Zheng and Li [1]: (1) You must prepare to operate in Henan and Hubei for at least six months. Only after the three forces [2] have joined can a powerful field army be concentrated to score several major victories, which would not only help the overall situation but also turn around your own circumstances.


(2) At present, with your field army having linked up with Wang and Dai, as well as the “Two Wangs” [3], it is most appropriate to seize the Tongbai Mountains area. Do not advance prematurely into other regions, as this would only increase your difficulties and be detrimental to the broader strategic picture.


The southeastern part of Henan (Dabieshan Mountains) and the northeastern part (the New Yellow River [4]) to the east, and western Henan (Funiu Mountains) and northwestern Hubei to the west, should serve only as reserve maneuvering areas for deployment several months hence; they should not be included in your current plans.


(3) As long as you win battles, financial resources will follow. After a few successful engagements and the capture of a sizable territory—covering at least seven or eight counties—you need not worry about resolving the financial problem. All the various liberated-area armies have managed to do so in this way, and you too can achieve it.


At present, you should demonstrate firm resolve to establish a battlefield in the Tongbai Mountains region—west of the railway, east of Nanyang, south of Yexian County, and north of Sui and Zao [5]—annihilate the stubborn enemy forces, and secure the necessary finances.


This was originally your planned course of action, and we hope you will carry it out decisively.


Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript under the Central Committee’s Yu Yang edition.


Notes [1] Zheng refers to Zheng Weisan (1902–1975), a native of Huang’an, Hubei (now Hong’an), who at the time served as acting secretary of the CCP’s Eyuwan Bureau. Li refers to Li Xiannian, then a member of the CCP’s Eyuwan Bureau and commander and political commissar of the New Fourth Army’s Fifth Division.


[2] The “three forces” refer to the troops of the Eighth Route Army’s Henan Military Region, the main body of the Eighth Route Army’s 359th Brigade (i.e., the Southern Advance Detachment), and the New Fourth Army’s Fifth Division.


[3] Wang and Dai denote Wang Shusheng and Dai Jiying, who at the time held the posts of commander and political commissar of the Henan Military Region, respectively. The “Two Wangs” are Wang Zhen and Wang Shudao. Wang Zhen was then commander of the Eighth Route Army’s Southern Advance Detachment, while Wang Shudao, born in Liuyang, Hunan, in 1906, served as that detachment’s political commissar.


[4] On June 9, 1938, Chiang Kai-shek ordered Nationalist forces to blow up the Huanghe River dike at Huayuankou, north of Zhengzhou, Henan, in an attempt to use the resulting floodwaters to block the Japanese invasion. This caused the Yellow River to change course, flowing southeast into the Jialu River and then the Yinghe River, eventually joining the Huai River near Zhengyangguan in Anhui. By 1940, the diverted Yellow River had also entered the Wohe, Xifeihe, Qianhe, and Beifeihe rivers, all of which empty into the Huai. Collectively, these altered river courses came to be known as the “New Yellow River.” In 1947, the breach at Huayuankou was repaired, and the Yellow River returned to its original course.


[5] Sui and Zao refer to Sui County (now Suizhou) and Zaoyang in Hubei Province.