Comrade [Peng] Dehuai:

I trust that you received my last telegram. Right now the Guomindang is extremely
worried, hoping desperately for our assistance. It is our estimation that under this
blow by the Japanese bandits,¹ the Guomindang will have no choice but to ingratiate itself with us, the positions of the Guomindang and the Communist Party will
undergo fundamental change, and our Party will hold more and more of a leadership position in the War of Resistance as time goes by. For this reason, our basic
orientation is to unite to deal with the enemy and to coordinate in the fighting, but
we certainly will not become excited because of the Guomindang's goading measures. Instead we will take careful consideration of the situation and coordinate
efforts in a planned fashion. [Zhou] Enlai wanted to include southeastern Shanxi,
northwestern Shanxi, Wutai, central Hebei, southern Hebei, and Shandong in the
scope of coordinated efforts, but in my opinion the main coordination areas should
be southeastern Shanxi and southern Hebei, with the rest as secondary coordination areas (that is, carry on the fighting as under usual circumstances). Please think
this over, make a concrete plan, and let us know so that we can tell Enlai and the
principal adviser.² I look forward to your reply. (Send all combat reports as much
as possible to Xi'an, Chongqing, and Yan'an.)