 In order to reinforce Yanzhou, the nationalist Reorganized 25th Division stationed in northern Jiangsu was sent from Xuzhou along the Tianjin-Pukou Railway, and its advanced guard had reached the region of Jie River () north of Tengzhou by June 28, 1948.The communists decided to ambush the nationalist reinforcement by deploying the 9th Column and the 13th Column, while the communist 7th Column was ordered to stop its assault on Yanzhou (兖州) and redeployed to assist the 9th and the 13th Columns.As the communists laid their trap, the nationalists changed their priority.