Chinese force left in the region fighting the Japanese invaders and their puppet regime after the nationalist withdrew, and after successfully establishing communist bases in the rural regions where better life was provided to the general populace in comparison to that of Japanese occupied regions, the general Chinese populace agreed that the communists were well deserved to represent the China to accept the invaders' surrender in the region and takeover the regions occupied by the invaders. Order of battle Nationalist order of battle Jiao (胶) County – Gaomi – Zhucheng Coastal Defense Army (of Shandong Province) under the command of Zhang Buyun (张步云), totaling around 20,000 troops: 1st Division 2nd Division 3rd Division Security Group (1,000+ troops) Communist order of battle 1st Division of the Binhai (滨海) Military Region under the command of Liang Xingchu (梁兴初), totaling around 7,000 troops. Campaign In late August 1945, the communist launched their general counteroffensive in Shandong against the Japanese and their Chinese puppet regime force. Communist force rapidly threatened the Jiaoji Railway and Japanese strongholds around Zhucheng were isolated. On 5 September 1945, Japanese force withdrew to Gaomi, and most of strongholds were defended by the former nationalists turned Japanese puppet regime force under the command of Zhang Buyun (张步云), who rejoined the nationalists refused to surrender to the communists. Communists, in turn, decided to take the region by force. The defenders were scattered in different locations so the communists concentrated their force by massing a single division and attacked the isolated outposts on the very same day the Japanese troops retreated. Although the defenders enjoyed the overall numerical superiority, their morale was extremely low and the sparsely stationed garrisons had no advantage when facing the attacking enemy who enjoyed local numerical superiority, so when the communist attack begun, nearly all of the garrisons abandoned their posts and fled to the safety behind the city wall of Zhucheng. As a result, most of the region had fallen into the communist hands within a single night after continuous communist assaults. By the early morning of 6 September 1945, the eastern and western passes of Zhucheng were firmly in the attackers' hands and the attackers demanded the defenders to surrender. After the defenders refused to surrender, the communists launched their general assault at 7:00 PM and after suffering a mere several hundred fatalities, the defenders' morale completely collapsed and everyone abandoned their post and fled.