Operational Order to the Red Army[1]

(March 17, 1936)

The main force of the Red 1st Army Corps and the 81st Division shall continue to advance southward along the Fen River and the Tongpu Railway, seizing the opportunity to recapture Zhaocheng, Hongdong, and Linfen, and push forward toward Quwo, Wenxi, and Yuncheng. The main force of the Red 15th Army Corps shall exploit the enemy’s weakness and move northward, seizing the opportunity to occupy Wenshui, Jiaocheng, and their adjacent areas, threaten Taiyuan, and thereafter continue the northward advance to occupy Jingle, Lanxian, Kelan, and other counties, create a guerrilla base area in northwestern Shanxi, and establish contact with the Shenfu base area in Shaanxi Province. In addition, one regiment plus one battalion of the Red 15th Army Corps, units directly under the Front Army Headquarters, the newly formed Red 30th Army (fewer than 1,000 men), the Shanxi Guerrilla Force, and other units, under the command of Chief of Staff of the Military Commission Ye Jianying, are tasked with pinning down the counterattacking enemy, continuing to besiege Shilou, controlling the Yellow River ferry crossings, and safeguarding rear area communications.

[1] In March 1936, in order to retake the occupied areas in western Shanxi, Yan Xishan ordered his four columns to counterattack once more toward Shilou. Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai issued this operational order, seizing the moment when the defensive forces in Taiyuan, southern Shanxi, and northwestern Shanxi were relatively weak.