Telegram to Ye Jianying[1]

(April 13, 1937)

The Western Route Army Work Committee has telegraphed that they can reach Dunhuang around the 18th. They now have over 900 personnel and five to six hundred rifles[2], and this number may further decrease after arrival. The road from Dunhuang to Xinjiang is extremely difficult to traverse, and it may not be easy to get through. We hope you will negotiate with Gu Zhutong to ensure that when this group reaches Dunhuang, Ma’s troops must not make things difficult for them, and they must all be escorted to Lanzhou and transferred to us.

[1] This is the main content of a telegram from Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai to Ye Jianying.

[2] This refers to the remaining troops of the Western Route Army led by Li Xiannian and Li Zhuoran.