The New Fourth Army’s Victorious
Attacks and China’s National
Salvation1
(October 1, 1944)
The New Fourth Army, proclaimed three years ago by Chiang Kaishek to be the
“rebel army” for its “sabotaging military order and discipline,” has not only
persisted in the War of Resistance in Central China, but has also repeatedly
attacked and won splendid victories in the past half-year. The successive
victories of the New Fourth Army stand in sharp contrast to the successive
defeats of the Guomindang troops on the front-line battlefields over the past half-year. Moreover, this constitutes a serious exposure and mockery of the “military
order and discipline” loudly emphasized by Chiang Kaishek and the Guomindang
government. This “order and discipline” represents defeatism, favors the Japanese
bandits, and is unfavorable to the nation. For the Chinese people, these victories
raise the Chinese people’s confidence in victory. As for the Allied countries’
strategy to defeat the Japanese bandits, they also provide a very important
inspiration. Only two types of people express deep hatred for the victories of
the New Fourth Army. They are the Japanese invaders and Chiang Kaishek
of China. As for Japan’s bitter hatred of us, we need not discuss it. As
regards Chiang Kaishek, two things he did were particularly welcomed by
the Japanese invaders: The first is his anti-Communist activities; the second
is his book, China’s Destiny. Of the tens of thousands of anti-Communist
activities carried out by Chiang Kaishek, the ambush aimed at the New
Fourth Army, the arrest of General Ye Ting, and the declaration that the
New Fourth Army is a “rebel army” were most welcomed by the Japanese. In

the spring of 1941, when Chiang Kaishek committed these criminal acts
which sabotaged the War of Resistance, jeopardized the country, and
betrayed the nation, the Japanese Allied News Agency praised him, saying:
“Chiang Kaishek has done nothing good in the past few years, but the
dissolution of the New Fourth Army can be counted as a job well done.”
No matter how the Japanese and Chiang Kaishek collaborate to harm the
New Fourth Army, it is still developing and expanding; it is still winning
victories.
The New Fourth Army headquarters announced its military accomplishments
from January to June of this year. It fought more than a thousand times, captured
more than ten thousand enemy and puppet troops, and seized more than eleven
thousand guns. There were forty-two cases in which puppet troops, involving
more than six thousand soldiers, returned to righteousness. It crushed the
enemy’s and puppet armies’ “mopping up” actions involving over three thousand
troops twelve times, involving five thousand troops four times, and involving
more than seven thousand troops twenty times. It overran 420 of the enemy’s and
puppet troops’ strongholds. Last winter, the enemy’s and puppet troops’
strongholds totaled 2,972. By the end of June this year, the total number,
including new ones, is only 2,693.
Now let us look at the major campaigns carried out by the New Fourth Army
in Central China. In the Cheqiao Campaign in central Jiangsu on March 4, the
New Fourth Army destroyed fifty-three blockhouses, wiped out a regiment of
about eight hundred enemy troops, and captured alive more than forty enemy
officers and soldiers. Beginning in the last ten days of March to May, our troops
in northern Anhui attacked puppet troops along the 300-li front line. They took
Guirenji, Xinji, Weiji, and others for a total of 51 strongholds and captured 1,300
puppet troops. On April 19, in the Huaihai region, they overran the Gaogou and
Yangkou strongholds. On April 27, our troops attacked Caoxian and the suburbs
of Wuwei. On May 3, our troops in Binhai took Chenjiagang in the lower reaches
of the Guan River, the major harbor that the enemy used to control the salt in
Anhui and captured alive more than four hundred enemy and puppet troops. On
May 13, our troops attacked the inner suburbs of Wuhu. In mid-June, our troops
in Hubei went south across the Yangzi River and took Hengti. From July 12 to 17,
our troops in central Jiangsu took Tianshenggang, Zhanghuanggang, and others,

totaling five harbors on the north bank of the Yangzi River. Since the beginning
of July, our troops in eastern Zhejiang have shattered in succession three
“mopping-up” actions by enemy and puppet troops against Siming mountain. On
July 26, our troops in southern Jiangsu attacked the outer areas of Nanjing and
took Xuezhen, Sangyuan, and other strongholds and opened the area stretching
from Molingguan to Hengshan to guerrilla warfare. Beginning on August 23, our
troops have initiated attacks along the Beijing-Hangzhou National Highway,
taking Changxing, destroying Hexi coal mine, and also storming into Lishui and
Liyang. Adding up all of this, since March our New Fourth Army has fought a
total of thirteen major campaigns.
With regard to the achievements of the political offensive, in June our northern
Anhui region initiated a political offensive after the military offensive. Originally
the puppet Twenty-eighth Division stationed in Siyang had more than a
thousand troops, but desertion left only about three hundred. In quite a few
strongholds, we were able to reclaim them by merely shouting to the guards and
without firing a shot.
As far as sabotage operations are concerned, from June 25 to July 10 we carried
out major sabotage operations in Nantong, Haimen, Qidong, and Rugao; fifty
thousand people participated and destroyed 700 li of road and 50 bridges.
Altogether, these victorious attacks by the New Fourth Army this year
liberated more than 100,000 square kilometers of national territory and a
population of more than five million. Our army shrank the area occupied by the
enemy in central Jiangsu to as little as 16 percent [of its former territory]. Even in
southern Jiangsu where the struggle is the most brutal, our troops opened up new
areas. The victories of the anti–“mopping-up” campaigns in early summer and
around the wheat harvest completely thwarted the enemy’s and the puppet’s
original plans to rob grain. The adjustments in the organization of the enemy’s
Central China Army and their attempts to strengthen control over the puppet
troops both demonstrate the enemy’s need to devise new countermeasures in the
face of attacks by our army.
The significance of the victorious attacks by the New Fourth Army does not
stop here. We should also point out the following.
First, of the attacks waged by the New Fourth Army this year, many included
storming fortified positions. The victorious storming of fortified positions proves

