Xue Yue
The Nationalist strategy was simple: defend the island of Hainan by fending off the imminent Communist attack. The Nationalists formed the General Headquarters of Hainan Defense and Xue Yue was named as commander-in-chief. Five armies and two divisions, a naval fleet totaling more than four dozen warships, a marine regiment, and four groups of the air force with forty-five aircraft of various kinds were assigned to defend the island, and a 3-D defense was established. The Nationalist 32nd Army was assigned to guard the eastern portion of the island, the Nationalist Temporarily Organized 13th Division, the Training Division, and the 62nd Army were assigned to guard the northern part of the island, the Nationalist 4th and 64th Armies were assigned to guard the western part of the island, the Nationalist 63rd Army was assigned to guard the southern part of the island. Nationalist 3rd fleet and air force units were tasked to patrol the waters and prevent the enemy from approaching the island. Like his troops, Xue was confident they could hold the island, and he named the defensive setup after his courtesy name: the Boling Defensive Line ().