Disrupting River Defenses and Seeking Battle with the Enemy Should Not Be Pursued Simultaneously[1]

(April 14, 1936)

Lin and Nie:

A. Now that you have arrived in Ji County, if it is estimated that there will be no favorable combat opportunity within a few days, it would be advantageous to first open up the river defenses.

B. At present, the enemy in the north is concentrating near Zhongyang, and the main force of the enemy in the south is south of Xiangning. In a few days, the northern enemy will surely reach the line of Guanshang, Zhongyang, and Duijiuyu, and the southern enemy will surely reach the line of Xiangning and Heilongguan. At that time, if our river route is already open, we can fight with confidence and without being pressured. If by any chance no favorable combat opportunity is found and we need to shift to another area, it will also be more unhurried. Consider and plan for this.

C. Disrupting river defenses and seeking battle with the enemy should not be pursued simultaneously.

D. In seeking battle with the enemy, mobile warfare is the best policy; attacking an enemy at a standstill is the worst policy.

E. After the victory at Sanjiazhuang,[2] the Fifteenth Army Corps could not but go to Damajiao[3] to rest. Their attrition is considerable, and they must be reorganized.

Peng and Mao

21:30, April 14

[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, its Political Commissar.

[2] Sanjiazhuang is located in the eastern part of Zhongyang County, Shanxi Province. On April 12, 1936, the main force of the Fifteenth Army Corps of the Red Army’s First Front Army annihilated the 392nd Regiment of the 196th Brigade of the Kuomintang 66th Division in the area of Shizhuang and Sanjiazhuang, routing the remaining enemy and capturing over 600 officers and soldiers, including the regimental commander.

[3] Damajiao is a village located in the eastern part of present-day Jiaokou County, Shanxi Province.