Conversation with Wang Shusheng[1]

(1944)

Your analysis is very incisive. The Central Committee has also considered it and intends to send Comrades Xu Xiangqian, Dai Jiying, Liu Zijiu, and others to go with you, bringing a fresh force, to proceed quickly to the Central Plains, to link up with the units of Pi Dingjun and Xu Zirong already operating there earlier, to form the Henan Military Region, to mobilize the masses, to pick up the large quantities of weapons abandoned by Tang Enbo, to build the base areas well, to carry the War of Resistance through to the end, and to seize the final victory.

[1] At the time, the War of Resistance Against Japan had already entered the decisive stage, and Wang Shusheng was wholeheartedly determined to go to the front. This is part of Mao Zedong’s conversation with him after listening to his analysis of the Central Plains war situation. In September 1944, Wang Shusheng led his troops into the western Henan battlefield, established an anti-Japanese base area, formed the Henan Military Region, and served as its commander.