Work Hard to Strengthen the Bases in
Northern Jiangsu

(December 23, 1940, between 7:00 and 9:00 A.M., in Yan'an)

Comrade [Peng] Dehuai:

Do not declare openly that the Battle of the Hundred Regiments¹ has been concluded. Chiang Kaishek is about to launch an anti-Communist upsurge, and we
still need to use publicity about the Battle of the Hundred Regiments to oppose
him.

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

Hu Fu [Liu Shaoqi], Chen Yi, [Huang] Kecheng, [Peng] Xuefeng, and [Zhang]
Yunyi:

1. We have taken note of both Hu Fu's and Xuefeng's telegrams.
2. At the moment the focus is on northern Jiangsu and, secondarily, on Huaibei
and eastern Anhui. Therefore, Chen's and Huang's troops, as well as the additional
two regiments of the 115th Division, should all concentrate in northern Jiangsu
now, intensify reconsolidation and expansion, and work hard to strengthen the
base areas in northern Jiangsu. They should, moreover, be prepared to get rid of
Han Deqin first when Chiang Kaishek really begins to attack us in Huaibei and
eastern Anhui (the Central Committee will make the final decision) and only as a
second step march to Huaibei and eastern Anhui. This was suggested in Hu Fu's
last telegram, and we think that it is appropriate.
3. At the moment Huaibei and eastern Anhui must be sustained by Xuefeng's
and Yunyi's troops alone. Whether the enemy or the diehard troops attack, they
should all be handled with guerrilla warfare, and no reinforcements or assistance is
to be expected. In North China reinforcement is impossible; nor is it appropriate.
4. Before Chiang Kaishek truly surrenders, a large-scale attack on us is impossible, since he does not have a convenient battlefield. Therefore, on the one hand,
you should seriously prepare for Chiang Kaishek's attack, never relaxing for a
minute your own preparations. But, on the other hand, you should also be aware of
Chiang Kaishek's difficulties. He has numerous difficulties, among them the lack
of a convenient battlefield, and with the enemy's occupation of Woyang and
Mengcheng, this difficulty has increased. So you may well take advantage of this
opportunity to prepare everything actively, including expanding and reconsolidating the troops, and strengthening and developing the base areas.
5. As your forces become more expanded, better trained, and stronger, and
your base areas become more developed and consolidated, no attack need be feared.

Our source for this text is Baituan dazhan lishi wenxian ziliao xuanbian (Beijing: Jiefangjun
chubanshe, 1990), p. 14.
1. Regarding the Battle of the Hundred Regiments, see above, Part III of the Introduction to this volume.


Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 595-97, where it is reproduced from Mao's handwritten original, preserved in the Central Archives.