Agree to the Yang-Luo-Geng Army Corps’ Plan of Action[1]

(August 11, 1948)

Yang, Luo, Geng, and inform Chengwu[2]:

Your telegram of the 10th at 19:30 hours received. (1) We agree to your plan of action. Around the 20th, commit full force to strike first at Xiaoying, Shixia, and Gubeikou[3] in order to annihilate the enemy at these three points and draw the enemy’s main force to the vicinity of Gubeikou. Thereafter, you will advance westward and open operations on the Beiping-Zhangjiakou line[4] in early September to block the enemy from sending reinforcements westward, thereby facilitating Chengwu’s success in Suiyuan[5]. (2) You mentioned that it would be best to have two to three columns for the operation. Considering that you originally have seven brigades under your command, they should of course all advance westward. Whether the two brigades placed under your command by Cheng Zihua[6] should also advance westward is for you to decide based on the circumstances. As for the 11th Column, it should remain on the Hebei-Rehe[7] border and not advance westward. The area north of the Beiping-Zhangjiakou line[8] lacks grain supplies and is unsuitable for concentrating too many troops. With

the coordination of Zhan Danan’s[1] unit, your forces will be sufficient.

Military Commission

11th, 13:00 hours

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[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, addressed to Yang Dezhi (Commander), Luo Ruiqing (Political Commissar), and Geng Biao (Chief of Staff) of the 2nd Army Corps of the North China Military Region.

[2] Chengwu refers to Yang Chengwu, then Commander of the 3rd Army Corps of the North China Military Region.

[3] Xiaoying is located northeast of Luanping County, Hebei. Shixia, an old town name, was located north of Miyun County, Beijing; it disappeared when the Miyun Reservoir was built after Liberation. Gubeikou is a strategic pass on the Great Wall, located northeast of Miyun County, Beijing.

[4] The Beiping-Zhangjiakou line refers to the railway from Beiping (now Beijing) to Zhangjiakou, a section of today’s Beijing-Baotou line.

[5] Suiyuan, a former province encompassing the central part of today’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was abolished in 1954.

[6] Cheng Zihua was then Commander of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar-Liaoning Military Region.

[7] Rehe, a former province encompassing northeastern Hebei, southwestern Liaoning, and southeastern Inner Mongolia, was abolished in 1955.

[8] The Beiping-Zhangjiakou line is the same as the Beiping-Zhangjiakou line.