Only by Marching Directly
on Zhangzhou and Quanzhou
Can We Make the Enemy Move'
(March 30, 1932)
Comrade Enlai:
1. I received your telegram. From a political perspective, we must advance
directly on Zhangzhou and Quanzhou, for it is only in this way that we can force
the enemy to move, provoke battle. and open up the situation. If we remain in the
vicinity of Longyan to raise revenue, it will continue to be a conservative situation and it will be very difficult to take the next step.
2. According to our investigation, Zhangzhou is difficult to defend but easy
to attack. Therefore, whether or not our First Army Group and Seventh Division
are able to attack Zhang Zhen in Longyan, they should all proceed directly to
Zhangzhou.
3. It requires only five days for enemy troops in Guangdong to come to
Longyan from Dapu and threaten our rear, but it requires fifteen days for the
Fifth Army Group to get to Longyan from Xinfeng. Consequently, it will definitely be too late if we wait till we have learned that the enemy troops in
Guangdong have entered Fujian before making any movement.
4. The First Army Group has already arrived at Xinqiao to the east of
Changting [City] for a rest. In order to confuse the enemy's spies, they will wait
until the Seventh Division joins them before proceeding eastward. The Fifth
Army Group may enter Fujian afterward, but should arrive at Longyan no later
than April 20 and await orders. The Thirteenth Army must also enter Fujian, take
up a position in Kanshi in Longyanxian,4 and protect our rear. At present, when
the First Army Group is moving forward, the rear is completely empty. I hope
that you will urge the Seventh Division to come to Changting without delay. If
the Seventh Division does not join forces with it, the First Army Group will be
too weak to advance to Zhangzhou.
5. I will go to Jiuxians tomorrow to see Tan [Zhenlin] and Zhang
{Dingcheng].
Z«iong
!i. A pl.:c in DOJtbcm Shanghang xian.

--- Notes

Our source for this document is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 263-64.
I. This and the several subsequent documents were written by Mao during the early
stages of his raid on Zhangzhou in Fujian. For more details, see the Introduction.

2. The Seventh Division referred to here was the Seventh Independent Division of
local troops raised by the Western Fujian Military Region.
3. Zhang Zhen commanded the Nationalist army's Forty-ninth Division.

4. Kanshi is currently in Yongdingxian.
""