Open Telegram of the Red Army Senior
                                Commanders Celebrating the Victory at
                                        Beiping and Tianjin

                                        (July 29, 1937)1

For the perusal of Chairman Lin [Sen], Chairman Chiang, the Guomindang, and
the National Government in Nanjing, Chairman Song Zheyuan, Division Com-mander Feng Zhi’an, Division Commander Zhang Zizhong, Division Com-mander Zhao Dengyu, Division Commander Liu Ruming, Division Commander
Zheng Dazhang, Army Commander Sun Lianzhong, and Army Commander
Pang Bingxun in Beiping, Director Yan and Chairman Zhao of Shanxi, Chair-man Fu of Suiyuan, Chairman Han of Shandong, Director Liu and Chairman
Shang of Henan, Director Gu, Acting Director Jiang, and Chairman Sun in
Xi’an, Chairman He in Lanzhou, Chairman Ma of Ningxia, all commanders-inchief and deputy commanders-in-chief nationwide, all provincial and municipal
[Guomindang] party headquarters, all provincial and municipal governments, all
commanders at the army, division, and regimental levels, all officers and men in
service, all newspaper offices nationwide, and all organizations and groups:
    The attack of the Japanese bandits cornered the Chinese nation and landed it
in an impasse. The battle of Beiping and Tianjin unleashed an accumulated anger
that has been building for years and struck terror into the heart of the enemy,
who has been running rampant for years as well. Our officers and men on the
front lines have performed extraordinary meritorious feats in resisting Japan,
winning recognition both at home and abroad. They enjoy not only the active
support of colleagues in our humble army but also the love and respect of people
across the country, men and women, young and old. It has been six years now
since the loss of our Northeast. Our compatriots all over the country are filled
with bitter hatred. The latest attack by the Japanese bandits put North China in a
crisis. Thanks to the sincere cooperation between the Guomindang and the Com-munist Party, Chairman Chiang’s call for resolute resistance against Japanese
aggression in his talk on the 17th, Mr. Song Mingxuan’s thorough understanding

This telegram was first published in Jiefang zhoukan, Vol. 1, No. 12, July 26, 1937. Our
source is Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 5, pp. 91–92.
1. The timing indicated for this telegram is rather singular, since Beiping was in fact
lost on July 29, and Tianjin on the 30th. The date of the issue of Jiefang zhoukan in which
it appeared is not in itself decisive, since Chinese periodicals were often not published on
the day indicated on the cover. Probably the telegram was sent late on the 28th or early on
the 29th, before a true report of the battle for Beiping had been received.