To Nie Rongzhen, Xiao Ke, and Luo Ruiqing[1]

(February 21, 1947)

In future operations, you should learn from the principle of advancing and retreating in great strides and fighting with complete initiative, as practiced by the three areas of Chen-Su, Liu-Deng, and Chen-Xie. After your forces have rested and reorganized for a number of days, please consider whether it is possible to strike the Third Army. The objective is not to seize territory but to annihilate the effective strength of the diehard puppet forces, and to draw the enemy north of Baoding southward, thereby facilitating a second-stage annihilation strike. In short, advance and retreat in great strides, disregard the temporary gain or loss of any single city or piece of land, fight with complete initiative, strike the weak enemy first and the strong enemy later, maneuver the enemy forces, and destroy them one by one.

[1] This is the main content of a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to Nie Rongzhen, Xiao Ke, and Luo Ruiqing.