193.912.22 In ancient China, as indeed to this day, people who see things through to the end were always respected, whereas those who gave up halfway were not. The War of Resistance is a momentous undertaking; it must be pursued with unwavering resolve until final victory. General Ma initiated the resistance in Heilongjiang eight years ago. At that time, the Red Army in the south immediately sent a telegram extending its warmest welcome. Even then, long before these eight years had passed, the Red Army and General Ma had already become comrades-in-arms in the struggle against Japan. We are confident that General Ma will carry the fight to the bitter end.

Yet there are now some who advocate surrender and compromise halfway—they are like snakes with heads but no tails. We, however, stand with General Ma and with all our fellow countrymen engaged in the national war of resistance. We sincerely salute those national heroes who remain steadfast to the very end, who fight unceasingly for the liberation of the Chinese nation; we shall continue to hail them without reservation. Now past fifty, General Ma still remains at the forefront of the struggle, locked in mortal combat with the enemy. Such a spirit deserves the admiration of the entire nation, and so forth. o()ii.. This kind of news is fabricated by the Japanese. It is rather strange that it should have been issued by a Chinese theater command.

I have once again “returned from Xinjiang to Yan’an,” though I am not yet prepared to go to Xinjiang. As for Li Lisan, after his arrival in the Soviet Union he was promptly arrested there for belonging to a Trotskyist counterrevolutionary clique. How could he possibly have come back? All those who seek to sow discord between the KMT and the CPC in order to pave the way for surrender to the Japanese have concocted countless pieces of disinformation, but this one is by far the most clumsy. If anyone actually believes it, then that person’s own judgment must be equally poor.

“Seizing central political power”—what an ambitious claim! In reality, what they are really aiming for is the border region; as early as last July they captured Guyi County in the border area, and recently they have taken two more towns, Zhenyuan and Ning County. They are now bringing in aircraft and heavy artillery. Reports indicate that they intend next to seize Qingyang, Heshui, Chunyao, and Yong County, thereby laying the groundwork for capturing Yan’an itself. On the one hand, the Japanese are seizing vast tracts of Chinese territory; on the other, certain Chinese elements are nibbling away at small portions of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. The border area originally comprised 113 counties, but now only 110 remain. Even if every single one were to fall, it would still amount to less than one ten-millionth of what the Japanese have already seized. Nevertheless, one can hardly deny that such actions display a certain degree of boldness. Your newspaper ought to publish an article urging these “brave” gentlemen to exercise a bit more restraint, to refrain from acting so recklessly.

Some seem eager to demonstrate their prowess only when confronting the Japanese, while keeping their strength confined to the inner circles. Experience has shown that this approach ultimately yields no tangible results.  194225()□□