Basic Tasks for the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei
Military Region Following the Guomindang’s
Major Assault
(June 28, 1946)
To Nie [Rongzhen], Xiao [Ke], Liu [Lantao], Luo [Ruiqing], and for the information of [Cheng] Zihua:1
We received your telegram of the 26th.2
	 1.	 Your opinions on strategy are correct.
	 2.	 Following the Guomindang’s major assault, your basic tasks are to defend
the local areas and to seize the three railway lines and the four cities.3
	 3.	 The four independent brigades in Rehe [Military Region], the two brigades
in eastern and central Hebei, the two regiments in Shangdu, and other local
forces should all be used to protect local areas. In a war of local defense, the
temporary loss or gain of a city or area is not at all unusual as a last resort.
	 4.	 When the enemy attacks Chengde, your main forces are not to defend
Chengde (as this would be a fruitless effort) but rather to take advantage of
the enemy’s northward move to amass the four columns of Yang [Dezhi],

Yang [Chengwu], Guo [Tianmin], and Zhao [Erlu]4 and all the forces in
Hebei and Shanxi to engage in the Pinghan Campaign, occupy the entire
[Bei]Ping-Han[kou] railway from Changxingdian5 to Shimen, and watch for
an opportunity to occupy the two cities of Baoding and Shimen.
	 5.	 There are seven advantages to engaging in the Pinghan Campaign: One,
the largest troop strength can be amassed; two, we can fight through to
Hebei-Shanxi and central Hebei; three, the left arm of the [Bei]ping-[Tian]
jin railway can be severed; four, new troops can be tempered; five, manpower and material resources can be increased; six, strategic coordination
between Rehe and eastern Hebei can be effectuated; and seven, after this line
is seized, it may be consolidated. For these reasons, we hope you will make
a full effort to organize the Pinghan Campaign, complete preparations within
half a month, and await orders to attack.
	 6.	 After victory in Pinghan, a main force of three columns comprised of no
fewer than twenty regiments and 40,000 men is to enter Shanxi and act as
the main force in seizing Shanxi. The first thing is to coordinate with all areas
in Shanxi and seize the Zhengding-Taiyuan and Datong-Puzhou railways,
wipe out all enemy strongholds other than Datong and Taiyuan, link up the
five regions of Hebei-Shanxi, Shanxi-Suiyuan, Lüliang [county], Taihang
[Mountains], and Taiyue [Mountains], and then watch for an opportunity to
take Taiyuan and Datong.
	 7.	 The field army will have Xiao Ke as commander and Luo Ruiqing as political commissar.
	 8.	 As for the Hebei-Rehe-Liaoning Military Region, Cheng Zihua and Li
Yunchang6 will be responsible for military leadership there.
	 9.	 All attacks on the [Bei]Ping-Han[kou], Zheng[ding]-Tai[yuan], and [Da]
tong-Pu[zhou] railways will involve sieges on cities, so we hope you will
immediately commence training on tactics to lay siege to a city, prepare
large quantities of TNT, and have the plants make TNT during both the day
and night shifts.
	10.	 The taking of the three railway lines and the four cities (Baoding, Shimen,
Taiyuan, and Datong) will require six months of preparation or longer, but
this task must be completed.
	11.	 Liu [Bocheng] and Deng [Xiaoping]7 have other duties and cannot use their
main forces to coordinate with your attack on Shimen.
	12.	 We look forward to hearing your opinions on these matters.
	13.	 Burn this telegram immediately after reading.
The Central Committee

---

Notes

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 305–7, 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. Nie Rongzhen was commander and political commissar, Xiao Ke
was deputy commander, Liu Lantao was deputy political commissar, and Luo Ruiqing was
deputy political commissar and director of the Political Department, respectively, of the
Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region. Cheng Zihua was commander and political commissar of the Hebei-Rehe-Liaoning Military Region.

2.  The telegram from Nie, Xiao, Liu, and Luo agreed with the Center’s strategic orientation to take control of the Shanxi plateau, combine the Shanxi-Suiyuan, Shanxi-Northwest, and Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Regions, and liberate a large military
force for mobile warfare against the enemy. This would require a policy of “defense in the
east and offense in the west.”

3.  The three railway lines were the section of the Beiping-Hankou line from Beiping
to Shimen (now Shijiazhuang), the Zhengding-Taiyuan (now the Shijiazhuang-Taiyuan)
line, and the Datong-Puzhou line. The four cities were Baoding, Shimen, Taiyuan, and
Datong.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-188

4.  Yang Dezhi, Yang Chengwu (1914–2004, native of Fujian), and Guo Tianmin were
commanders of the First, Third, and Second Columns of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military
Region, respectively, and Zhao Erlu was commander of the Eastern Hebei Military Region.

5.  Changxindian is a township in the southwestern portion of Beijing’s Fengtai District.

6.  Li Yunchang was deputy commander of the Hebei-Rehe-Liaoning Military Region.

7.  Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region.