from _Wannan shibian_.
_Circular to Zhou Enlai and Others from_
_Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Wang Jiaxiang_
_About the Circumstances in Which_
_Guomindang Forces Killed More Than_
_7,000 of Our Men_
(January 14, 1941)
According to reliable sources, Shangguan Yunxiang¹ did away with more than
seven thousand of our men as of two o’clock in the afternoon of the 13th,² and a
firm order has been given to do away with another thousand.
Our source for this text is _Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan_, Vol. 6, p. 275, where it is reproduced
from _Wannan shibian_.
1. Shangguan Yunxiang (1895–1969), a native of Shandong, attended military schools
from an early age and rose in the ranks of the Guomindang army, particularly the “Bandit
Suppression” forces.
2. The time is given here with a character meaning between 1:00 and 3:00 P.M.
To Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying About
Negotiating with Chiang Kaishek an
Immediate Ceasefire and
Lifting of the Siege

(January 14, 1941)

1. We have read [your] report of the 13th and have passed it on to Ye [Ting]
and Xiang [Ying].
2. The question now is not which route to take but, rather, a question of saving
lives. If the attacks are not halted, the whole army will be annihilated. Please ask
Chiang [Kaishek] immediately to order a ceasefire and a lifting of the siege.
3. Because he was unable to break out from under siege, Xiang [Ying] has
returned to the ranks and is resolved to cast his lot with the whole army, live or die.
4. It is Fu Qiutao’s two regiments that have broken through, but in fact they
have not broken out of the larger encirclement lines. The main forces under Ye,
Xiang, and Yao [Rao Shushi] are still where they were in Maolin, besieged by tens
of thousands of troops. They have been in bloody battle for eight days, and the
situation is extremely dangerous.

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 6, p. 277, where it is reproduced
from Wannan shibian.

Make Political and Military Preparations for a
Great, Comprehensive Counterattack to
Rescue the New Fourth Army

(January 14, 1941)

Peng [Dehuai] and Zuo [Quan], He [Long] and Guan [Xiangying], Nie [Rongzhen]
and Peng [Zhen], Liu [Bocheng] and Deng [Xiaoping], Lü [Zhengcao] and Cheng
[Zihua], Zhu [Rui], Chen [Guang] and Luo [Ronghuan], Hu [Fu, i.e., Liu Shaoqi]
and Chen Yi, Zhou [Enlai] and Ye [Jianying]:

1. Ye [Ting] and Xiang [Ying], following orders to lead ten thousand men of
the New Fourth Army northward, have been surrounded by seventy thousand men
sent by Chiang Kaishek in the area around Maolin, south of Jingxian. They have
been fighting a bloody battle for eight days and eight nights from the 6th to the
13th, and they are resolved to cast their lot with the whole army, live or die. Al-
though one unit under Fu Qiutao did fight its way out of the smaller encirclement
lines during the night of the 12th, the main forces have not been able to break
through, and there is the danger of the entire army’s destruction.
2. The Central Committee has decided to begin political and military preparations immediately for a comprehensive counterattack to rescue the New Fourth
Army and smash the anti-Communist high tide.
3. Aside from the fact that northern Jiangsu and Shandong have been ordered
to make all preparations immediately and await orders to annihilate Han Deqin
and Shen Honglie, and we have at the same time issued a circular telegram of the
most solemn protest and are in direct negotiations with Chiang Kaishek, all our
troops in North China must comply with the previous order2 and organize reserve
forces in advance to prepare to meet the most serious incident.

Mao Zedong Zhu De Wang Jiaxiang

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 612–13, where it is reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
1. At this time, Lü Zhengcao (1905– ) was the commander of the central Hebei military
district, and Cheng Zihua (1905–1991) was the political commissar.
2. The reference is to paragraph 3 of the “Plan to Surround Han Deqin and Shen Honglie
in Reprisal for Chiang Kaishek’s Massacre of the New Fourth Army in Southern Anhui,”
dated January 13 and translated above.


Our source for this text is _Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan_, Vol. 6, p. 273, where it is reproduced