Arrangements for Pinning Down the Xuzhou
Reinforcements and Wiping Out Huang
Baitao’s Corps
(October 14, 1948, 1:00 A.M. to 3:00 A.M.)
To Rao [Shushi], Su [Yu], and Tan [Zhenlin], and for the information of the
Central Plains Bureau:1
We received the telegram sent between 11:00 P.M. and 1:00 A.M. on the 12th,
the telegram sent between 9:00 P.M. and 11:00 P.M. on the 12th, and the telegram
sent between 11:00 A.M. and 1:00 P.M. on the 13th.2
	 1.	 The shortcoming of the arrangement mentioned in the telegram you sent
between 11:00 P.M. and 1:00 A.M. on the 12th is that it attacks the reinforcements from the front rather than on the flank. In the telegram you sent on the
13th, you agreed with the opinion in our telegram from the 11th; that is, you
could correct this shortcoming. The specific arrangement should be to use a
powerful column to capture the Yunhe3 railway station by surprise, wipe out
the garrison forces, and gain control of the surrounding area. You should use
three columns to capture and control Tai’erzhuang4 and the areas south of it,
while having one unit go directly to the railroad. You should use two columns to storm and capture Lin[cheng] and Han[zhuang].5 (After you accomplish
this, you should leave one column in Lin[cheng] and Han[zhuang] to press
in on Jiawang,6 and you should move the other column to Tai’erzhuang and
the areas west of it.) The above calls for six columns in total, and you could
use the Third Column, Eighth Column, Tenth Column, Thirteenth Column,
the Bo[hai] Column (we do not know why you did not mention the Bo[hai]
Column in the telegram you sent from 11:00 P.M. to 1:00 A.M. on the 12th),
and one of the two columns under Wei [Guoqing] and Ji [Pengfei]7 north of
the [Xuzhou-Haizhou segment of the Longhai railway] to fill these positions.
You should ensure that the enemy’s reinforcements under Qiu [Qingquan]
and Li [Mi]8 feel threatened, so they will not drive out our forces on the flank
and will not attack Taierzhuang. In this way, they will have no way to cross
the canal to send reinforcements to the east. You should also make the enemy
forces in Xuzhou city feel sufficiently threatened to feel compelled to keep
the Eighth Army of Li’s forces there to defend it.
	 2.	 Wei and Ji should lead a column southward (you should not go to Binhai to
supplement your cotton-padded clothing, but rather you should supplement
them at your present location. That is, you should head directly from the
vicinity of the Yunhe railway station to Suining) and meet with the Eleventh
Column, which is stationed south of the railway. You should not stay in the
area east of Suqian but rather in the Suining area, and you should control
the Xu[zhou]-Su[qian] highway and threaten Xuzhou from the south. This
will make the enemy reinforcements under Qiu [Qingquan] and Li [Mi] feel
unable to send reinforcements to the east through Sui[ning] and Su[qian]
unless they drive out Wei and Ji. At the same time, you should also threaten
the Xu[zhou]-Beng[bu] railway, so that the Ninth Army of Li’s forces will
not dare to leave this line.
	 3.	 The Ninth Column and the Guang Column should head to southwestern
Shandong to meet with the local regional forces and they should station in
the areas west of Feng county and Yutai, the area north of Yucheng, and the
region south of Chengwu. They should harass Xuzhou from the northwest so
that Sun Yuanliang’s unit9 will be preoccupied with our Ninth Column and the Guang Column and will not be able to go to Xuzhou to replace the Eighth
Army of Li’s unit that is on garrison duty.
	 4.	 The First, Third, Fourth, and Ninth columns of Liu [Bocheng] and Deng
[Xiaoping]’s10 main forces will begin their assault on Zhengzhou within a
short time. After they capture it, they should use one unit to advance eastward to threaten Kaifeng in a way that will draw west all of Liu Ruiming’s11
forces and a unit of Sun Yuanliang’s forces to deal with the situation.
	 5.	 All the above deployments are intended to pin down the enemy’s various
reinforcements in Xuzhou. This will give the enemy forces the primary
impression that our armies intend to capture Xuzhou, and it will make them
unable to conclude that our aim is not to capture Xuzhou but rather to eliminate Huang [Baitao’s] corps.12 When they decide to send reinforcements to
deal with the emergency of our attack on Huang’s corps, they will find it very
difficult to provide reinforcements unless they eliminate the dual threats from
the north and the south. This should give us the time we need to annihilate
Huang’s corps. As for the composition of the enemy’s reinforcements, they
probably can only use the divisions from Qiu’s corps. It seems that it will be
difficult for Li’s corps to leave Xuzhou and Bengbu, because Liu Zhi13 will
not only have to cope with our armies’ threat to Xuzhou and Bengbu but will
also have to guard against the possible defection of Feng Zhi’an and Sun
Liangcheng.14 Meanwhile, Sun Yuanliang’s unit may stop at the [Kaifeng]-
Xu[zhou] railway.
	 6.	 We should have six columns—the First Column, Fourth Column, Sixth
Column, Seventh Column, Eleventh Column, and Central Shandong
Column—as well as the Special Column, in charge of wiping out three divisions from Huang [Baitao]’s corps. This is the central objective of the entire
campaign.
	 7.	 The Ninth Column and the Guang Column should move from Yanzhou and
Jining directly to the region around Feng county, Yutai, and Yucheng. All
other units should, as a first step, head out to the starting positions along the Linyi-Liangqiu-Baiyan15-Zou county line and rest for several days; they
should not arrive in these places at different times. As a second step, each
unit should advance from this line at the same time in accordance with their
set tasks. They should therefore wait not only for the arrival and distribution of cotton-padded clothing and cotton but also for replenishment with
troops from the various units attacking Ji’nan and moving from the vicinity
of Ji’nan to the Linyi-Zou county line. It would therefore be best to delay the
date on which all troops start moving south from the Linyi-Zou county line
until November 5th to 10th.
	 8.	 Preparations for logistical work (food, ammunition, etc.) and preparations
for political work should be as complete and well-thought-out as possible.
	 9.	 We hope you will further consider the above suggestions and inform us of
your thoughts by telegram.
The Military Commission

