Execute Promptly the Plan to Attack Jinxiang, Yutai, and Shanxian[1]

(September 26, 1946)

Comrades Liu and Deng:

Your telegram of the 25th day, chen hour[2] has been received. (1) The plan to attack the cities of Jinxiang, Yutai, Shanxian, and others, to draw in the Fifth Army and the Eleventh Division, and to annihilate a part of them is very good. We hope you will execute it promptly. Gu Zhutong[3] in his order of the 22nd day stated that the Fifth Army and the Eleventh Division have other tasks and will soon be redeployed, that they are to complete preparations within five days and await orders for action. It is still unclear exactly what other tasks they have and where they will be redeployed. By attacking the cities of Jinxiang, Yutai, Shanxian, and others and threatening Xuzhou, you can disrupt Gu Zhutong’s plan, compel these two units to move westward for reinforcement, and then destroy them one by one. This will also provide strong support to our forces in the Huai-Hai area. (2) The two field armies, the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army, are to join forces[4], with Chen Yi

[1] This was a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee to Comrades Liu Bocheng, Commander, and Deng Xiaoping, Political Commissar, of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army. After the Dingtao Campaign, the Kuomintang troops continued their offensive against the Hebei-Shandong-Henan Liberated Area, with their Fifth Army and Reorganized Eleventh Division advancing eastward along the Heze-Jining Highway and the southern bank of the Zhushui River, respectively. On October 3, 1946, the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army launched a counter-offensive, initiating the Juye Campaign. After four days of fierce fighting, they annihilated over 5,000 enemy troops.

[2] Refers to the telegram sent by Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping at chen hour on September 25, 1946, to the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and Comrades Chen Yi, Zhang Yunyi, Li Yu, Bo Yibo, and Wang Xinting. The telegram stated: We plan to attack and capture the cities of Jinxiang, Yutai, Shanxian, and others within one week, destroy one regiment each from the enemy’s 18th Brigade and the Reorganized 88th Division, along with a portion of local recalcitrant forces, in order to draw the enemy’s Fifth Army and Reorganized Eleventh Division into field battle and annihilate a part of them.

[3] Gu Zhutong was then Commander-in-Chief of the Army General Headquarters of the Kuomintang Army.

[4] The Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army joined forces for operations in accordance with the directive of the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee dated September 23, 1946. They were formally merged into the East China Field Army in late January 1947, with Chen Yi as Commander and Political Commissar, Su Yu as Deputy Commander, and Tan Zhenlin as Deputy Political Commissar.

as Commander and concurrently Political Commissar, Su Yu as Deputy Commander, and Tan Zhenlin as Deputy Political Commissar, exercising unified command. They can begin new operational movements in early October, which can precisely coordinate with your new actions (but neither side should rely on the other for coordination).

Military Commission
26th day, hai hour