Principle of Combining Concentration and Decentralization of Local Armed Forces[1]

(July 23, 1936)

Comrade Peng:

Regarding the issue of concentrating and decentralizing local armed forces:

A. The principle of combining decentralization and concentration of local armed forces should be applied, with decentralization going down to the squad level and concentration up to the independent division level, with various intermediate forms such as platoons, companies, and regiments, appropriately deployed according to the enemy situation and the degree of consolidation of the Soviet areas. When the enemy situation is serious and the Soviet areas are not yet consolidated, emphasis should be placed on decentralized deployment.

B. In the past, the Central Soviet Area and the Northern Shaanxi Soviet Area in the spring of this year adopted overly concentrated deployments, causing counties, districts, and townships to lose their self-defense forces, and the Party and government at the county, district, and township levels to lose their ability to command guerrilla warfare, which became disadvantageous to us when the enemy attacked.

C. In the new Soviet areas of Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia, faced with the tasks of eliminating bandit gangs[2], defending against external enemy activities, and enabling the masses to establish and consolidate political power, generally within one county or two counties, and in special cases within one district or two districts, there must be at least a company, a platoon, or a squad of self-defense armed forces deployed. For example, in the two counties of Dingbian and Anbian[3], there are seven or eight scattered bandit gangs, and because there are no local armed forces, political power has not been established to this day, and as many as ten working personnel have been killed by the bandits.

[1] This is a telegram from Mao Zedong to Peng Dehuai, Commander of the First Front Army of the Red Army and Commander and Political Commissar of the Western Field Army.

[2] "Bandit gangs" is a derogatory term for reactionary landlord armed forces such as the Min Tuan and Jingwei Tuan.

[3] Refers to Dingbian and Anbian in northwestern Shaanxi.

D. Please consider the issue of decentralized deployment of independent divisions and ensuring that other local armed forces are not overly concentrated.

Zedong

3:00 a.m., July 23