A Letter to All Officers and Soldiers of the Northeastern Army on the Red Army’s Willingness to Unite with the Northeastern Army to Resist Japan

(January 25, 1936)

Deputy Commander Zhang, Chairman Yu, Army Commander Wang, Army Commander He, Army Commander Dong, Army Commander Wan,[1] and to be forwarded to all division and regimental commanders and all officers and soldiers of the Northeastern Army:

More than four years have passed since the “September 18th” Incident. During these four years, not only have the thirty million compatriots in the three northeastern provinces become ghosts under the knives and meat on the chopping blocks of the Japanese imperialist bandits, but provinces such as Rehe, Chahar, and Hebei have also been successively occupied. The whole of North China is about to become a second “Manchukuo.” The “long-term resistance” of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nanjing government has in fact proven to be nothing but permanent non-resistance. Chiang Kai-shek is the greatest traitor and seller of the nation in China since ancient times; he wants to sell the entire China to Japanese imperialism!

Under the non-resistance orders of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nanjing government, the Northeastern Army abandoned your own homeland and your own land and property, allowing your parents, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters to be trampled, oppressed, raped, and slaughtered by the Japanese imperialist bandits. Thinking of this, how can one not be heartbroken, how can one not be filled with hatred! The Japanese imperialist bandits and the arch-traitor and seller of the nation Chiang Kai-shek are the sworn enemies of your Northeastern Army; you should vow to fight to the death to overthrow Japanese imperialism and the arch-traitor and seller of the nation Chiang Kai-shek, and to recover our three northeastern provinces and the whole of North China!

Because the overwhelming majority of the officers and soldiers of the Northeastern Army are willing to fight Japanese imperialism, and are at

[1] Referring to Zhang Xueliang, Yu Xuezhong, Wang Yizhe, He Zhuguo, Dong Yingbin, and Wan Fulin.

daggers drawn with Japanese imperialism, the Japanese imperialist bandits and the arch-traitor Chiang Kai-shek do not like the Northeastern Army. Since the Northeastern Army withdrew from the three northeastern provinces, Chiang Kai-shek has never given the Northeastern Army a place or time to rest and reorganize. He does not want the Northeastern Army to fight Japanese imperialism, but wants the Northeastern Army to fight the Red Army, because the Red Army opposes Japanese imperialism and opposes the treasonous Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang! Today he transfers the Northeastern Army to Hubei-Henan-Anhui to fight the Red Army, and tomorrow he transfers it to Gansu and Shaanxi to fight the Red Army. He wants Chinese to slaughter each other; he wants the Northeastern Army, which is willing to resist Japan, to fight the Red Army, which is determined to resist Japan, to make Japan happy, and to make the Northeastern Army suffer sacrifices and losses. Think about it, is not the vicious scheme of the traitor Chiang Kai-shek hateful?

Chiang Kai-shek not only wants the Northeastern Army to fight the Red Army, but also oppresses the Northeastern Army everywhere. He does not give the Northeastern Army a good piece of land, transferring the Northeastern Army to the poorest provinces of Shaanxi and Gansu, and even the relatively prosperous areas within these two provinces, such as southern Gansu and southern Shaanxi, he is unwilling to give to the Northeastern Army. The treatment of the officers and soldiers of the Northeastern Army is extremely unequal; how can the pay and provisions of the Northeastern Army officers and soldiers even reach half of that of Chiang Kai-shek’s own direct troops? The lives of the Northeastern Army officers and soldiers are truly bitter, and supporting their families and raising children is even more out of the question.

Chiang Kai-shek’s vicious schemes do not stop there. He sends his own fascist henchmen into the Northeastern Army to monitor the actions of its officers and soldiers, sowing discord everywhere, using coercion and bribery, undermining the internal unity of the Northeastern Army in order to disintegrate it. The Northeastern Army cannot obtain replenishments of personnel or supplies of arms and ammunition from Chiang Kai-shek.

In short, Chiang Kai-shek wants to destroy the Northeastern Army, to scatter its officers and soldiers, to let them freeze to death, die of illness, or be killed in battle, so that Japanese imperialism will have one less enemy, and so that Chiang Kai-shek will have one less opponent. Think about it, is not the future of the Northeastern Army dangerous? The Northeastern Army now stands hesitating at a crossroads; the Northeastern Army is now amidst difficulties; within the Northeastern Army there is now no common goal for which to strive together. Therefore, military morale is slack, and there is no unity between superiors and subordinates. If the Northeastern Army continues like this, how dangerous it is!

Just think, where is the way out for the Northeastern Army? Is fighting the Red Army the way out for the Northeastern Army? Is attacking

the Soviet areas the way out for the Northeastern Army? No. This is not only not your way out, but your dead end. Do not mistake your foes and adversaries; do not mistake your friends for your enemies. One mistake must not be followed by another; how can one error be compounded by yet another?

