Battle Assignments for Liu-Deng, Chen-Xie,
and Other Units
(July 29, 1947)
To Liu [Bocheng], Deng [Xiaoping], Chen [Yi], Su [Yu], Tan [Zhenlin], the East
China Bureau, the Handan Bureau, and for the information of Chen [Geng], Xie
[Fuzhi], and Peng [Dehuai]: 1
We received all the telegrams you sent.
	 1.	 Given everything Liu and Deng have told us and the fact that the enemy in
Shandong is not moving west, all of Liu and Deng’s forces should rest and
reorganize for half a month, and then follow Liu and Deng’s original plan.
For the first step, rely on Henan, Anhui, and Jiangsu, maintain supply lines to
the rear, and strive to wipe out large numbers of enemy forces. Depending on
the situation after two months, either gradually extend your support to areas
to the south or head directly to the Dabie Mountains.
	 2.	 To support the fighting in northern Shaanxi, the Chen-Xie Group should
head to Tong[guan] and Luo[yang] 2 in August as originally planned, sever
the Longhai [railway], force Hu [Zongnan]’s 3 army to send a unit of reinforcements, and then wipe it out at an opportune time. [The Chen-Xie] unit
should also maintain rear supply lines with Taihang and Taiyue. The decision about whether to send this unit all the way to Funiu and Tongbo must
be made according to the situation; proceed if advantageous, but if not, pull
back to Hebei. The situation in northern Shaanxi at present is very difficult
(we have told Chen Geng in person). If Chen and Xie and Liu and Deng are not effective in moving one of Hu’s units and helping to improve the situation in northern Shaanxi within the next two months, northern Shaanxi will
become unsustainable. In that case, the main forces of Hu’s army could shift
east after two months, and your difficulties would also mount.
	 3.	 Within the next two months, all our forces in Shandong will still be fighting
on interior lines. After two months, we will prepare for Ye [Fei]’s column 4
and another unit to head out to Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi by way of western Anhui or central Jiangsu at an appropriate time. We will first, within the
next two months, send cadres or small detachments to these places.
The Military Commission
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Notes

Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 158–59, 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.
Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping were commander and political commissar, respectively,
of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu (Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan) Field Army. Chen Yi, Su Yu, and Tan
Zhenlin were commander and political commissar, deputy commander, and deputy political commissar, respectively, of the East China Field Army. Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi were
secretary and deputy secretary, respectively, of the Chen-Xie Group in the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army. Peng Dehuai was commander and political commissar of the
Northwest Field Army.

2.  Tongguan is in Shaanxi and Luoyang is in Henan.

3.  Hu Zongnan was director of the Guomindang army’s Xi’an Pacification Office.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-14

4.  Ye Fei was commander of the First Column of the East China Field Army.