When the Main Force Is Transferred Elsewhere, Effective Troops Must Be Left to Fight in Central Jiangsu[1]

(September 2, 1946)

To Su and Tan, with a copy to Chen[2]:

(1) Your telegram of the 31st[3] has been received. We are much reassured. Carry out everything according to your plan. (2) The 10th Column and Pi’s Brigade[4] should remain where they are and intensify their training and consolidation. They should not be transferred east. These two units should speedily take in a number of prisoners of war to enhance their combat effectiveness. (3) In preparation for the transfer of the main force elsewhere, effective troops must be left to fight in Central Jiangsu in order to hold it securely. The 7th Column, the 10th Column, Pi’s Brigade, and other local units must be ordered to take part in several major engagements to gain experience and raise their combat effectiveness.

Military Commission of the Central Committee

Shen Dong

[1] This telegram was drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and addressed to Su Yu, commander of the Central China Field Army, and Tan Zhenlin, its political commissar.
[2] Chen refers to Chen Yi, then commander and concurrently political commissar of the Shandong Field Army.
[3] This refers to the telegram sent by Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin to the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and to Chen Yi, Song Shilun, Zhang Dingcheng, and Deng Zihui at noon on August 31, 1946. The telegram reported on the casualties suffered and replacements received by the units participating in the battles at Libao and other places in Central Jiangsu. It proposed that the future operational policy should be to encircle Hai’an, intensify political offensives, and compel the enemy troops to revolt; otherwise, to capture it after making full military preparations. If enemy reinforcements arrived, they would resolutely abandon Hai’an and destroy the reinforcing enemy. After taking Hai’an, they would rest and regroup for twenty days to a month and then, as opportunity offered, attack the line from Taizhou to Xiannümiao, deal a blow to the enemy’s 25th Division, and subsequently shift the main force to Huainan.
[4] Pi’s Brigade refers to the 13th Brigade of the Central China Field Army, whose commander was Pi Dingjun.