Do Not Be Tied Down by the Enemy but Seek Out His Weak Points and Strike[1]

(January 22, 1947)

Liu, Deng, Zhang, and inform Chen, Rao, Su, Tan[2]:

Your telegram of the 22nd received. We fully agree with your proposal. Xiaoping will take two columns south, while the rest, north of the railway, will not be tied down by Qiu’s army[3] but will act with complete initiative to seek out the enemy’s weak points and strike. Prepare to spend one and a half to two months to achieve the objective of weakening the enemy and creating a battlefield. The disposition of Zhang Lanfeng’s[4] forces may be handled as proposed in your telegram, acting according to circumstances, with the principle of facilitating the resolution of the problem.

Military Commission

Yanghai

---

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee to Liu Bocheng (commander), Deng Xiaoping (political commissar), and Zhang Jichun (deputy political commissar) of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army.

[2] Chen and Rao refer to Chen Yi and Rao Shushi, then respectively commander and political commissar of the East China Military Area. Su and Tan refer to Su Yu and Tan Zhenlin, then respectively deputy commander and deputy political commissar of the East China Field Army.

[3] Qiu’s army refers to the Kuomintang 5th Army, whose commander was Qiu Qingquan.

[4] Zhang Lanfeng, formerly commander of the Temporarily Organized 4th Column of the Kuomintang 4th Pacification Zone, was captured at Chengwu, Shandong, on January 13, 1947.