Make the Utmost Effort to
Secure Victory in Battle in the
Siping and Gongzhuling Areas
 (April 20, 1946)
To the Northeast Bureau and Lin [Biao]:1
We received your telegram in the morning of the 19th.
	 1.	 As regards to the troop strength of the Guomindang, in addition to the total
of four divisions, three from the New First Army and one from the Seventy-first Army, which have advanced to the area around Sipingjie2 as attack
units on the first front, there is one division of the Fifty-second Army (i.e.,
the 195th Division that came over from Rehe3) awaiting orders at Changtu,
which seems to be a reserve force, and also one division of the Sixtieth Army
(the 182nd Division, newly arrived) positioned along the Tieling-Kaiyuan-Shuangmiaozi4 line garrisoning the railway.
	 2.	 The large-scale battle is to take place in the area from Siping to Gongzhuling,
and unless we annihilate three or four divisions on the diehard side, we will
be unable to solve the problem. Consequently, all troops that can and should
be transferred must be transferred at once and amass in the direction of
Gongzhuling. We should strive to take the initiative rather than to increase
our troop strength gradually and fall into a passive position.
	 3.	 In dealing with Party, administrative, financial, and cultural personnel of
the Guomindang in Changchun (and likewise in Harbin and Qiqihar), we generally should leave a good impression on them by showing leniency; progressive elements are to be given preferential treatment, whereas spies are to
be imprisoned.
	 4.	 Everything depends on winning the battle, so strive for victory with all your
might.
The Central Committee

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Notes

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 175–76, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Lin Biao was commander-in-chief of the Northeast Democratic
Allied Army.
2.  Sipingjie is the old name for what later became known as Siping.
3.  Rehe Province covered today’s northeastern Hebei, southwestern Liaoning, and
southeastern Inner Mongolia before it was dissolved in 1955.
4.  Shuangmiaozi is a town located in the middle of Changtu county in Liaoning Province.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-118