Do Not Miss the Opportunity to Annihilate One Column of the Enemy That Is Easy to Strike[1]

(May 12, 1947)

Chen and Su:

The field army staff’s telegram of the 11th has been received. The enemy’s Fifth Army, Eleventh Division, and Seventy-fourth Division have all advanced. You must concentrate your attention on selecting one column that is comparatively easy to strike, and without missing the opportunity, launch an annihilation attack. As to which column is best to strike, you shall make the decision on the spot and immediately put it into execution; we shall not exercise remote control.

The Military Commission

12th Day, 7th Month

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, addressed to Chen Yi, Commander and Political Commissar of the East China Field Army, and Su Yu, its Deputy Commander.