Our Policy after Forfeiting Siping
(May 21, 1946)
To Chen (Yi), Shu (Tong), Zhang (Dingcheng), Su (Yu) and Tan (Zhenlin):1
Siping is lost. To avoid giving the obstinate enemy any excuse to launch a
major attack, remain inactive everywhere except for in Dingyuan, Xiayi, and Xiao
counties, all of which are under attack. Engage in counterattacks there and recapture them.
The Central Committee
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, p. 231, where it is repro1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Chen Yi was commander of the New Fourth Army and of the Shandong Military Region, and Shu Tong (1905–1998, native of Jiangxi) was director of the
Political Department of the Shandong Military Region. Zhang Dingcheng (1898–1961,
native of Fujian) was commander, Su Yu was deputy commander, and Tan Zhenlin was
deputy political commissar, respectively, of the Central China Military Region.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-152

duced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.