Preferential Treatment, Training, and Release of Prisoners of War[1]

(June 2, 1936)

Special preferential treatment shall be given to Brigade Commander Ye Chengzhang.[2] After his wounds are healed, send him on a trip to the rear area, and after talks, send him back to Ningxia. From among the captured officers and soldiers, twenty to thirty may be selected and sent away; there must be Hui people among them, and they shall be given preferential treatment. The remaining majority shall be trained for several days, then properly escorted to Wuqi Town and handed over to Xiao Jinguang, who shall dispatch a unit to escort them to the rear area, with welcoming arrangements made along the way.

[1] This is the main content of a telegram from Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Yang Shangkun to Zuo Quan, Nie Rongzhen, Zhu Rui, Deng Xiaoping, and others.

[2] Ye Chengzhang was then serving as Brigade Commander of the 105th Brigade of the 35th Division of the Kuomintang Army. He surrendered to the Red Army on June 1 during the battle in which the 1st Regiment of the Red Army captured Fucheng.