 The shelling shocked the nationalist defenders since merely a year ago, artillery was still an extremely rare commodity for the communists, yet a year later the communist artillery firepower was greater than that of Japanese during World War II.Under the cover of intense artillery shelling, the communist 1st Column and 7th Column attacked the defenders from multiple directions.Forty minutes after the assault begun, the 2nd Division of the communist 1st Column breached the defense in the southwest, and by 2