Circular on the Situation That Chiang Kai-shek Has Ordered Various War Zones to Attack Us[1]

(January 18, 1941)

(1) Chiang Kai-shek stated: "The various units of Zhu and Ye have so far failed to move as ordered. We should employ the combined strength of the Party, government, and army to compel their submission. However, we must prevent these units from fleeing toward the Dabie Mountains and western Henan, which would affect the overall situation. We should avoid difficulties and choose the easy path, avoid the solid and strike the void, and seize the opportunity to annihilate them," and so on.

(2) He Yingqin stated: "The Jiangnan New Fourth Army defied orders and refused to move north. Commander Gu has been instructed to dispatch troops to completely annihilate them. The toll is over ten thousand dead and more than two thousand captured. The army commander, Ye Ting, was wounded, and the deputy army commander, Xiang Ying, died in action. To prevent the rebel army from carrying out retaliatory actions in the Shaanxi-Shanxi sector, strict precautions should be ordered," and so on.

(3) Chiang has already ordered various war zones to launch suppression campaigns. Li Zongren has appointed Tang Enbo as Commander-in-Chief of the Huaibei Sector, Li Pinxian as Commander-in-Chief of the Huainan Sector, Wang Zhonglian as Commander-in-Chief of the Central Hubei Sector, and Feng Zhi'an as Commander-in-Chief of the Western Xiangyang Sector, to commence attacks, with completion limited to February.

[1] This is the main content of the circular issued by Mao Zedong, Zhu De, and Wang Jiaxiang regarding the situation that Chiang Kai-shek had ordered various war zones to attack us.