Reply to the First Military and Political Conference of the East Zhejiang Column

(November 24, 1944)

Comrades Zhang, Rao, and Lai, and all comrades of the East Zhejiang Column:

The telegram from your representative conference has been received and read. We hope you will strive to annihilate the enemy and develop the armed forces. Expand the liberated areas, improve the livelihood of the troops and the people in the liberated areas, and prepare to cooperate with the Allied forces in driving out the Japanese invaders.

[1] From September 25 to November 5, 1944, the First Military and Political Conference of the East Zhejiang Column was held in Hongwei, Cixi (later moved to Yuanma, Yuyao). The conference heard a report by Tan Qilong on "The Current Situation and Our Army's Future Tasks" and a summary by He Kexi on the Second Self-Defense War. The conference sent a salutation telegram to the Party Central Committee and Chairman Mao. On November 24, 1944, Mao Zedong sent this reply to the First Military and Political Conference of the East Zhejiang Column.

[2] Zhang, Rao, and Lai refer to Zhang Yunyi, Rao Shushi, and Lai Chuanzhu.