Construction for additional fortifications and strengthening the current ones was also completed in very short span of time, and in a devoted effort, many bunkers were built by sacks full of wheat and starch of American aid.

The enemy had missed the significant intelligence including the defenders receiving airdrop of 400 tons of supplies and weaponry in more than 200 sorties from Shenyang, and the rapid new construction of the fortifications.

On June 13, 1947, the communist 1st Column took Xinlitun, and the nationalist air force begun to attack enemy ground positions at a rate of near twenty sorties per day in order to support the defenders of the city.

The nationalists had underestimated the enemy's resolution to take the city, and defenders' stubborn resistance was equally out of expectation of the attacking communists as battle raged on with heavy casualties on both sides.

The defenders capitalized on these strong buildings and turned them into formidable fortifications, and the nationalist 71st Army headquarters was located in one of such bunkers, with the entrance sealed by a jeep.

On June 20, 1947, the 17th Division of the communist 6th Column unleashed its assault on the nationalist headquarters, and by the evening, the enemy was dangerously close.

Chen Mingren (陈明仁), the nationalist commander-in-chief of the urban defense, concentrated his remaining 20,000 strong force in the eastern half of the city, and by the evening of June 21, 1947, had successfully beaten back all enemy attacks.

The highest point in the Siping (city) was a water tower, and the nationalists turned it into a formidable bunker manned by tough veterans of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma and India during World War II, and these sharpshooters armed with light machine guns had successfully beaten back attacks by an entire enemy regiment for four times.

The streets of Siping (city) was covered with blood and soldiers of both sides frequently slid down, and the situation became desperate for the defenders that Chen Mingren (陈明仁), the nationalist commander-in-chief of the urban defense, was preparing to commit suicide and had his Browning pistol ready.

After fierce battles, the last counterattack of the nationalist 71st Army was beaten back with heavy loss in the morning of June 23, 1947, but the communist 1st Independent Division of the 7th Column suffered equally and was forced out of action once again for the second time.

The communists were overconfident that the city would fall for sure, and their New China News Agency had already issued a press release at the time, claiming that "…After 12 days of fierce fighting, the enemy (nationalists) had suffered over 16,000 casualties and remaining survivors had nowhere to flee.

Lin Biao's choice was clear, on June 30, 1947, he ordered a general withdraw that concluded the first stage of Siping Campaign.

In addition to the enemy's grave underestimation of the defenders' strength, the associating indecisiveness of Lin Biao also contributed to the nationalist success at the first stage of the campaign: Lin Biao was trying to increase the gain of the communist Summer Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China by deploying seventeen divisions to the south of Siping (city) in the hope of ambush nationalist reinforcement, but this had not materialized.

By this time, the nationalists in Northeast China had suffered greatly and Siping (city) was only garrisoned by a mere 19,000 troops, without any hope of reinforcement.

Though the enemy attack was considered unlikely, the nationalists nonetheless doubled the strength of the battalion and assigned over a dozen trucks and over 100 horse-drawn carts to ensure the safe completion of the job.

Learning the news, Luo Jie (罗杰), the deputy commander-in-chief of the communist base at the border area of Liaoning and Jilin, personally lead the units of the communist 18th Regiment and the Mongolian Cavalry Regiment launched a long distance surprise attack before dawn on the unsuspecting nationalist transportation battalion.