Order to Attack the Forces of Chen Cheng
(August 29, 1932)
1. A summary of intelligence from all quarters: Under the command of Chen
Cheng, the enemy's Fourteenth Division, Ninetieth Division, and one brigade of
the Fifty-second Division (or the whole of the Eleventh Division) are advancing
toward Le'an. Yesterday (the 28th) its vanguard, the Fourteenth and Ninetieth
divisions, were approximately one day's march away from Le'an. Liu
Shaoxian's [Forty-third] Division arrived at Badu on the 28th and Zhou
Hunyuan's Fifth Division reached Fuzhou and Chongren. Furthermore, according to the confession of an enemy clerk who had recently come from Fuzhou and
was captured near Nancheng by our First Army Group, the enemy's First Divi-sion, that of Hu Zongnan, has been transferred from Henan to Jiangxi and has
already reached Nanchang. It is said that it might set out for Fuzhou. The enemy
troops now stationed in Fuzhou include the remnants of Sun Lianzhong's forces.
In Nancheng, the three enemy divisions of Li Yunjie, Mao Bingwen, and Xu
Kexiang are still holding out.

In assessing the enemy's attempt to do battle with us, because we are going to
attack Nancheng to the east and work in the vicinity of Nancheng, the enemy
will first try to regain lost strongholds such as Le'an and Yihuang in order to
stop our attempt to move northward. Afterward, he will concentrate his forces
from all sides to fight our main forces. For this reason, it is quite possible that
Chen Cheng's forces may attack and occupy Le'an at any time. After taking
Le'an, the enemy will adopt a posture of anticipating a decisive battle against our
main forces within the borders of Yihuang. Zhou's division in Chongren, and
even Hu's division, and the three divisions under Li, Mao, and Xu in Nancheng
will make a concerted attack by converging columns (at present, the balance of
forces is twenty divisions versus thirty-six or even forty-two regiments).¹ If our
armies give up Le'an and Yihuang and concentrate their main forces in the
direction of Nanfeng, there can be no doubt that the enemy will continue to
advance toward Nanfeng and achieve his goal of fighting a decisive engagement
against our main forces.

2. In order to shatter the enemy's offense, so that the soviet area in eastern
Jiangxi will continue to develop, we are resolved, first of all, to strike a blow at
one wing of the enemy, namely Chen Cheng's forces, which have just arrived
from the east after a long journey. Taking advantage of this victory, we will
attack the enemy troops that are going to join forces in Chongren, after which we
will wait for the appropriate opportunity to forge ahead, seeking to achieve
continual victories in the revolutionary war.
The starting point of this campaign will be in the vicinity of Yihuang city, but
we anticipate that the decisive battle will take place in the area of Fenggangyu
and Yuantou. It is quite possible, however, that we may use one unit to lure the
enemy's main forces in the direction of Yihuang, while we concentrate our main
forces to attack Chen Cheng's rear from the mountainous route in Huangpi.
3. On the basis of the objective stated above, our Front Army should begin,
starting on August 30, to concentrate its forces in an appropriate deployment.
This concentration should be completed in three days (September 1). The plan of
concentration is as follows:

UNIT ITINERARY PLACES OF
CONCENTRATION
First Army Group 1. Along the line Around Erdu and Xingfang
of Xinfengjie,
Shangyou, Zigui,
Yongxingqiao, and
Erdu.
2. March and concentrate
along the line of Lita,
Yongxingqiao, and Erdu.
Third Army Group Get to Lutang by way of Around Lutang and
Yihuang after crossing the Yihuang City
bridge.
Fifth Army Group March along the line of Hekou and the area nearby
Shengang, Dangkou,
Wudou, and Hekou.
Headquarters March along the line Nanhou near Xingfang
of Yongxingqiao and
Erdu.

Note: The First Army Group in Erdu, the Fifth Army Group in Hekou. They must
send some people beforehand to select the points for crossing the river and also to
build bridges as far as possible.

4. The tasks each unit should carry out during the period of concentration are
as follows:
a. The forces of the Third Army Group that are stationed in Yihuang city
should send a detachment to Longgudu, in the direction of Fuzhou, and the
area to the north of Guancangqian in the direction of Chongren, to conduct
guerrilla warfare.
b. The Twelfth Army should cross the river after the Third Army. Its task
is to keep watch on the operations of the three divisions under Li, Mao, and
Xu in Nancheng. Consequently, the strength of this army should be sufficient
to keep a close watch on the roads that connect Nancheng to Nanfeng (the
Xinfengjie and Litayu highway) and Nancheng to Yihuang (one reaches
Yihuang by way of Maopai and Tanfang, the other reaches Yihuang by way
of Lisanpi and Junshan). Hence, the headquarters of the Twelfth Army and its
directly attached unit, together with one regiment of the Thirty-Sixth Divi-sion, should be stationed in Lisanpi and conduct guerrilla warfare in the two
directions of Mayuan, and of Maopai and Lixi, in order to pin down the
enemy in Nancheng. The Thirty-sixth Division (minus one regiment) will be
stationed in Luojiafang (ranging upward to the Lisanpi highway) and will be
responsible for conducting guerrilla warfare in the direction of Zhuliang and
Xinfengjie, in order to obstruct the activity of the enemy troops in Nancheng
directed toward Nanfeng.
c. The Sixty-fourth Division (minus one regiment) will go at once to
Fenggangyu. Its main forces will move as close as possible to Le'an and do
their utmost to spy out the enemy's dispositions in Le'an. They should send
one unit to conduct guerrilla warfare in the direction of Chongren and to
observe the enemy there.
The regiment of this division that has been left behind in Nanfeng will be
temporarily under the command of Tan [Zheng], the head of the Political
Department of the Twelfth Army. It should cross to the west bank of the river
at once and be stationed along the line from Lita to Xinfengjie, to keep a
watch over the enemy in Nancheng.
d. The Sixty-fifth Division should be stationed toward Le'an, to observe
the operations of Chen Cheng's troops. If the enemy takes Le'an, it should
pin down the operations of this enemy to the south of Le'an by means of
guerrilla warfare. If the enemy advances from Le'an toward Yihuang, it
should make surprise attacks and harass the enemy's rear.
5. As regards the surveillance of the route to be taken by each army group
and the building of bridges, everything should be carried out according to plan,
so as to overcome the difficulties while on the march.
6. Along the way specialists must be sent out to take care of those who have
fallen behind. Those who are seriously ill may be sent to the hospital in the
military depot in Huangpi for rest and treatment.
7. On arriving at its place of concentration, each army group must immediately set up a telephone to facilitate liaison. This task is divided into the
following sections:
The First Army Group is responsible for the section from Lutang to Xingfang.
The Third Army Group is responsible for the section from Yihuang to Lutang.
The Fifth Army Group is responsible for the section from Hekou to Xingfang.
8. General Headquarters will arrive at Yongxingqiao and encamp there.

Commander-in-Chief
General Political Commissar
Zhu De
Mao Zedong

--- Notes

Our source for this order is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 279-82, where it is
reproduced from the original document in the Central Archives.

1. Presumably this means that the Nationalist army had twenty divisions (each with a
minimum of two regiments, and usually with three or more), while the Red Army could
muster thirty-six to forty-two regiments.