(October 13, 1937)

To the five comrades Zhou [Enlai], Zhu [De], Peng [Dehuai], Bo [Gu], and Ye
[Jianying]:

Please think about the following suggestions regarding strategic deployment, put
them forward to the Guomindang, and be prepared to carry them out as soon as
Taiyuan falls:
1. Even if Taiyuan falls, it will not greatly affect the overall situation, because
on both sides of the Datong-Taiyuan railway line, our troops are attacking it, and
the enemy is surrounded by us on four sides. The pivot of the overall situation in
North China is now in the Heng mountains and the Zhengding-Taiyuan railway
line. If this region falls, the war situation in North China will at once become a
partial war, the enemy will have achieved the goal of controlling the pivot in all of
North China, the whole of our Red Army will be in a passive position, and Henan
will be under immediate threat as well.
2. In order to guarantee that the Taihang mountains and the Zhengding-Taiyuan
railway line are in our hands, be prepared to launch a strategic counteroffensive on
the Datong-Zhangjiakou-Beiping line, and sustain the protracted war in North
China. For the purpose of exhausting the enemy and defending the various provinces in the Central Plains, we should carry out the following deployments:
a. Take the various units stationed to the east of the Taihang mountains, plus
five to ten fresh and combatworthy divisions, put them in Longquanguan and
Niangziguan as well as in the area to the east, appoint Huang Shaoxiong as
the commander-in-chief, build strong and fortified positions in the wings,
launch a mobile war of annihilation against the advancing enemy, as well as
the Beiping-Hankou railway line, so as to achieve our goal of defending
these two passes and the whole of the Heng mountain range.
b. Place the troops under Wei Lihuang, Hao Menglin, and Liu Mao'en, plus two
divisions of the Sichuan Army, in the Shouyang, Yuxian, area east of Taiyuan,
with Wei Lihuang as the commander-in-chief. Apart from building strong

and fortified positions in the wings, deal with the enemy in Taiyuan by a
mobile war of annihilation.
c. Place the 115th Division of the Red Army, and Chen Changjie's troops from
Shanxi, plus two divisions of the Guizhou Army, and one cavalry division in
the Wutai area. Apart from using one unit to attack the line along Pingxingguan,
Shahe, Daixian, Chunxian, and Yuanping, the main forces should be prepared, when it is possible and necessary, to move northward, take the northern section of the Heng mountains, and attack the Beiping-Suiyuan railway
line.
d. Put the 129th Division of the Red Army in the area from Pingding and Xiyang
to the south of the Zhengding-Taiyuan railway line to southern Yuci, set up
base areas, and get ready for a defensive campaign in the south, should the
situation by any chance turn against us.
e. Put the main forces of the 120th Division of the Red Army, in cooperation
with about fifteen regiments of the main forces of the Shanxi Army, in the
northwest of Shanxi, outside the Great Wall, make sure that this region is in
our hands, and launch a surprise attack on the Taiyuan-Datong railway line.
f. Put about twenty regiments of the Shanxi Army, in cooperation with Chen
Bojun's troops of the 120th Division of the Red Army,¹ in the area from
Fenyang and Xiaoyi to the west of Taiyuan to the Lishi and Zhongyang
area, and resist the westward advance of the enemy.
g. Put the remaining forces of the Shanxi Army in the Taigu, Pingyao, area to
the south of Taiyuan, and complete the encirclement of Taiyuan from four
sides.
h. Move all the residents of Taiyuan, as well as those in the nearby area, to the
Fenshui valley. Be prepared to burn the city of Taiyuan. (Zhu, Zhou, and
Peng should consider to what extent this is possible; if you reckon that it is
impossible, then do not propose it.)

Mao Zedong

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 82-84, where it is reproduced from a copy in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1. At this time, Chen Bojun commanded the 359th Brigade of the 120th Army.