Deployments for the Westward Campaign of
the Chen [Geng]-Xie [Fuzhi] Column
 (May 24, 1947)
To Chen [Geng], Xie [Fuzhi], and Han [Jun], and for the information of [Wang]
Xinting, Teng [Daiyuan], Bo [Yibo], Wang [Hongkun], He [Long], Li [Jingquan],
Liu [Bocheng], Deng [Xiaoping], Peng [Dehuai], and Xi [Zhongxun]:1
	 1.	 Before the end of June, your column should finish resting and reorganizing as well as completing preparations for the westward advance (including eliminating Lüliang and opening the communication routes). Prepare to
cross the river between Daning and Jundu during the first ten days of July.
First go to northern Shaanxi to fight, and then go to fight in the general area
of Ning[xia] and Gan[su]. Make your goal to destroy Hu [Zongnan]’s2 army
and other diehard units and to take control of the greater Northwest, which
will enable you to defend Shanxi. Encourage your troops to develop an ethic
of enduring hardship, laboring patiently, and not fearing difficulty, and tell
them that only by eliminating Hu Zongnan will we be able to defend Shanxi.
	 2.	 Chen Geng’s telegram of 5:00–7:00 A.M. on the 23rd3 stated that Hu
Zongnan was heading back to Shanxi and it advocated capturing Taiyuan.

Under the present circumstances, our main military objective is Chiang
Kaishek; we should wait until later to deal with annihilating Yan Xishan’s4
main forces and capturing Taiyuan. Hu’s army will not necessarily return
to Shanxi for now. If it does return to Shanxi, we should lure it back into
the Shaan[xi]-Gan[su] region and then eliminate it. This would most greatly
facilitate defending the Liberated Areas in Shanxi.
	 3.	 To open up communication routes to northern Shaanxi and ensure that subsequent material assistance proceeds smoothly, we should undertake a major
campaign to wipe out enemy forces in the eight counties of Xiang[ning], Ji,
Pu, Da[ning], Ping[yao], Jie[xiu], Ling[shi], and Xiao[yi]. To achieve this
objective, you may postpone entering Shaanxi by half a month.
	 4.	 After Chen [Geng] and Xie [Fuzhi] enter Shaanxi, the unit commanded by
[Wang] Xinting will coordinate with troops in Lüliang (five brigades will
soon return to Lüliang from Suimi and will come under the unified battle
command of [Wang] Xinting), and they will consolidate and develop the two
areas of Lüliang and Taiyue.
	 5.	 After Chen [Geng] and Xie [Fuzhi] enter Shaanxi, grain supplies should be
handled by the Shaan[xi]-Gan[su]-Ning[xia] border area, while Taiyue and
Taihang will continue to provide all other assistance. You should prepare for
this. Also, subsequent fighting is certain to involve more positional warfare,
so bring more artillery shells.
	 6.	 On the political side, carry out ample mobilization work, ensuring that each
and every person understands the great political significance of our advance
to the west.
The Military Commission
and Deng Xiaoping reinforce the Datong-Puzhou railway with at least two columns and try
to deploy additional troops from Shanxi and Suiyuan, first attacking Hu Zongnan’s troops
in Shanxi and then coordinating with Nie and Xiao’s troops to seize Zhengtai and to take
Taiyuan. The main forces would then advance south to the Central Plains over the winter
and spring and coordinate with Chen Yi to take Xuzhou.

---

Notes

Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 83–84, 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 Geng was commander of the Fourth Column of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu (Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan) Field Army, Xie Fuzhi was political commissar, and Han Jun was deputy
commander. Wang Xinting was commander of the Taiyue Military Region. Teng Daiyuan,
Bo Yibo, and Wang Hongkun were first deputy commander, first deputy political commissar, and second deputy commander, respectively, of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Field Army. He
Long and Li Jingquan were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the JinSui (Shanxi-Suiyuan) Military Region. Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping were commander
and political commissar, respectively, of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Field Army. 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.  Chen Geng’s telegram reported that the Communist forces’ efforts in Shanxi, Gansu,
and Ningxia had put Hu Zongnan in an impossible situation, but he was still expected to
advance to southern Shanxi. Chen Geng planned to amass as many troops as possible to
take a defensive position along the Beiping-Hankou railway. He suggested that Liu Bocheng
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719511-312

4.  Yan Xishan was director of the Guomindang’s Pacification Office in Taiyuan.