Telegram dated November 4, 1947 To Chen, Rao, Su, and Tan: Regardless of whether Qiu’s corps advances into Shandong or not, the deeper the enemy penetrates, the better; the longer we can delay our own offensive, the better. As long as you do not seek quick results and are prepared to abandon Linyi if necessary, we will surely achieve victory this time. At present, the enemy’s strategy is to lure us into launching an early attack, wear us down in prolonged fighting, and then securely occupy Linyi. You must not fall for this trap. The best course of action is to wait until the enemy has advanced to a position roughly midway between Tancheng and Linyi—closer to Linyi—and then deliver the first blow. The farther north the enemy pushes, the more their morale will decline, the more panicked their commanders will become, and the more difficult it will be to sustain their supply lines. Panic has already broken out in Nanjing; personnel in the Ministry of National Defense’s General Staff have lost confidence, believing that even if Linyi is captured, the fundamental problem will remain unresolved. Our Liu-Deng forces are now in an exceptionally favorable position and can certainly play an active role in the overall campaign to assist you. I urge you to instruct the political organs to thoroughly organize anti-enemy propaganda along the enemy’s line of advance, in order to undermine the combat morale of both officers and men.

Military Commission Telegram dated November 6, 1947 To Chen, Su, and Tan, with copies to Rao, Zhang, Li, Zhang, Deng, Liu, and Deng:

1. I fully concur with the third plan outlined in the Weiwei telegram. This will enable us to assume the initiative entirely while reducing Chiang Kai-shek to a state of complete passivity.

2. Over the next seven to ten days, the entire army shall remain in place for reorganization and training, giving the appearance from the outside that we are preparing to strike southward. We will wait until the enemy’s 11th Corps has occupied Laiwu, and the 73rd Corps together with the 46th Division have seized the line running through Xintai and Boshan. Only then shall we secretly redeploy the entire force—except for one column—to first annihilate the 73rd Corps, the 11th Corps, and the 46th Division, after which we will seize control of the entire Jiaoji Railway line. This operation should take approximately one to one-and-a-half months. By that time, the enemy forces operating in the south will inevitably have been forced to push deep into the mountainous terrain north of Linyi, at which point we can launch a full-scale counterattack and destroy large numbers of them. In short, we should engage the weaker enemy units first, then turn to the stronger ones, striving always to maintain the initiative and avoid being put on the defensive.

3. In order to allow Wang Yaowu to commit his forces to a further southward advance, our Bohai Region forces should cease all offensive operations.  Military Commission Ugly Fish