Is It Advisable for the Main Force of the Northeast to Enter the Pass at an Early Date?[1]

(November 16, 1948)

Lin, Luo, and Liu:

Your telegram of 1300 hours on the 15th[2] has been received. We have considered the question you raised and believe that if the Yang-Luo-Geng Army[3] is deployed in eastern Suiyuan[4] and concentrated together with Yang Chengwu’s[5] forces, it can prevent Fu Zuoyi’s[6] troops from withdrawing to Suiyuan, but it cannot prevent Fu’s forces and the Central Army from retreating by sea, nor can encircling Zhangjiakou achieve this objective. The enemy has a total of thirty-five infantry divisions and four cavalry divisions. If the enemy is determined to retreat by sea, it can concentrate over a dozen divisions to extricate the enemy forces at Zhangjiakou and assemble them in the Tianjin-

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[1] This telegram was drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and addressed to Lin Biao, commander of the Northeast Field Army, Luo Ronghuan, its political commissar, and Liu Yalou, its chief of staff.
[2] This refers to the telegram sent by Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and Liu Yalou to the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee at 1300 hours on November 15, 1948. The telegram stated: We suggest that the Xu-Zhou and Yang-Luo armies, apart from leaving one unit to keep watch on Taiyuan, should concentrate their forces to quickly encircle Baoding or Zhangjiakou and cut off their links with Beiping. The encircled enemy should be contained without being attacked, so as to pin down the enemy forces. This would make it impossible for Fu Zuoyi and the Central Army under his command to either withdraw southward or retreat to Suiyuan, or to concentrate their forces to defend Tianjin or Beiping. If we do not attack the cities and the enemy sends reinforcements, it will be all the easier for our troops to wipe them out. After the Northeast Field Army moves south, we can then launch a coordinated offensive to annihilate all the enemy forces.
[3] The Yang-Luo-Geng Army refers to the Second Army of the North China Military Region, commanded by Yang Dezhi, with Luo Ruiqing as its political commissar and Geng Biao as its chief of staff.
[4] Suiyuan, a former province covering the central part of what is now the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, was abolished in 1954.
[5] Yang Chengwu was then commander of the Third Army of the North China Military Region.
[6] Fu Zuoyi was then commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang’s “Bandit Suppression” General Headquarters in North China.