Prepare to Pin Down Wang Zhonglian’s
Troops, Which May Move North as
Reinforcements
 (October 30, 1945)
To Liu [Bocheng] and Deng [Xiaoping]:1
For the purpose of amassing all possible forces to annihilate the enemy facing you and then to wipe out the reinforcing enemy troops, in addition to ordering Zhao Erlu to lead six main-force regiments southward, we suggest that you
consider the possibility of moving the main forces in the Seventh and Eighth
subregions of the Taihang Region to the Ci county region to prepare to pin down
Wang Zhonglian's2 troops, which may move northward as reinforcements. You
need not attack Qinyang.
The Military Commission
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, p. 96, where it is reproduced
from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives. It also appears in
Mao Zedong junshi wenxuan. Neibuben, pp. 378–79.
1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission.
Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping were the commander and political commissar, respectively, of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan (Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu) Military Region.
2.  Wang Zhonglian (1904–1991, born in Suzhou) was commander-in-chief of the Guomindang’s Thirty-first Army Group.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-60