The Northeast and North China Armies Will
Join Forces to Annihilate Fu Zuoyi’s Main
Force
(October 31, 1948)
To Lin [Biao], Luo [Ronghuan], and Liu [Yalou], to Cheng [Zihua] and Huang
[Zhiyong], and to the Northeast China Bureau and the North China Bureau:1
We received your telegram of 9:30 A.M. on the 30th2 regarding the deployment of your troops, as well as that of 11:00 A.M. on the 30th. Your troop deployment is very good. Please take note of the following points:
	 1.	 Our entire corps led by Yang [Dezhi], Luo [Ruiqing], and Geng [Biao]3
has moved from the [Bei]ping-Zhang[jiakou] railway to the [Bei]ping-Shi[jiazhuang] railway, which still has some enemy troops on it: the
Provisional Third and Fourth armies and one division of the Provisional
Fifth Army. Our corps led by Yang Chengwu and Li Jingquan4 is preparing
to capture Guisui5 (they will begin to attack around November 10th). It is
possible that the enemy on the Zhang[jiakou]-[Bei]ping railway will send
one of its armies to reinforce Guisui. However, our Yang-Li corps only has
enough strength to attack but not enough strength to fight the reinforcements.
Our armies north of Beiping and Chahar6 should therefore aggressively take
up the task of pinning down the enemy along the Zhangbei-Zhangjiakou-Xuanhua-Huailai line. When part of this enemy force moves to reinforce
Guisui, send troops east of Suiyuan,7 Xinghe, Jining, and so forth to attack
the tail of the enemy and to stop it. It therefore seems that the Eleventh
and Sixteenth Cavalry divisions north of Chahar should not advance toward
Beiping, but rather they should be led by Zhan [Da’nan] and Niu [Shucai]8
to carry out the aforementioned tasks.
	 2.	 After the Fourth and Eleventh columns, the Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth
independent divisions, and so forth advance toward Beiping, the Jin[zhou]-
Yu[ci] railway and Rehe9 will be vacant. After you occupy Shenyang, select
several divisions from among those independent divisions in the north to
advance south, first to deal with the enemy forces in Jinxi and Chengde and
then to prevent them from running rampant and slaughtering the people.
	 3.	 Apart from the Fourth and Eleventh columns, which will immediately
advance southward, the rest of the Northeast China Army’s main force should
rest and reorganize for about one month after fighting along the Shen[yang]-
Ying[kou] railway. Then, in the beginning or middle of December, it should
advance to attack and occupy the area around Beiping and Tianjin. During
the second half of the third year of the war, that is, from January to June
of next year, it should prepare to join forces with the North China Army to
annihilate Fu Zuoyi’s main force10 and to occupy the [Bei]ping-[Tian]jin,
Bei[ping]-[Shenyang], [Bei]ping-Sui[yuan], [Bei]ping-Cheng[de], and [Bei]
ping-Bao[ding] railways. This will complete the unification of Northeast and
North China, and possibly allow us to move our main force to the Yangzi
River valley by the first season of the fourth year of the war, that is, by
next autumn. We also would be able to hold the Chinese People’s Political
Consultative Conference in Beiping next summer.
	 4.	 Strive to finish repairs to the Shen[yang]-Jin[zhou] and Zhangwu-Yi county Chengde railways, and to repair the main roads in Rehe and eastern Hebei
within the next month or so. These repairs will facilitate the rapid transport of armies, food, and munitions; without them, we will have no way to support our troops while they fight. We expect you to make this deployment
swiftly.
	 5.	 The Central Committee meeting in September11 stipulated that within the next
five years, we should expand our army to five million, annihilate 500 of the
enemy’s regular brigades, and essentially defeat the Guomindang. Because
the war is progressing swiftly, it is possible that we will complete these tasks
one year ahead of schedule. You should be psychologically prepared so you
may more rapidly prepare for these things and also inculcate this spirit into
the cadres.
The Military Commission

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Notes

1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission.
Lin Biao was commander of the Northeast Field Army. Luo Ronghuan was political commissar of the Northeast Field Army, and Liu Yalou was chief-of-staff of the Northeast Field
Army. Cheng Zihua and Huang Zhiyong (1914–2011, native of Jiangxi) were commander
and chief-of-staff, respectively, of the Northeast Field Army’s Second Corps.

2.  The telegram from Lin Biao et al. stated that their army had decided to unite several
columns and divisions under the command of Cheng and Huang and advance toward the
outskirts of Beiping. After completing the battle at the Yingkou-Shenyang railway, Lin
Biao et al. planned to supplement their forces and then advance toward Beiping and Tianjin
with the goal of taking both cities.

3.  Yang Dezhi, Luo Ruiqing, and Geng Biao were commander, political commissar,
and chief-of-staff, respectively, of the North China Military Region’s Second Corps.

4.  Yang Chengwu and Li Jingquan were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the North China Military Region’s Third Corps.

5.  Guisui is the former name of Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-175

6.  This refers to the area north of Beiping and south of the Great Wall, or what is now
northwestern Hebei and northern Shanxi.

7.  Suiyuan Province covered the central region of what is today Inner Mongolia before
it was abolished in 1954.

8.  Zhan Da’nan (1915–2020, native of Anhui) and Niu Shucai (1908–1990, native of
Hebei) were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar
Military Region.

9.  Rehe Province covered today’s northeastern Hebei, southwestern Liaoning, and
southeastern Inner Mongolia before it was abolished in 1955.

10.  Fu Zuoyi was commander-in-chief of the Guomindang army’s North China “Bandit
Suppression” Headquarters.

11.  The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party held a Politburo meeting
in Xibaipo, Ping county, Hebei, from September 8 to 13, 1948. See “Report and Conclusions of the Meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist
Party,” September 8, 1948, in this volume.