Amass the Greatest Force to Annihilate the
Present Enemy
 (October 31, 1945)
To Liu [Bocheng] and Deng [Xiaoping]:1
We have ordered Zhao Erlu to lead six main-force regiments southward to
focus on annihilating the present enemy. We hope you can quickly tell us the
route upon which Zhao’s forces will advance. Do you still feel your forces are
insufficient? Apart from the main forces of Chen Geng’s2 column, you can move
every unit within fifteen days of marching to amass the greatest possible force.
The brigade that was sent by Yang Yong and Zhang Linzhi3 to the areas of Zou
and Teng4 to assist the campaign of Chen Yi and Li Yu5 can be moved westward
at once. The [New] Fourth Army has continued on to Shandong and is not needed
over there.
The Military Commission
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, p. 103, where it is reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives. It also
appears in Mao Zedong junshi wenxuan. Neibuben, pp. 379–80.
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.  Zhao Erlu was commander of the Hebei-Shanxi (Ji-Jin) Military Region. Chen Geng
was field commander of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Fourth Column.
3.  Yang Yong (1913–1983, born in Liuyang, Hunan) and Zhang Linzhi (1908–1967,
native of Hebei) were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the Hebei-Shandong-Henan (Ji-Lu-Yu) Military Region.
4.  Referring to Zou county and Teng county in Shandong.
5.  Chen Yi was commander of the New Fourth Army. Li Yu was commander and deputy political commissar of the Shandong Military Region.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-63