Chen and Su [1], with copy to Liu and Deng, Rao and Li, Chen and Xie [2], and Deputy Commander Peng [3]:  (1) We have received your Jia-chen telegram [4] of the Ninth Day at the Dragon Hour.  The great victory at Yuncheng and Shatouji, which annihilated the entire 57th Division [5], is of immense significance for the overall development of the southern front. We hereby extend our heartfelt congratulations and words of encouragement to all officers and men of the Western Corps [6].   (2) According to your dispatch, our troops are in exceptionally high morale and are determined to swiftly shift to the offensive, aiming to deliver a decisive blow that will destroy or severely cripple the Fifth Army. Should we succeed in wiping out another portion or even the bulk of the Fifth Army, thereby rendering it combat-ineffective, the situation in southwestern Shandong will be greatly advanced.  Once the battle against the Fifth Army has concluded, you should promptly lead the entire corps southward, seizing opportune moments to capture the weak points of Chengwu, Dingtao, Caoxian, Danxian, Minquan, and Yucheng, thus establishing a favorable maneuvering posture for the next operation.  Thereafter, concentrate the whole force for a period of ten to fifteen days to rest and reorganize. Taking advantage of the enemy’s readjustment—judging that the Eleventh Division and other units will soon be transferred—you are to streamline the command structures at the division, corps, and army levels into leaner headquarters, reinforce the rifle companies with large numbers of newly inducted personnel, and consolidate and reorganize the weaker subunits under each division.  As long as the Western Corps can maintain a core force of sixty to eighty thousand well-trained soldiers, it will remain a powerful field army.  Over the coming months, your primary source of manpower replenishment will be enemy prisoners; therefore, adopt a policy of immediate incorporation upon capture. Ammunition should likewise be obtained largely from captured stocks.  You must focus on fighting well-prepared, winnable battles, while maintaining strict military discipline and winning over the local populace. In doing so, you will surely accomplish the momentous task of establishing a solid base area between the Yellow River, the Huai River, the Grand Canal, and the Pinghan Railway; assisting Liu and Deng, as well as Chen and Xie, in creating two major base areas in Eyuwan and Eyu-Shaanxi; aiding Rao, Li, and Tan [7] in defending the Shandong base area; and supporting the recovery of base areas in Central and Northern Jiangsu.  Situated in the central zone among these four major base areas, your victories carry profound strategic importance.

Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript under the title “Zhenshen.”

Notes  [1] Chen and Su refer to Chen Yi and Su Yu, who at the time served respectively as Commander and Political Commissar, and Deputy Commander of the East China Field Army.  [2] Liu and Deng refer to Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, who at the time were Commander and Political Commissar, respectively, of the Jin-Hebei-Luyu Field Army. Rao and Li refer to Rao Shushi and Li Yu, who at the time were Political Commissar and Deputy Political Commissar, respectively, of the East China Military Region. Chen and Xie refers to Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi, who at the time were Secretary and Deputy Secretary, respectively, of the Chen–Xie Group Command within the Jin-Hebei-Luyu Field Army.  [3] Deputy Commander Peng refers to Peng Dehuai, who at the time held the posts of Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the People’s Liberation Army, as well as Commander and Political Commissar of the Northwest Field Army.  [4] Jia-chen denotes the Ninth Day at the Dragon Hour.  [5] Refers to the Battle of Shatouji. On September 7, 1947, the Western Corps of the East China Field Army launched a pincer attack from north and south against the Nationalist Army’s Reorganized 57th Division in the Shatouji area, west of Juye and east of Heze, Shandong Province. After two days of fierce fighting, the entire division—comprising more than 9,500 men—was completely destroyed, and its lieutenant general commander, Duan Linmao, was captured.  [6] The Western Corps is defined in Note [1] on page 293 of this volume.  [7] Rao and Li refer to Rao Shushi and Li Yu. Tan refers to Tan Zhenlin, who at the time served as Deputy Political Commissar of the East China Field Army and Political Commissar of the Eastern Corps.