It Is Very Appropriate to Annihilate the
Enemy along the Sui–Qi–Tongxu Line
(June 26, 1948, 3:00 A.M. to 5:00 A.M.)
To Liu [Bocheng], Deng [Xiaoping], Chen [Yi], and Deng [Zihui], and to Su
[Yu], Chen [Shiju], and Zhang [Zhen]:1


The enemy’s Eighty-third Division was transferred to reinforce Gunzhou, and
one unit from the Twenty-fifth Division arrived in Teng county. There is a report
that the main force will return to Xuzhou. Chiang [Kaishek] and Bai [Chongxi]2
seem to have concluded that our forces under Su, Chen, and Zhang will join with
the forces under Liu and Deng to attack the Eighteenth Army and other units. They
therefore ordered Qiu [Qingquan] and Qu [Shounian]3 to rush southwest along the
Minquan–Lanfeng4–Kaifeng line to jointly attack our army. Qiu’s army is also
using one unit to defend Kaifeng. Under these circumstances, it is very appropriate for Su, Chen, and Zhang to deploy their troops along the Sui [county]–Qi
[county]–Tongxu line (or areas south of this line) to annihilate the enemy. If you
can annihilate both the Seventy-fifth and Seventy-second divisions, that of course
would be very good; otherwise, it is fine to wipe out the Seventy-fifth Division.
Of the enemy commanders, Qu Shounian has less experience in battling our army.
The Military Commission


Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 492–93, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission.
Liu Bocheng was commander of the Central Plains Field Army, Deng Xiaoping was political commissar, Chen Yi was first deputy commander, and Deng Zihui was deputy political
commissar of the Central Plains Field Army. Su Yu was acting commander and acting
political commissar of the East China Field Army, Chen Shiju was chief-of-staff and Zhang
Zhen (张震) was deputy chief-of-staff of the East China Field Army.
2.  Bai Chongxi was the Guomindang’s Minister of Defense and director of the ministry’s Jiujiang Headquarters.
3.  Qiu Qingquan was commander of the Guomindang’s Reorganized Fifth Army. Qu
Shounian (1902–1957, native of Guangdong) was deputy commander of the Guomindang’s
Sixth Pacification Zone, and he commanded a corps consisting of the Reorganized Seventyfifth and Seventy-second divisions as well as the newly organized Twenty-first Brigade.
4.  In 1954, Lanfeng and Kaocheng counties merged to become today’s Lankao county.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-130