Make timely preparations for operations on the second and third lines of defense[1]

(October 9, 1946)

Comrades Nie, Liu, Xiao, and Luo:

(1) Xiao and Luo’s decision to commit the main force to attack the unit of the 94th Army advancing toward Zhenbiancheng and Fanshanbao[2] (according to Beiping dispatches, it has two divisions, short of one regiment and one battalion) is quite correct. (2) We must be prepared that after fighting for a period on the line of Huailai, Zhenbiancheng, and Yanqing (even if we win several victories), we will still have to withdraw to the second line of defense, which will be more advantageous for continuing to destroy the enemy. You should make timely preparations now on the second and third lines of defense so as to avoid being caught off guard at the last moment. How are your preparations going? Please report. (3) We must prepare large numbers of new recruits to reinforce the main force corps at the front so that they can continue fighting.

Military Commission

Youjia

[1] This telegram was drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and addressed to Nie Rongzhen, commander and political commissar of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Area, Liu Lantao, its deputy political commissar, and Xiao Ke, commander, and Luo Ruiqing, deputy political commissar, of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army. During the battle to defend Zhangjiakou, the 94th Army of the Kuomintang army, which was attacking Zhangjiakou along the eastern section of the Beiping-Suiyuan Railway, was shifted westward from the vicinity of Beiping on October 7, 1946, in an attempt to outflank Huailai via Mapaoquan and Hengling. In response to this enemy move, the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army decided to shift its forces and set an ambush to destroy the 43rd Division of this army.

[2] Zhenbiancheng is a village southeast of present-day Huailai County, Hebei Province. Fanshanbao, also known as Fanshanbu, is the present-day town of Fanshan, southeast of Zhuolu County, Hebei Province.