 After a two-hour-long artillery barrage, Qing forces abandoned the walls of Niuzhuang with almost no resistance, fleeing into town.However, with further retreat cutoff, the Qing forces resorted to urban warfare, contesting the city street-by-street in what was often hand-by-hand combat.However, by nightfall the fighting had ceased with a large number of Qing soldiers breaking through Japanese lines and fleeing into the countryside, and with the remainder (approximately 600 men) surrendering.