粟裕
The pleas from Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin were rejected by Chen Yi, who telegraphed back on August 9, 1946, claiming that the situation has changed and the Nationalist 7th Army had moved southward to regions including Lingbi (灵壁), Siyang, Suqian and Suining and its original defense perimeter was filled by other Nationalist units. The Communist should wait for several days to see if the Nationalists would move eastward, and if so, the Communists would ambush them in regions including Xin'an County, Shuyang and Suqian. Otherwise, the Communists would attack westward into the region of Suining and Suqian, so that the Communist position in Southern Shandong, Shuyang, Huaiyin and Huai'an would remain favorable, and Su Yu still should direct his force to take Hai’an. After receiving this telegraph from Chen Yi, Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin made one last attempt to avert Chen Yi's decision by telegraphing back on the same day, claiming that the situation for the Communists in Huaibei was not optimistic and both Huaiyin and Huai'an were threatened, so taking Hai’an should not be a priority, and their troops should be give up the mission and turn northward to defend Huaiyin and Huai'an. However, before they could exchange anymore telegraphs with Chen Yi, the rapid Nationalist advance had turned the table against the Communists, exactly as Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin had feared.