Xu-Tan Corps to Move toward the Tianjin-Pukou Railway After Rest and Reorganization[1]

(May 7, 1948)

Xu and Tan, and the East China Bureau:

Your telegram of the 5th has been received. The bandit Wang[2] in his westward withdrawal is bound to concentrate his forces and act with caution; it will be difficult to annihilate him for the time being. Our 7th, 9th, and 13th Columns, and other units should concentrate for rest and reorganization until the 18th or 20th of this month and prepare to start moving toward the Tianjin-Pukou Railway[3] after the 19th or 21st. At that time, if the enemy brigade at Xintai has not withdrawn, our first objective should be to besiege Xintai and strike at his reinforcements; if the enemy has already withdrawn, we shall directly choose a point between Jinan and Xuzhou to attack and strike at his reinforcements, so as to assist the operations of Su Yu’s Corps.[4] Su Yu’s Corps still has difficulties in crossing the Yangtze at present; it has been decided to wipe out several groups of the enemy in the area west of the Grand Canal and north of the Huai River before advancing south. You have the task of assisting them in their operations and supplying them with ammunition and new recruits.

The Military Commission

15:00 hours, 7th

[1] Drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and addressed to Xu Shiyou, commander of the Shandong Corps of the East China Field Army, Tan Zhenlin, its political commissar, and the CPC East China Bureau.
[2] Wang refers to Wang Yaowu, then commander of the 2nd Pacification Zone of the Kuomintang army.
[3] The Tianjin-Pukou Railway refers to the railway from Tianjin to Pukou, now a section of the Beijing-Shanghai line.
[4] Su Yu’s Corps refers to the 1st Corps of the East China Field Army, with Su Yu as its commander and concurrently political commissar.