Reply to Zhang Yunyi and Others[1]

(August 21, 1944)

The U.S. military is preparing to land in China and has requested to coordinate operations with our army. In the area of the Fifth Division, the U.S. military has already sent personnel, and we have permitted them to set up a radio network and provide intelligence. Soon they will send personnel to the army headquarters and set up radio networks in Shanghai and along the coastal areas of the Yangtze River. Their purpose is not only to facilitate air force bombing at present but also to prepare for coordination in future landing operations. According to some American estimates, the time for the U.S. military to land in China is not far off. Therefore, you are requested to make earnest arrangements for work in the areas between Wusong, Ningbo, Hangzhou, and Nanjing, especially along the coast from Wusong to Ningbo and along the Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway, to extensively develop guerrilla warfare and prepare for armed uprisings in the major cities. The First Division and the Party organizations in Central Jiangsu and Southern Jiangsu should shoulder great responsibility in this work.

[1] This is the main content of Mao Zedong's reply telegram to Zhang Yunyi, Rao Shushi, and Lai Chuanzhu.