The Chen-Xie Army Is to Strike Toward Yulin in Mid-July[1]

(June 20, 1947)

Comrades Chen and Xie:

Your column must conclude rest and reorganization by the end of the month without further extension. On the first of the month, under the leadership of Xie and Han[2] (Chen Geng will depart on the 25th to come to the Central Committee first), set out from your present location. Complete assembly at Suide around the 10th of the month, and on the 20th of the month begin the strike toward Yulin. Prepare to spend about twenty days destroying, one by one, the 28th Brigade of the 36th Division (two regiments), Deng Baoshan’s[3] New 11th Brigade (two regiments), and Zuo Shiyun’s[4] 86th Division (three regiments), and, as opportunities arise, capture Shenmu, Fugu, Yulin, Hengshan,[5] and other places. Then, in coordination with the Border Region Field Army, strike southward. While you are attacking Yulin, Peng and Xi will strike Ningxia Ma[6]’s 18th Division (three brigades) and recover Dingbian and Yanchi.[7]

Central Military Commission

20th of the month

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[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, addressed to Chen Geng, commander of the 4th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army, and Xie Fuzhi, its political commissar.
[2] Xie refers to Xie Fuzhi. Han refers to Han Jun, then deputy commander of the 4th Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army.
[3] Deng Baoshan was then commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang’s Shanxi-Shaanxi-Suiyuan Border Area Headquarters.
[4] Zuo Shiyun was then commander of the 22nd Army of the Kuomintang’s Shanxi-Shaanxi-Suiyuan Border Area Headquarters.
[5] Shenmu, Fugu, Yulin, and Hengshan refer to Shenmu, Fugu, Yulin, and Hengshan in Shaanxi Province.
[6] Ningxia Ma refers to Ma Hongkui of Ningxia, then deputy director of the Northwest Administrative Office of the Kuomintang government chairman.
[7] Dingbian and Yanchi refer to Dingbian in Shaanxi Province and Yanchi in Ningxia Province.