Elimination of Hao Pengju’s Forces
Should Be Considered in Connection
with the Overall Strategic Plan
 (February 9, 1947)
To Chen [Yi], Su [Yu], and Tan [Zhenlin], and for the information of Rao
[Shushi], Liu [Bocheng], and Deng [Xiaoping]:1
It is very good that you have finished off Hao Pengju’s unit.2 But in terms of
the overall strategic plan, if your plan is to take care of the south, it seems you
may have struck a little too soon; it may cause other enemy units to advance more
cautiously. Following your attack on Hao Pengju, it seems you should hold back
and take no action (you must have great patience). Let all the enemy units feel free
to march north and then you can wipe them out one by one. If your plan is to take care of the north first, then your decision to attack Hao Pengju is no impediment.
You must first make a choice between the two plans.3
The Military Commission
Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 3, pp. 663–64, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission. Chen Yi was commander and political commissar of the East China Field Army,
Su Yu was deputy commander, and Tan Zhenlin was deputy political commissar. Rao
Shushi was political commissar of the East China Military Region. Liu Bocheng and
Deng Xiaoping were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the Jin-Ji-LuYu Field Army.

2.  Hao Pengju (1903–1947, born in Lingbao city, Sanmenxia) was commander of the
Guomindang’s Sixth Route Army when he switched his allegiance to the Communists in
January 1946. In January 1947, he changed sides again, and in early February 1947 his
forces were annihilated and Hao himself was taken prisoner.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-276

3.  A February 11, 1947, telegram from Chen Yi, Su Yu, and Tan Zhenlin to the Central Military Commission stated the intention to bring together a total of fifty-three military units on or around February 19 to annihilate the Guomindang’s Seventy-third Army
and one division under the Twelfth Army stationed in Nanbeishizhuang. They would then
proceed to annihilate the Forty-sixth Division, occupy Xintai, and attack the Jiaoji railway to eliminate the Guomindang’s north-line forces. After fighting for a month or so,
they expected to advance southward to attack the enemy’s south-line forces. The next day,
February 12, Chen Yi and Tan Zhenlin sent the Central Military Commission a telegram
proposing an alternative plan in which they would move their troops north to annihilate the
Seventy-third and Twelfth armies and their reinforcements, starting on February 17 or as
late as the 20th. They would then lure the Forty-sixth Division west and ambush it along
the way. Their entire army would then raid the Jiaoji railway to lure and then attack the
Guomindang’s Eighth Army. After that, they would consider advancing south to attack the
enemy, or encircle Ji’nan to lure other Guomindang forces close enough to attack.