To the Eighth Route Army, the Northern Bureau, and Others[1]

(March 5, 1940)

At present, respecting Yan Xishan’s certain territory and preserving this intermediate force between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party is of great benefit to the War of Resistance and to KMT-CPC cooperation. We and the New Army should take advantage of the opportunity presented by the success of the current negotiations with Yan Xishan to vigorously win over all personnel of the Yan faction, so that they may unite into an intermediate unit, thereby thoroughly striking at Chiang Kai-shek’s vicious policy of attempting to eliminate the Yan faction and replace it in order to directly oppose the Communists.

[1] This is the main content of Mao Zedong’s telegram to the responsible persons of the Eighth Route Army, the Northern Bureau, the 120th Division, and others, also informing the leaders of the New Army, concerning the attitude to be adopted in sending letters and telegrams to Yan Xishan and in propaganda and liaison work.