When shall we bind fast the Gray Dragon?6 It Is Necessary to Prepare for Battle
When Passing Through Hongde City and
Huan Xian
(October 13, 1935, 3:00 P.M.)
Peng [Dehuai]: 1. The First Column will march today for about seventy li, to the
Miaojiazhuang, Zhengjiawan, and Xiaonan’gou line, and camp there. It is
planned to go via Helianwan tomorrow (the 14th) to Hongde City and the area to
the east, and camp there.
2. The Second and Third Columns should go tomorrow by way of the southern edge of Helianwan, advance to the area southeast of Hongde City, and camp
there.
3. According to people who came from Huan xian on the 12th, there are two
regiments of the enemy’s Thirty-fifth Division in Huan xian. It is unclear how
many enemy troops are in Quzizhen. On that morning no cavalrymen had arrived
in Huan xian, but the Sixth Cavalry Division may have arrived yesterday or
today. As for the enemy troops pursuing us, they may reach the Maojiachuan–
Lianjiachuan line today.
4. When our troops arrive at and pass through the Hongde City–Huan xian
line tomorrow, they must be prepared to fight the enemy cavalrymen who may
appear. If the enemy force is small we will wipe it out. If it is large we will pin it
down, and then pass through the gaps in that line under cover of darkness.
Mao Our Troops Should Strive to
Concentrate Their Forces and Rest at
Wuqizhen and Jintangzhen (October 16, 1935, 7:00 P.M.)
Peng [Dehuai]: 1. There is no recent news about the enemy’s situation.
2. The First Column marched for fifty li today, reached the area of
Muguacheng, and camped there. It is planned for it to march fifty or sixty li to
the Tiebiancheng, Daozhang, and Tianbaihu line tomorrow, and to advance
toward Wuqizhen the day after.
3. The Second and Third Columns should advance toward Jintangzhen tomorrow. If the enemy situation permits they should march fifty to sixty li a day,
and prepare to arrive at Jintangzhen in three to four days’ march.
4. If the enemy pursuing us halts, our army should gather and rest for a day
or two at Wuqizhen and Jintangzhen, find out about conditions in Bao’an and
Jingbian, and then attack by separate routes and capture them. They should then
rest, consolidate their forces, and expand in the area of Wuqizhen, Bao’an, and
Jingbian, collect funds and supplies, and solve the problem of winter uniforms.
At the same time they should send someone to the Soviet Area to establish
liaison.
5. At present there is not much marching every day, so please order each unit
to make use of the time to carry out education, and to make every effort to
improve provisions.

Mao Plan to Destroy the Pursuing Enemy
in the Area East of Tiebiancheng (October 17, 1935, 9:00 P.M.)

Peng [Dehuai]: 1. The First Column is to set out today from Muguacheng, proceed to the
area forty li from Tiebiancheng called Niuquan Geda, and camp there.
2. Mao Bingwen1 has ordered Tao Zhiyue2 to advance to the Huan xian–
Hongde City line, reorganize his forces, and await further orders. His cavalry
regiment has ordered its rear elements to follow closely for surveillance purposes. At 2:00 P.M. today, our rear guard met the enemy on the high hill on the
eastern end of Muguacheng, and it appeared that they were the cavalry regiment.
3. If this enemy continues to pursue us, the plan is to counterattack on the day
after tomorrow and wipe him out in the area to the east of Tiebiancheng.
4. To prepare for day after tomorrow’s combat, the plan is for the First
Column to advance tomorrow (the 18th) to the Zhangjiawan and Yangjia
Miaotai line, east of Tiebiancheng, and camp there. Its rear guard will then be in
Tiebiancheng. The day after tomorrow, the rearguard troops are to induce the
enemy to pursue them, while the main forces will launch a surprise attack from
the sides.
5. The Second and Third Columns must make camp tomorrow rather close to
the First Column (along the Shijiahe and Yenjia Yaojian line), so that they will
be in a good position to cooperate in annihilating the enemy troops the day after
tomorrow.

Mao

---

Notes

Our source for this poem, which first appeared in the January 1957 issue of Shikan, is the
Shici duilian, pp. 59–60.

1. Mount Liupan, located in Guyuan xian in the southern part of what is now the
Ningxia Autonomous Region, is the main peak in the range bearing the same name. Mao
led the Central Red Army across this peak in early October 1935.

2. The editors of the Shici duilian note, “According to the reminiscences of Comrade
Chen Changfeng and others, the author made final revisions to the text of this ci in
December 1935, in Wayaobao (now Zichang xian).”

3. Mao here evokes the destination of the Long March.

4. When the poem was first published in Shikan, this line read: “Yak-tail banners idly
wave in the west wind.” Animal tails used as banners were traditional in China, especially
in the western regions, and the Tang dynasty poet Cen Shen, who by the twentieth century
was known as China’s foremost “frontier poet” and to whom Mao has elsewhere made
reference, wrote a line about a general who “held the yak-tail banner.” According to the
editors of the Shici duilian, in 1961 when Mao wrote out the poem “at the request of
comrades from Ningxia,” he substituted “red flags” for “yak-tail banners.” (See the October
7, 1961, issue of Guangming ribao for a facsimile of the poem in Mao’s calligraphy.)
Beginning with the 1963 edition of Mao zhuxi shici, “red flags” has been used.

5. Traditional legend has it that during Han Wudi’s time, an army was sent out to
Southern Yue. They asked Wudi for a long cord, promising to bind up and bring back the
king of Yue.

6. “Gray Dragon” stands for the planet Jupiter, which is considered an ill-omened,
evil force in ancient Chinese lore. Chinese commentaries on this poem state that it refers
to Chiang Kaishek, although earlier translations of the poem have indicated that it may
also stand for the Japanese invaders. The editors of the Shici duilian also state that this
line alludes to a ci to the tune “Congratulating the Bridegroom” by the Song dynasty poet
Liu Kezhuang, which contains the line, “When will the long cord come into our hands/To
bind fast the military commander?”

We have translated this document from Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 372–73.

Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 374–75.
34

Our source for this document is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, vol. 1, 1996, pp. 376–77.

--- Notes

1. Mao Bingwen (1891–1970), a native of Hunan, had participated in the first,
second, third, and fifth campaigns of “Encirclement and Suppression.” At this time he
was commander of the Third Column (Thirty-seventh Army) of the First Route under the
Guomindang army’s Northwest “Bandit Suppression” General Headquarters.

2. Tao Zhiyue (1892–1988) was a native of Hunan. At this time he commanded the
Eighth Division of Mao Bingwen’s Third Column.
35