Deployment for the Occupation of Ningxia
(September 14, 1936, 6:00 P.M.)
Comrades Zhu [De], Zhang [Guotao], and Ren [Bishi]:
1. The International has sent us a telegram agreeing to the occupation of
Ningxia and the western part of Gansu. After our troops have occupied the
region of Ningxia, they can give us assistance.
2. The First Division under Hu Zongnan and the Forty-third, Seventy-eighth,
and Ninety-seventh divisions left Changsha on the 10th. Their advance guard
reached Xianyang on the 18th. At the end of the month, they will concentrate in
Dingxi. Their supplementary brigade has already started out from Jingning in the
direction of Dingxi. Their purpose is none other than to control the Lanzhou
region to prevent Army A and Army B¹ from opening a route to the Soviet
Union, so that they may monopolize Soviet supplies after forging an alliance
with Russia, and coordinate plans with Suiyuan when the time is right.
3. In order to carry out resolutely the instructions from the International, we
plan to occupy Ningxia after two months. It is proposed that the following
deployments be made:
a. The main force of the First Front Army shall remain in the Haiyuan-Guyuan region during the months of September and October. At the
end of October or the beginning of November, they shall proceed to
take the Lingwu-Jinji region from the Tongxinchen-Yuwang line so as
to ford the River and occupy northern Ningxia in December. The rest of
the troops of the First Front Army shall defend the northern Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Area.
b. The main force of the Fourth Front Army shall immediately occupy the
Longde-Jingning-Huining-Tongwei region and control the Xilan route, and
come into close proximity with the units of the First Front Army deployed
in the Xiaohecheng region west of Guyuan so as to block the westward
advance of Hu Zongnan and to attack him at an appropriate time. In
October or at the beginning of November, it shall advance to the line of
Jingyuan, southern Zhongwei, and Ning'anbao so as to ford the river in
December to seize southern Ningxia.
c. The Second Front Army shall engage in active operations on the Shaanxi-Gansu border to lure Hu Zongnan to the region south of the Xianyang
Pingliang line, coordinate with the Fourth Front Army, and make contact
with the guerrilla area of southern Shaanxi.
d. A guerrilla detachment shall be dispatched from northern Shaanxi to get to
the region south of Jingshui through the Guanzhong Soviet Area and act to
harass the rear flank of Hu Zongnan.
4. The important point in the deployment outlined above is for the Fourth
Front Army to control the main Xilan road to prevent Hu Zongnan from severing
it and prevent him from interfering in the action of the First and Fourth front
armies to seize Ningxia. At the time of the seizure of Ningxia by the First and
Fourth Front Armies, the Second Front Army is still south of the Xilan road in the
Shaanxi-Gansu border area and southern Gansu, and has the responsibility of
containing the enemy units. As for the occupation of western Gansu, some units
should be sent to take it only after obtaining assistance from the International
following the occupation of Ningxia. In this strategic action, which has a decisive
impact on the growth of the Chinese Red Army and the launching of the Chinese
war of resistance against Japan, the three front armies shall do their utmost, forge
the closest possible unity, and obtain close coordination with Army A.
5. As for the movements of the soldiers and of the Muslims among the troops
of the Mas of Ningxia, we are making great efforts at present, and will shortly
send you a telegram containing detailed intelligence on the enemy situation and
on topography.
6. We ask that our elder brothers consider this and reply by telegram.
[Lin] Yuying
[Zhou] Enlai
[Mao] Zedong
Luo Fu
Bo Gu
We have translated this telegram from Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 578-80,
where it is reproduced from a copy in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1. "Army A and Army B" refers to the Northeastern Army and the Red Army.