Front Army and the Place for Holding the
Plenum of the Central Bureau
(September 26, 1932)
To the Central Bureau:
We have perused your telegram of yesterday. 1
I. Wu Qiwei's enemy division in Le'an cannot be compared with Gao
Shuxun's one brigade. Last time, we spent two days in an attack on Le'an.2 If we
attack Le'an and it does not surrender within three days, the enemy's reinforcement troops from the west are sure to come, we will find ourselves exposed to
attacks from within and without. and our situation will become more unfavorable. The Sixteenth Army has now withdrawn from Shanggao and has begun to
expand in the direction of Pingxiang. The Eighth Army cannot be reached by
telegraph, and a coordinated operation will not enable them to pin down the main
forces along the Gan River.l Consequently, we are not certain of being able to
take Le'an. Moreover, even if, by summoning up all our strength, we can wipe
out Wu Qiwei, we will be unable, with the Red Army forces currently available,
to continue to attack the enemy's powerful reinforcements. We particularly request the Central Bureau to take note of this.
2. Now the Front Army has set off toward the border region.4 We are waiting
until we have clarified the situation of the enemy in Yihuang. If only Sun
Lianzhong's forces are there and the greater part of the Fifth Division in Fuzhou
has moved to Guixi, then we will resolutely attack Yihuang to open up the
situation. If there are strong enemy forces in Yihuang and it is not convenient to
attack it, then the only course will be to carry out the original plan, deploy our
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. I, pp. 296-97, where it is
I. See above, the note to the telegram of September 25.
2. The reference is to a battle waged at Le'an by the First Front Army on August 16
and 17, 1932.
3. These references to the Sixteenth and Eighth armies are to Red Army forces operating in the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi base area well to the northwest of the Central Soviet Area.
4. "Border region" in this context probably means the Jiangxi-Fujian border area,
though it is possible that it might refer instead to the boundary between the soviet and
non-soviet areas in this part of Jiangxi.

SEPTEMBER 1932
28J
troops for battle on a field located between Yi[huang) and Le['an], and win over
the masses in order to prod the enemy into action.
3. As regards the plenum of the Central Bureau, it remains preferable to hold
it at the front after Comrade Xiang [Ying] and Comrade Deng [Fa] have returned,~ because, as we pointed out in our previous telegram, there are many
things that must be discussed and settled. It is best to settle on a date before
October 10.
Zhou Mao Zhu Wang
S. As noted in the Introduction, the rear echelon Central Bureau leaders had initially
responded that the plenary meeting requested by Mao and his associates was infeasible
because Xiang Ying and Deng Fa were absent attending a meeting in Fujian.

reproduced from a copy in the Central Archives.