Enlisting the gangs angered the local populace, which already blamed the Nationalists for losing the region to the Japanese invaders. As a result, the Nationalists lost popular support in the region, a problem exacerbated by the fact that the hired bandits had fought the Nationalists both prior to and during the war and had cooperated with the Japanese invaders. The Nationalists recruited forces from the former Japanese puppet regime, such as the Iron Stone Units (Tie Shi Bu Dui, 铁石部队), to be part of the local garrison, which only increased the hatred from the local populace, which had suffered under the Japanese puppet regime.