advance dangerously overexposed the nationalist units. Communist strategy On May 11 the communists learned that the nationalist 5th Army and 48th Reorganized Division had taken regions including Mia Family's Bent (Miao Jia Qu, 苗家曲) and Border Lake (Jie Hu, 界湖) by venturing out from Riverine Sunny and was advancing toward Yishui, leaving them dangerously exposed. The communists decided to ambush these units and, if possible, also any reinforcing units. After the order was given, new intelligence revealed Tang Enbo's plan and that the nationalist 74th Reorganized Division was advancing toward Tanbu. Communist commanders of the East China Field Army analyzed the situation and decided that it would be better to first annihilate the 74th Reorganized Division because it was the most dangerously exposed, and the gap between it and other nationalist units were the largest, making it easier to surround and destroy it. The commander of the nationalist 74th Reorganized Division, Gen. Zhang Lingfu, was regarded by many other nationalist commanders as arrogant because he was a favorite of Chiang Kai-shek and so was not on good terms with them, especially with Li Tianxia, the commander of the 83rd Reorganized Division. His relationship with his direct superior Tang Enbo was also quite rocky, so the communists believed that if Lingfu's 74th Reorganized Division was under attack, other nationalist commanders would not be too enthusiastic about saving it. The rugged terrain would limit the mobility of the mechanized nationalist force, while the communists could take advantage of it to hide and move their troops. The 74th Reorganized Division was one of the top five crack units of the nationalist forces, and once it was completely destroyed it would be a huge psychological blow to the nationalist morale and good propaganda for the communists. Another reason they had for destroying Lingfu's forces was personal: he had openly and often proclaimed that his goal was to feed Communist commander Chen Yi "to the fishes by driving he and his followers into the East China Sea. The communists were therefore determined to destroy their nemesis. After the communists had changed their mind on their targets, the communists ordered a redeployment of their forces on the morning of May 12: they would concentrate at least five columns (armies) to destroy the 74th Reorganized Division in the region bordered by the Menglianggu (孟良崮) Mountains in the north and Tanbu in the south. Communist forces on their