 On November 5, 1947, the 75th Regiment of the 25th Brigade of the communist 9th Column reached the outskirt of the Square City (Fang Cheng, 方城).Although the nationalists had built many fortifications both inside and outside the town, the local nationalist commander Wang Jingxiu (王敬修) was well aware that his four-regiments strong security brigade was not a match for the enemy, and in order to avoid annihilation, the nationalist garrison wisely abandoned the town without a fight, thus successfully retreated before the enemy besieged the town.After entering the town, the communist force with strict discipline discredited the negative nationalist propaganda about the communists and consequently, the local popular support drastically switched to the communist side.