Exterminate the Enemy at Guanshang with Full Force[1]

(February 26, 1936)

Lin and Nie:

A. Enemy situation as in separate telegram.

B. Regarding the enemy at Guanshang[2], if the terrain is favorable, we should resolutely exterminate them tomorrow (the 27th).

C. If the terrain is unfavorable and there is no possibility of resolving the battle, then tomorrow use a small force to keep the enemy under surveillance, withdraw the main force to the south of Guanshang (i.e., between Guanshang and Shuitou Town[3]) to conceal and rest, in order to await enemy reinforcements and advance to attack them, and wait for the Fifteenth Army Corps to close in on you, then exterminate them with full force.

D. The Fifteenth Army Corps will arrive at Shuitou Town tomorrow.

Peng and Mao

February 26, 23:00 hours

[1] This is a telegram from Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai, Commander of the First Front Army of the Red Army, to Lin Biao, Commander of the First Army Corps of the First Front Army, and Nie Rongzhen, Political Commissar.
[2] Guanshang, a village name, located in the southern part of present-day Zhongyang County, Shanxi Province.
[3] Shuitou Town, located in the northwestern part of present-day Jiaokou County, Shanxi Province.