To Chen Yi, Song Shilun, and Others[1]

(September 11, 1946)

Six enemy brigades are advancing southward, placing Lianghuai in a critical situation.[2] Su Yu is to lead the main force of the Central Jiangsu Military Region (the 1st and 6th Divisions) to immediately move to Lianghuai and prepare to coordinate with the main force under Chen Yi and Song Shilun to completely annihilate this enemy force. However, Chen and Song should now conduct independent operations and must, before the arrival of Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin, destroy one to two brigades of the southward-advancing enemy, thereby blunting the enemy’s advance and buying time until the main force from Central Jiangsu arrives, so as to join forces and wipe out the entire enemy force.

[1] This is the main content of a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, addressed to Chen Yi, Song Shilun, Zhang Dingcheng, Deng Zihui, Su Yu, and Tan Zhenlin.
[2] In early August, after the Shandong Field Army suffered a setback in its attack on Si County, it withdrew to Siyang for rest and reorganization. Beginning on September 10, the Kuomintang army advanced southward along both banks of the Grand Canal and launched an offensive against Lianghuai.