To Chen Yi and Su Yu[1]

(September 13, 1947)

It is imperative to avoid fighting battles without preparation or certainty of victory. Temporarily refraining from engaging the Fifth Army and the Seventy-Fifth Division is entirely correct. The policy toward prisoners of war should be one of immediate capture and immediate replenishment. After capture, a few days of training and the convening of a "turning-over meeting" (to pour out grievances) will suffice before they can be integrated into the units. The field army under Peng and Xi relies entirely on prisoners for replenishment, employing precisely this method, and its combat effectiveness is excellent. By using this method, so long as no battles are fought without certainty of victory and prisoners are captured in every engagement, it is possible to maintain a constant state of troop strength.

[1] This is the main content of a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to Chen Yi and Su Yu.