It Is Impossible to Institute Conscription at Present

(January 11, 1940)

Comrade Dehuai:

Conscription is impossible under present conditions. If we are to train the recruits in the army, we will need at least six hundred thousand yuan to handle the recruitment, food, clothing, etc., of twenty-four thousand men, and we do not have such financial resources at present. We can only intensify the training of the Self-Defence Army, on the principle that the common people provide their own food and clothing. The present period is a transitional one in which we are making preparations for the future institution of conscription through the Self-Defence Army. This is the method we used in the Central Soviet Area, and it is also being used in the Wutai Mountains, the Taihang Mountains and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region. This is my reply.

Zedong

January 11