 On September 12, 1946, the Nationalist 7th Army crossed the Grand Canal of China and took Siyang (泗阳), approaching Huaiyin.On September 13, 1946, the Nationalist Reorganized 74th Division attacked from the right flank of the Nationalist 7th Army, taking the Yuan Family's Village (Yuan Zhuang, 袁庄) and Xu Family's Village (Xu Zhuang, 徐庄) from the Communist 9th Column.Rao Zijian (饶子健), the deputy commander-in-chief of the Communist 9th Column personally led the Communist 75th Regiment counterattack, but without any success and the defenders’ perimeter was limited to the pier.