 On November 23, 1947, the nationalist 133rd Brigade of the 20th Division under the Divisional commander Yang Gancai (杨干才) begun its push toward Square City (Fang Cheng, 方城) from Independent tree (Du Shu, 独树) Town, but the progress was slow due to the stubborn resistance from the 10th Brigade and the 11th Brigade of the communist 4th Column at Yueyang Village (Yue Yang Zhuang, 岳杨庄), Zan Village (Zan Zhuang, 昝庄), and Northern New Street (Bei Xin Jie, 北新街) regions.On November 24, 1947, the nationalist 134th Brigade of the 20th Division also begun its push toward Square City (Fang Cheng, 方城) from Nanyang, Henan, and after some setback at Pengyao (盆窑) regions due to enemy resistance, managed to link up with the nationalist133rd Brigade of the 20th Division in the region to east of Square City (Fang Cheng, 方城).The enemy gave up the town without a fight in attempt to lure the nationalists into the mountain for an ambush but the nationalists refused to be baited and would not venture out of the protection of the city wall.