On Arranging the Reception of the First Uprising Aircraft

To the Central China Bureau[1]

(March 1945)

Central China Bureau:

(1) One aircraft took off from Yangzhou and arrived in Yan'an this afternoon; (2) The Yan'an airfield can accommodate twenty aircraft. In addition, there is one usable airfield each twenty kilometers west of Liao County seat in the Taihang Mountains and twenty kilometers east of Lingqiu County seat in the Wutai Mountains.

The Central Committee

[1] In early 1945, victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan was in sight. Some personnel under the Wang Jingwei puppet regime gradually came to recognize that the revolutionary ranks led by the Communist Party were the hope of China, and began to seek ways to stage uprisings, defect, and march toward the light. Two such individuals were Zhou Zhihe, a major flight instructor in the Wang puppet air force, and Huang Zhefu, a junior lieutenant pilot. Through multiple channels of contact, they located the New Fourth Army's Jiangsu-Zhejiang Military District and expressed their desire to rise up to Commander Su Yu. Following secret negotiations, Zhou Zhihe and Huang Zhefu planned to fly the "Jianguo Hao," a special aircraft of the Wang puppet "National Government Aircraft Unit," from Yangzhou, Jiangsu, to Yan'an on August 20 to stage their uprising. This telegram, personally drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Committee, instructed the Central China Bureau to arrange and designate a landing airfield. Zhou Enlai added a line to the message: "Upon arrival, there will be a white cross symbol for liaison." On August 20, 1945, this aircraft flew to Yan'an.