As Long as You Have Patience, There
Is Sure to Be an Opportunity to
Annihilate the Enemy
 (May 4, 1947)
To Chen [Yi] and Su [Yu], and for the information of Liu [Bocheng] and Deng
[Xiaoping]:1
We received the two telegrams you sent earlier. It is difficult to attack when the
enemy forces are concentrated, so it is quite appropriate to patiently wait for the
right opportunity. As long as you have patience, there is sure to be an opportunity
to annihilate the enemy. When you move your rear to the extensive area south of
Jiaodong, Bohai, and the Jiaoji railway line, you can lure the enemy to penetrate
deeply, allowing the enemy to capture Laiwu, Yishui, and Ju county and to fall
into an extremely difficult position, and then you can attack; it will not be too late.
Keep this in mind:
	 1.	 You must have very great patience.
	 2.	 You must control the largest fighting force.
	 3.	 You must not disturb the enemy’s rear prematurely. You should therefore
consider whether it would be best for the First and Sixth columns to delay
their movement to the south. If they move south too early, they might startle
the enemy into retreating, after which it would be very difficult to wipe it out.
However, it is entirely up to you to decide.
The Military Commission
Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 52–53, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission.
Chen Yi was commander and political commissar of the East China Field Army, and Su Yu
was its deputy commander. Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu (Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan) Field
Army. At the time of this telegram, the Guomindang army had amassed twenty-four reorganized divisions to advance on central Shandong.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-301