The Tasks of the Troops in North China
This Winter

(November 16, 1940)

NOVEMBER 1940 567
cause of objective difficulties or capabilities should not be further attacked. We
must bear in mind the lessons learned when opposing the Fifth "Encirclement and
Suppression" campaign in the Central Soviet Area, where many of the cadres who
were unable to fulfill their tasks because of objective difficulties were attacked and
made to feel utterly hopeless. Now with increased difficulties, the spirit of sharing
a common fate and common hardships with the cadres must be emphasized.

Mao Zedong Zhu De
Wang Jiaxiang Tan Zheng

To all units in North China and Shandong:

Under the present situation, important domestic incidents are about to take place,
and the enemy's "mopping-up" operations this winter will be even more cruel.
The tasks of the troops in North China this winter are as follows:
1. Persist in the War of Resistance and fight against the enemy's winter "moppingup" operations.
2. Carry out a winter military recruitment campaign and add enough soldiers to
the presently existing units. It would be even better if we could establish supplementary battalions. But in the work of recruiting soldiers, attention should be paid
to manpower in the base areas, and more recruitment should be done in border
areas and densely populated regions.
3. Efforts are to be made to gain time for rest and reconsolidation of the ranks.
Carry on fighting and reconsolidation at the same time and have all or most of the
troops rested and reconsolidated during the intervals of fighting against the "mopping up." Make sure that our main forces are able to sustain the fighting at the same
time as they maintain their energies so as to deal with possible sudden incidents.
4. Strengthen the political work and transmit in depth the Center's evaluation
of the current situation and its various policies. Make sure that all officers and
soldiers unite as one and prevent the occurrence of such sentiments as pessimism,
disappointment, and hopelessness because of increased difficulties of resistance in
the enemy's rear and tensions in the relationship between the Guomindang and the
Communists. Be on guard, at the same time, against possible opportunistic sabotage within our army by Japanese bandit agents and Guomindang spy agents and
prevent the repeated occurrence of ultraleft mistakes.
5. Strengthen the unity of the cadres and the unity of the Party. In a difficult
environment, cadres must be dealt with in a correct relationship. Those who are
indeed irresponsible and consequently unable to fulfill their duties should certainly be criticized and punished, but those who cannot discharge their duties be-

--- Notes

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 579-80, where it is reproduced from a copy in the Central Archives.