Letter to Liu Shaoqi [1]

(October 22, 1936)

The united front in the north is extremely important; special emphasis should be placed on the military aspect. In addition to intensifying our work with the 29th Army, Shanxi‑Suiyuan should be given top priority. If the National Revolutionary League [2] has some strength, we must cultivate good ties with them and first of all urge them to support the relationship between Shanxi‑Suiyuan and ourselves.

The three front armies have now all joined forces on the Xi’an‑Lanzhou highway, and internally they are basically unified and in solidarity. Yujie and Teli [3] are serving as frontline commanders, acting under the decisions of the Central Committee and the Military Commission. Both the Second and Fourth Front Armies have preserved their basic strength and have made progress compared with before, and the First Front Army has also been strengthened.

[1] This is the main content of Mao Zedong’s letter to Liu Shaoqi.

[2] The National Revolutionary League refers to the Chinese National Revolutionary League, an anti‑Japanese and anti‑Chiang Kai‑shek group established by Li Jishen, Chen Mingshu, Cai Tingkai and others in Hong Kong in July 1935, with the basic political stance of “striving for national independence and establishing a people’s government.”

[3] Yujie and Teli refer to Zhu De and Zhang Guotao.