It Is Proposed to Order That the First and
Second Divisions Support the Northward
Advance of the Second and Fourth Front
Armies by Coordinated Action
(September 28, 1936, 10:30 P.M.)
For Peng [Dehuai], and for the information of Nie [Rongzhen]:
1. Zhu and Zhang have sent a telegram:¹ They have stopped their westward
movement to cross the river and have turned north. Their lead division can reach
Tongwei by October 4 and reach Jieshipu by the 8th.


2. Intelligence reports indicate that six regiments of Enemy Hu have arrived
at Tianshui and Tai'an; six regiments are at Fengxiang and on the Tianshui route.
Guan's division² is moving in the direction of Baoji.


3. Our army has the task of supporting the Fourth Front Army in its northward
advance by coordinated action, and the following deployments are proposed:
a. That the Second Division immediately move southward, cross the Longde-Jingning road at right angles and take Zhuanglang, Tai'an, and Tianshui by
surprise when the opportunity arises. It should subsequently engage in
extensive guerrilla activities in the direction of Huating and Longxian in
the area between the road and the Wei River, so as to become the strategic
contingent among the three front armies. They should strengthen their
political affairs personnel.
b. That the First Division work in concert with the Second Division in its
original area.
c. The rest of the tasks remain unchanged.
Mao


It Is Extremely Necessary to Open Schools
Attached to the Troops
(September 29, 1936)
Comrades He [Long], Ren [Bishi], Guan [Xiangying], and Liu [Bocheng]:
1. We are in receipt of your telegram dated the 28th.¹ You still maintain
great strength. The prospect for future development knows no bounds, something
for which you should be congratulated in the name of the Chinese revolution.


2. It is extremely necessary to have schools attached to the troops; it is
mainly through these schools that you will get the cadres you need. We have
transferred a large number of high ranking cadres from troops at the front to
open up the Red Army University to engage in training and to be held in reserve
for future use. Lin Biao is the president and Luo Ruiqing is the provost. Chen
Guang, Luo Ronghuan, Zhou Jianping, Liu Yalou, Tan Zheng, Zhou Shidi, Zhou
Kun, Yuan Guoping, Peng Xuefeng, and more than a hundred battalion, regimental, and division commanders are studying [there]. For the first four months
the focus is on political theory, and for the second four months, equal emphasis
is placed upon political and military matters. In addition, there are general
courses which are taken by six hundred people who will become platoon and
company commanders. All of these people were superior lower-level cadres and
soldiers. For the moment, therefore, we cannot supply them to you. We are
prepared, however, to allocate some of them to you after they graduate.


3. Under the circumstances of the Fourth Front Army's moving northward, as
long as your present situation permits, you should strive as much as possible to
undertake recuperation and expansion within your present areas.
Mao [Zedong]
Zhou [Enlai]
Peng [Dehuai]


reproduced from a copy in the Central Archives.


1. According to a note to the Mao Zedong junshi wenji, this telegram asked that

--- Notes

Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 601-2, where it is
and others, sent on the 27th, stated that, in obedience to the instructions of the Central
Committee, their armies would proceed to Huining and would not change their plans
again.

1. According to a note to the Mao Zedong junshi wenji, this telegram from Zhu De


We have translated this telegram from Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 603-4, where
it is reproduced from a copy in the Central Archives.



2. The reference is to the Twenty-fifth Division of the Guomindang's Northwest
Bandit-Suppression General Headquarters, commanded by Guan Linzheng.
divisional and regimental level cadres be sent to the Second Front Army to replace those
lost recently in more than ten battles.