Zhou, Bo, Lin:[1]

Regarding Red Army operations, in light of the current situation between the enemy and ourselves, we believe the following two principles must be upheld:

A. Under the overall strategic policy, carry out independent and self-reliant guerrilla warfare of dispersed operations, rather than positional warfare or concentrated operations. Therefore, there must be no restrictions on campaigns and tactics. Only in this way can the Red Army’s strong points be brought into play and considerable blows be dealt to the Japanese bandits.

B. In accordance with the above principle, in the initial stage it is appropriate for the Red Army to deploy one-third of its forces. If the forces deployed are too large, guerrilla warfare cannot be brought into play, and it will be easy to suffer concentrated attacks by the enemy. The remaining forces shall be used gradually as the war develops.

Please discuss and decide on the above principles with the comrades,[2] and prepare to convey them to the Kuomintang.

Luo,[3] Mao
Dongyou

Printed based on the copy preserved in the Central Archives.

Notes
[1] Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Bo refers to Bo Gu, i.e., Qin Bangxian (1907–1946), a native of Wuxi, Jiangsu. Lin refers to Lin Boqu (1886–1960), a native of Linli, Hunan. At the time, they were the representatives appointed by the CPC Central Committee to conduct negotiations with the Kuomintang.
[2] Refers to Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and other leaders of the Red Army headquarters then at Yunyang Town, Jingyang County, Shaanxi.
[3] Luo refers to Luo Fu, i.e., Zhang Wentian (1900–1976), a native of Nanhui, Jiangsu (now part of Shanghai Municipality). At the time, he was a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and bore overall responsibility in the Central Committee.