The Kuomintang Does Not Implement a Comprehensive and Long-Term Ceasefire;
We Absolutely Will Not Implement a Unilateral Ceasefire[1]

(July 9, 1946)

Zhou and Ye:

(1) After January 13, the diehards seized more than twenty counties and key towns from us outside the Pass. Inside the Pass, in addition to those they have recovered, they have also seized over ten counties. Most importantly, they have occupied more than two thousand of our villages and towns. The occupation of the Central Plains Liberated Area, with a population of five million, is the most conspicuous among these.

(2) If the diehards can implement a comprehensive and long-term ceasefire, we can naturally cease retaliation. Otherwise, there is absolutely no reason for a unilateral cessation.

(3) For the time being, we will definitely not attack Datong and Taiyuan. We will wait until the diehards attack northern Jiangsu, or Chengde, or elsewhere before striking. However, in the remaining counties of Shanxi, wherever we can strike, we must strike. Unless the overall situation and the Fifth Division can be truly resolved peacefully, we should not consider sending a team[2] to Shanxi to tie our own hands and feet.

(4) Shuoxian and Fanshi were captured by assault. Shanyin,[3] Ningwu, and Daixian were voluntarily abandoned by the diehards. We still plan to capture Huairen, Yingxian, Guoxian,[4] Wutai, Dingxiang, Xinxian, Jiexiu, Lingshi, Huoxian, Xiaoyi, Zhongyang, Shilou, Fenxi, Puxian,

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, addressed to Zhou Enlai and Ye Jianying, the CPC member of the Beiping Military Mediation Executive Department.

[2] "Team" refers to the military mediation execution teams of the Beiping Military Mediation Executive Department.

[3] Shanyin refers to Shanyin City, located in the southern part of Shanyin County, Shanxi.

[4] Guoxian was an old county name, abolished in 1958, with parts incorporated into Ningwu County, Shanxi, and parts merged with Daixian to form Yuanping County, Shanxi.

Gexian, Daning, and other counties, so as to link several liberated areas into one contiguous whole, as the price for the loss of the Central Plains Liberated Area.

Jia Yi, Wu Jia