We Should Concentrate the Main Force to Annihilate the Dispersed Enemy in Southern Manchuria[1]

(October 30, 1946)

Lin:

The enemy in the Southern Manchuria[2] area is very dispersed. We must concentrate a dozen or so main-force regiments to operate together, annihilating about one enemy regiment each time, and fight several good battles to turn the tide of the war. What is your disposition?

The Military Commission

You, 30th

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, addressed to Lin Biao, Commander and concurrently Political Commissar of the Northeast Democratic United Army.

[2] Southern Manchuria refers to the area east of the Shenyang-Dalian section of the Chinese Changchun Railway, including Andong (now Dandong), Zhuanghe, Tonghua, Linjiang, Qingyuan, and the area southwest of Shenyang such as Liaozhong.