Defend Benxi to the Last and Work against
Time until a Ceasefire is Reached
 (April 26, 1946)
To Cheng [Shicai], Xiao [Hua], and Luo [Shunchu], and for the information of
Lin [Biao] and Peng [Zhen]:1
We received your telegram of the 22nd.2 Since April 18 we had been making a
last-ditch effort to defend Siping with two regiments whose fighting power is not
strong, and as of April 25 we had been defending it for eight days. If the enemy
attacks and you are unable to crush the enemy’s attack in battle on the field, you
should defend Benxi to the last with a strong force (two regiments, for example)
and have the main force operate on the outside so as to sap the enemy’s morale
and work against time until a ceasefire is reached, which is not far off.
The Central Committee
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 186–87, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Cheng Shicai (1912–1990, born in Dawu county, Hubei) was
commander, Xiao Hua was political commissar, and Luo Shunchu (1914–1987, native of
Fujian) was deputy commander of the Southern Manchuria Military Region of the Northeast Democratic Allied Army. Lin Biao and Peng Zhen were commander-in-chief and first
political commissar, respectively, of the Northeast Democratic Allied Army.
2.  The telegram from Cheng Shicai et al. stated that the enemy forces might deploy
three or four divisions in a new large-scale attack on Benxi. Cheng and the others felt it
might be difficult to hold Benxi and that they could only hope to delay the enemy and
eliminate some enemy troops through mobile defense.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-123