Speech at the Seventh Branch School of
the Anti-Japanese Military and Political
University
 (October 25, 1945)
Comrades:
The student comrades at the Seventh Branch School of the Anti-Japanese
Military and Political University are all from the border areas and North China,
and they have all worked in these areas; quite a few fought in battle and contributed to the cause of resisting Japan. You have been studying at the Seventh
Branch School of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University for a long
time, and now you are heading to the front; we have therefore convened a conference here to welcome you as well as to see you off.
As everybody knows, the War of Resistance Against Japan has already ended,
but a large part of the Japanese army has still not surrendered its arms, also hundreds
of thousands of puppet troops have not yet handed over their guns, and a number
of Japanese and puppet troops are still fighting us. Our Liberated Areas in North
China, Central China, the Northeast, and the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border area,
have a total population of 150 million people, 1,300,000 troops, and more than
2,500,000 militiamen. Right now, the diehard faction in the Guomindang also wants
to fight us. During the eight years of the War of Resistance they hid in the rear, seldom engaging in battle. Many of the troops have basically never fought a battle at
all. Now that Japan has surrendered, they have reemerged, and they want to devour
our Liberated Areas and fight our Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army.
On this visit to Chongqing, I saw Chiang Kaishek, and our representatives and
their representatives talked for more than forty days and discussed several things.
There were two items, the first being that China wants peace and the second being
that China wants democracy; we brought these up, and they, having no grounds
on which to object, could only support them and we signed the Double Tenth
Agreement.1 But at the same time, they were preparing a large number of troops
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 47–50, where it is reproduced
from the transcript of Mao’s speech preserved in the Central Archives.
1.  This refers to the summary of talks signed by representatives from the Chinese Communist Party and the Guomindang in Chongqing on October 10, 1945, which is also known
as the “Double Tenth Agreement.”
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-54

to attack the Liberated Areas, altogether numbering 800,000, not including those
surrounding the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border area, which if included would
bring the total to more than one million. We have already fought a number of
battles, and in the first several battles, they lost face. If the fighting continues and
we win, it is possible that peace could be achieved, and at that time we will send
a representative to say to him: “Chairman Chiang, we have negotiated in the past,
let us still make peace!” We do not want to fight, and if we do not go on fighting, peace will be possible. If it is they who are victorious in battle, our Liberated
Areas will become dark places, our Party school will be unable to operate, and
the Seventh Branch School likewise will be unable to operate. If they are allowed
to occupy the border areas, there will no longer be a border area government, and
the reductions in rent and interest will be canceled. Therefore, the people’s army,
government, and Communist Party in the Liberated Areas must unite closely to
smash the diehard faction’s offensive and resolutely wipe it out. Whoever dares to
come, we shall wipe him out; there is no other way, there is only this way.
Recently, we have been victorious in two battles.2 The first was in the Taihang
Mountain region, fought in the Changzhi-Changzi area. Thirty-eight thousand
men of Yan Xishan’s mountain army attacked us, while we only had 31,000 regular troops, all the rest being militiamen. With the help of 50,000 militiamen carrying the wounded and providing transport, we annihilated 35,000 of their men,
with only 3,000 getting away, and we also captured a great number of their rifles,
machine guns, and heavy artillery. The second battle was fought in Suiyuan. The
diehard puppet armies attacked us with more than 60,000 men and advanced to
the Zhangjiakou region. The first time, they were beaten back by us; the second
time, they advanced to Jining (Pingdiquan), Fengzhen, and Hunyuan, and occupied 250 li of railroad line; we are currently still fighting. On the Beiping-Hankou
and Tianjin-Pukou lines, and in Hebei, Jiangsu, and Anhui, battles are being taken
up everywhere. In all these battles, victory is within our grasp because vast areas
are in our hands, the people support us, and local armies and guerrilla units have
already developed into field armies. A place that has field armies numbering in the
tens of thousands or one hundred thousand, and also has hundreds of thousands of
militiamen, can deal with them very well.
What does the future hold? In the future there eventually will be peace. In the
coming months we must undertake a great deal of work to implement the Double
Tenth Agreement and also to realize our demands for the realization of peace
and democracy. The Double Tenth Agreement did not resolve the question of the
Liberated Areas because they were unwilling to recognize the Liberated Areas.
After several months, we will still demand that they recognize the Liberated
Areas; not to recognize them will not do; this is the trend of the times in China.
2.  This is a reference to the Shangdang Campaign, which lasted from September 10
until October 12, 1945, and the Suiyuan Campaign, which began on October 18, 1945.

