Hu Zongnan’s Attack on Dingbian and Yanchi and Our Army’s Dispositions[1]

(November 17, 1936)

Comrade Peng:

A. Hu Zongnan is pursuing toward Dingbian and Yanchi. On the 17th, the 1st Brigade advanced from Hui’anbu, Zhan’s Brigade[2] advanced toward Mengcheng, Ding’s Division[3] advanced from Xijiayuan[4], and Zhou’s and Kong’s Divisions[5] are awaiting orders at Yuwang.

B. We should use the 28th Army to pin down the 1st Brigade, the 4th Army to pin down Zhan’s Brigade, and concentrate the 1st Army

[1] After the rendezvous of the First, Second, and Fourth Front Armies of the Red Army, Chiang Kai-shek concentrated five armies and launched a four-pronged attack from south to north along the line from Huining to Longde against the Red Army. The main force of the Red Army gradually shifted from the line of Tongxin and Liwangbu into the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia base area, seeking an opportunity to deliver a crushing blow to Hu Zongnan’s 1st Army, the main force of the invading Kuomintang troops. In mid-November 1936, Hu Zongnan’s troops rashly advanced alone into the Yuwang area on the border of Ningxia and Gansu, pursuing the Red Army in three columns. On the 17th, the 4th and 31st Armies of the Red Army’s Fourth Front Army set an ambush in the Mengcheng and Tianshuibu area and routed the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division of the central column. On the 19th, the main force of the Red Army secretly assembled in the Shanchengbao area north of Huanxian, Gansu, luring the bulk of the enemy’s right-column 78th Division into the Shanchengbao area on the 20th. On the 21st, the main forces of the Red Army’s First, Second, and Fourth Front Armies launched an attack on this enemy force, and after a day and night of fierce fighting, annihilated more than one brigade. This is a telegram from Mao Zedong to Peng Dehuai, commander-in-chief and political commissar of the Red Army’s Front Enemy Headquarters and commander of the First Front Army.

[2] Zhan’s Brigade refers to the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division, 2nd Column, 1st Route, of the Kuomintang’s Northwestern “Bandit Suppression” General Headquarters, with brigade commander Zhan Zhongyan.

[3] Ding’s Division refers to the 78th Division, 2nd Column, 1st Route, of the Kuomintang’s Northwestern “Bandit Suppression” General Headquarters, with division commander Ding Delong.

[4] Xijiayuan is probably Xitianjiayuan.

[5] Zhou’s and Kong’s Divisions refer to the 43rd and 97th Divisions, 2nd Column, 1st Route, of the Kuomintang’s Northwestern “Bandit Suppression” General Headquarters, with division commanders Zhou Xiangchu and Kong Lingxun respectively.

Regiment, the 15th Army Corps, and the 31st Army to first wipe out Ding’s Division, then strike Zhan’s Brigade, and sweep northwestward.

C. Quickly use a strong part or the bulk of the Second Front Army to block Wang Yizhe’s[1] eastward advance.

D. Order the 28th Army and the Cavalry Regiment to await orders at Yanchi, subject to your command. The 29th Army under Xie and Gan[2] is to defend Dingbian.

E. On what day can the troops reach the assembly area?

Mao

17th, 18:00 hours

[1] Wang Yizhe was then commander of the 6th Column, 1st Route, of the Kuomintang’s Northwestern “Bandit Suppression” General Headquarters.

[2] Xie and Gan refer to Xie Song and Gan Weihan, then commander and political commissar respectively of the 29th Army of the Red Army’s First Front Army.