Seizing Victory in the Pingsui Campaign
Is of Great Significance1
 (October 16, 1945)
To all comrades in the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei (Jin-Cha-Ji) and Shanxi-Suiyuan
(Jin-Sui) bureaus; and for the information of the Northeast and Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan (Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu) bureaus:
The Pingsui Campaign that is about to commence affects our Party’s position in
the north as well as our struggle for nationwide peace, and it is extremely significant. Chiang Kaishek ordered Fu Zuoyi to amass more than 50,000 troops along
the Guisui-Jining-Datong line. As soon as ground, air, and sea transport could
concentrate military strength in Beiping, Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, and other places,
they were to coordinate with Fu’s troops in attacking Zhangtan [Zhangjiakou]
as well as Shenyang and Chengde. With the aid of the Japanese bandits and in
cooperation with the puppets Wang Ying and Li Shouxin,2 Fu forcibly occupied
Bikeji, Guisui, Wuchuan, Jining, Fengzhen, Taolin,3 Liangcheng, Qingshuihe,
and other places in Suiyuan that either were within our original Liberated Areas or
were recovered by us not long ago. They also seized our Xinghe and Shangyi and
are advancing toward Zhangtan. Although we have now recovered Xinghe and
Shangyi, all the other places remain in the hands of the diehard puppets, who are
actively preparing to attack Zhangtan and are scheming to cut off our routes in the
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 33–34; it also appears in Mao
Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 57–59.
out an even more major attack on the Shangdang Liberated Areas. Although he
suffered a serious counterattack in our Shangdang Campaign,5 which destroyed
more than 30,000 of his main forces, his remaining troops are still more than
60,000 strong. Rebel Yan is heartless and maniacal and has organized thousands
of the Japanese invaders to prepare to attack his own countrymen. Because of this,
short of impeding speedy assistance to the Northeast, it is altogether necessary
and reasonable to do everything possible to thoroughly annihilate the forces of
Rebel Yan.
The Central Committee

--- Notes

1.  The Pingsui Campaign was also known as the Suiyuan Campaign. After Japan surrendered, Fu Zuoyi (1895–1974), the commander of the Guomindang’s Twelfth War Zone
based in western Suiyuan, mustered the main forces under his control and incorporated
more than 60,000 puppet soldiers into his army. He advanced on Guisui (Hohhot) and the
already liberated cities of Wuchuan, Taolin, Fengzhen, Jining, and Xinghe, while plotting
to seize Zhangjiakou and control the Beiping-Guisui railway.

2.  Wang Ying (1894–1950, native of Hebei) was originally commander of the puppet
forces at Suixi. After the War of Resistance Against Japan ended, his section was absorbed
by Fu Zuoyi into the Twelfth War Zone, and he was temporarily made commander-in-chief
of the Eleventh Cavalry Group. Li Shouxin (1892 –1970, native of Inner Mongolia) was
originally commander of the Mongolian puppet army. After the War of Resistance Against
Japan ended, Chiang Kaishek incorporated him into the Guomindang army.

3.  Taolin county was abolished in 1954 and placed under the administration of the
Left Flank Back Banner and Right Flank Central Banner of Chahar in the Inner Mongolia
Autonomous Region.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-44
Northeast, North China, and the Northwest. There is therefore ample reason for
this Pingsui Campaign to be fought for the recovery of lost territory and to open
up lines of transport. We hope you can boost morale and resolutely, thoroughly,
cleanly, and completely annihilate the stubborn anti-Communist and anti-popular
diehard puppet armies, thus fulfilling your sacred task. After the victory of the
Pingsui Campaign, the main forces should rapidly prepare to shift toward eastern
Hebei and the area west of Beiping and carry out their critical new task. With the
required number of competent troops, head south from Datong and destroy the
forces of Rebel Yan.4 Upon reaching the vicinity of Taiyuan, depending on the
situation, consider once again the question of seizing Taiyuan, for Rebel Yan not
only colluded with the Japanese invaders over a long period but recently carried

4.  Rebel Yan refers to Yan Xishan (1883–1960, born in Wutai county, Xinzhou), commander of the Guomindang’s Second War Zone.

5.  In mid-August 1945, Yan Xishan amassed thirteen divisions and joined with the
Japanese puppet forces to invade Xiangtan, Chunliu, Changzhi, Lucheng, and other liberated regions in southeastern Shanxi. A counterattack by the Communist forces from September 10 until October 12 resulted in the annihilation of eleven divisions and an advance
column, totaling more than 35,000 troops, including Commander Shi Zebo (1899–1986,
born in Xixian, Hubei) and other senior officers. Because Changzhi once belonged to
Shangdang Prefecture, this campaign was called the Shangdang Campaign.