This is the task of the Communist Party and the Eighth Route Army, and the task
of the people of the Liberated Areas.
Speaking of the people, I have seen many people in the Great Rear Area.
They are all extremely enthusiastic, willing to help us, and they approve of our
Liberated Areas. I have also seen a number of foreigners, for example Americans.
Although their government’s policy is bad and anti-Communist, their pilots and
ground troops are very friendly; they flock to me and always want to present me
with a little something. In Chongqing I also saw Englishmen and Frenchmen.
Some among them are not good, but the majority are good; their governments are
not good, just like that of the Americans. Therefore, we must learn to analyze: a
small number of people are bad, the large number are good. We have friends in all
of China and the whole world; we are not isolated.
It is good that you are going to the front. In going to the front, I hope you keep
in mind that our general task is to struggle for nationwide peace and to break the
reactionary elements who dare to attack us. Obtain peace; this is the first item.
The second item is that we hope you expand and consolidate your ranks.
Officers must absolutely be mindful of their attitudes and treat their troops as
friends, comrades, and brothers. When you become an officer, you should adopt
this kind of attitude and you should not learn from the Guomindang army officers,
who treat their brothers poorly. Since we all stand on the same line to serve the
people, and we all are prepared to sacrifice our lives for the good of all of China’s
people, why would we treat our soldiers poorly? We absolutely must treat them
well. After today, no matter which army you go to, you all must handle officersoldier relations well. If you treat the soldiers well, the soldiers will undoubtedly
adopt an excellent attitude and will treat you well. This is the kind of army that no
enemy can tear asunder. The Party Central Committee is just the same. We want
to have democracy within the Party and to adopt a comradely, friendly, brotherly,
and sisterly attitude toward our comrades. With the entire Party united, and with
more than one million Party members united, we need not fear any enemy.
The third item is that we must build good relations with the common people.
Regardless of where our troops go, they all must look after the common people
and resolve their difficulties. Every place we go, everything we eat, every house in
which we stay, every piece of clothing we wear, all relies on help from the common people; if we do not properly handle our relations [with them] and do not
receive their help, there will be no way for us to fight. We definitely want to handle military-civilian relations properly, but there are a number of places that have
not done this. Of course, generally speaking, our Eighth Route Army and New
Fourth Army have been good to the common people. You at the Seventh Branch
School have also done this well. You at the Seventh Branch School have also
undertaken production in the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia (Shaan-Gan-Ning) border
area. If we do not engage in production, the people’s burden will be too heavy.
Right now, fighting has broken out in North China, the Northeast, and a number
of other areas and we must be even more attentive to improving military-civilian
relations. We have brought up this issue with every group that has started out [for

the front], and now we are raising it with you, and after you reach the front, we
will raise it again. All our armies must unite with the people.
You have studied a great deal, so I have raised these several items. If these
matters I mentioned – that is, resolutely opposing offensives by the reactionary
factions, struggling for nationwide peace, improving officer-soldier relations, and
uniting the whole of the people with the whole of the army – are carried out,
China’s situation will be easy to resolve. Handling China’s situation depends on
the Chinese Communist Party, the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army,
and the common people. We have determination, and we have a way to bring
about peace, democracy, unity, and national unification. Peace, democracy, and
unity are the orientation that our Party has established. We must struggle for this
orientation. The Center’s work and your work is the same. My work, Commander
Zhu [De]’s work, and your work is the same. We have no work other than the
liberation of the people of China. Comrades! Unite together, be of one heart, and
fight for the liberation of the people of China.