Unified Command to Capture Daixian, Guoxian, and Other Areas

(July 6, 1946)

He and Li; Nie and Liu:

After the capture of Ningwu and Fanshi, the two units[2] should immediately be placed under unified command and cooperate to capture Dai and Guo[3], thereby opening up the link between the two areas[4]. The second step will be to take Wu, Ding, and Xin[5]. As for Huairen and Yingxian to the north, take them if local forces are sufficient; if not, set them aside for the time being. Request that Nie and Liu immediately order the Chen Brigade[6] at Fanshi to accept the command of Zhou Shidi[7] and deploy for the capture of Dai and Guo. This is essential.

Military Commission
Wuyu

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, addressed to He Long, commander of the Jin-Sui Military Region, and Li Jingquan, its political commissar, as well as to Nie Rongzhen, commander and political commissar of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, and Liu Lantao, its deputy political commissar. On July 1, 1946, elements of the Jin-Sui and Jin-Cha-Ji Military Regions formed the Jinbei Field Army. On July 4, they launched the Jinbei Campaign, liberating and recovering Guoxian, Wutai, Yuanping, and other areas, annihilating over 8,000 enemy troops. The campaign concluded victoriously on August 15.

[2] The two units refer to the forces of the Jin-Sui Military Region and the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region participating in the Jinbei Campaign.

[3] Dai refers to Daixian in Shanxi Province. Guo refers to Guoxian, a former county designation abolished in 1958, with parts incorporated into Ningwu County, Shanxi, and parts merged with Daixian to form Yuanping County, Shanxi.

[4] The two areas refer to northwestern Shanxi and northeastern Shanxi.

[5] Wu, Ding, and Xin refer to Wutai, Dingxiang, and Xinxian in Shanxi.

[6] The Chen Brigade refers to the 11th Brigade of the 4th Column of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region, whose brigade commander was Chen Fangren.

[7] Zhou Shidi then served as commander and concurrently political commissar of the Jinbei Field Army.