Regarding the Operational Deployment of the Red Army in Response to the Large-Scale Offensive by the Kuomintang Army[1]

(April 24, 1936)

The three divisions of the Red Army’s First Army Corps shall take Sangbi Town as the pivot, positioning themselves between the three cities of Yonghe, Xi County, and Daning, and shall dispatch troops to conduct guerrilla reconnaissance toward the three cities of Yonghe, Shilou, and Daning, as well as between Yonghe-Shilou and Shilou-Daning; the Fifteenth Army Corps of the Red Army shall advance to the line of Kangcheng Town and Qingxiang Town; the Twenty-eighth Army of the Red Army shall remain at Yiquan without movement, dispatching units to conduct guerrilla reconnaissance toward Xi County and Wucheng; the Thirtieth Army of the Red Army shall set out from Qingxiang Town, expanding influence along the line of Heilongguan and Tumen Town to confuse Chen Cheng. The headquarters shall lead the first detachment tomorrow, setting out from Kangcheng Town, and arrive at Sangbi Town within three days to convene a meeting with Lin and Nie.

[1] This is the main content of a telegram from Mao Zedong and Peng Dehuai, Commander-in-Chief of the First Front Army of the Red Army, addressed to Lin Biao, Commander of the First Army Corps of the First Front Army, and Nie Rongzhen, Political Commissar; Xu Haidong, Commander of the Fifteenth Army Corps, and Cheng Zihua, Political Commissar; Song Renqiong, Commander of the Twenty-eighth Army of the Red Army, and Cai Shufan, Political Commissar; Song Shilun, Commander of the Thirtieth Army of the Red Army, and Yan Hongyan, Political Commissar; with a copy to Zhou Enlai.