(October 13, 1937)

To Zhou [Enlai], Zhu [De], and Peng [Dehuai], and for the information of Bo [Gu]
and Ye [Jianying]:
assurance of a counteroffensive at Xikou in the north, nor can the defense at
Niangziguan in the east be relied on.
on the 12th providing for the redivision of the region is correct, and we should be
very cautious in using the 129th Division.
best to cooperate in the campaign, and to sustain North China as long as possible,
the Red Army should at the same time consider our deployment in case the friendly
armies prove unreliable.
[Xishan] the appointment of Huang Shaoxiong as the commander-in-chief of all
the troops in Niangziguan and Longquanguan, and those to the east of the Taihang
mountains (not including the Red Army), in order to unify the command and make
sure that Niangziguan does not fall. Because even if Taiyuan falls but Niangziguan
does not, we will still be able to hold out, but if Niangziguan falls, the war situation in North China will immediately become a local war and will lose its overall
importance. We must be aware that the focus of the war situation in North China is
not in Taiyuan, but in the Taihang mountains in Niangziguan and Longquanguan
armies, that they belong to the forces of various local warlords and are not of the same
quality as Chiang Kaishek's own troops or those of other major Guomindang commanders,
referred to here as "main force armies."

area. If the Taihang mountains and the Zhengding-Taiyuan railway line are in our
hands, then if the enemy enters Taiyuan, he will be like a turtle in a jar, and our
troops will be able to achieve something. Please think deeply about this point.

Mao Zedong


--- Notes

1. The judgment in Zhou's telegram of the 10th is correct. There is inadequate

2. Consequently, the deployment by Zhu [De], Peng [Dehuai], and Ren [Bishi]

3. The weakness in North China lies in the fact that the troops are too miscellaneous, and there is not a single main force army.¹ Under the principle of trying our

4. I wonder if we could suggest to Chiang [Kaishek], Cheng [Qian], and Yan

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 80-81, where it is reproduced from a copy in the Central Archives.
1. The adjective za, or za pai (miscellaneous), also has the meaning, when applied to