Do Not Lose the Opportunity; Strive to Make
the Sixtieth Army Revolt
(October 16, 1948)
To the Northeast Bureau, Lin [Biao], Luo [Ronghuan], and Liu [Yalou]:1
We received the telegrams sent on the 16th from your two locations as well
as the telegram you forwarded from the First Corps. Your policy of striving to
make the Sixtieth Army revolt is correct, and the analysis and handling of the
Sixtieth Army by the First Corps is also right. However, regarding your asking
the Sixtieth Army to declare its stand to the New Seventh Army, you should not
exceed the limits of what it is able to do. When Wu Huawen2 retreated from the
fighting in Ji’nan, he told Wang Yaowu3 by telephone: “I can no longer fight, and
I will not fight you either,” and so on. This is an unavoidable phenomenon when
it comes to the armies of the warlords. It is enough for the Sixtieth Army to pull
out of Changchun and move into the areas we have designated, to align with the
Liberation Army, to send an open telegram expressing opposition to American
aggression and reactionary Guomindang rule, to praise land reform and the expropriation of bureaucratic capital, and to endorse the Chinese Communist Party and
the People’s Liberation Army. You should not lose the opportunity to speed up
negotiations with representatives from the Sixtieth Army and take note of these
representatives. Zhang Chong4 should hurry to the First Corps. If Zeng Zesheng5
is willing to see Pan Shuoduan,6 then Pan can secretly meet Zeng for negotiations. If the Sixtieth Army can retreat from Changchun according to the method
discussed above, then the First Corps (plus the Twelfth Column) should attack
Changchun to finish off the New Seventh Army. Even if it cannot be finished off
all at once, it still can be finished off gradually.
The Central Committee

--- Notes

1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Lin Biao was commander of the Northeast Field Army. Luo Ronghuan was political commissar and Liu Yalou was chief-of-staff of the Northeast Field Army.

2.  Wu Huawen was commander of the Guomindang’s Reorganized Ninety-sixth Army
until he led his troops to revolt during the Ji’nan Campaign on September 19, 1948.

3.  Wang Yaowu was commander of the Guomindang army’s Second Pacification Zone
until he was captured during the Ji’nan Campaign.

4.  Zhang Chong (1901–1980, native of Yunnan) was previously deputy commander
of the Sixtieth Army and commander of the Guomindang’s 184th Division. He arrived in
Yan’an in early 1946 and later went to the front line in Northeast China. In 1948, he wrote
a letter to Zeng Zesheng (1902–1973, native of Yunnan) and persuaded him to revolt with
his unit in Changchun.

5.  Zeng Zesheng was deputy commander of the Guomindang army’s First Army Group
and commander of the Sixtieth Army. He led the Sixtieth Army to revolt in Changchun
during the Liaoshen Campaign on October 17, 1948.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-162


6.  Pan Shuoduan (1901–1978, native of Yunnan) was formerly commander of the
184th Division of the Guomindang’s Sixtieth Army. He led a revolt in his unit in Haicheng,
Liaoning, in May 1946. At this time, he was deputy commander of the Nenjiang Military
Region.