Conceal Yourselves and Rest and Reorganize
before Heading for Guanzhong and
Longdong
 (May 5, 1947, 11:00 P.M.)
To Peng [Dehuai] and Xi [Zhongxun]:1
After you finish off the enemy forces in Panlong, the enemy troops in Yan’an,
Wa[yaobao], Qingjian, and other places are sure to be in a panic. Yesterday Hu
[Zongnan]2 ordered the First Division to remain and defend Suide on account
of its importance, but at midnight, upon receiving word that Panlong had fallen,
he immediately ordered Dong Zhao3 to abandon Suide. Today, both Dong and
Liu [Kan]4 have started to move, and it seems that they are turning back. If they
hurry the troops along the highway, they may be able to reach Panlong in four
or five days. We therefore hope that the fighting in Qinghuabian5 and all postbattle matters can be handled and completed within three or four days. If the
troops are exhausted, it would seem safest for you to move west of Ansai, conceal
yourselves, and rest and reorganize for a time before heading to Guanzhong and
Longdong. Please think this over and decide how to proceed.
Mao [Zedong]
Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 56–57, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1.  Peng Dehuai was commander and political commissar and Xi Zhongxun was deputy
political commissar, respectively, of the Northwest Field Army.
2.  Hu Zongnan was commander of the Guomindang’s First War Zone.
3.  Dong Zhao was commander of the Guomindang’s Reorganized First Army.
4.  Liu Kan was commander of the Guomindang’s Reorganized Twenty-ninth Army.
5.  After the battle of Panlong, the Northwest Field Army planned to launch another
campaign in Qinghuabian, but this campaign was never carried out due to altered circumstances.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-304