Seize the Moment to Establish the
Wuling Base Area in Northern
Guangdong and Southern Hunan
(July 22, 1945)
Wang Zhen, [Wang] Shoudao:1
1. We have received your telegram of July 18. Where are Taohuashan and
Jinjiaping? How is the situation along the way? From there how much time do
you estimate will be needed to reach the Wuling mountain range?2
2. The Japanese bandits have transported five divisions (regiments) from
Hunan and Guangxi to move northward to deal with the landing of the Allied
forces in Shandong. They are not giving up southern China. But in order to
shorten their defense line, they have already given up places, including Nanning,
Liuzhou, and Ganzhou, and will probably give up some other locations as well.
But at least they will have to defend Guangzhou and the entire Guangzhou-Hankou railway line securely. Ji’an and Yuanzhou were not taken; the rumors
from the merchants are incorrect.
3. The three big shots’3 meeting in Berlin will settle the two big issues of
Europe and Asia. For more than ten days, Song Ziwen4 was in the Soviet Union
for meetings, yet the problem was not solved. After the meeting of the three big
shots, Song will go to the Soviet Union again and may decide on the issue of
China and the Soviet Union fighting the war together. All of Chiang Kaishek’s
preparations are anti-Communist; the danger of a civil war is unprecedentedly
severe.
4. Your only task is to seize this precious moment to establish the Wuling Base
Area in northern Guangdong and southern Hunan and to merge with our troops in Guangdong, preparing for the diversion of the southern wing when civil war
breaks out. To complete this task, you will encounter extreme difficulties. But it
can be accomplished as long as we act in unison and the policy is correct. Do not
expect to set up a base area in the districts of Liuyang, Liling, Hengyang, and
Baoqing. It is certain that Chiang Kaishek will try to eliminate these base areas
with full force after the defeat of the Japanese bandits, which will then put our
army in a disadvantageous position. You should march all the way to the south to
set up the Wuling Base Area, taking advantage of the conflicts in the border
region of the four provinces of Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Jiangxi, where
we can still establish a foothold even after the defeat of the Japanese bandits. In
addition, it is of great strategic importance to join forces with the Dongjiang
Brigade [in Guangdong] so they can gain assistance, preserve and develop this
southern force that has been established for many years, and avoid possible
failures. The completion of this task also relies on you. You must look into the
future when confronting problems. Do not be confused by passing phenomena.
5. Be modest and discreet, not haughty and hasty; this is the attitude that
everyone in the Party should adopt. Being modest avoids haughtiness, and being
discreet avoids hastiness; haughtiness and hastiness are the biggest enemy to the
work of the revolution. I hope you will discipline yourselves to these and educate
every cadre.
6. Imagine all possible difficulties in everything, such as serious enemy threats,
defeat, running out of food, troops diminishing instead of expanding, internal
opinions diverging, disunity, and so forth. Only when you have thoroughly
considered these beforehand, are fully prepared spiritually, and have prepared the
cadres as well, will you be able to come up with ways of overcoming the
difficulties and thus march toward a bright future.
Mao Zedong
Notes

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Notes

Our source for this document is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 2, pp. 809–11, where it is reproduced from the
manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1. Wang Zhen and Wang Shoudao were at this time commander-in-chief and commissar of the Hunan
People’s Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army, respectively.

2. The mountain range that runs along the Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong, and Guangxi borders.

3. The three big shots refer to Stalin, Harry S Truman, and Winston Churchill.

4. Song Ziwen (T.V. Soong) was at this time head of the State Administrative Council and minister of
foreign affairs of the Guomindang government.