Adopt the Battle Tactic of Ambushing from
the Front and Both Flanks
 (April 2, 1947)
To Peng [Dehuai] and Xi [Zhongxun]:1
	 1.	 According to our intelligence from Xi’an: Hu Zongnan2 has moved his staff
to Yan’an and has decided to go all-out to take over Wayaobao, then to attack
Suide, predicting, among other things, that Suide can be captured within
four-and-a-half months. Our judgment is that before attacking Wayaobao,
Hu’s army must first take Shejiaping, west of Yongping and Qingjian, and
then it will divide into two or three groups to attack Wayaobao.
	 2.	 For us to wipe out the enemy forces, the only effective arrangement is to
adopt the tactic of ambushing from the front and both flanks. Our attack
on the Thirty-first Brigade in Qinghuabian was the result of a three-sided
ambush. This time, we planned for an ambush in Panlong and Yongping, but
because the enemy did not take this route and because we could only ambush
from the front (relatively weak) and the right flank without an ambush on the
left flank, we could not finish off the enemy. However, if the enemy forces
advance, we will surely have an opportunity to eliminate them.
	 3.	 Please consider which arrangement will be most beneficial if the enemy
attacks Wayaobao: (a) Set up an ambush between Wayaobao and Qingjian
(in the area around Dantou and Yangjiayuanzi) and prepare to strike the
enemy forces as they march west from Qingjian; (b) Set up an ambush in the
vicinity of Yongping and prepare to strike the enemy forces as they march
west from Yanshui. Please carefully consider and decide which of the two
plans is actually more suitable.
	 4.	 Please investigate whether the enemy has already captured Qingjian and tell
us what you learn.


Mao [Zedong]

--- Notes

Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 22–23, 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,
and Xi Zhongxun was deputy political commissar of the Northwest Field Army.

2.  Hu Zongnan was commander of the Guomindang’s First War Zone.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-288