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Notes

1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission.
Rao Shushi was political commissar of the East China Military Region. Su Yu was acting
commander and acting political commissar of the East China Field Army, and Tan Zhenlin
was deputy political commissar of the East China Field Army

2.  The first telegram reported on plans to annihilate Huang Baitao’s corps under the
existing opportune conditions. The second telegram proposed delaying the campaign until
October 28 to consider the distribution of cotton-padded clothing and cotton. The third
telegram, sent after receiving a telegram from the Central Military Commission, agreed
to the arrangement of the Central Military Commission to spread the troops out to avoid
crowding and harassing the enemy’s flank and rear to alleviate pressure for a face-on confrontation as well as to facilitate food supplies and transportation in the rear.

3.  Yunhe is the former name of today’s Xianzhi in Pi county, Jiangsu.

4.  Tai’erzhuang is in the southern part of present-day Zaozhuang, Shandong.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-160

5.  Lincheng is today’s Xuecheng in Zaozhuang, Shandong. Hanzhuang is a town in
southeastern Weishan county, Shandong.

6.  Jiawang is a town in northeastern Tongshan county, Jiangsu.

7.  Wei Guoqing and Ji Luo (Ji Pengfei) were commander and deputy political commissar, respectively, of the Northern Jiangsu Corps of the East China Field Army.

8.  Qiu Qingquan had replaced Du Yuming as commander of the Second Army Group
of the Guomindang army. Li Mi was commander of the Guomindang’s Thirteenth Army
Group and Eighth Army.

9.  Sun Yuanliang was commander of the Guomindang army’s Sixteenth Army Group.

10.  Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping were commander and political commissar,
respectively, of the Central Plains Field Army.

11.  Liu Ruming was commander of the Guomindang army’s Fourth Pacification Zone.

12.  Huang Baitao was commander of the Seventh Army Group of the Guomindang
army.

13.  Liu Zhi was commander-in-chief of the Guomindang army’s Xuzhou “Bandit Suppression” Headquarters.

14.  Feng Zhi’an was commander of the Guomindang army’s Third Pacification Zone.
Sun Liangcheng (1893–1951[?], born in Jinghai, Tianjin) was deputy commander of
the Guomindang army’s First Pacification Zone and commander of the 107th Army. On
November 13, 1948, Sun surrendered with his army and one division, or a total of 5,800
troops, in Suining.

15.  Liangqiu is a county in southwestern Fei county, Shandong. Baiyan is the former
name of a county that was incorporated into Shandong’s Teng, Zou, and Ping counties in
1953.