Telegram to Peng Dehuai[1]

(October 14, 1935)

The Second and Third Columns must take advantage of the night to pass through the line of Hongdecheng and Huanxian, arrive tomorrow in the area south of Gengjiawan (exclusive) to set up camp, and the day after tomorrow take a parallel route with the First Column to advance eastward.[2]

[1] This is the main content of a telegram from Mao Zedong at Hongdecheng to Peng Dehuai.

[2] Regarding the situation of the Shaanxi-Gansu Detachment passing through Hongdecheng, Mao Zedong stated at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on October 22: Hongdecheng was the most dangerous pass. After we crossed the Wei River, the enemy learned the details and pursued us like a violent storm. After we passed through Hongdecheng, the enemy arrived at 2:30; had we not passed through early, we would have been obstructed.