 However, the communist 7th Column and the 3rd Division of the communist 1st Column failed to breach the defense, and nationalist reserve launched multiple counterattacks on the enemy under the air cover, which had increased into more than twenty sorties per day.By June 16, 1947, the communists 1st Division and the 2nd Division inside the city had beaten back defenders' counterattacks for more than a dozen times, but in doing so, each suffered more than 1,500 casualties.The regions inside the city taken by the enemy was relatively small and only a thousand or so defenders were captured alive by the enemy, but situation for the defenders worsened on June 18, 1947 when the communist 7th Column breached the defense in northwest.