Surround the Enemy at Tongxian and Cut the Link Between Beiping and Tianjin[1]

(December 12, 1948)

Lin, Luo, Liu, Cheng, Huang[2]:

(1) Your telegram of December 12 at 18:00 hours[3] noted. (2) The enemy at Nankou[4] has fled toward Beiping. Apart from leaving one division to control Nankou and Badaling[5], Cheng and Huang should order the 4th, 11th, and 5th Columns to advance day and night to surround the enemy’s 13th Army (five divisions) at Tongxian, and use the 3rd Column to cut the link between Beiping and Tianjin.

(3) If the enemy at Tongxian also withdraws into Beiping, then use the entire 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 11th Columns to surround Beiping. (4) If the enemy at Beiping also flees toward Tianjin, then use one column to occupy Beiping and three columns to pursue them fiercely toward Tianjin and Tanggu.

The Military Commission

23:00 hours, December 12

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, addressed to Lin Biao, commander of the Northeast Field Army; Luo Ronghuan, its political commissar; and Liu Yalou, its chief of staff.
[2] Cheng and Huang refer to Cheng Zihua and Huang Zhiyong, who were then respectively commander and chief of staff of the 2nd Corps of the Northeast Field Army.
[3] This refers to the telegram sent by Cheng Zihua and Huang Zhiyong at 18:30 hours on December 12, 1948, to the headquarters of the Northeast Field Army and the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, reporting that the enemy at Nankou had fled south the previous night.
[4] Nankou is a town located in the western part of Changping County, Beijing.
[5] Badaling is a pass in the Great Wall, located in the southern part of Yanqing County, Beijing.