We Agree with Your Policy and the
Arrangements for Actively Annihilating
the Enemy
(March 27, 1947)
To Peng [Dehuai]:1
We received your March 26 telegram.2 Your policy of actively annihilating the
enemy is very correct and your arrangements are appropriate. We have already
ordered Chen [Geng] and Xie [Fuzhi]3 to take action. Now we are not afraid of Hu
[Zongnan]’s4 forces advancing to the north, but we fear that they will not advance
north, so it will not necessarily be detrimental if Chen and Xie take action a few
days later. The 101st Division and the other units under Fu Zuoyi5 are attacking
northwestern Shanxi, and Zuoyun has fallen. Yan Xishan6 captured Xiaoyi and
Duijiuyu, and it is possible that he will harass Zhongyang and Shilou. He [Long]
and Li [Jingquan]’s7 situation will become very tense within the next few months,
but as long as we are victorious in northern Shaanxi, and Chen and Xie win on
the southern line, we will have the means to deal with Yan and Fu. The Central
Committee has decided not to leave northern Shaanxi.
Mao Zedong
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Notes

Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 13–14, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
1.  Peng Dehuai was commander and political commissar of the Northwest Field Army.
2.  The telegram from Peng Dehuai stated that Hu Zongnan was seeking to combat with
the Communists’ main forces, and Peng’s army planned to lure the enemy east to the mountains northwest of Qinghuabian and Ansai, where the Communists enjoyed the advantage
of familiar terrain, abundant food, and welcoming people. The Communists would then
circle around the back of the enemy forces and annihilate the Ninetieth and First divisions,
one or two regiments at a time. The telegram stated that Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi were
still between Qinshui and Duanshi awaiting orders and they had requested instructions.
3.  Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi were commander and political commissar, respectively, of
the Fourth Column of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Field Army.
4.  Hu Zongnan was commander of the Guomindang’s First War Zone.
5.  Fu Zuoyi was director of the Guomindang’s Zhangjiakou Pacification Office.
6.  Yan Xishan was director of the Guomindang’s Taiyuan Pacification Office.
7.  He Long and Li Jingquan were commander and political commissar, respectively, of
the Jin-Sui Military Region.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-284