Prevent the Enemies in Beiping and Tong
County from Fleeing
(December 13, 1948, 1:00 A.M.)
To Lin [Biao], Luo [Ronghuan], and Liu [Yalou]; Cheng [Zihua] and Huang
[Zhiyong]:1
	 1.	 We assume that the telegram we sent on the 12th at 23:002 has arrived. Please
make the following changes. First, you should have one division establish
control over Nankou and Badaling;3 they must hold onto this point unwaveringly. Second, please immediately order the Third Column to station two
divisions southeast of Beiping and station two divisions southeast of Tong
county. They should cut off the [Bei]ping-[Tian]jin railway4 and the Tong
county-[Tian]jin railway and should swiftly construct blocking positions.
They must defend it tenaciously for two days to prevent the enemy forces in
Beiping and Tong county from fleeing. Third, except for one division that
should stay in Nankou, all the Fourth, Fifth, and Eleventh columns should
set off at night at double speed straight for the areas southeast of Beiping and
Tong county. Along with the Third Column, they should sever the connections between Beiping and Tianjin and between Tong county and Tianjin.
They should not prevent the enemy forces in Tong county from amassing in
Beiping but they must prevent the enemy forces in Beiping and Tong county
from amassing in Tianjin. Fourth, if the enemy forces from Tong county have already amassed in Beiping, use one column to occupy Tong county, while
all other units should cut off connections between Beiping and Tianjin. Fifth,
if the enemy forces in Beiping and Tong county all withdraw to Tianjin,
then we should use one column to occupy Beiping and Tong county, and we
should have three columns head toward Tianjin in hot pursuit.
	 2.	 Lin, Luo, and Liu should swiftly dispatch units to encircle the enemy forces
at the two points of Tanggu and Lutai;5 they should ignore the enemy forces
in Tangshan for the time being.
 The Military Commission

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Notes

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 385–86, 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
Northeast Field Army’s Second Corps, and Huang Zhiyong was chief-of-staff of the Northeast Field Army’s Second Corps.

2.  The December 12 telegram called for encircling the enemy forces in Tong county
and cutting off connections between Beiping and Tianjin. If the enemy forces retreated to
Beiping, Beiping was to be surrounded. If the enemy retreated from Beiping to Tianjin, one
column was to occupy Beiping while three columns were to pursue the enemy to Tianjin.

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

4.  The Beiping-Tianjin railway is part of today’s Beijing-Shanghai railway.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-205

5.  The town of Lutai is now Ninghe county, Tianjin.