The Fourth Front Army Has Full
Certainty of Controlling the Major
Road Between Long[de], Jing[ning],
Hui[ning], and Ding[xi]
(September 26, 1936, 12:00 noon)
Zhu [De] and Zhang [Guotao]:
Reliable information: Hu Zongnan's forces have not moved since they reached
Xianyang. Their reinforcements have not all arrived. The Fourth Front Army has
full certainty of controlling the major road between Long[de], Jing[ning],
Hui[ning], and Ding[xi]. There can be no serious battles. The First Front Army's
main force may move southward to relieve them. The Second Front Army may
also go north so as to form a pincer movement. If we move northward, there will
be no problem with food supply. If, on the other hand, we move westward to
western Gansu, our forces will be restricted to a small corner of Qinghai, and we
will have difficulty with our operations from there on.
[Lin Yu]ying
Bo [Gu]
Luo [Fu]
[Wang] Jia[xiang]
[Zhou] En[lai]
[Mao] Ze[dong]
We have translated this telegram from Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, p. 597, where it


Strongly Raise in the Talks with Nanjing


Guomindang-Communist Cooperation and a


Halt to the Civil War


(September 27, 1936)


Zhu [De], Zhang [Guotao], Xu [Xiangqian], Chen [Changhao]:
The other side¹ has sent another telegram, which emphasizes all the preparations
that your younger brothers and the rest of us have just made in the area indicated
in our last telegram. The projections made in the telegram of 12:00 noon on the
26th from you, our elder brothers, are not realistic.


1. In talks with Nanjing [X][X][X][X][X], Nanjing has already undergone
internal changes, and the national bourgeoisie and the upper level of the petty
bourgeoisie are already different from what they were. Therefore, our emphasis
on Guomindang-Communist cooperation and a strong attempt to bring a halt to
the civil war in order truly to resist Japan is currently the only correct policy.
[Zhou] Enlai is preparing to leave in response to Nanjing's request. This is
indeed necessary because for the past seven months the mediators going back
and forth have been lesser representatives and formal negotiations cannot take
place without having responsible persons.


2. Li Yi² is closer to us, and Yang Hucheng has put into effect a ceasefire
with us. Li [Zongren] and Bai [Chongxi] are sending representatives seeking
to sign an agreement to resist Japan. In North China, Song Zheyuan, Fu
Zuoyi, and Han Fuqu are all in negotiations. Ma Bufang also has a compromise line. Only Ma Hongkui is adamantly reactionary, and we should combine forces to destroy him.


3. Ningxia has a population of more than 1.2 million, and is the richest in the
Northwest. If it were joined together with the Shaanxi-Gansu Soviet Area, it
would be easy to consolidate the old soviet area. By connecting with Liangzhou
and Yongdeng, we could progress toward western Gansu, and from the border of
Suiyuan it would be convenient to advance eastward to resist Japan. That all the
major political, military, economic, domestic, and international elements can be
linked together, and that there will be the determined policy of a northward


We have translated this telegram from the 1985 annual compendium of Wenxian he
1. I.e., the Guomindang authorities.
2. Zhang Xueliang.


is reproduced from a copy in the Central Archives.
yanjiu, pp. 182-83.