Congratulatory Message to the 38th Army of the Northeast Democratic United Army[1]

(September 13, 1946)

I congratulate you on your victorious participation in the great family of the people’s army, and hope that you will unite as one and struggle to the end for the liberation of the Chinese nation.

[1] This is the main content of the congratulatory message sent by Mao Zedong when the former troops of Yang Hucheng formed the 38th Army of the Northwest Democratic United Army. After the peaceful resolution of the Xi’an Incident, Yang Hucheng’s 17th Route Army had its headquarters abolished by Chiang Kai-shek and was reduced and reorganized into the 38th Army. The 17th Division and the 55th Division of this army rose in revolt successively in Luoning and Gongxian on July 17, 1945, and May 15, 1946, respectively. After the uprising, they accepted the leadership of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military Region.