Send Troops to Seize Control of Taiyuan
Airport
(July 16, 1948, 11:00 P.M. to 1:00 A.M.)
To Xu [Xiangqian] and Zhou [Shidi], and for the information of the North China
Bureau:1


After you have wiped out the enemy troops in front of you and Taiyuan appears
to be isolated, it may be possible for our troops to capture Taiyuan ahead of time.
Yang Aiyuan2 went to Nanjing to beg for help, and Chiang Kaishek is allowing
reinforcements to be sent. We hope you will consider sending the necessary fighting force to seize control of Taiyuan airport. We expect that Yan Xishan3 may
fight us for control of the airport, so you will have to note the following if you
decide to occupy the airport:
	 1.	 Send out an adequate fighting force.
	 2.	 Build firm and deep bunkers and fortifications around the airport.
	 3.	 Your entire army should rest and reorganize near Taiyuan, and it should
complete preparations for the assault on Taiyuan during this period of rest
and reorganization.
The Military Commission


Our source for this telegram is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 4, pp. 516–17, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.



--- Notes



1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission. Xu
Xiangqian was first deputy commander of the North China Military Region and commander
and political commissar of the First Corps. Zhou Shidi (1900–1970, native of present-day
Hainan) was deputy commander and deputy political commissar of the First Corps. By
July 21, 1948, Xu and Zhou’s corps had captured twelve counties in central Shanxi and all
strongholds near Taiyuan. The corps had also approached the airport, isolating Taiyuan. In
late October, the Military Commission decided to launch the Taiyuan Campaign.



2.  Yang Aiyuan (1887–1959, native of Shanxi) was deputy director of the Guomindang
army’s Taiyuan Pacification Office.



3.  Yan Xishan was director of the Guomindang army’s Taiyuan Pacification Office.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-133