Cut off the Su-Beng Railway and Wipe out
the Enemy North of the Huai and Yangzi
Rivers
(November 9, 1948, 4;00 P.M.)
To Chen [Yi] and Deng [Xiaoping]; Su [Yu], Chen [Shiju], and Zhang [Zhen];
and to Tan [Zhenlin] and Wang [Jian’an]:1
We received the telegram of the 8th.2
	 1.	 The enemy forces in Xuzhou appear as though they may carry out a general retreat. In accordance with your appraisal that the enemy forces will
carry out a general retreat, it is correct to swiftly deploy troops to cut off the
enemy’s retreat and facilitate encirclement and annihilation.
	 2.	 Chen [Yi] and Deng [Xiaoping] should directly command all units, including the First Column, the Third Column, the Fourth Column, and the
Ninth Column, and head directly to Su county to cut off the Su [county]–
Beng[bu] railway.3 The Fourth Column should not fight Qiu Qingquan4 near
Huangkou5 but should quickly attack Su county. The First Column should go to Su county immediately after finishing off the 181st Division. The Third
and Guang columns of the East China Field Army have the task of dealing
with Qiu Qingquan. However, they should be positioned in the area of Xiao
county and they should attack from the south toward the Huangkou–Xuzhou
line; this will make it easier for them to link up with our armies in Su county.
When the enemy forces carry out a general retreat to the south, we should
assemble six columns to wipe them out.
	 3.	 Su [Yu], Chen [Shiju], and Zhang [Zhen] should order Tan [Zhenlin] and
Wang [Jian’an] to assemble the Seventh, Tenth, and Thirteenth columns, as
well as the Eleventh Column, which is moving from north to south, to mount
an all-out attack on Li Mi’s corps.6 They should use swift measures to wipe
out all, or most, of the corps and then establish control and cut off the railway
between Xuzhou and the Yunhe7 railway station. Our main forces east of the
canal should wipe out Huang [Baitao]’s corps.8
	 4.	 If we can do the various things mentioned above, we can wreck the enemy’s plan for a general retreat, completely annihilate the enemy and occupy
Xuzhou. The current situation is not about letting the enemy retreat south of
the Huai or Yangzi rivers. Rather, our first step (that is, the ongoing Huai-Hai
Campaign) should be to annihilate the enemy’s main forces north of the Huai
River, and our second step (that is, the future Jiang-Huai Campaign9) should
be to annihilate the remaining enemy units north of the Yangzi River.
	 5.	 The enemy’s command apparatus is panicked and disorderly. We hope you
will resolutely carry out the above plan and strive for total victory. At this
time, the more resolute and bold our army is, the more successful we will be.
The Military Commission
---

Notes

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 182–83, where it is
reproduced from the original document preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission.
Chen Yi was first deputy commander and Deng Xiaoping was political commissar of the
Central Plains Field Army. Su Yu was acting commander and acting political commissar
of the East China Field Army. Chen Shiju was chief-of-staff, and Zhang Zhen (张震) was
deputy chief-of-staff of the East China Field Army. Tan Zhenlin and Wang Jian’an were
political commissar and deputy commander, respectively, of the Shandong Corps of the
East China Field Army.

2.  The telegram from Su Yu et al. stated that information from captives indicated that
the enemy intended to retreat to the south. Huang Baitao’s corps and the Forty-fourth Army
were carrying out a general retreat from Xin’an town to areas west of Yunhe. Su, Chen, and
Zhang had ordered all units to cut off and annihilate the enemy. They wanted Tan Zhenlin
and Wang Jian’an to order the Seventh, Tenth, and Thirteenth columns to hurry south to the
railway to prevent the enemy troops from retreating to the west. They also suggested that
units in Henan-Anhui-Jiangsu swiftly cut off the Xuzhou-Bengbu railway.

3.  The Su County-Bengbu railway is part of today’s Beijing-Shanghai railway.

4.  Qiu Qingquan was commander of the Guomindang army’s Second Army Group.

5.  Huangkou is in northwestern Xiao county, Anhui.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-180

6.  Li Mi was commander of the Guomindang army’s Thirteenth Army Group.

7.  Yunhe is the former name of what is now Pi county, Jiangsu.

8.  Huang Baitao was commander of the Guomindang army’s Seventh Army Group.

9.  The Jiang-Huai Campaign refers to a battle that the People’s Liberation Army fought
in the region of the Yangzi and Huai rivers after the Huai-Hai Campaign. Remnants of
the Guomindang army’s Liu Zhi Group that was annihilated in the Huai-Hai Campaign
retreated from the area south of the Huai River and north of the Yangzi River to areas south
of the Yangzi River. The People’s Liberation Army pursued them and liberated the vast area
between the Huai and Yangzi rivers.