A Grand Strategy Must Be Adopted
to Strike at the Enemy's Key Positions
(December 15, 1936, 8:00P.M.)
Telegram from Mao Zedong
to Zhang Xueliang
(December 17, 1936)
Peng [Dehuai] and Ren [Bishi]:
Whether in the military or the political domain, at present it is imperative to
strike at the enemy's key positions. The enemy's key position is not Ningxia or
Gansu but, rather, Henan and Nanjing. The enemy has already launched a large-scale civil war. Our position with regard to the war is that we are reacting to it
rather than taking the initiative. Yet when the enemy's main force is advancing
toward Xi'an, our forces should pursue a grand strategy, make a detour, and
strike at the enemy's head, the Nanjing government. There should be no doubt
about this general policy. This plan must be concealed, and no one is to pass it
on to lower levels.
Mao
Elder Brother Li Yi:
We have respectfully taken note of your telegram of the 17th. Concentrating
forces for a war of resistance is entirely appropriate. The only thing is that, as
regards our view of the enemy, your younger brother believes that Hu Zongnan
and Tang Enbo each have no more than a detachment, and each can be contained
by one unit. The critical points for the enemy are Nanjing and the Jinghan and
Longhai railway lines.1 If a surprise attack is launched on the Jinghan and
Longhai lines using strategic outflanking troops of 20,000 to 30,000 men and a
decisive victory is won, the overall situation would immediately change, and we
beg you to consider this point. We have already made several reports to a distant
place, but have not yet received any reply.2 You, Elder Brother, have ordered Liu
Ding to send information by telegram once daily about the movements of the
popular masses. If the distant place concludes that incidents like the present one
[in Xi'an] and developments after the incident are not simply military actions but
are linked to the popular masses, I reckon they will express their sympathy. The
only thing is that the government in a distant place, in response to the demands
of foreign relations, may not be able to support us openly as yet. Enlai is waiting
outside the city of Fushi,3 so please give orders quickly to the militia in Fushi to
allow him to go to that city. I await your response regarding this matter.
Your younger brother Zhao Dong4
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Notes

We have translated this telegram from Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, p. 685, where it
is reproduced from a copy in the Central Archives.
Our source for this text is Wenxian he yanjiu, 1986, pp. 135-36 of the annual volume.
1. The Jinghan line is that between Beijing and Hankou. The Longhai line runs
westward from the sea to Xi'an.
2. "A distant place" refers to the Communist International in Moscow. It is not
surprising that no reply had been received, since as indicated in the Introduction to this
volume, Moscow condemned the Xi'an events as a Japanese plot and ordered the Chinese
Communist Party to support and protect Chiang Kaishek.
3. As indicated above in a note to the text of April 6, 1936, Fushi was the old name
for Yan'an.
4. Zhao Dong is one of Mao Zedong's less common pseudonyms.