The Battle of Yiwu (伊吾) is also called the Battle to Defend Yiwu (伊吾保卫战) by the Chinese Communist Party and resulted in the communist victory. After the local nationalist commanders in Xinjiang defected to the communist side, many nationalists loyal to Chiang Kai-shek refused to join the communists and one detachment of these loyal nationalists decided to take the town of Yiwu (Uyghur: Ara Türük) to turn it into a guerrilla base in order to fight on until the eventual return of Chiang.