Concentrate All Forces to Annihilate About Ten Brigades under Xue Yue in Order to Reverse the War Situation[1]

(October 3, 1946)

To Chen, with information to Zhang, Deng, and Su:[2]

(1) Your telegram of October 1[3] received. The disposition is very good; we hope you will carry it out resolutely. (2) At present, the task for you and for Liu-Deng[4] is to concentrate all forces to annihilate about ten brigades under Xue Yue,[5] which will make it possible to reverse the war situation.

(3) Liu-Deng are now launching attacks on the two units under Qiu and Hu.[6] If successful, Xue Yue’s prestige and power will certainly be reduced. We hope you will fight several good battles in the Huai-Hai area.

The Central Committee

October 3

[1] This telegram was drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and addressed to Chen Yi, commander and political commissar of the Shandong Field Army.

[2] Zhang, Deng, and Su refer to Zhang Dingcheng, Deng Zihui, and Su Yu, who were then respectively commander of the Central China Military Command, its political commissar, and commander of the Central China Field Army.

[3] This refers to Chen Yi’s telegram of October 1, 1946, to the Central Committee of the CPC and others. The telegram stated: The main forces of the Shandong Field Army and the Central China Field Army are to be concentrated in the area north of the Liutang River between Suqian and Shuyang. The concentration can be completed around October 5. If the enemy advances eastward, we shall annihilate them on the east bank of the Grand Canal; if they do not advance, we shall cross the canal westward and recover northern Huai. The key point of this disposition is to concentrate the main forces for an offensive and to ensure the security of and persist in the Central China area.

[4] Liu-Deng refers to Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, who were then respectively commander and political commissar of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army.

[5] Xue Yue was then director of the Xuzhou Pacification Headquarters of the Kuomintang army.

[6] Qiu refers to Qiu Qingquan, then commander of the Kuomintang’s Fifth Army. Hu refers to Hu Lian, then commander of the Kuomintang’s Reorganized 11th Division.