New Fourth Army
Because of the lack of troops, the Japanese ceased attacking the New Fourth Army actively. Several fierce battles erupted again between the New Fourth Army and the Nationalist forces. The New Fourth Army tried to establish base areas in eastern Zhejiang, Hunan and Hubei Province. When World War Two ended, they stopped operations and withdrew from base areas. At this time, the New Fourth Army already had 268,000 soldiers. In order to occupy northeast China in time, Huang Kecheng ordered the 3rd Division's 35,000 men to leave his base area.