Block the Enemy’s Lines of Retreat in
Beiping, Tong County, and Tianjin
 (December 13, 1948, 5:00 A.M.)
To Lin [Biao], Luo [Ronghuan], and Liu [Yalou]; Cheng [Zihua] and Huang
[Zhiyong]; and for the information of Yang [Dezhi], Luo [Ruiqing], and Geng
[Biao]:1
	 1.	 If it is indeed the case that the enemy forces in Qinglongqiao, Badaling,
Nankou,2 and Changping have withdrawn (will Cheng and Huang please
investigate and clarify whether they have indeed withdrawn), those remnants of Fu [Zuoyi]’s3 army in the regions of Beiping and Tong county and
the Central Army (there are fifteen divisions altogether) will either obstinately defend Beiping or retreat to Tianjin; there is little possibility that they
will retreat westward along the [Bei]ping-Sui[yuan] railway. Therefore, we
ask that Cheng and Huang leave only one division to control the line from
Badaling and Nankou (the topography of this line is strategically located
and difficult to access; it is easy to defend and difficult to attack). All the rest
of their forces should swiftly move to the southeast, join up with the Third
and Fifth columns, and cut off the [Bei]ping-[Tian]jin railway and the Tong
[county]-[Tian]jin railway. For the sake of security, you can leave one column on the Badaling-Nankou line for now. It should construct multi-level
fortifications for repulsing attacks to eliminate even the slightest risk. To the
west, the forces of Zhan Da’nan4 control Kangzhuang, Huailai, and so on, and two brigades of Yang, Luo, and Geng’s army are controlling Tumu and
Shacheng.5 The forces you leave there should therefore consist of no more
than one column.
	 2.	 Cheng and Huang should lead one column and one cavalry division and proceed at top speed taking shortcuts to the areas southeast of Beiping and Tong
county.
	 3.	 Will Lin, Luo, and Liu please order the fifth column to move swiftly to the
southeast of Beiping and Tong county.
	 4.	 If we have a force of three columns and one cavalry division (including the
third column) arriving southeast of Beiping and Tong county, the enemy in
Beiping and Tong county will be blocked.
	 5.	 If we have three columns to insert between Tianjin and Tanggu, the enemy
in Tianjin will be blocked.
	 6.	 Command of the column that Cheng and Huang are leaving in the Nankou
region may be transferred to Yang, Luo, and Geng. All our armies that are
moving from Nankou through Zhangjiakou to the area of Zhuozishan6 should
be under the command of Yang, Luo, and Geng. The headquarters of Cheng
and Huang’s corps may take command of all columns in the areas southeast
of Beiping and Tong county. The headquarters of Xiao [Jinguang] and Chen
[Bojun]’s corps7 may take command of all columns in the area of Tianjin and
Tanggu. If Lin, Luo, and Liu agree to the above, then carry it out as written.
The [Bei]ping-Sui[yuan] Front Committee is to be abolished immediately.
 The Military Commission

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Notes

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 395–96, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

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

2.  Nankou is a town in western Changping county, Beijing. Badaling is a section of the
Great Wall located in southern Yanqing county, Beijing.

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

4.  Zhan Da’nan was commander of the Hebei-Rehe-Chahar Military Region.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-210

5.  Tumu and Shacheng are towns in Huailai county, Hebei.

6.  Zhuozishan is now the county seat of Zhuozi county, Inner Mongolia.

7.  Xiao Jinguang and Chen Bojun (1910–1974, native of Sichuan) were commander
and deputy commander, respectively, of the Northeast China Field Army’s First Corps.