Seize Qingxian and Cangzhou Only After Full Preparation[1]

(July 2, 1946)

Nie and Liu, and inform Sun and Lin:

(1) We have received Sun and Lin’s Yandian.[2] To seize Qingxian and Cangzhou, full preparation is necessary. If preparations are not yet sufficient, it is better to delay action by a few days. (2) Within twenty days to one month, instruct the Ji-Jin and Ji-Zhong areas to maintain absolute quiet along the Beiping–Hankou Railway line,[3] and refrain from any sabotage or harassment activities, so as to lull the enemy and cause them to relax their vigilance against us.

Military Commission

Wudong

--- Notes

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, addressed to Nie Rongzhen, Commander and Political Commissar of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, and Liu Lantao, Deputy Political Commissar, with information to be relayed to Sun Yi, Commander of the Ji-Zhong Military Region, and Lin Tie, Political Commissar.


[2] This refers to the telegram sent by Sun Yi and Lin Tie to the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee at 18:00 on June 29, 1946. The telegram stated: Along the railway from Jinghai to Cangzhou, there are in total over 7,000 former puppet troops and one battalion of Kuomintang troops. In coordination with the Bohai Military Region, we have scheduled a counter-offensive campaign against these enemy forces to begin on the night of July 6. After capturing strongholds such as Tangguantun and Qingxian and sabotaging relevant sections of the railway, we will press on to seize Cangzhou. Meanwhile, small-scale sabotage will be carried out on relevant sections of the northern segment of the Beiping–Hankou Railway line, while large-scale sabotage can only be conducted after the campaign is completed.


[3] The Beiping–Hankou Railway line refers to the railway from Beiping (present-day Beijing) to Hankou, i.e., a section of today’s Beijing–Guangzhou Railway.