Encircle Datong and Resolve the Taiyuan Problem

(August 16, 1945)

He, Lü, Lin:[1]

(1) The Red Army[2] has occupied Zhangbei and Duolun. (2) Our main forces in Suiyuan[3] must quickly encircle Datong; we must contend with Fu Zuoyi[4] for Datong. (3) The enemy at Yuncheng had not yet withdrawn by the 15th and is scheduled to withdraw northward on the 19th. It is estimated that the enemy at Taiyuan will not withdraw for the time being, and Yan[5] will also be unable to openly occupy Taiyuan for now. Our main forces must cut off the area between Fenyang, Xiaoyi, and Taiyuan, occupy strongpoints, construct fortifications, and prepare for a decisive battle with Yan. (4) Our Taiyue troops are concentrating at Mianshang[6] and advancing toward Pingjie.[7] Send personnel with a radio set to Pingjie to establish contact. Our Taihang troops will concentrate at Wuxiang on the 19th and then advance toward Taiyuan, but that will be too late. You must use your own forces and those of Taiyue to resolve the Taiyuan problem.

Mao Zedong

The 16th

[1] He refers to He Long, then commander of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army, commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Shanxi-Suiyuan Joint Defense Forces, and commander of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Field Forces. Lü and Lin refer to Lü Zhengcao and Lin Feng, then respectively commander and political commissar of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Military District of the Eighth Route Army.

[2] The Red Army refers to the Soviet Red Army.

[3] Suiyuan, a former province covering the central part of today’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, abolished in 1954.

[4] Fu Zuoyi, then commander of the 12th War Zone of the Nationalist Army.

[5] Yan refers to Yan Xishan, then commander of the 2nd War Zone of the Nationalist Army.

[6] Mianshang, a village in the northern part of Qinyuan County, Shanxi Province.

[7] Pingjie refers to Pingyao and Jiexiu in Shanxi Province.