(February 15, 1938)

Zhu [De], Peng [Dehuai], Lin [Biao], and Zuo [Quan], and for the information of
Zhou [Enlai] and Ye [Jianying]:

At a time when the enemy is concentrating his forces to attack the Longhai railway,
he must suffer from a severe lack of forces in the whole of Hebei, Shandong, and
northern Jiangsu. At the same time, the enemy in the three provinces of Shanxi,
Chahar, and Suiyuan does not have enough forces to advance southward. Given this
estimate, please consider the following questions and send your reply by telegram.
1. Use the whole of the 115th Division to advance eastward. Xu's brigade¹ will
go to the area between Tianjin, Cangzhou, Beiping, and Shijiazhuang via Fuping.
The division headquarters will command Chen's brigade² to go from its present
location to the area of Cangzhou, Qihe (the north shores of Jinan), Shijiazhuang,
and Zhangde via the area of Handan and Cixian xian. They will engage in actions
there for a while as the first step. If it proves beneficial for a large army corps to
engage in temporary actions on the plains, and there is no difficulty either in crossing the Yellow River southward or in crossing the Grand Canal westward, then,
the second step, the third step, and so on can be taken. Otherwise, if and when they
fail to obtain a foothold there or an urgent situation arises elsewhere, they may
advance in the direction of Anhui and Henan or be withdrawn westward.
2. Assuming that the first step is beneficial, and they can cross the river, and
also obtain the agreement of the Guomindang, the second step should be taken.
The two brigades should stand side by side and suddenly cross the river in several
columns to enter the borders of Shandong. They should engage in combat to the
east of the Tianjin-Pukou railway line and throughout Shandong, take the moun-

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 157-59, where it is reproduced from Mao's handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
1. The reference is to the 344th Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army,
commanded by Xu Haidong.
2. The reference is to the 343rd Brigade of the 115th Division of the Eighth Route Army,
commanded by Chen Guang.

tainous area in southern Shandong as the base area for their command, and expand
to the south and north of Xuzhou and Haizhou. Within this step, we shall persist in
our efforts for as long as the situation permits. Then, we shall take the third step.
3. For the third step, we shall move instead to Anhui and take the Hubei-Henan-
Anhui border area as the base area for our command, and engage in combat for the
defense of Wuhan.
4. If, after taking the first step, Henan and Wuhan are in danger, then either we
do not go to Shandong, turning the third step into the second step, or Xu's brigade
will go to Shandong and Chen's brigade will go to Anhui. Under these circumstances, as a separate move, the main force of the 129th Division should go to
western Henan to play a supportive combat role. Other decisions shall be made as
the situation dictates.
5. The 115th Division shall, however, ultimately be prepared to move to western Henan and western Hubei.
6. Needless to say, this strategic move has a very clear function in domestic and
international politics. It is also necessary and beneficial from the point of view of
the military strategy of resistance to Japan. The problem is that it is rather risky.
Just how risky will mainly be a function of our ability to solve the problem of
crossing the various big and small rivers.
7. If, on reflection, you deem this strategy feasible, then you should request that
Zhou and Ye get in touch with the Guomindang regarding the various necessary
conditions for moving to Hebei. You should not, however, raise the question of
moving to south of the Yellow River. None of the things after the second step
should be raised.

Mao [Zedong] Teng [Daiyuan]³

3. Teng Daiyuan (1904-1974), a native of Hunan, had served as political commissar in
Peng Dehuai's Third Army Corps during the Jiangxi period. At this time, he was chief of
staff of the Central Military Commission.