On August 26, 1946, Chen Yi telegraphed the Communist high command to report the three options for the Communist force from Shandong under his command to fight in Huaibei: First, the 2nd Division, 7th Division and the 8th Division of the Communist force in Shandong would attack the Nationalist 28th Army. Second, the Communist force in Shandong would regroup at Siyang (泗阳) and the eastern bank of the Grand Canal of China to have a month-long break. Third, all of the Communist force in Shandong would go south to join forces with the Communist force under Su Yu’s command to concentrate their forces. Chen Yi and his subordinates preferred the second option because they could strike in north, south or west when they wanted. The Communist high command telegraphed back on August 29, claiming that the Nationalists had struck eastward across the Lanzhou-Lianyungang Railway and thus threatened Huaiyin and Linyi, so it was impossible to for the Communist troops to rest for a month continuously. The Communists would be in a bad position if they were not to actively engaging the enemy.