Secretariat of the Central Committee
Propose to the Guomindang That It Should Stop
Its Attack on the New Fourth Army
(December 15, 1940)
The Southern Bureau and the Southeastern Bureau should raise the following to
Gu Zhutong, He Yingqin, and the special committee of the [People's] Political
Council, respectively: north of the Yangzi in the three provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui,
and Hubei, massive attacks are being launched against the New Fourth Army, the
army headquarters of the New Fourth Army and its three detachments in southern
Anhui and southern Jiangsu have been completely surrounded by central government troops, and there is news that an attack is about to begin. Please have them
halt the attacks north of the Yangzi and withdraw the encirclements in southern
Anhui and southern Jiangsu. The purpose of making this kind of proposal is to let
a certain party know that we are prepared and to mitigate their initiatives in southern Anhui and southern Jiangsu. It is particularly necessary to mitigate Gu Zhutong's
initiatives in southern Anhui while the Eighth Route Army moves southward for
reinforcements.
Secretariat of the Central Committee
To Hu [Fu] and Chen [Yi], and for transmittal to Ye [Ting] and Xiang [Ying]:

1. We have taken note of all your telegrams. Dispositions are to be made according to Hu Fu’s telegram of the 15th.1
2. Viewed from the standpoint of the overall situation, a large-scale “suppression of the Communists” is impossible, but a partial offensive is inevitable. The
struggle in Central China is a long-term, protracted struggle, so we must possess
determination and patience.
3. The troops in northern Jiangsu must train, consolidate, and expand their ranks
in a hurry for a short period, and then have a unit of the main forces serve as
reinforcements in eastern Anhui.
4. The southern Anhui troops must cross the Yangzi with utmost speed and
become the core force for maintaining eastern Anhui. A large group of their cadres is to be assigned both to northern Jiangsu and to eastern Anhui to construct
base areas.
5. Two regiments of the 115th Division are urged to hasten southward.

Mao [Zedong] Zhu [De] Wang [Jiaxiang]

The Situation in Chongqing Is Serious.
Xiang Ying and Zeng Shan Should
Not Leave the Army for the Moment

(December 18, 1940)1

Ye [Ting] and Xiang [Ying]:

1. The situation in Chongqing is serious. Neither Xiang nor Zeng2 should leave
the army for the time being.
2. [Ye] Xiyi and a portion of the staff are to go northward; it is hoped that
arrangements for this will be made quickly.
3. Secret documents must be burned and attacks strictly prevented.

Mao [Zedong] Zhu [De] Wang [Jiaxiang]

--- Notes

Our source for this document is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 589–90, where it is
reproduced from Mao's handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
The Southern Anhui Troops Must Cross the
River with Utmost Speed
(December 16, 1940, 7:00 to 9:00 A.M.)


We have translated this text from _Mao Zedong junshi wenji_, Vol. 2, pp. 591–92, where it is
reproduced from a copy in Mao’s handwriting preserved in the Central Archives.

1. On December 15, 1940, Liu Shaoqi had sent a telegram to Mao and others in the
leadership proposing, in particular, that the Fourth and Fifth Columns should oppose the
eastward advance of the Guangxi forces; that the main forces of the Fifth Column of the
Eighth Route Army advance to eastern Anhui; and that two more regiments should be moved
to northern Jiangsu.
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Our source for this text is _Mao Zedong junshi wenji_, Vol. 2, p. 593, where it is reproduced
from Mao’s handwritten original, preserved in the Central Archives.

1. _Nianpu_, Vol. 2, p. 241, cites both this document and another of the same date, which
reads as follows:
Your secret documents and reports should all be burned. You should absolutely not
keep a shred of paper or a single word, in order to prevent its falling into enemy
hands when you cross the blockade line. The code books should be carried personally by a trustworthy person.
The authors and recipients are the same as those of the text translated above. We have
not presented this second document separately, because there is no assurance that the passage quoted in _Nianpu_ is complete, and it may well be.

2. The reference is to Zeng Shan (1899–1972), a native of Jiangxi, who joined the Chi-nese Communist Party in 1926. At this time, he was deputy secretary of the Southeast
Bureau of the Central Committee.
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