Opinion on Striking the Pingsui Railway[1]

(January 31, 1948)

Yang, Luo, Yang, Geng, and inform the Fuping Bureau, the Central Working Committee, Lin, Luo, Liu[2]:

Are your troops currently making preparations to strike the Pingsui Railway[3]? When will operations begin, and what is the operational plan? Our opinion is that, apart from the local corps in central Hebei, the main force of the field army and all units in Wutai and northern Cha[4] should simultaneously launch an offensive on the Beiping–Datong line. However, the main force should first strike the Beiping–Zhangjiakou section; after success, it should then move westward to strike the Zhangjiakou–Datong section. The duration of this campaign is estimated to be one month to forty days, after which there will be a month of rest and consolidation before moving out to eastern Hebei.

Central Military Commission

Zishi

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, addressed to Yang Dezhi, commander of the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Field Army; Luo Ruiqing, first political commissar; Yang Chengwu, second political commissar; and Geng Biao, chief of staff.

[2] Lin, Luo, and Liu refer to Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and Liu Yalou, who at the time were respectively commander and political commissar, deputy political commissar, and chief of staff of the Northeast Field Army.

[3] The Pingsui Railway refers to the railway from Beiping (present-day Beijing) to Baotou in Suiyuan (present-day Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region), now the Beijing–Baotou line.

[4] Cha refers to Chahar, an old provincial name, originally encompassing the northwestern part of present-day Hebei Province and the Xilingol League of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In 1949, its jurisdiction was changed to cover the northwestern part of present-day Hebei Province and the northern part of Shanxi Province, and it was abolished in 1952.