--- Notes

August 1927. The Special Campaign in Southern Hunan, centered on Rucheng County, aimed to extend from this center and seize control of four or five additional counties, including Guidong, Yizhang, and Chenzhou. The plan was to establish a revolutionary command body resembling a government, carry out land reform, oppose the Tang regime in Changsha, and establish contact with anti-Tang forces in Western Hunan. This Southern Hunan government would serve three purposes: first, to further destabilize Tang’s already precarious rule in Hunan and accelerate the disintegration of his forces; second, to act as the vanguard of a province-wide peasant uprising; and third, to create a focal point for revolutionary forces with the ultimate goal of overthrowing the Tang government.

(1) On the military front: 1. Request that the Central Committee instruct Comrade Peng Pai not to redeploy the Guangdong Peasant Army currently stationed in Rucheng. 2. A contingent of one thousand troops from the Liuping Army should immediately proceed to Rucheng under the command of Guo Liang. 3. One regiment should be transferred from the Jiangxi Revolutionary Army to Rucheng. These three components would together constitute roughly a division, with the regiment of the Revolutionary Army forming the core; there would be at least a reliable prospect of capturing more than five counties.

(3) Southern Hunan must operate under the direction of the Jiangxi Revolutionary Leadership Body. Once a revolutionary Guangdong government is established, it will come under the latter’s command and receive all necessary supplies. The Central Committee should order the Jiangxi authorities to implement this plan.

(4) The Special Committee of the Party for Southern Hunan shall be under the command of the Hunan Provincial Committee. However, when communications are cut off, it may exercise its powers independently.