The Northeast Should Prepare to Shatter
Chiang Kaishek’s Offensive When the
Negotiations Fall Apart 1
(June 22, 1946)
To the Northeast Bureau, to be transmitted to all local bureaus, all provincial committees, and all columns:


To complete preparations for an attack, Chiang Kaishek is extending the ceasefire 2 by eight days to the 30th, and if our Party cannot accept his harsh terms (for
example, giving [us] only old Heilongjiang 3 and nothing else in the Northeast),
then at the beginning of July he will launch an offensive against the Northeast
and the entire country. You should prepare right now for the time when the negotiations break down, mobilize the whole Party and the whole army to overcome
any wavering or feelings of hesitation or fear, make use of our side’s various
advantages, and closely rely upon the masses in establishing base areas to shatter
the Guomindang’s offensive. After our Party has won a major victory, it will definitely be possible to establish domestic peace. In this great struggle, our Liberated
Areas in North China and Central China and all democratic forces nationwide will
take actions to come to your aid.


The Central Committee


Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 286–87, 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.
2.  The Guomindang and the Chinese Communist Party each issued a declaration on
June 6, 1946, stating that a fifteen-day ceasefire in the Northeast would begin on June 7 at
12:00 and that the two parties would commence negotiations. On the 21st, Chiang Kaishek
announced that the ceasefire would be extended to June 30.
3.  This refers to Heilongjiang as constituted before the Guomindang government broke
it up during the administrative reorganization that took place after the Japanese surrender,
not the smaller entity then called Heilongjiang.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-180