Besiege the Enemy at a Point to Strike at His Reinforcements and Destroy the Enemy at Shangqiu and Dangshan[1] One by One

(February 7, 1947)

Comrade Liu, and forward to Comrade Deng:

Our troops south of the railway have taken several towns in succession and wiped out the greater part of the 16th Brigade. They should, of course, rest for a few days and then move north to close in on the main force, using the method of besieging the enemy at a point to strike at his reinforcements so as to draw in the enemy at Shangqiu and Dangshan[2] and destroy him one by one. In the coming period, the task of your whole army is to destroy the enemy’s regular forces one by one, first attacking the 5th Army and the 75th Division and preparing to attack the 72nd Division, the 85th Division and the 49th Brigade. At the same time, order all local army units north and south of the railway to seize weakly defended towns and recover lost territory.

The Military Commission

Chou-yu-yu[3]

[1] This was a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and addressed to Liu Bocheng, Commander of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army, and forwarded to Deng Xiaoping, its Political Commissar.
[2] Shangqiu and Dangshan refer to Shangqiu in Henan Province and Dangshan in Anhui Province.
[3] Chou-yu-yu stands for February 7, 5-7 p.m.