Guisui, Baotou, Datong, and Other Places Must Be Occupied[1]

(October 22, 1945)

Nie, Xiao, Luo, Liu, and inform He, Li:

(1) Your telegram of 22:00 on the 21st has been received. We are greatly gratified by your initial victory.

(2) The main force of Fu's[2] troops must be annihilated; Guisui, Baotou, Wuyuan, and Guyang must be occupied, and if possible, Linhe should also be occupied. Datong must be occupied; if it can be taken quickly, then take it quickly; otherwise, wait until the troops return to take it. Please deploy operations according to this policy. If Fu's troops hold fast to Guisui, then first occupy Baotou, Wuyuan, and Guyang, cut off Fu's troops' food supplies and force them to break out, and then annihilate them. If we can advance swiftly, we may be able to occupy Guisui quickly. (3) According to intelligence from the Second Bureau, there is chaos and panic inside Guisui, and Taolin[3] has been occupied by Yao Zhe[4]. (4) Immediately order the Hebei-Shanxi, Hebei-Central, and Northern Beiping regions to each form a second group of field armies, with at least ten thousand from each, totaling thirty thousand, to await orders to move to Northern Beiping for combat.

Military Commission

20:00, October 22

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the CPC, addressed to Nie Rongzhen, Commander and Political Commissar of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region; Xiao Ke, Deputy Commander; Luo Ruiqing, Deputy Political Commissar and Director of the Political Department; and Liu Lantao, Deputy Political Commissar, and to be conveyed to He Long, Commander of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Field Army, and Li Jingquan, Deputy Political Commissar.

[2] Fu refers to Fu Zuoyi, then Commander of the 12th War Zone of the Kuomintang Army.

[3] Taolin, an old county name, abolished in 1954, with its jurisdiction incorporated into the Chahar Right Rear Banner and Chahar Right Middle Banner of Inner Mongolia. The former county seat, Taolin Town, is the seat of the Chahar Right Middle Banner.

[4] Yao Zhe, then Commander of the Sui-Mongol Military Sub-district.