To Peng Dehuai[1]

(March 23, 1947)

Peng:

Your telegram of the 23rd at 9:00 hours[2] received. We approve your operational dispositions.

The Military Commission

March 23

[1] This telegram to Peng Dehuai, commander and concurrently political commissar of the Northwest Field Corps, was drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee.

[2] At 9:00 hours on March 22, 1947, Peng Dehuai and Xi Zhongxun telegraphed the Military Commission: "1. On the 20th, about two enemy brigades attacked Lanjiaping, apparently belonging to the 90th Division, and made contact with one battalion of our 8th Brigade; another brigade, apparently the 165th Brigade, attacked eastward toward Zaoyuan via Dufuchuan and Xiaobian'gou and made contact with one battalion of our 1st Independent Brigade. On the 21st, Hu Zongnan ordered the 31st Brigade to cross the Yan River via Chuankou and to reach Qinghuabian by the 24th to fortify and hold it. Hu seems to judge that our main force is in Ansai and the area to its west, and he intends to attack Ansai to seek a decisive engagement with our main force. 2. We plan to ambush or, before the enemy has firmly established a foothold, encircle and annihilate the 31st Brigade. Wang Zhen's column and the Instruction Brigade are to complete concealed assembly by the night of the 22nd along the line of Yanluosi, Haojiahe, and Hujiahe southeast of Qinghuabian; the New 4th Brigade is to complete concealed assembly along the line of Ershai Qu and Changjiata northeast of Qinghuabian; the 8th Brigade of Zhang's column is to assemble at Liangcun west of Qinghuabian; the 1st Independent Brigade plans to assemble at Fengjiazhuang but cannot arrive until the 24th and can only serve as a reserve force to monitor the directions of Yan'an and Ansai, because this brigade moved to Gaoqiao without authorization. 3. Please advise if there are any instructions regarding the above dispositions."