(1) A detachment of the New Fourth Army, numbering ten thousand men under Xiang Ying’s command, was ordered to move north. However, Chiang Kai-shek had dispatched over seventy thousand troops to encircle them in the Maolin area south of Jing County. From the 7th to the 14th of the month, they fought fiercely for eight days and nights, resolved to stand or fall with the entire army. Although a unit led by Fu Qiutao managed to break through a small section of the encirclement during the night, the main force had still not broken out, and the entire army was in grave danger of being annihilated.  (2) The Central Committee has decided to make immediate preparations, both politically and militarily, for a full-scale counteroffensive to rescue the New Fourth Army and to crush the anti-communist offensive.  (3) In addition to having already instructed the forces in Northern Jiangsu and Shandong to promptly make all necessary preparations and await orders to eliminate Han Deqin and Shen Honglie, we have also issued a strongly worded protest telegram and are preparing to enter into direct negotiations with Chiang Kai-shek. Meanwhile, all units in North China must, in accordance with previous directives, advance their preparations for mobile forces and be ready to deal with the most serious possible developments.