Battle Assignments for the Five Columns of
the East China Field Army after They Cross
the Canal
(August 5, 1947)
To Liu [Bocheng] and Deng [Xiaoping], and for the information of Chen [Yi], Su
[Yu], and Tan [Zhenlin]:1
Wait until the five columns under Chen [Shiju], Tang [Liang], Ye [Fei], and Tao
[Yong]2 have crossed the canal, then please order these five columns to employ
strong units to fortify and vigorously defend key points along the canal’s west bank
to prevent enemy troops under Qiu [Qingquan] and Ou [Zhen]3 from crossing over
to the west. The main forces should amass in the Yuncheng area for rest and reorganization and build defensive fortifications in the Yuncheng area to guarantee supplies from the north bank. These five brigades must have at least two weeks to safely
rest and reorganize, and they must wait for Su Yu’s arrival before they can engage
in mobile fighting. Before the situation is fully developed, the major task of these
five brigades is to directly contain Qiu and Ou. This is for the purpose of indirectly
rather than directly containing the enemy along and north of the Longhai [railway].
If these five brigades can prevent Qiu and Ou from crossing to the west before you
set out and can establish a firm foothold in Juan[cheng] and Yun[cheng]4 after you
set out, and if their supply lines are not severed by Qiu and Ou, then Qiu and Ou will
not dare attack you, and the enemy forces in Jinxiang, Heze, and other places will
not dare make rash moves. We look forward to hearing your views on these matters.
The Military Commission


Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 166–67, 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.


2.  Chen Shiqu was chief-of-staff and Tang Liang was director of the Political Department of the East China Field Army. Ye Fei and Tao Yong were commanders of the First and
the Fourth columns, respectively, of the East China Field Army.


3.  Qiu Qingquan was commander of the Guomindang’s Reorganized Fifth Division
(formerly the Fifth Army). Ou Zhen was commander of the Third Corps under the Guomindang army’s Xuzhou Command Headquarters.


4.  Juancheng and Yuncheng were in Shandong.


DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-17