We Resolutely Adopt the Policy of Protracted Struggle Through Extensive Guerrilla Warfare in Order to Assist the Soviet Red Army

(July 15, 1941)

Comrade Enlai:

(1) The Central Committee has discussed your telegram[2]. Regarding military preparations, it has been decided to proceed from three points: studying the Russian language, studying natural sciences, and preparing cadres for the Northeast. (2) Regarding Hong Kong, we deem it truly important and plan to dispatch personnel, but the candidate still requires careful consideration. Sending Fuchun[3] alone is felt to be insufficient; how about Bogu[4] going? (3) Regarding military operations, since the outbreak of the Soviet-German war, we have immediately intensified reconnaissance and preparations to sabotage transportation, so as to pin down the enemy. We are determined, under present conditions, to assist the victory of the Soviet Red Army to the greatest extent possible. However, because the Japanese bandits have already occupied North China for four years, they have built strong fortifications in large cities, along railways, and in mines, etc. Moreover, the disparity in military technical equipment between the enemy and ourselves is far too great, and our manpower, material resources, territory, and ammunition are becoming increasingly difficult. Should Japan attack the Soviet Union, our coordinating role in military

[1] Enlai, i.e., Zhou Enlai.

[2] Refers to Zhou Enlai's telegram to Mao Zedong dated July 3, 1941. The telegram estimated that the U.S. policy of making Japan not use force to advance southward, on the condition of recognizing Japan's economic privileges in China, etc., would not easily succeed; the possibility of "dragging things out" was greater, and pressuring China remained the main focus. It proposed our countermeasures: militarily, raise the conditions for accepting new weapons, study natural sciences, study Russian, and modern military knowledge, etc.; in the Great Rear Area, further tighten underground Party organizations; overseas, strengthen the Party's leadership to carry out united front work with personages from all sides and expand the democratic movement, etc.

[3] Fuchun, i.e., Li Fuchun, then Deputy Director of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee.

[4] Bogu, i.e., Qin Bangxian, then Director of the *Liberation Daily* and Director of the New China News Agency.

affairs may not be very great; if we act regardless of all sacrifices, there is the possibility of our being smashed and unable to hold the base areas for a long period, which would be disadvantageous in every respect. Therefore, we adopt the policy of consolidating the base areas behind enemy lines, waging extensive guerrilla warfare, and engaging in a protracted struggle to wear down the Japanese bandits over time, rather than adopting the policy of staking everything on a single throw. If we could strengthen our equipment with ammunition, machine guns, artillery, and explosives, the effectiveness of our actions would be even greater. Rifle bullets in particular are treasured like the rarest gems, for we have an average of only twenty rounds per rifle, very few machine guns, even fewer artillery pieces, and we cannot obtain yellow explosives for blasting. Please inform Comrade Cui[1] of this point and ask him to relay it to our friends in the Distant Place[2]. (4) Regarding the two matters concerning Luoyang and Zhongtiao Mountain mentioned in your telegram, Peng Zong[3] has been notified to pay attention. (5) Regarding meeting with Jiang[4], since Zhang Chong[5] has twice come to urge it, it seems permissible to meet once and see what he has to say. If Ye Ting[6] could be released and several months' pay issued to the Eighth Route Army, the relations between the Guomindang and the Communist Party could begin to take a turn for the better. But still, we must not seek it too hastily; haste would render it ineffective. Your lack of haste is justified. (6) The Anglo-Soviet Agreement[7] will become the pivot of world politics. Politically, the United States can only follow this line and cannot manipulate everything. The Anglo-Soviet Agreement will influence Japan, increasing its apprehensions, and will also influence China, promoting an improvement in Sino-Soviet and Guomindang-Communist relations. (7) The Soviet-German war in its third week

[1] Comrade Cui, refers to V. I. Chuikov. After December 1940, he served as the Military Attaché of the Soviet Embassy in China and Chief Military Advisor to the Nationalist Government.

[2] Distant Place, refers to the Soviet Union.

[3] Peng Zong, refers to Peng Dehuai, then Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Eighteenth Group Army (Eighth Route Army).

[4] Jiang, refers to Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek).

[5] Zhang Chong, then the Nationalist Party's negotiation representative.

[6] Ye Ting, Commander of the New Fourth Army, was unjustifiably detained by the Nationalist Party under Jiang Jieshi during the Southern Anhui Incident in January 1941.

[7] Anglo-Soviet Agreement: On July 12, 1941, the plenipotentiaries of Britain and the Soviet Union signed in Moscow the "Agreement Between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for Joint Action in the War Against Germany." Both sides agreed to render each other assistance and support in the war against Hitlerite Germany and not to negotiate or conclude an armistice or peace treaty separately with the enemy.

has already reached a stalemate, but the decisive battle still lies ahead, and the danger has not yet passed. If a frontal breakthrough fails, Hitler will strike towards Turkey, Iraq, and the Caucasus, which will be the main area for coordinated operations by the British and Soviet naval, land, and air forces. (8) Japan is concentrating its ships in the Pacific, appointing Itagaki as Commander of the Korean Army, and transferring part of its forces from China to Manchuria[2]. It seems to be preparing for an anti-Soviet move, but the main factor remains the outcome of the German-Soviet war. For the time being, it appears to still be waiting and watching.

Mao Zedong

Shanwu

[1] Soviet-German War: On June 22, 1941, Germany, rallying its vassal states, suddenly attacked the Soviet Union, marking the outbreak of the Soviet-German War. Thereafter, the Soviet people began their Patriotic War. In October 1941, the German army launched a massive assault on Moscow; the Soviet army conducted an active defense and launched a counter-offensive in December. In 1944, the Soviet army initiated a general counter-offensive, completely recovering the lost territories and shifting military operations into enemy territory. In early 1945, the Soviet army launched a powerful offensive, and in May, captured Berlin, forcing Germany's unconditional surrender.

[2] Manchuria, refers to the Northeast region of China. After the September 18th Incident in 1931, Japanese imperialism comprehensively occupied Northeast China, and in March 1934 established the puppet regime "Manchukuo Empire." It was abolished in August 1945 with the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.