The Defense of Yan’an Mainly Depends upon
Fighting on the Exterior Lines
 (March 6, 1947, 9:00 P.M.–11:00 P.M.)
To Liu [Bocheng] and Deng [Xiaoping], and for the information of Chen [Geng]
and Xie [Fuzhi], Wang [Xinting] and Sun [Dingguo], Han [Jun], and Teng
[Daiyuan], Bo [Yibo], and Wang [Hongkun]:1
We trust that our telegram of noon on the 6th2 has reached you. The best way
to force Hu [Zongnan]’s3 army to move and to defend Yan’an is for Chen and Xie
to lead five brigades across the river on March 19th and occupy the Tong[guan]-
Luo[yang] section of the Longhai railway. You must complete your rest and reorganization before March 15, and you are expected to cross the river with Chen
and Xie on March 19 and at the same time attack the [Bei]Ping-Han[kou] railway.
After the first battle is over, you should join with the Taihang army units and continue to launch a second, third, and more battles. You should move the rear
area to Taihang for a time and engage in fighting toward the [Bei]Ping-Han[kou]
and Dao[kouzhen]-Qing[huazhen]4 railways to directly support Chen and Xie.
This battle is of great importance, and it is hoped that you will prepare for it right
away. Hu Zongnan commands three brigades of the First Division, two brigades
of the Ninetieth Division, two brigades of the Twenty-seventh Division (one regiment is in Daning), two brigades of the Thirty-sixth Division, two brigades of the
Seventeenth Division, three brigades of the Seventy-sixth Division, one brigade
of the Fifteenth Division, plus a security brigade and a cavalry brigade, making a
total of seventeen brigades. Except for one unit garrisoned in eastern Shanxi and
the Central Shanxi Plains, the main force is advancing rapidly along the Yichuan-Luochuan-Zhongbu5 line and may finish amassing by March 10 and could begin
attacking on March 15 (or it may not occur until sometime between March 15 and
March 20). Our current arrangements for a deep interior-line defense may be
delayed for a period of ten days, mainly depending on whether Chen and Xie raise
the siege from the exterior lines. We figure that if Chen and Xie’s five brigades cut
off the Tong[guan]-Luo[yang] railway, changes will certainly be brought about,
and even if there is an attack on Yan’an, it will be difficult to sustain it for long.
In addition, Chen’s and Xie’s actions on the Tong[guan]-Luo[yang] railway need
your active support. The current attack on Yan’an by Hu’s forces has an element
of nervous intensity. Only four brigades will be left in Shanxi, and both the Xi’an-Lanzhou Highway and the Longhai railway will be left undefended as they stake
everything on a single throw of the dice. Our judgment is that because of the
defeats in both Shandong and the Hebei-Shandong-Henan region, Xue Yue’s6 dismissal, and Gu Zhutong’s7 transfer to Xuzhou, Hu Zongnan is actually in charge
of military affairs in Zhengzhou and he is eager to transfer troops to attack northern Henan, so they want to strike a blow at Yan’an first. Yet we must defend
Yan’an and the border areas to pin down Hu’s forces. As long as Yan’an and the
border areas exist, we can keep large numbers of Hu’s troops pinned down so that
they will not dare to move east. We look forward to hearing how your preparations are going.
The Military Commission
---

Notes

We have translated this text from Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 4–6, 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.
Liu Bocheng was commander and Deng Xiaoping was political commissar, respectively,
of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu (Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan) Field Army. Chen Geng was commander and Xie Fuzhi was political commissar of the Fourth Column of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu
Field Army. Wang Xinting (1908–1984, born in Xiaogan, Hubei) and Sun Dingguo (1910–
1964, born in Muping, Shandong) were commander and deputy commander, respectively,
of the Tai-Yue Military Region. Han Jun (1912–1949, born in Luoyang) was deputy commander of the Fourth Column of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu (Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan) Field
Army. Teng Daiyuan, Bo Yibo, and Wang Hongkun were first deputy commander, first
deputy political commissar, and second deputy commander, respectively, of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army. Beginning from March 1947, the Guomindang forces in these
regions went on the defensive and shifted their troops to Shandong and northern Shaanxi
for a key-point offensive. At the beginning of March, the Guomindang army amassed 34
brigades with 250,000 troops in the Northwest region in preparation for an attack on the
Liberated Areas in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia.

2.  The editors of Junshi wenji believe this refers to a telegram from the Central Military
Commission to Chen Geng, Xie Fuzhi, et al. that ordered Chen and Xie to lead the Fourth
Column, the Twenty-Fourth Brigade, and the main force of Wang Xinting’s column to set
off for the Yellow River on March 9, to begin crossing the river on March 19, and to occupy
the counties of Wenxiang and Xin’an and the areas from Luohe to the north. They were to
then begin attacking the Beiping-Hankou and Daokouzhen-Qinghuazhen railways to contain Gu Zhutong’s troops and to prevent them from moving south.

3.  Hu Zongnan was commander of the Guomindang army’s First War Zone.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-281

4.  This railway ran from Daokouzhen in Hua county to Qinghuazhen in Bo’ai county,
Henan.

5.  Zhongbu is the former name of Huangling county in Shaanxi Province.

6.  Xue Yue was director of the Guomindang army’s Xuzhou Pacification Office before
he was dismissed in March 1947.

7.  Gu Zhutong was commander-in-chief of the Guomindang army’s Ground Forces.
At the beginning of March 1947, he formed the Xuzhou Command Headquarters of the
Ground Forces Central Command and he unified the Xuzhou and Zhengzhou Pacification
Offices under one command.