The enemies of the Northeastern Army are the Japanese imperialist bandits and the arch-traitor and seller of the nation Chiang Kai-shek. Therefore, resisting Japan and opposing Chiang Kai-shek is your only way out. Is there any patriotic soldier in the Northeastern Army who, when speaking of fighting Japanese imperialism and fighting the traitors, does not clench his fists, roll up his sleeves, and step forward, willing to win honor for the Chinese nation? Is there any person from the Northeast unwilling to go through fire and water to recover the three northeastern provinces and the provinces of North China?

As soon as the Northeastern Army raises the righteous banner of resisting Japan and opposing the traitors who sell the nation, then within the Northeastern Army military morale can be united, superiors and subordinates can be as one, making the Northeastern Army the revolutionary army of the Chinese people. At that time, which Chinese person would not be willing to support the Northeastern Army, love and esteem the Northeastern Army, and aid the Northeastern Army spiritually and materially? Which hot-blooded patriotic man would not be willing to join the Northeastern Army to fight the bandits together, to express righteous indignation and strive for glory for the Chinese nation? Which officer or soldier of the Northeastern Army would not become a national hero of all China, renowned throughout China and the world? Pray tell, is this not the way for a true man to render meritorious service and save the nation?

The Northeastern Army has a glorious history of resisting Japan in the past. The battles at the various passes of the Great Wall resounded throughout China. If, at that time, the full strength of the Northeastern Army, with the support of the Chinese people, had fought the war of resistance to the end, the three northeastern provinces would have long been recovered, and Japanese imperialism would not be so rampant. But the past is past; we must now rally our forces and raise our banners anew, carry forward the spirit of resisting Japan shown at that time, and struggle to the end for the independence and liberation of the Chinese nation. Vowing to die rather than be slaves of a lost nation is the resounding answer of the entire Chinese people to the aggression of the Japanese imperialist bandits, and it is also the clear slogan of the Northeastern Army in resisting Japan.

The Chinese Soviet Government and the Red Army have the utmost regard and affection for the Northeastern Army, which has a glorious history of resisting Japan, and are deeply concerned about its future development. Therefore, we presume without hesitation to offer a bit of our opinion to the leaders, officers, and soldiers of the Northeastern Army. The Chinese Soviet Government and the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army are willing to unite with any armed forces that resist Japan to organize a national defense government and an anti-Japanese allied army, to directly engage in combat with Japanese imperialism. We are willing first to join with the Northeastern

Army to jointly realize this proposition and serve as the vanguard of the entire Chinese people in resisting Japan. We have long heard that the officers and soldiers of the Northeastern Army are all patriotic people of high principle and deep understanding, and will surely be able to cast aside all past doubts and misunderstandings to be the first to respond to the anti-Japanese call of the Soviet Government and the Red Army. Among the four hundred million compatriots, apart from a very small number of traitors and sellers of the nation, there are none who are willing to be filial sons and obedient grandsons of Japanese imperialism, or willing to be slaves of a lost nation. As soon as we raise our voice, we believe that those who respond to us will not be hundreds of thousands or millions of Chinese, but tens of millions, hundreds of millions of Chinese. With the human, financial, military, and intellectual strength of four hundred million Chinese compatriots, we will certainly defeat Japanese imperialism! “China is powerless to resist Japan” is the slogan of Chiang Kai-shek and his ilk of traitors and sellers of the nation to deceive the Chinese people and surrender to the Japanese imperialist bandits; it is not the slogan of us, the descendants of the Yellow Emperor with a history of thousands of years. We are Chinese, and we must struggle to the end for the independence and liberation of China! Saving China is the responsibility of us Chinese ourselves!

Regarding the specific methods for organizing a national defense government and an anti-Japanese allied army, please send representatives for mutual consultation. All individuals or representatives willing to resist Japan are friends of the Soviet Red Army; we welcome them all to the Soviet areas and are willing to entertain them with the utmost sincerity. At the same time, whether the Soviet system is suitable for China, please also come to investigate personally and pass judgment.

A letter cannot fully convey our thoughts; we respectfully lay bare our innermost feelings, and hope that you, gentlemen, will ponder them carefully. With salutations for the national revolution!

Mao Zedong, Peng Dehuai, Ye Jianying,
Nie Rongzhen, Cheng Zihua, Zhang Yunyi,
Liu Zhidan, Liu Yalou, Xiao Hua,
Gao Gang, Zhou Enlai, Lin Biao,
Yang Shangkun, Zhu Rui, Xu Haidong,
Guo Shushen, Chen Guang, Peng Xuefeng,
Yang Sen, Yan Hongyan, jointly

January 25, 1936