Operational Disposition of the Eighth Route Army After the Japanese Occupation of Taiyuan

(October 20, 1937)

Zhou, Zhu, Peng, Ren[1]:

A. After the enemy occupies Taiyuan, it will cause extremely great and extremely rapid changes:

(1) The enemy at Niangziguan will certainly and swiftly occupy the Zhengding–Taiyuan Railway[2]; our Division Lin[3] and the General Headquarters are in danger of being cut off from each other.

(2) The enemy at Taiyuan will send one column toward Fenyang and Lishi City to cut off our Division He[4] from the south; and send one column into the Fenhe River valley to cut off our General Headquarters and the two divisions of Lin and Liu[5] from the west.

(3) The anti-Japanese forces north of Taiyuan will collapse in disorder, and the anti-Japanese forces at Niangziguan are also in danger of collapsing in disorder.

B. Therefore, the main force of Division Lin must not move too far north, Division Liu must not move too far east, the General Headquarters should relocate to the vicinity of the Zhengding–Taiyuan Railway, and the Wang Zhaoxiang unit[6] should not go north of the Great Wall, so as to facilitate shifting during emergencies.

C. The proposed disposition opinions are as follows:
(1) Leave the Yang Chengwu Regiment[1] in the Hengshan and Wutaishan areas to persist in guerrilla warfare.

(2) The main force of Division Lin shall prepare to shift to the Lüliang Mountains west of the Fenhe River.

(3) Division Liu shall persist in guerrilla warfare in its current area south of the Zhengding–Taiyuan Railway.

(4) The General Headquarters shall prepare to shift to the Xiaoyi–Lingshi area.

(5) Division He shall persist in guerrilla warfare in northwestern Shanxi, but the Wang Zhaoxiang unit shall prepare to return to Shenmu and Fugu[2] when necessary to consolidate the river defenses and speed up the construction of boats.

(6) The Chen Bojun unit[3] shall temporarily remain in place and prepare to move to the riverbank for coordination when necessary.

(7) The ammunition at Shangshe and Hongdong must be transported urgently.

D. The above assessments and preparatory dispositions are submitted for your prompt consideration and reply.

Mao Zedong

Twenty-four hours, October 20

[1] The Yang Chengwu Regiment refers to the Independent Regiment of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, with Regiment Commander Yang Chengwu.

[2] Shenmu and Fugu refer to Shenmu County and Fugu County in northern Shaanxi.

[3] The Chen Bojun unit refers to the 718th Regiment of the 359th Brigade of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, led by Brigade Commander Chen Bojun; at that time, this unit was garrisoning the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region.

--- Notes

[1] Zhou, Zhu, Peng, Ren refer to Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and Ren Bishi, Director of the Political Department of the Eighth Route Army.

[2] The Zhengding–Taiyuan Railway refers to the railway from Zhengding in Hebei to Taiyuan in Shanxi, i.e., the present-day Shijiazhuang–Taiyuan line.

[3] Division Lin refers to the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army, with Division Commander Lin Biao.

[4] Division He refers to the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, with Division Commander He Long.

[5] Liu refers to Liu Bocheng, then serving as Division Commander of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

[6] The Wang Zhaoxiang unit refers to the Engineer Battalion of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, with Battalion Commander Wang Zhaoxiang.