Letter to the Southwest Jiangxi Special
Committee, for Transmission to the
Central Committee
(August 24, 1930, in the town of Yonghe, Liuyang)

To the Southwest Jiangxi Special Committee, to be copied and transmitted to
Comrades Chen Yi and Wu Zhonghao, and to the Western Fujian Special Committee, with the request to copy it and transmit it to the Central Committee:
Ping[jiang] and Liu[yang area]. Approximately fourteen regiments have reached
the Pingjiang-Liuyang area, and the Third Army Group has retreated toward
Changshoujie in Pingjiang.
the enemy in Jiangxi is very obstinate and perverse, we could not find them and
make them fight. The masses in central Jiangxi also failed to rise, so it was
decided to proceed towards Hunan with the objective of taking Changsha and
attacking Wuhan. On August 20 we attacked the enemy in Wenjiashi from three
directions. Without suffering large losses (seven hundred officers and soldiers
were killed or injured, many officers at the two levels of battalion and company
were injured, and Comrade Ke Wudong died in battle), our forces totally eliminated three regiments, one battalion, and one machine-gun company of enemy
forces, and captured over eleven hundred enemy officers and soldiers, including
one brigade commander and two regimental commanders. Approximately a
thousand enemy officers and soldiers were killed or wounded. We captured
fourteen hundred rifles, twenty water machine guns, seventeen portable and light
machine guns, more than a hundred Mauser pistols, and a large supply of bullets.
of which have previously done battle with the Red Army and have a rather
strong fighting capacity. They are [the forces of] Dai Douyuan (three regiments),
Chen Guangzhong (three regiments), Li Jue (three regiments), and Peng
Changren (two regiments).¹ In addition, there is a motley collection of other

We have translated this letter from Jiangxi dangshi ziliao, Vol. 6, pp. 97-98.
the Guomindang Thirty-fifth Army. Chen Guangzhong (1897–1949), a native of Hunan,
had begun life as a bandit. In June 1928 he had become commander of the Seventh
troops such as those of Guo Bushi, with a total force of approximately four
regiments. One quarter has been wiped out by our army, and the other three
quarters are still in the midst of their attack. These are the main forces of He Jian,
and once they are eliminated, political power in Hunan will be in our hands. In
addition, the Red Army will be greatly expanded, and we will be able to count
on taking Wuhan, although inevitably at a considerable price.
eastern Liu[yang], and Tao Guang and Chen Guangzhong had fled toward the
town of Liuyang the day before. At the same time the Third Army Group (the
Fifth Army and the Eighth Army) had arrived from Changshoujie for the purpose
of concentrating their forces. The morale of the Third Army Group was very
high, and it had seven thousand guns, which is comparable to what the First
Army Group had coming to the front. Tomorrow is the time set for the advance
on Changsha, and it should be possible to take Changsha after an intense campaign.
Changsha within two weeks after receiving this letter, and another twenty thousand within a month after receiving the letter. In a word, the sooner the better.
The first group should be led here by Comrade Wu Zhonghao, and the second
group should be brought by Comrade Chen Yi. This is a matter of extreme
importance, and it is urgently hoped that efforts will be made to bring it about.
Comrade Bao Ping must come.
Wuhan, that it will prepare to establish organs of political power and a Red
Army General Headquarters, and that it will send a responsible person to southern Hubei.

Mao Zedong

Independent Brigade. Li Jue (1898-1987), likewise a Hunanese, had graduated from the
Baoding Military Academy, and had participated in the Northern Expedition. In 1930, he
was deputy commander of the Nineteenth Division.

--- Notes

1. Under the command of He Jian, four divisions are attacking the

2. The First Army Group went to the Niuhang Railway Station, but because

3. The enemy forces that entered Liu[yang] constitute a total of five units, all

1. Dai Douyuan (dates unknown) was at this time commander of the First Division of

4. On August 23 our army fought all the way to the town of Yonghe in

5. The reserve army in southwestern Jiangxi must send ten thousand men to

6. It is hoped that the Central Committee will give its guidance on taking