to take Hai’an (海安) so that their troops could have ten days to rest and regroup, and then move to Siyang (泗阳) to stop the Nationalist forces of New Guangxi Clique in order to stabilize the situation in central China.

If Chen Yi still had to follow the order by deploying the majority of the troops in the north, then the Communist 2nd Column under commander Wei Guoqing (韦国清) must be retained in the region to check the Nationalist southward advance.

After receiving this telegraph from Chen Yi, Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin made one last attempt to avert Chen Yi's decision by telegraphing back on the same day, claiming that the situation for the Communists in Huaibei was not optimistic and both Huaiyin and Huai'an were threatened, so taking Hai’an should not be a priority, and their troops should be give up the mission and turn northward to defend Huaiyin and Huai'an.

However, before they could exchange anymore telegraphs with Chen Yi, the rapid Nationalist advance had turned the table against the Communists, exactly as Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin had feared.

The idea was strongly opposed by the Communist commander of the 2nd Regiment of the 13th Brigade, Zhong Fasheng (钟发生), who reached the city earlier and fought with the Nationalists and thus was well aware their adversary's potent capability.

The Communist reinforcement from Shandong withdrew to Lianshui (涟水) region upon hearing the news of the fall of the cities, ending the battle.