Smash Chiang Kai-shek’s Offensive Deployment in Eastern Rehe, Eastern Hebei, and Other Areas[1]

(August 28, 1946)

To Cheng and Li, with information to Nie, Xiao, and Liu[2]:

(1) The offensive plan of Chiang Kai-shek’s forces is to first attack eastern Rehe,[3] eastern Hebei, and the line of the Great Wall, using a portion of their troops to feign an attack on Chengde. Once they succeed in eastern Rehe, eastern Hebei, and along the Great Wall line, they will then throw their full strength into attacking Chengde. (2) You should mobilize your full strength to strike and wear down the enemy in eastern Rehe, eastern Hebei, and along the Great Wall line, delaying the enemy’s advance. The enemy forces feigning an attack on Chengde must be dealt powerful counterblows to stop them. (3) The longer the above struggle is prolonged, the more advantageous it will be for our operational plan of first taking Datong and then attacking the Ping-Han Railway.[4]

Central Military Commission

Weijian[5]

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, addressed to Cheng Zihua, commander and concurrently political commissar of the Ji-Re-Liao Military Region, and Li Yunchang, deputy commander.
[2] Nie, Xiao, and Liu refer to Nie Rongzhen, Xiao Ke, and Liu Lantao, who were then respectively commander and concurrently political commissar, deputy commander, and deputy political commissar of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region.
[3] Eastern Rehe refers to the eastern part of the then Rehe Province (a former province covering what is now northeastern Hebei Province, southwestern Liaoning Province, and southeastern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; abolished in 1955).
[4] Ping-Han Railway refers to the railway from Beiping (present-day Beijing) to Hankou, now a section of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway.
[5] Weijian is the date code, representing August 28.