Opinions on the Eleventh Five Hundredth Division’s Three-Step Advance into Hebei, Shandong, and Other Areas
(February 15, 1938)
To Zhu, Peng, Lin, and Zuo, with copy to Zhou and Ye [3]:
While the enemy is concentrating its forces to attack the Longhai Railway, the entire territory of Hebei, as well as parts of Shandong and even northern Jiangsu, will undoubtedly be very thinly defended. At the same time, the enemy in Shanxi, Chahar, and Suiyuan still lacks the strength to advance southward in the near future. Based on this assessment, please consider the following matters and reply by telegram.


A. The entire Eleventh Five Hundredth Division should be deployed eastward: Xu’s brigade would move from Fuping to the area between Tianjin, Cangzhou, Beiping, and Shijiazhuang, while the divisional headquarters, leading Chen’s brigade, would advance from its current position through the Handan and Cixian areas to operate for a period of time between Cangzhou, Qihe (on the north bank of Jinan), Shijiazhuang, and Zhangde. This would constitute the first step.
If it can be demonstrated that a large formation engaging in temporary operations in the plains is advantageous, and if crossing the Yellow River southward with…


[1] This is a telegram from Mao Zedong and Teng Daiyuan, Chief of Staff of the CPC Central Military Commission, to Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and others.


[2] Lin refers to Lin Biao, then commander of the Eighth Route Army’s Eleventh Five Hundredth Division. Zuo refers to Zuo Quan, then deputy chief of staff of the Eighth Route Army and chief of staff of the Forward Command.


[3] Zhou and Ye refer to Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying, a member of the CPC Central Committee’s Yangtze River Bureau.


[4] Chahar was an old provincial name that originally covered parts of present-day northwestern Hebei Province and the Xilingol League in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In 1949, its jurisdiction was adjusted to include northwestern Hebei and northern Shanxi, before being abolished in 1952. Suiyuan was another former province covering central Inner Mongolia, which was dissolved in 1954.


[5] Xu’s brigade refers to the Eighth Route Army’s Eleventh Five Hundredth Division’s 344th Brigade, commanded by Xu Haidong.


[6] Chen’s brigade refers to the Eighth Route Army’s Eleventh Five Hundredth Division’s 343rd Brigade, commanded by Chen Guang.


[7] Zhangde was an old prefecture-level city, corresponding to today’s Anyang City in Henan Province.