Prepare for a Series of Major Battles in Succession[1]

(September 30, 1946)

Nie, Liu, Xiao, Luo:

(1) Fu Zuoyi[2] cannot possibly send many troops eastward, and our two forces under Zhang Zongxun and Chen Zhengxiang[3] are pinning him down. On the eastern front, Li Wen’s[4] two divisions comprising five brigades are concentrating and advancing very slowly, and their troop strength is not large. The Peiping–Suiyuan Railway[5] area is a consolidated zone of ours. By concentrating all our forces and coordinating with the militia to destroy the enemy piecemeal, we can smash the enemy’s offensive. (2) To this end, you must prepare to fight a series of major battles in succession. It would be best not to disperse the Yang Chengwu Column[6], and you must prepare to replenish casualties with new recruits, launch troop comfort campaigns, and boost morale.

The Military Commission
Shen, 30th

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, addressed to Nie Rongzhen, Commander and concurrently Political Commissar of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, Liu Lantao, Deputy Political Commissar, and Xiao Ke, Commander, and Luo Ruiqing, Political Commissar of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army.
[2] Fu Zuoyi was then Commander of the 12th War Zone of the Kuomintang army.
[3] Zhang Zongxun was then Deputy Commander of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Field Army. Chen Zhengxiang was then Commander of the 4th Column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army.
[4] Li Wen was then Commander-in-Chief of the 34th Army Group of the Kuomintang army.
[5] The Peiping–Suiyuan Railway refers to the railway from Peiping (present-day Beijing) to Baotou in Suiyuan (now part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), i.e., the present-day Beijing–Baotou Railway.
[6] The Yang Chengwu Column refers to the 3rd Column of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army, whose commander was Yang Chengwu.