Deployments and Strategies for the Expansion
and Consolidation of Base Areas in
Central China
(April 5, 1940, 5:00 P.M.)

Dehuai, Kecheng, Chen, Luo, Xuefeng, and Hu Fu:¹

Han Deqin has withdrawn back to north of the Huai River after his offensive in
eastern Anhui was defeated. Li Pinxian has the intention of halting his attack on
eastern Anhui under threat of attack in the direction of the Dabie Mountain Range
by the five regiments of the Li Xiannian column. Chiang Kaishek also has the
intention of terminating the military conflict and negotiating with us regarding the
conditions with a view to getting all our Eighth Route Army and New Fourth
Army forces to the north of the Yellow River, designating the north of the Yellow
River as the defense sectors for our two armies.² But first of all, the enemy-occupied area in North China is expanding constantly. Our struggle is becoming increasingly hard. We cannot survive without entering Central China. Second, with
any possible sudden turn of events of national importance, our forces absolutely
cannot be restricted to north of the Yellow River and not move to China proper.
Hence, Central China is our most important lifeline. Third, this time Chiang orders
Han Deqin, Li Pinxian, Li Zongren, Wei Lihuang, and all the different forces in
Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, and Jiangsu to attack our New Fourth Army. They are the
provocateurs. Hence, we still should take advantage of this opportunity to move
necessary forces southward. The 344th Brigade under the command of Huang is
now recuperating where it is. After getting in touch by radio with Hu Fu and

Xuefeng, it should move to the north shores of the Huai River following the instructions of Zhu and Peng. Hu Fu will have arrived there first and will wait for the
344th Brigade. After it arrives, it shall be deployed and work arranged following
the views of Hu Fu. The Peng-Wu column shall also follow the views of Hu Fu and
Kecheng to start moving to north Jiangsu. It shall bit by bit move southward near
Xuzhou and first occupy the various *xian* north of Yanchen and Baoyin. The watchword for the 344th Brigade and the Peng-Wu column moving southward remains
to rescue and assist the New Fourth Army and support friendly forces in resisting
Japan. If by that time Li Pinxian has withdrawn his forces used for attacking eastern Anhui, restored the office in Lihuang, released Madame Zhang³ as well as all
our Party members under arrest, and returned our military funds, then for the time
being our forces need not move south of the Huai and will for the first step take
Yanchen, Baoyin, Bengbu, and Mengcheng as the border. If Han and Li go on the
attack, eliminate them. If they are willing to concede the area north of that line to
be our defense sector, then we make a temporary compromise with them. If Peng
and Wu do not have enough forces, the 344th Brigade should give them assistance.
The only thing is that we cannot but fight over the whole of northern Jiangsu,
eastern Anhui, and the area north of the Huai. We must establish a democratic base
area to resist Japan within a year in all the areas north of the Yangzi River, east of
the Huainan railroad, north of the Huai River, east of Kaifeng, south of the Longhai
railroad, and west of the sea. Entrust full responsibility to the 344th Brigade, the
Peng-Wu column, the Xuefeng column, the Luo-Dai⁴ column, and Ye Fei's⁵ unit
under Chen Yi in collaboration with the local Party. All military actions shall be
commanded by Generals Zhu and Peng and comrade Hu Fu. Hu Fu shall be responsible for all the specific deployments, political slogans, construction of governments, development plans, and policy on the united front. The decisions shall
be made after consultation with Kecheng and Xuefeng and shall be reported to
Zhu, Peng, and the Central Military Affairs Commission.

Mao [Zedong] Wang [Jiaxiang]

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 542-44, where it is reproduced from Mao's handwritten original, preserved in the Central Archives.
1. Dehuai is Peng Dehuai. Kecheng is Huang Kecheng (for a biography, see above the
relevant note to "Views of Military Work in Shandong," December 6, 1939). Chen is Chen
Guang. Luo is Luo Ronghuan. Xuefeng is Peng Xuefeng. Hu Fu is, as noted earlier, the
name used by Liu Shaoqi at this time.
2. This is the first mention in the documents translated in this volume of an effort by the
Guomindang to compel all Communist forces to move north of the Yellow River. An order
to this effect was issued by the Nationalists on October 19, 1940; see below, the various
texts responding to this threat, notably the telegram of November 9, 1940, from Zhu De and
others to He Yingqin and Bai Chongxi, which had been drafted by Mao.

³ Madame Zhang refers to Han Bi, the wife of Zhang Yunyi, who had been arrested by
Guomindang military police.
⁴ Luo and Dai are Luo Binghui and Dai Jiying. Luo Binghui (1897-1946), a native of
Yunnan, had joined the Communist Party in 1929. In 1930 he participated in the assault on
Nanchang by the forces of Mao Zedong and Zhu De. During the period of the Jiangxi
Soviet Republic he was commander of the Ninth Army Corps. In the course of the Long
March, he followed Zhang Guotao to the west and arrived in Yan'an only in the spring of
1937. At this time, he was commander of the Fifth Detachment, and Dai Jiying was the
commander of the Fourth Detachment of the New Fourth Army north of the Yangzi.
⁵ Regarding Ye Fei, see the note below to the text of May 4, 1940.