Cut off the Retreat of the Enemy Army
at Siping and Pin Down the Enemy
Reinforcements at Benxi
 (May 12, 1946, 9 P.M. to 11 P.M.)
To Lin [Biao]:1
	 1.	 We hope the main forces will be placed in the areas of Kaiyuan and Changtu,
cutting off the retreat of the enemy in Siping and wiping out the enemy forces
moving north from Shenyang.
	 2.	 Southern Manchuria2 should actively take the initiative to pin down the five
enemy divisions now in the Benxi area so they cannot be moved or at least
cannot be moved to any great extent.
	 3.	 In Rehe,3 our forces will begin tomorrow to attack the Thirteenth Army and
after taking this in hand, we will advance toward western Liaoning to assist
you.
Mao Zedong
Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 212–13, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1.  Lin Biao was commander-in-chief of the Northeast Democratic Allied Army.

2.  Southern Manchuria here refers to the Southern Manchuria Military Region of
the Northeast Democratic Allied Army, which covered the central Liaoning area east of
the Shenyang-Dalian section of the Chinese Changchun railway, encompassing Andong
(today’s Dandong), Zhuanghe, Tonghua, Linjiang, Qingyuan, and southeastern Shenyang.

3.  Rehe Province covered today’s northeastern Hebei, southwestern Liaoning, and
southeastern Inner Mongolia before it was abolished in 1955.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-140