Strike Only After Full Preparation Against Ou Zhen[1]

(January 19, 1947)

Chen, Su, and Tan:

The previous telegram asked you to prepare quickly to strike Ou Zhen,[2] but Ou Zhen’s group is advancing northward very rapidly and will occupy the Longhai Line within a few days. If the various units are not fully prepared and cannot annihilate the enemy before they have consolidated their foothold, it would be better to simply postpone the attack until two weeks later, so as to ensure full preparation and resolve the greater part or even the entirety of Ou’s forces in one blow; a hasty attack would only wipe out a portion, after which rest and reorganization would again be needed before further fighting, so it is more advisable to fight only after full preparation. The fact that our army was still able to attack and annihilate the 26th Division within two days, twenty days after it had advanced and occupied Xiangcheng and Lanling, serves as one proof. What is your view? We hope you will decide in light of the circumstances.

Military Commission
Zihao

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, addressed to Chen Yi, Commander and Political Commissar of the Shandong Field Army, and Su Yu, Commander, and Tan Zhenlin, Political Commissar of the Central China Field Army.

[2] Ou Zhen was then Commander of the Reorganized 19th Army of the Kuomintang Army.