Directive Regarding Flexible Battle Tactics
for Su Yu’s Forces in a Wide Region
(January 10, 1948)
To Su [Yu] and Chen [Shiju], and for the information of Chen [Geng] and Xie
[Fuzhi], Liu [Bocheng] and Deng [Xiaoping]:1
We received your telegram of the 9th between 3:00 and 5:00 P.M.2
	 1.	 Your questions have been answered by the Military Commission’s telegram
of the 9th:3 You must carry out both plans. You must now concentrate all
your energy on preparatory work. Recover military strength through rest,
heighten morale and enhance the tactical level, strengthen discipline (this is
urgent), and hold cadre meetings. After the 25th, carry out the plan to move
southwest.
	 2.	 The ten-odd counties in the Southwest form a wide reserve area. There are
mountain ranges and plains, places with little food, and places with plenty.
The situation regarding the enemy is not very serious. Divide your plan into
several steps. Strive to take Nanyang, Zhechuan, Xiping, Lushi, Xiang[yang],
Fan[cheng], Laohekou, and so on. Strive to annihilate the Sixty-fifth Division
and other enemy forces, including the landlord militias. Before attacking a
city, first investigate it and make tentative attacks. Wherever circumstances
permit, attack cities through tunnel warfare. If there is no way to attack a
place, either temporarily switch to the tactic of besieging it and attacking
the reinforcement troops or else give it up and attack another place. Do not
make up your minds in advance that you must take a certain city or wipe out a certain number of enemy forces; just annihilate as many as you can. When
the troops are exhausted, take a rest (give ample attention to rest). When they
are rested, begin fighting again. You must be prepared to fight the reinforcements of the Ninth, Tenth, and Twentieth divisions and others. When the
reinforcements arrive, make decisions based on the situation: Fight when it
is favorable, and be flexible when it is not. This campaign will include many
battles, and its timeframe should not be set in stone. If it goes smoothly,
we may extend its duration somewhat. One or two months would be fine,
depending on the situation. If the situation is favorable, we can also consider
engaging in flexible battles in the triangular area bound by Xinyang, Hankou,
and Xiangyang. Your difficulty will be to find places for the wounded. You
should set up a temporary safe area in the middle section of the Han River
together with Chen [Geng] and Xie [Fuzhi]. That area presumably will be
safe after getting rid of the bandits and diehards. One brigade of Chen and
Xie's forces has already occupied Yunxi and Yunyang. If you can also occupy
Zhechuan, Jun county,4 Laohekou, and so on, and send a small armed unit
and political personnel to wipe out the bandits and mobilize the masses, you
will have a safe area. You are familiar with this region. An autumn mobile
action may be one of several possible methods.
	 3.	 You should summon Chen and Xie to a meeting to decide on a general battle plan. Chen and Xie's forces and the Tenth and Twelfth columns will be
under your command, and you should direct them boldly. Your two armies
may act separately when dealing with smallish enemy units, but you should
act together when dealing with somewhat larger enemy forces (yet still
fight only medium-sized battles). In short, you should deal with everything
according to the circumstances.
	 4.	 One more thing, the second plan can be implemented when you reach the
Zhengzhou-Tongguan line to fight.
	 5.	 Commander Chen [Yi]5 came here and talked about your situation, and we
concluded that it was satisfactory.
Mao Zedong

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 8–10, where it is reproduced
from Mao’s manuscript.

--- Notes

1.  Su Yu and Chen Shiju were deputy commander and chief-of-staff, respectively, of
the East China Field Army. Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi were secretary and deputy secretary,
respectively, of the Chen-Xie Group Front Committee of the Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu Field Army. Liu
Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the
Jin-Ji-Lu-Yu (Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan) Field Army.

2.  The telegram from Su Yu and Chen Shiju proposed plans to attack the Zheng-Shaan
railway and the Tianjin-Pukou railway, or to attack the Tianjin-Pukou railway and head
toward Nanyang, Xiangyang, and Fancheng.

3.  See “Battle Preparations for the Central Plains Region During the Next Two to Three
Months,” January 9, 1948, in this volume.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-68

4.  Now Danjiangkou, Hubei Province.

5.  Chen Yi was commander of the East China Field Army and commander-in-chief of
the New Fourth Army.