Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and Nie Rongzhen
Will Organize a General Front Committee
(January 10, 1949, 11:00 P.M. to 1:00 A.M.)
To Lin [Biao], Luo [Ronghuan], and Nie [Rongzhen]; all the corps on the front
lines in Beiping and Tianjin; the two municipal committees of Beiping and
Tianjin; the two military control commissions of Beiping and Tianjin; the North
China Bureau; and the Northeast Bureau:1
To capture Beiping and Tianjin under unified leadership and to manage all
the work in Beiping, Tianjin, Tangshan, and the neighboring regions for a period
thereafter (roughly three months), the Central Committee has decided that comrades Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan, and Nie Rongzhen shall organize a General Front
Committee. Lin Biao will serve as secretary, and all important work items concerning military affairs, political affairs, financial administration, the economy,
food, currency, diplomacy, culture, Party affairs, and other matters will come
under his jurisdiction. Vesting all responsibility in one person will help to prevent
disagreements. The two municipal committees and the two military control commissions should directly request instructions from the General Front Committee
regarding all the work mentioned above, and the General Front Committee will
be responsible to the Central Committee. The General Front Committee will have
the same rank as the North China Bureau, and the two should consult and decide
on issues by letter, telegram, or face-to-face.
The Central Committee
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 479–80, where it is
reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.
1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. Lin Biao and Luo Ronghuan were commander and political commissar, respectively, of the Northeast Field Army. Nie Rongzhen was commander of the
North China Military Region.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-225