Arrange for Several More Battles in Central
Jiangsu1
(August 13, 1946)
To Su [Yu], Tan [Zhenlin], Chen [Yi], and Song [Shilun]:2
We received your telegram of the 12th.3 Your deployment to wipe out the
Ninety-ninth Brigade and part of the Sixty-fifth Division was very good, and we
are very pleased. The dispersed enemy forces in central Jiangsu can be destroyed
one by one, and we hope you will arrange several other military operations. You
should annihilate whatever you can, including the transportation security forces.4
If you can completely crush the attack by Chiang’s troops in central Jiangsu, it
will have a great impact on the overall situation. But you must take note of the
following:
	 1.	 Admonish your soldiers and subordinates never to be arrogant and conceited, to plan carefully and prepare fully for every campaign, and never to
underestimate the enemy.
	 2.	 As appropriate, rest and reorganize the troops, recover from fatigue, and
maintain vigor.
The Military Commission
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 406–7, 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 Military Commission.
Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin were the commander and political commissar, respectively, of the
Central China Field Army.

2.  Chen Yi was commander and political commissar and Song Shilun was chief-of-staff, respectively, of the Shandong Field Army.

3.  The telegram from Su Yu et al. reported on their successful efforts to repel a push by
Guomindang troops to consolidate their forces in Hainan and Rugao. The bold action by
the Communist forces wiped out the Guomindang’s Fifty-fifth Battalion and a substantial
portion of the Sixty-fifth Division, opening up central Jiangsu.

4.  The transportation security forces refer to the Guomindang’s secret police force,
which was reorganized into the zhongyi-jiuguo jun or the “Loyal and Patriotic Army” after
the War of Resistance Against Japan.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-212