Comrade [Liu] Shaoqi:

Your telegram of the 12th has been received.¹
1. The slogan of counteroffense is correct. The slogan of an active offensive
was already used in the July 7 Declaration, and in the future we may use a slogan
of strategic counteroffense.
2. But it remains inappropriate for the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth
Army to carry out operations on a large scale. The orientation should continue to
be a long-term struggle over a long period of time, the reason being that our army
is weak in all respects, and any large movement would surely sap our strength and
be disadvantageous both to us and to the Soviet Union.
3. The overall situation will be determined by the Soviet Union's winning victory. At present the Soviet Union's several million reserve troops are just being
used, and it is possible that in a few days there will be a decisive battle to halt the
German army's offensive, which would be most advantageous in terms of the
overall situation. If Leningrad and Moscow fall, then Japan is certain to invade the
Soviet Union, the Soviet Union's difficulties will increase, and it will turn into a
protracted war. But the agreement between Britain and the Soviet Union has already determined the basis for a final victory. A confrontation between the United
States and Germany and between the United States and Japan is unavoidable, and
the overall situation still does not favor the fascists.
4. It is Chiang [Kaishek]'s policy to take any advantage to contain the Japanese
and contain the Communists, so therefore our policy toward Chiang should continue to be that of no concessions but no attack either. In actuality it is impossible
for us to give up our territory to Chiang, and he certainly will not fight fiercely
against the Japanese, as he is very opportunistic and very clever.
5. The suggestion in your previous telegram of using “The Communist Manifesto” and “On New Democracy” as textbooks for veteran cadres does not seem
appropriate because they are too difficult to understand. It is better to compile
some new textbooks, and the Central Committee's Propaganda Department is
making a start at that.
6. I hope you mail your two articles from Hong Kong so that I can read them as
soon as possible.

Mao Zedong

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 654-55, where it is reproduced from Mao's handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
¹ This refers to a telegram dated July 12, 1941, from Chen Yi and Liu Shaoqi to Mao,
arguing that if Japan were to attack the Soviet Union, the Communists should call on the
entire nation to counterattack, and if the Guomindang refused to do so, the Eighth Route
Army and the New Fourth Army should counterattack on their own.