Operational Deployment for the Various Armies in the Central Plains[1]

(February 20, 1948)

Liu, Deng; Chen, Tang; Chen, Xie; Su, Liu[2]:

(1) Su’s unit requires two months of rest and reorganization before it can move out. Apart from leaving 30,000 men to hold fast in the Dabie Mountains, Liu and Deng will concentrate the main force of four columns in the area between the Sha River and the Huai River for rest, reorganization, and replenishment, which will also require about one month. Bocheng will not go to Xuchang for the time being. Meanwhile, the enemy’s Sun Yuanliang and Hu Lian[3] are about to attempt to force open the Ping-Han Railway[4]; Qiu Qingquan’s[5] and other units are pursuing our forces toward southwestern Shandong and intend to force open the Zhengzhou-Xuzhou section[6]; and Pei Changhui’s[7] unit intends to force open the Zhengzhou-Tongguan section[8].

(2) Therefore, the following decisions are made: a. Chen and Tang shall lead the 3rd and 8th Columns to the west of the Ping-Han Railway to close ranks with the main force of Chen and Xie. Chen and Xie shall be under the command of Chen and Tang. West of the Ping-Han Railway and south of the Zhengzhou-Tongguan section, concentrate eleven brigades or more, actively seek opportunities for combat, and for one to two months do not expect to coordinate operations with other units. b. After completing the mission of escorting new recruits to Liu and Deng, the 10th and 11th Columns shall temporarily conduct mobile operations in the area between the Sha River, the Longhai Railway, and the Jin-Pu Railway[9], either sabotaging the Longhai Railway or the Jin-Pu Railway, or striking other scattered enemy forces, so as to draw the 5th Army and other units southward, thereby facilitating the rest and reorganization of Su’s unit. These two columns shall temporarily be under the command of Su Yu. c. Before Liu and Deng have completed concentration, reorganization, and replenishment, have closed ranks with Chen and Tang and Chen and Xie, and have firmly established a relationship of campaign command, Chen and Tang (including Chen and Xie) shall remain under our command, and shall immediately propose an operational plan for the end of the second lunar month and the beginning of the third lunar month and report it to us by telegram.

Central Military Commission
Chou Xi Hai[10]

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[1] This telegram was drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China and addressed to Commander Liu Bocheng and Political Commissar Deng Xiaoping of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army, and others.
[2] Chen and Tang refer to Chen Shiju and Tang Liang, who were then respectively Chief of Staff and Director of the Political Department of the East China Field Army. Chen and Xie refer to Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi, who were then respectively Secretary and Deputy Secretary of the Front Committee of the Chen-Xie Group of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army. Su and Liu refer to Su Yu and Liu Xiansheng, who were then respectively Deputy Commander and Deputy Chief of Staff of the East China Field Army.
[3] Sun Yuanliang and Hu Lian were then respectively Commander of the Reorganized 47th Army and Commander of the Reorganized 18th Army of the Kuomintang Army.
[4] The Ping-Han Railway refers to the railway from Beiping (present-day Beijing) to Hankou, now a section of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway.
[5] Qiu Qingquan was then Commander of the Reorganized 5th Army of the Kuomintang Army.
[6] The Zhengzhou-Xuzhou section refers to the section of the Longhai Railway between Zhengzhou and Xuzhou.
[7] Pei Changhui was then Deputy Director of the Xi’an Pacification Office of the Kuomintang.
[8] The Zhengzhou-Tongguan section refers to the section of the Longhai Railway between Zhengzhou and Tongguan.
[9] Jin-Pu refers to the Jin-Pu Railway, the railway from Tianjin to Pukou, now a section of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway.
[10] Chou Xi Hai denotes the time of dispatch: Chou (second Earthly Branch) for the month, Xi (tenth Earthly Branch) for the day, and Hai (twelfth Earthly Branch) for the hour.