Swiftly Cut off Tianjin’s Connections with
Xinhe, Tanggu, and Other Locations
(December 18, 1948, 6:00 A.M.)
To Lin [Biao], Luo [Ronghuan], and Liu [Yalou]:1
	 1.	 According to intelligence reports, the commanding officer of the Tianjin
Seventeenth Corps, Hou Jingru [1902–1994, native of Henan] arrived at the
Tanggu command post on the 16th. All the troops will assemble and remain
at Xinhe, northwest of Tanggu. There are roughly 90,000 troops in total,
and the area consists of barren fields with saline-alkaline soil. To be able to
firmly defend that area, they hope the army depot will quickly store up three
months’ worth of food as well as 3,000,000 jin of edible oil. The enemy
fears that, with Tianjin encircled, having the twelve divisions in Tianjin and
Tanggu separately defend two locations will put them at a disadvantage in
battle, and it seems they are preparing to amass in the region around Xinhe
to control the seaports.
	 2.	 At present, we do not have a large number of troops active in the region
north of Xinhe and Tanggu, so we can neither attack nor separate and encircle these enemy forces. Doing so would merely arouse the enemy’s vigilance and cause the enemy to amass its forces against us. Therefore, please
consider the following: First, if you can amass two to three columns within
several days, then you should do so as soon as possible to launch an attack
on the area between Tianjin and Junliangcheng,2 take control of this line,
occupy Junliangcheng, and swiftly cut off Tianjin’s connections with Xinhe,
Tanggu, and other locations in order to prevent the enemy forces in Tianjin
(five divisions) from heading east to assemble. Second, if you are unable to
amass two or three columns during the coming several days to carry out the
assignments mentioned above, then it seems best for you to have the small
forces north of Tanggu and Xinhe withdraw to the area north of Ninghe.
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 420–21, where it is
Once your forces are assembled, you can carry out the tasks described above.
How does this sound? We hope you will do as you see fit.
	 3.	 There is no wharf in Dagu,3 so steamships cannot be brought to shore and
small boats must be used to transport people into deeper water in order to
board the steamships. Tanggu is the only port for seagoing vessels around
Tianjin, so if the enemy forces do not control Dagu, they will have to control
Tanggu. The enemy forces have never planned to withdraw from Dagu.
 The Military Commission
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.

2.  Junliangcheng is a town in eastern Tianjin city.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-219


3.  Dagu is a town in eastern Tianjin city.