in Chahar and Rehe regions struck toward the central sections of Jinzhou and Chengde, cutting off the important railway communication line, and taking Weichang (围场), Chifeng, Beipiao, Changli (昌黎), Funing (抚宁) and other areas. Third Stage After a series of earlier defeats, the nationalists changed their strategy by focusing on defending the strategic major cities such as Changchun, Shenyang and Siping, and both sides set their sights on Siping, the traffic hub of northeast China. The nationalist divided the city into five defensive zones, tasking the 71st Army and the 54th Division of the 13th Army as the main defenders. The communists massed the 1st Column, the 17th Division of the 6th Column, and the Western Manchurian 3rd Independent Division to assault the city, while four columns totaling 10 Division, 5 independent Divisions, and 2 cavalry Divisions were deployed to the north and south of the city to stop any enemy reinforcement. On June 14, 1947, the communist assault begun and the communist 1st Column and the Western Manchurian 3rd Independent Division penetrated into the city. On June 19, 1947, the communist 17th Division of the 6th Column joined the fight and only the Iron East (Tiedong, 铁东) Precinct remained in the nationalist hands. The nationalist commanders realized the token force sent to reinforce Siping (city) was not enough so he changed his tactic by sending additional forces, totaling ten divisions from Changchun and Shenyang, including 2 divisions from the nationalist 52nd Division newly arrived Shenyang from China proper. On June 24, 1947, two nationalist Divisions sent from Changchun were stopped at the Village of the Tao Family (Taojia Tun, 陶家屯). When the communists learned that another eight nationalist divisions sent from Shenyang were pushing toward Siping (city) in three fronts parallel to the railway, the communists changed their strategy. Instead of attempting to gain the control of the city, it was decided to kill as many enemy troops as possible so the attack on Siping was stopped and a total of nine communist divisions were gathered to face the nationalist Newly Organized 6th Army at the right. On June 29, 1947, the communist force managed to inflict heavy damage on its target, with the 169th Division and the 22nd Division of the nationalist Newly Organized 6th Army were completely wiped out at the Sable Skin Village (Diaopi Tun, 貂皮屯) and Weiyuan Bunker (Weiyuan Bao, 威远堡) regions, while the 14th