Analysis of the Situation on the Battlefield in
the Northwest
(August 22, 1947, 2:00 P.M.)
To Liu [Bocheng] and Deng [Xiaoping], Chen [Geng] and Xie [Fuzhi], and to
inform Zhu [De] and Liu [Shaoqi] (and transmittal to Nie [Rongzhen] and Xiao
[Ke]), Yang [Dezhi], Luo [Ruiqing] and Yang [Chengwu], Chen [Yi] and Su
[Yu], Lin [Biao] and Luo [Ronghuan], and He [Long] and Xi [Zhongxun]:1
After the main force of the Thirty-Sixth Division was wiped out, the remainder
fled in the direction of Suide. Of Hu Zongnan’s2 three main-force divisions (the
First, Thirty-sixth, and the Ninetieth divisions), only the Ninetieth Division was
not totally annihilated. Liu Kan3 is now hastily leading the Ninetieth Division
(two brigades), the Twelfth Brigade of the Seventeenth Division, the 144th
Brigade of the Seventy-sixth Division, and the Fifty-fifth Brigade of the Thirty-eighth Division from Wulongpu in Jiaxian to amass in Zhenchuanbao. Luo
Lie4 is leading the First Division (two brigades) from Suide to gather in Mizhi.
This makes a total of seven brigades. In addition, there are nine more brigades distributed as follows: one brigade at Yulin (the Twenty-eighth Brigade of the
Thirty-sixth Division), one at Suide (the Forty-eighth Brigade of the Seventeenth
Division), one at Qingjian, Yanchuan, Yanchang, and Wayaobao (the Twenty-fourth Brigade of the Seventy-sixth Division), one at Yongping (one regiment of
the Thirty-first Brigade of the Twenty-seventh Division, and one regiment of the
167th Brigade of the First Division—both regiments that were not wiped out in the
battles of Qinghuabian and Panlong), one at Yan’an (the Forty-seventh Brigade
of the Twenty-seventh Division), one at Gan[chuan] and Fu[xian] (the Eighty-fourth Brigade of the Seventeenth Division, minus one regiment at Yuncheng),
one in the Luochuan area (the New Ninth Brigade of Deng Xihou’s5 Thirty-ninth
Division), one in the area around Sanyuan and Malan (the New First Brigade of
the Seventy-sixth Division), and one at Changwu and Binxian (the temporary
Second Brigade of the Seventy-ninth Division). Those in eastern Gansu and in
[Dingbian], [Anbian], and [Jingbian] are all miscellaneous troops,6 and there is
still one brigade of Hu [Zongnan]’s army near Lanzhou. Thus, not only is the
entire area of southern Shaanxi devoid of regular troops but the whole large area
of the Central Shaanxi Plain is weakly defended to the extreme, which is to say
that there is also no enemy presence in most places in northern Shaanxi, and Hu
Zongnan’s rampant period has come to an end. Morale in our field armies is high,
and after remaining in the area north of Zhenchuanbao to rest for a few days, our
field armies will have a chance to annihilate the enemy. Our Wang Shitai7 has
again led two brigades to the Central Shaanxi Plain for operations, and they are
entirely capable of holding down all, or at least most, of Hu’s army so that they
dare not move eastward. This will give Chen and Xie a free hand to attack western
Henan and to assist Liu and Deng in their operations.
The Military Commission

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Notes

Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, vol. 4, pp. 204–6, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript conserved 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 Geng and Xie
Fuzhi were secretary and deputy secretary, respectively, of the Chen-Xie Group Front
Committee of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Field Army. Nie Rongzhen was commander and political
commissar of the Jin-Cha-Ji (Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei) Military Region, and Xiao Ke was
deputy commander of the Jin-Cha-Ji Military Region. Yang Dezhi was commander of the
Jin-Cha-Ji Field Army; Luo Ruiqing was first political commissar and Yang Chengwu
was second political commissar of the Jin-Cha-Ji 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. Lin Biao was commander and political commissar of the
Northeast Democratic Allied Army, and Luo Ronghuan was deputy political commissar
of the Northeast Democratic Allied Army. He Long and Xi Zhongxun were commander
and political commissar, respectively, of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Shanxi-Suiyuan Joint
Defense Force.

2.  Hu Zongnan was director of the Guomindang army’s Xi’an Pacification Office.

3.  Liu Kan was commander of the Guomindang’s Reorganized Twenty-ninth Army.

4.  Luo Lie (1907–1976, native of Fujian) was commander of the First Division of the
Guomindang’s Reorganized First Army.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-23

5.  Deng Xihou (1889–1964, native of Sichuan) was director of the Guomindang army’s
Sichuan-Xikang Pacification Office.

6.  Referring to poorly led forces of dubious value in combat.

7.  Wang Shitai was commander of the Fourth Column of the Northwest Field Army.