Order to Wipe Out the Enemy in Le'an
(August 15, 1932, 11:00 A.M.)
1. The enemy troops defending Le'an City consist of one brigade of the
Twenty-seventh Division. Their force amounts in all to two regiments, and they
have built some fortifications on a height near the city.


2. The goal of our army is to wipe out this enemy quickly and take Le'an
City. We plan to launch an attack on the enemy defending the city tomorrow (the
16th).


3. Comrade Lin Biao is appointed as commander-in-chief of this attack on
the city and Comrade Nie Rongzhen as political commissar. The First Army
Group, the Fifth Independent Division, the Intelligence Battalion, and all other
units that may subsequently participate in this attack on the city come under their
command.


4. The Fifth Army Group is the general reserve force. Its position tomorrow
(the 16th) should be near Nancun.


5. The Third Army Group should arrive on the line from Xuzhuang to
Yinshuiping on the 16th and reach Shuikou on the 17th. On the 18th they should
arrive at Pailugang. to keep watch on the enemy in Yihuang and Chongren and
provide support in the attack on the city.


6. The military depot and hospital will be located in Zhaoxie.


7. Every army should choose an appropriate place to set up its field hospital.


8. The General Management Department and the logistic departments of
every army are all under the command of Department Head Fan. 2 They should
advance as far as Wangxian tomorrow (the 16th) and await further orders.


9. General Headquarters will be in Wangxian tomorrow (the 16th).


Commander-in-Chief
Zhu De
Political Commissar
Mao Zedong


Our source for this order is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 275-76, where it is
reproduced from a copy in the Central Archives.
1. Commanded by Sun Lianzhong. Sun earlier commanded the Twenty-sixth Army,
but it had mutinied in December 1931 and came over to join the Red Army.
2. The reference is to Fan Shude (1907- ), a native of Wuji in Henan. Fan, who joined
the Party in 1925, served as a supply and transport officer with the Red Army on the
Jinggangshan and after, and was at this time head of the Management Office (Jingli bu) of
the Military Affairs Commission.