Surround the Enemy at Datong and Guisui[1]

(December 24, 1948)

Lin, Luo, Liu, and inform Yang, Luo, Geng, and Yang, Li[2]:

(1) The enemy at Zhangjiakou has been annihilated, and the enemy at Datong is preparing to flee. It is hoped that Yang, Luo, and Geng will change their plan for a ten-day rest and reorganization, immediately advance westward to surround the enemy at Datong, and then rest and reorganize the troops before capturing Datong. For the sake of speed, two or three brigades should advance rapidly with light packs to cut off Datong’s escape route toward Guisui,[3] with the main force following up in the rear. (2) Yang and Li, after ten days of rest and reorganization at Zhangjiakou, shall immediately advance toward Guisui and surround the enemy there. (3) The Fourth Column of the Northeast shall immediately return to the Northeast organizational structure.

The Military Commission

24th, 22:00 hours

[1] This telegram was drafted by Mao Zedong for the 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] Yang, Luo, and Geng refer to Yang Dezhi, Luo Ruiqing, and Geng Biao, who were respectively commander, political commissar, and chief of staff of the Second Corps of the North China Military Region at the time. Yang and Li refer to Yang Chengwu and Li Tianhuan, who were respectively commander and deputy political commissar concurrently director of the political department of the Third Corps of the North China Military Region at the time.
[3] Guisui, former city name, is present-day Hohhot, Inner Mongolia.