that after reform and training, their military skills have strengthened. The New
Fourth Army now has a principal force of 180,000, and there are 500,000 militia
guerrillas serving as its reserve. It is the only force maintaining the field behind
enemy lines in Central China. In the past, people thought that the New Fourth
Army was only a guerrilla army. This thinking is wrong and leads to an
underestimation of the strength of the New Fourth Army. The victorious attacks
by the New Fourth Army this year have refuted this erroneous thinking with
facts.
Second, like the Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army not only has a
very strong fighting capacity. Its greatest strength is also its political work. It
mingles with the people and is doing very well working on enemy and puppet
troops. The combat missions and operations of the New Fourth Army are often
supported and aided by the people. In the battle at Cheqiao, forty enemy officers
and soldiers were captured alive; this is a new record in the War of Resistance.
The puppet soldiers in Central China call the New Fourth Army the “Fourth
Master” and compare it to Zhao Zilong.2 They often talk to their guns like this:
“Dear gun, I am only preserving you for the Fourth Master.” In the past six
months, there have been forty-two cases in which puppet troops have returned to
righteousness, involving more than six thousand troops. This shows the great
influence of the New Fourth Army.
Third, the geographical position held by the New Fourth Army is of extreme
importance. It controls the entire coast in Central China and the richest valley of
the Yangzi River. If the Japanese invaders were to rule this area completely, it
would pose the greatest political, economic, and military disadvantage to our
country, as well as to the Allied countries.
In the face of the enemy’s attack in Central China, the Guomindang simply
abandoned resistance and fled in panic. This beautiful territory fell into the
enemy’s hands. Only the New Fourth Army is persevering in the sacred War of
Resistance in this region and has prepared a forward base for the Allied
counteroffensive in the future. The Guomindang capitulators, defeatists, and
Fascists regard the New Fourth Army as a thorn in their side. They cannot feel at
ease until it is exterminated under the guise of “military order and discipline.”
The Southern Anhui Incident is an eternal injustice which thoroughly exposed
the evil intentions of Chiang Kaishek and the Guomindang reactionary clique.

Even today, Chiang Kaishek and the Guomindang reactionary clique are still
adhering to their old ideas and are daily stressing their “unification of military
and political order.” Yet, this “unification” does not mean anything else but to
“eliminate within a set time” four-fifths of the Eighth Route Army and the New
Fourth Army and to “pool them together for use within a set time.” Everybody
understands that such a “unification” does not “unify” them into the hands
of Chiang Kaishek but in reality “unifies” them into the hands of the
Japanese. Four-fifths of the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army
are “eliminated within a set time,” while the remaining one-fifth is “pooled
together for use.” Doesn’t this mean that four-fifths of the liberated national
territory would be “unified” into the hands of the Japanese? What a great
plan to help the Japanese! There is no doubt that the Japanese emperor will
issue a special order for an award.
Nevertheless, the Chinese people are determined not to permit such a
conspiracy of betrayal, nor will the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth
Army ever permit such a conspiracy. Take the New Fourth Army for example.
It has now become the Great Wall of the people in Central China and has become
an intrinsically inseparable part of the people in Central China. The Japanese
cannot wipe it out or drive it away, nor can any other reactionaries do so.
We celebrate the victories of the New Fourth Army. We cherish the memory of
Commander Ye Ting and other faithful and brave generals and soldiers who are
still in jail. We will still encourage the commanders and soldiers in the New
Fourth Army to strengthen themselves, enlarge their own troops, and create
closer links within the army and between the army and the people. Be
prepared to demonstrate fully your heroic skills in the anti-Japanese
counteroffensive with the Allied countries!
Notes
Our source for this document is Mao Zedong xinwen gongzuo wenxuan, pp. 329–34, where it is reproduced
from the original preserved in the Central Archives. Text in boldface was added by Mao during revisions.
Victorious Attacks” to the current one by Mao.

--- Notes

1. This is an editorial in the Yan’an Jiefang ribao. The title was changed from “The New Fourth Army’s


2. Zhao Zilong (also known as Zhao Yun), a general of the later Han period, was made famous in the
novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms as a heroic warrior and loyal servant who was able to survive
seemingly insurmountable challenges.