 The communists decided to attack Yanzhou (兖州) again by concentrating a total of fifteen brigades from the Shandong Corps and local units to take the town and annihilate nationalist reinforcement.The communist 7th Column, 13th Column and units from Central Shandong Military District were tasked to attack the town, while the communist 9th Column was deployed to the north of Yanzhou, and communist units from southern Shandong Military District were deployed to the south of Yanzhou to ambush nationalist reinforcements.The communist Bohai Column was deployed to the east of Jinan to prevent nationalists stationed in the city from reinforcing Yanzhou.