Do Not Destroy, or Destroy Only Tactically,
Certain Railways
(January 8, 1948)
To Lin [Biao] and Luo [Ronghuan], and for the information of the Central Work
Committee:1
The enemy forces in the Northeast and North China are dwindling with each
battle, and within a few months from now the situation will change. Please consider not destroying some railways or destroying them only tactically without
ruining them entirely. For example, do not destroy the railway between Zhangwu,
Xinlitun, Yizhou,2 and Chengde, only tactically destroy the railway between
Dahushan,3 Jinzhou, Shanhai Pass, and Tianjin, and no longer destroy the TielingChangchun and Jilin-Changchun railways. The railway between Goubangzi,
Yingkou, and Dashiqiao, and those south of Anshan should also not be destroyed.
We expect you to consider this and act accordingly.
Mao Zedong
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 366–67, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
1.  Lin Biao was commander and political commissar of the Northeast Field Army, and
Luo Ronghuan was deputy political commissar of the Northeast Field Army.
2.  Yizhou is the former name of Yi county, Liaoning.
3.  Dahushan is in southern Heishan county, Liaoning.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-66