Reply to Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin[1]

(September 9, 1946)

Agree to abandon Hai’an, rest and reorganize for ten days, and prepare to maneuver northward.

[1] This is the main content of a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee in reply to Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin’s suggestion of September 8 to lift the siege of Hai’an, move north to Siyang, and stabilize the situation in the Huaiyin-Huai’an area. This telegram changed the decision made by the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee on September 4 regarding the Central China Field Army’s attack on the Yangzhou-Taizhou line and its westward advance into the Huainan region.