By Waiting Patiently, We Can Find an
Opportunity to Wipe out the Enemy
 (April 15, 1947)
To Peng [Dehuai] and Xi [Zhongxun]; and for the information of Zhu [De]
and Liu [Shaoqi], He [Long] and Li [Jingquan]; Nie [Rongzhen], Xiao [Ke],
and Luo [Ruiqing]; Lin [Boqu] and Wang [Weizhou]; Ye [Jianying] and Yang
[Shangkun]; Liu [Bocheng] and Deng [Xiaoping], Chen [Geng] and Xie [Fuzhi];
Teng [Daiyuan], Bo [Yibo], and Wang [Hongkun]; Chen [Yi] and Rao [Shushi];
Su [Yu] and Tan [Zhenlin]; Lin [Biao] and Gao [Gang]:1
We received Peng and Xi’s telegram sent between 9:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M.
on the 14th, in which they inform us that after eliminating the main forces of the
Thirty-first Brigade in Qinghuabian on March 25, they also completely destroyed
the enemy’s 135th Brigade (under the Fifteenth Division). This victory is a heavy
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 39–40, where it is repro-
Wang Hongkun was second deputy political commissar. Chen Yi and Rao Shushi were
commander and political commissar, respectively, of the East China Military Region. Su
Yu and Tan Zhenlin were deputy commander and deputy political commissar, respectively,
of the East China Field Army. Lin Biao was commander-in-chief and political commissar
of the Northeast Democratic Allied Army, and Gao Gang was deputy political commissar.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-293

blow to Hu Zongnan’s2 invading army and has laid the foundation for thoroughly
smashing Hu’s army. This victory proves that we will be able to defeat Hu’s army
with only the present military forces in the border region (six field brigades and
local forces), and without any external assistance. This victory also proves that
by patiently waiting and guarding against arrogance and rashness, we can find an
opportunity to wipe out the enemy. Please cite all the officers and soldiers, and
please order a celebration for all military men and civilians in the border area to
raise their spirits to continue to wipe out the enemy.
The Central Committee
duced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Committee of the Chinese
Communist Party. Peng Dehuai was commander and political commissar and Xi Zhongxun
was deputy political commissar, respectively, of the Northwest Field Army, and He Long
and Li Jingquan were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Military Region. Nie Rongzhen was commander and political commissar and
Xiao Ke was deputy commander and Luo Ruiqing was deputy political commissar, respectively, of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Military Region, Lin Boqu was chairman of the government of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region, and Wang Weizhou (1909–1993,
native of Hubei) was deputy commander of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region
and the Shanxi Joint Defense Forces. Ye Jianying and Yang Shangkun (1907–1998, born
in Tongnan county, near the city of Chongqing in Sichuan) were secretary and deputy secretary, respectively, of the Central Committee’s Rear Guard Committee. Liu Bocheng and
Deng Xiaoping were commander and deputy commander, respectively, of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu
(Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan) Field Army. Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi were commander
and political commissar, respectively, of the Fourth Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army. Teng Daiyuan was first deputy commander of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Military District, Bo Yibo was first deputy political commissar, and

2.  Hu Zongnan was commander of the Guomindang army’s First War Zone.