Reply to Zhou Enlai and Lin Biao[1]

(July 9, 1943)

After your talks with Hu, come quickly to Yan’an. Should Hu raise opinions, do not engage in debate; merely say that you will return to Yan’an for consultations and that everything can be resolved peacefully. Our assessment is that their plan is to mass troops on the border to force us into a surrender under duress, failing which they will attack. We have already carried out a general mobilization of the Party, government, army, and people throughout the entire Border Region in preparation for self-defence.

[1] This is the main content of Mao Zedong’s reply to Zhou Enlai and Lin Biao.