In Case Fu Zuoyi Flees South, the First Army of North China
Should Dispatch Three Columns to Shijiazhuang to Block and Attack[1]

(December 27, 1948)

Zhou, Chen, Hu:

Your telegram of the 27th at 10:00 hours[2] noted. (1) Should Fu[3]’s forces attempt a southward breakout (not yet confirmed at present), it would be best for you to lead three columns and reach Shijiazhuang within a five-day march. (2) What is the status of the troop strength and training of the 8th, 13th, and 15th Columns? If the eight brigades left behind cannot hold Yuci and the key points in the Eastern Hills, then, in the event they cannot be held, preparations should be made to temporarily abandon them. Whether this would be extremely detrimental to the subsequent assault on the city, please advise.

The Military Commission

27th day, 20:00 hours

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, addressed to Zhou Shidi, Deputy Commander and Deputy Political Commissar of the First Army of the North China Military Region; Chen Manyuan, Chief of Staff; and Hu Yaobang, Director of the Political Department.

[2] Refers to the telegram sent by Zhou Shidi, Chen Manyuan, and Hu Yaobang to the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China at 10:00 hours on December 27, 1948. The telegram stated that to ensure the defense of Yuci and the key points of Shizui, Hanshan, Naoma, and Shantou in the Eastern Hills, and to engage any possible sortie by Yan Xishan’s forces, it was planned to leave the 7th Column and the Central Shanxi troops, totaling 8 brigades (not at full strength), while the First Army would lead the 8th, 13th, and 15th Columns eastward to Shijiazhuang. Departing from the vicinity of Taiyuan, they could reach Shijiazhuang in a six-day march.

[3] Fu refers to Fu Zuoyi, then Commander-in-Chief of the Kuomintang’s “Bandit Suppression” General Headquarters in North China.