Temporarily Avoid Fighting, Conceal
Yourselves, and Wait for an Opportunity
(April 3, 1947)
To Peng [Dehuai] and Xi [Zhongxun]:1
We received your April 2 telegram.2
	 1.	 A dense mass of ten brigades of enemy forces is difficult to attack, and you
were quite right to avoid fighting.
	 2.	 Quickly tell us the direction of the enemy forces after capturing Wayaobao.
	 3.	 We are currently in the area northeast of Wayaobao. The Second Bureau
is unable to carry out reconnaissance, so we have no information about
the enemy’s situation. We hope you can send a battalion with radio equipment to take responsibility for reconnaissance and cover in the area west of
Wayaobao around old Anding city. We still need two or three days to move
into the secure area west of Anding.
	 4.	 For the next few days, it is best for you to remain concealed and wait for an
opportunity.
C D
[Central Military Commission]


Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 24–25, where it is repro
duced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.



--- Notes



1.  Mao Zedong sent this telegram to Commander and Political Commissar Peng Dehuai
and Deputy Political Commissar Xi Zhongxun of the Northwest Field Army.



2.  The telegram from Peng Dehuai and Xi Zhongxun stated that ten enemy brigades
were advancing in three columns, with the left column reaching Fengjiaping east of Yongping, the central column reaching Wangjiagou northeast of Yongping, and the right column
reaching the highlands west of Resiwan. Peng and Xi’s troops carried out an ambush along
the Yongping highway on April 2, but then ceased and retreated to the northwest area of
Panlong after discovering a dense deployment of enemy troops in ten brigades covering an
area 35 li (17.5 kilometers) from south to north, and 45 li (22.5 kilometers) from east to
west. They planned to await another opportunity for attack. After annihilating the Thirtyfirst Brigade, Peng and Xi did not have a clear understanding of the enemy’s situation and
they requested further information as it became available.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-289