To Nie Rongzhen[1]

(October 16, 1945)

The main force of Chiang Kai-shek's 16th Army has already reached Shijiazhuang[2] and may quickly arrive in Beiping. The 92nd Army from Wuhan and the 94th Army from Shanghai both began airlifting to Beiping and Tianjin on the 1st of this month[3]. It has now been half a month, and the airlift will be completed by the end of the month. Therefore, by the end of this month, Chiang Kai-shek will have at least three armies in Beiping and Tianjin. Pay attention to reconnaissance of the movements of Chiang's troops in Beiping and Tianjin.

[1] This is the main content of Mao Zedong's telegram to Nie Rongzhen.

[2] The 16th Army, under the command of Hu Zongnan, was transported from Yuncheng, Shanxi, along the Tongpu Railway and the Zhengtai Railway to Shijiazhuang. During the Handan Campaign (Pinghan Campaign), this army moved south from Shijiazhuang to coordinate with Sun Lianzhong's forces advancing north, attempting a pincer attack on the main force of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region. Due to the swift victory of Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping's forces in the Handan Campaign, this army retreated back to Shijiazhuang.

[3] The 1st of this month, i.e., October 1.