Several Issues to Pay Attention to in the Second Stage of the Attack on Jinan[1]

(September 21, 1948)

Su, Chen, Tang, and Zhang, with Xu, Tan, and Wang[2]:

(1) Liu Zhi[3] has assembled the three armies of Qiu, Huang, and Li[4] to move north for reinforcement. I hope you will pay full attention to blocking and striking the reinforcements.

(2) Although the first stage of the attack on the city has progressed smoothly, the second stage may require great effort. Under no circumstances should you underestimate the enemy. (3) It is appropriate for Xu and Tan to use the 3rd, 13th, and 9th Columns, and the Bohai and Luzhong units to attack the city, and to position the 10th Column in the airfield area to keep Wu Huawen[5] under surveillance and serve as the general reserve for the attack on the city. You must, as far as possible, refrain from using the 10th Column in the attack on the city, so that it can be used to strike the reinforcements when necessary. (4) Although Liu Zhi has already moved Qiu’s Army to Lincheng[6] and does not seem to be using large forces in the Jinxiang and Chengwu areas, you must still deploy a part of your forces in that area for the time being to guard against the possibility of Li Mi taking that route. Our army’s maximum strength should be rapidly concentrated in Yanzhou, Zouxian, and Tengxian[7] and the areas

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee, addressed to Su Yu, Acting Commander and Acting Political Commissar of the East China Field Army; Chen Shiju, Chief of Staff; Tang Liang, Director of the Political Department; and Zhang Zhen, Deputy Chief of Staff.

[2] Xu, Tan, and Wang refer to Xu Shiyou, Tan Zhenlin, and Wang Jian’an, who were respectively Commander, Political Commissar, and Deputy Commander of the Shandong Corps of the East China Field Army at the time.

[3] Liu Zhi was then Commander-in-Chief of the Kuomintang Army’s General Headquarters for the “Suppression of Bandits” in Xuzhou.

[4] The three armies of Qiu, Huang, and Li refer to the Kuomintang 2nd Army with Qiu Qingquan as its Deputy Commander, the 7th Army with Huang Baitao as its Commander, and the 13th Army with Li Mi as its Commander.

[5] Wu Huawen, formerly Commander of the Reorganized 96th Army of the Kuomintang Army, led his troops in an uprising during the Jinan Campaign on September 19, 1948.

[6] Lincheng, present-day Xuecheng, Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province.

[7] Yanzhou, Zouxian, and Tengxian refer to Yanzhou, Zou County, and Teng County in Shandong.

east of them.