Su Yu and the Chen-Xie Units

A Plan for Long-Term Coordination with Liu-Deng’s Operations[1]

(December 20, 1947)

Su, Chen and Xie, and inform Liu and Deng[2]:

(1) Su’s telegram of the 19th [hao] received. Liu and Deng are busy on the march, and their radio station is difficult to contact. (2) After Liu and Deng draw the enemy’s main force to the west, our main force will exploit the gap to move east. This move is highly appropriate and has wrecked Bai Chongxi’s[3] plan to drive us westward and northward. (3) Fully agree with Su’s opinion of the 19th chou hour[4]. Su’s unit and the Chen-Xie unit shall coordinate with Liu-Deng’s operations over the long term, until the enemy’s offensive against the Dabie Mountains is smashed. (4) Method of coordination: In addition to the 8th, 10th, and 11th Columns moving to Minquan as per Su’s telegram, seizing the opportunity to annihilate Wu Huawen’s[5]

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[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, addressed to Su Yu, Deputy Commander of the East China Field Army, and Chen Geng, Secretary of the Front Committee of the Chen-Xie Group of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army, and Xie Fuzhi, Deputy Secretary.

[2] Liu and Deng refer to Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, who were then respectively Commander and Political Commissar of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army.

[3] Bai Chongxi was then Minister of National Defense of the Nationalist Government.

[4] Refers to Su Yu’s telegram of 1:00 a.m., December 19, 1947, to Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, and the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China. The telegram stated: We originally planned to concentrate the main force in the second phase of the campaign to annihilate the 75th Division in the Tongxu area, but because our position for pinning down the enemy’s 5th Army was broken through, we have changed the disposition, shifting the 8th, 10th, and 11th Columns to Minquan to find a way to annihilate Wu Huawen’s unit and the New 21st Brigade, seizing the opportunity to attack and occupy Shangqiu, and then moving east to disrupt and attack the Jinpu Railway. As of this moment, the Pinghan Railway has been wrecked, but the enemy’s “mopping-up” plan for the Dabie Mountains has not changed so far; it seems they intend to concentrate all their strength to smash our forces in the Dabie Mountains before shifting troops to deal with other areas. Therefore, we and Chen-Xie must coordinate with Liu-Deng’s operations over the long term, until the enemy’s offensive against the Dabie Mountains is completely smashed.

[5] Wu Huawen was then Commander of the Reorganized 84th Division of the Nationalist Army.

unit and the New 21st Brigade, attacking and occupying Shangqiu, and then moving east to disrupt and attack the Jinpu Railway[1], the main force, consisting of the 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 1st Columns, is proposed to be personally led by Su southward to join forces with Chen-Xie and placed under Su’s unified command, advancing south along the Pinghan Railway[2] to directly threaten Wuhan, disrupting the railway section by section along the way, capturing all towns and stations that can be captured, and annihilating all isolated and scattered enemy troops. Thereafter, depending on the situation, either coordinate with Liu-Deng in a pincer attack on the enemy in the Dabie Mountains, or turn the force back north to strike various scattered enemy units. At present, Bai Chongxi’s main force is moving east in droves to follow Liu-Deng; left near Wuhan are only two brigades of the Sichuan Army’s 56th Division; left between Xinyang and Wuhan are only the 85th Division, the 20th Division, and the 9th Brigade of the 9th Division, totaling five brigades; in the area between Biyang, Tongbai, and Nanyang are only two brigades of the 3rd Division. When you advance south, if you encounter scattered enemy forces, annihilate them; if you encounter concentrated and entrenched enemy forces, bypass them. Such operations can guarantee the smashing of the enemy’s plan to attack the Dabie Mountains and can also completely wreck the Pinghan Railway. Is this feasible, what difficulties are there, and do you have any other more effective methods? Awaiting your reply.

Central Military Commission

20th, 16:00 hours

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[1] Jinpu refers to the Jinpu Railway, the railway from Tianjin to Pukou, now a section of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway.

[2] Pinghan refers to the Pinghan Railway, the railway from Beiping (now Beijing) to Hankou, now a section of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway.