The KMT Nationalist government secured a series of victories against the Communists in the early stages of their campaigns in Manchuria, regaining control of Changchun by 23 May 1946.

[10] By mid-March 1948, the CCP managed to capture most parts of Manchuria, isolating the KMT forces in small pockets concentrated in the cities of Shenyang, Changchun and Jinzhou.

[16] Beginning on 23 May 1948, the Northeast Field Army under the command of Lin Biao reached the outskirts of Changchun and began encircling the city.

[18] The Nationalist government attempted to airdrop supplies to the city, which was only successful to a limited extent due to increasing Communist anti-aircraft presence in the proximity.

[25] The siege warfares employed by the CCP throughout the campaigns in the Northeast were highly successful, which reduced a significant number of KMT troops and altered the balance of power.

[1] The CCP prevented the civilians from leaving the city to exhaust the food supply of the KMT defenders, which resulted in "tens of thousands people starv[ing] to death".

[27] In the end, around 150,000 refugees successfully left Changchun, although some of these were sent back into the city as agents or spies to counter the claim that the Communists were deliberately starving the civilian population.

[2] According to Harold M. Tanner, the high civilian casualties from the Siege of Changchun "casts a shadow" over the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party.