Speech at a Meeting of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee
(April 12, 1939)
[1]
The policy adopted by the Sixth Plenary Session to develop central China is correct. We now have 20,000 party members and nearly 20,000 troops, which represents a significant achievement—greater even than the progress made in North China. At present, the enemy is preparing a large-scale offensive against North China, having dispatched ministers and senior generals to that region to plan a major attack. Looking ahead, our economic situation will become more difficult, our forces will shrink, and our controlled areas will also diminish. Therefore, the primary direction for the development of the Communist Party nationwide and of the guerrilla warfare movement is now central China.

[1] This is part of Mao Zedong’s remarks following Liu Shaoqi’s report on work in central China at a meeting of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee.