Rectify the Troop Configuration to Bolster
Efforts to Win New Victories
(August 6, 1947)
To Liu [Bocheng], Deng [Xiaoping], Chen [Yi], and Su [Yu], and please forward
to Chen [Shiju], Tang [Liang], Ye [Fei], and Tao [Yong]:1
At present the overall situation is in our favor: The enemy forces have dispersed while we have drawn together. The enemy’s mobile fighting forces are
spread among three locations in central Shandong, Yundong, and Longhai (the
Guangxi group, etc.). In addition, the enemy forces in western Shandong have
just suffered a major defeat, and their morale is low. We can use one unit to pin
down the enemy in central Shandong while stationing our main forces in southwestern Shandong. Although the enemy wants to attack southwestern Shandong
from the canal and Longhai, our assessment is that this will remain impossible
for the near future. At the moment, the enemy fears that you may launch an allout attack on Qiu [Qingquan] and Ou [Zhen] to the east,2 and also fears that you
will launch an all-out attack on Longhai to the south. Under these circumstances,
your whole army can safely rest and reorganize for about ten days. You should
encourage morale and rectify the troop configuration to bolster your efforts to win
new victories. Although our units in eastern China suffered a few losses this time,
they accomplished the enormous task of concentrating our fighting forces and
dispersing the enemy’s forces. Once Chen and Su lead the field headquarters and
Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 175–76, where it is
the Sixth Column to Yun[cheng] and Ju[ye],3 our military strength will be even
greater and our leadership even stronger. This will greatly bolster our efforts to
win new victories. The Central Committee extends its greatest concern to you and
its best wishes to the officers and men of the entire army.
The Central Committee
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. 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 was commander and political commissar of the East China Field Army, and Su Yu
was deputy commander of the East China Field Army. Chen Shiju 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 Fourth columns, respectively, of the East
China Field Army.

2.  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 Xuzhou
headquarters of the Guomindang army’s Command Headquarters.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-19


3.  Yuncheng and Juye were in Shandong.