Use Various Means to Bring the Enemy
into Play and to Create Opportunities to
Annihilate the Enemy
(June 3, 1948, 3:00 A.M. to 5:00 A.M.)
To Su [Yu] and Zhang [Zhen],1 and for the information of Liu [Bocheng] and
Deng [Xiaoping], and Chen [Yi] and Deng [Zihui]:2
We received the telegram you sent at noon on the 2nd.3 The circumstances of
the entire Central Plains region allow numerous opportunities for mobile warfare. However, you must be patient, and you must use various means to bring the
enemy into play; only in this way can you create opportunities. In recent days,
Chen [Shiju] and Tang [Liang]4 have had to assist Liu and Deng in battle. If Liu
and Deng can fight one or two good battles, however, the situation will begin to
change. Therefore, after arriving in the appropriate territory, you should rest not
for three days but for about half a month. The whole army should carefully study
skills and tactics, and it should build up strength and store up energy. Even if there
are opportunities to fight small battles, you should not send your main forces to
fight. Wait until Liu and Deng have completely finished fighting Zhang Zhen,5
and Chen and Tang have arrived in the area near the Longhai-Bianxu line and
Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 102–3, where it is reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript.
1.  Su Yu was acting commander and acting political commissar of the East China Field
Army. Zhang Zhen (张震） (1914–2015, born in Pingjiang, Hunan) was deputy chief-ofstaff of the East China Field Army.
2.  Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the Central Plains Military Region and the Central Plains Field Army. Chen Yi and
Deng Zihui were first deputy commander and deputy political commissar, respectively, of
the Central Plains Field Army.
3.  The telegram from Su Yu and Zhang Zhen (张震) stated that they had abandoned
plans to lure the main forces of the Guomindang’s Fifth Army into battle, and instead they
planned to rest their exhausted troops and wait for a good opportunity to annihilate the
enemy. They planned to amass outside of Dingtao, Chengwu, and Jinxiang to decide on
their next step.
4.  Chen Shiju was chief-of-staff of the East China Field Army, and Tang Liang was
director of its Political Department.
5.  Zhang Zhen（张珍） (1894–1981, born in Luoshan, Henan) was commander of the
Guomindang army’s Fifth Pacification Zone.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-124

have rested for a certain number of days and recovered from their exhaustion, and
then take action to bring the enemy forces into play and wipe them out as they
move. When fighting the Fifth Army, the Seventy-fifth Division, and other units,
do not attempt to fight too much at once. Instead, you should prepare to wipe out
only one or two brigades at a time and destroy the enemy piece by piece, because
this enemy is relatively strong. You must persuade our cadres not to be overly
eager for great fame or to solve big problems. Rather, you must be steadfast and
composed in order to maintain your advantage at all times.
The Military Commission