Telegram to Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen on the Results of Negotiations with Zhang Xueliang (April 11, 1936)

Lin, Nie:

(A) We agree to your first operational plan. Breaking through the blockade line is part of your mission and may be postponed for completion within two weeks.

(B) Diplomatic situation: Vice Chairman Zhou entered Fushi City at 8 p.m. on the 9th and left the city at 4 a.m. on the 10th, having talked with Zhang Xueliang through the night. Results:

1. The National Defense Government and the Anti-Japanese Allied Army are regarded as the only way out. After studying the Ten-Point Political Program, Zhang put forward his opinions.

2. He supports the concentration of the Red Army in Hebei and the march of the Fourth Front Army out of Gansu. Zhang’s troops can give way. As for the Second and Sixth Army Corps, consent from the Central Army must be obtained, and he can undertake mediation.

3. Regarding representatives dispatched to the Soviet Union, his will go via Europe, and ours, under Zhang’s protection, will go via Xinjiang.

4. He fully agrees to cease the civil war and stated that if the Red Army engages the Japanese forces, the nationwide cease-fire movement will become even more powerful.

5. Before he openly declares resistance to Japan, he cannot but accept Chiang’s orders to advance and occupy the Soviet Area. He is now preparing to send Wang Yizhe’s army into Fushi, building blockhouses along the way. Communications between the two sides will remain as they are for now. After one month, the situation will be reviewed and decisions made accordingly. As for Yang Huchen concentrating forces at Yichuan to advance and occupy Yanchang, he wants us to send a unit to Hancheng to obstruct and harass them. At the same time, Chen Xianrui’s unit in southern Shaanxi should move north to harass the Xi’an and Guanzhong areas with large-scale activities, so that he will have a pretext before Chiang.

6. On trade issues: For ordinary goods, we will set up shops and make purchases ourselves. For military supplies, he will handle procurement on our behalf, and bullets can be supplied.

7. Mutual dispatch of permanent representatives.

8. Zhang stated that if the Red Army moves into Hebei, it may be disadvantageous, and it may also be difficult to gain a foothold in Shanxi. He advocates that the Red Army operate in Suiyuan. However, if the Red Army decides to move into Hebei, he can notify Wan Fulin’s troops not to attack us.

Peng, Mao

11th, 17:00