It Is Urgently Necessary to Establish Unified Military and Political Leadership in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Region[1]

(March 25, 1938)

Zhu, Peng, Zhu Rui, Liu, Xu, Deng[2]:

1. The work in the Hebei-Shandong-Henan region east of the railway is extremely important, yet we have received very little information about the situation there. How are the activities of Chen and Song[3] proceeding? We hope you will report regularly and in detail by telegram.

2. Comrade Zhu Rui shall be responsible for organizing the Provincial Committee of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Border Region, with jurisdiction over the work in the areas east of the Beiping-Hankou Railway, south of the Cangzhou-Shijiazhuang Railway[4], north of the Yellow River, and in western and northern Shandong.

3. The Special Committee of Northern Shandong has a small number of guerrilla units. The person in charge of the Special Committee of Western Shandong, Xing Jinsheng[5], is cooperating with the Administrative Commissioner Fan Zhuxian[6], and they have an armed force of several thousand. The Administrative Commissioner of Southern Zhili, Ding Shuben[7], is resolutely resisting Japan and has an armed force of over three

[1] This is a telegram from Mao Zedong and Hu Fu (Liu Shaoqi) to Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and others.

[2] Zhu Rui was then serving as Secretary of the Military Commission of the Northern Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, conducting united front work against Japan in the Wangwu Mountain area on the Shanxi-Henan border. Liu, Xu, and Deng refer to Liu Bocheng, Xu Xiangqian, and Deng Xiaoping, who were then respectively serving as the Division Commander, Deputy Division Commander, and Political Commissar of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army.

[3] Chen refers to Chen Zaidao, then Commander of the Eastward Advance Column of the Eighth Route Army. Song refers to Song Renqiong, then Director of the Political Department of the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army. In mid-March 1938, Chen and Song led the cavalry regiment of the 129th Division in advancing into southern Hebei.

[4] The Cangzhou-Shijiazhuang Railway refers to the railway from Cangxian to Shijiazhuang.

[5] Xing Jinsheng was the alias of Zhang Linzhi, who was then serving as the representative of the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee in the Western Shandong region.

[6] Fan Zhuxian, formerly the Administrative Inspection Commissioner of the Sixth District of Shandong, died a heroic death for the nation in November 1938 when the Japanese forces captured Liaocheng.

[7] Ding Shuben was then serving as the Administrative Commissioner of Puyang Special District in Hebei (now part of Henan Province), also known as the Commissioner of Southern Zhili. From 1937 to 1939, he was a local power-holder in several counties of the Hebei-Henan border region centered on Puyang.

thousand. He is also eager to cooperate with us and has requested that we send cadres. Both Commissioners Ding and Fan have sent representatives to Wuhan[1] and have been commended by the Central Committee. In addition to the Fourth Detachment[2], our armed forces have also expanded to include the Eighth Brigade of Puyang[3], with four hundred men and rifles. Please relay this to Chen and Song and ask them to find ways to establish contact with the aforementioned armed forces.

4. It is urgently necessary at present to establish unified military and political command and leadership in this region. In addition to building up armed forces, efforts should also be made to establish and reform local political power and to organize the masses. However, the armed forces should be built on the principle of being crack and efficient.

Mao Zedong
Hu Fu

March 25

[1] Wuhan was then the seat of the Nationalist government.

[2] The Fourth Detachment refers to the Fourth Detachment of the Hebei People's Army, an anti-Japanese armed force formed by local CPC organizations in the Puyang area of Hebei (now part of Henan Province) in the early period of the War of Resistance Against Japan.

[3] The Eighth Brigade of Puyang refers to the Eighth Brigade of the People's Army of Puyang Special District, Hebei Province (now part of Henan Province), an anti-Japanese armed force formed and led by the CPC Puyang-Neihuang-Huaxian Central County Committee.