Warm Congratulations on the Victorious
Conclusion of the Huai-Hai Campaign
 (January 20, 1949)
To Comrades Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, Deng Xiaoping, Rao Shushi, Zhang Yunyi,
Su Yu, Tan Zhenlin, Chen Geng,1 and all comrades of the East China and the
Central Plain units of the People’s Liberation Army:
The Huai-Hai Campaign, launched on November 6 of last year, ended in complete victory on January 10 of this year. During these sixty-five days of fighting,
you wiped out the main forces of the Guomindang reactionary government on the
southern front—the entire five armies and ten divisions of Huang Baitao’s2 army
group; the entire four armies and eleven divisions of Huang Wei’s3 army group
(of which one division rebelled); the three army corps under Du Yuming—those
of Qiu Qingquan, Li Mi, and Sun Yuanliang4—totaling twelve armies and thirtyone divisions (including a cavalry brigade); two armies and four divisions of Feng
Zhi’an’s5 forces (of which three-and-a-half divisions rebelled); one division of Liu
Ruming’s6 forces; one army and two divisions of Sun Liangcheng’s7 forces; and
one division each of the local defense forces in Shu county and Lingbi. The above
figures for the regular army total twenty-four armies and sixty-one divisions. Add in other troops, you have destroyed enemy forces totaling more than 530,000
men. You have captured the war criminal Du Yuming, the deputy commander-inchief of the Guomindang “Bandit Suppression” General Headquarters at Xuzhou;
Huang Wei, commander of the Guomindang’s Twelfth Army, and several other
high-ranking officials of the Guomindang armies; and have shot dead Huang
Baitao, commander of the Guomindang’s Seventh Army Group. You fought off
the reinforcements for the army groups of Li Yannian8 and Liu Ruming, forcing
them to escape along the river line, and you have entirely liberated the areas north
of the Huai River, also taking control of most areas south of the river. Such a
great victory as you have obtained in the Huai-Hai Campaign, like the great victories of the campaigns at Jinzhou, Changchun, Liaoxi, and Shenyang achieved
by the Northeast units of the People’s Liberation Army, indicates that the fighting
capacity of the People’s Liberation Army has already become invincibly strong.
Therefore, our army could surround several enemy corps at once in one battle
and continue wiping out sixty-one divisions (of which four-and-a-half revolted).
Since the Huai-Hai Campaign has destroyed the main forces of the Guomindang’s
southern front, it has established a sturdy base for you to march south across the
[Yangzi] River, seize the Guomindang brigands’ nest, Nanjing, and liberate all
the provinces south of the Yangzi.
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party specially delivers
warm congratulations and greetings to all the officers and soldiers, the working
personnel of both the front and rear regions, the guerrilla troops, and the commandos who joined this great campaign. Meanwhile we tell you that although
the main forces of the enemy have been destroyed, the remaining portions are
still attempting to resist. The puppet government in Nanjing is still proclaiming
the so-called “Decisive Battle of Nanjing and Shanghai.” The Nanjing puppet
government launched a counterrevolutionary war, brutally killed millions of
people, and under the puppet dictates of so-called “bandit suppression” and
“suppression of disorder,” suppressed people of all strata, including workers,
peasants, soldiers, and merchants, in the most extreme fashion. For all these
things, the Guomindang puppet government has now eaten its own bitter fruit:
Its main forces have been wiped out, and it has been utterly isolated to the point
that its rule can no longer be maintained. Under this situation, the Nanjing puppet government still has war criminals such as Chiang Kaishek and Sun Ke9
appearing personally, on the one hand to set forth feigned and reactionary peace
terms and on the other hand to arrange for the so-called “Decisive Battle of
Nanjing and Shanghai,” attempting to stop the People’s Liberation Army from
crossing the river, preserving the remaining forces of the Guomindang brigands,
obtaining support from American imperialism, recuperating, and then launching an assault on the People’s Liberation Army in order to destroy it. This trap has
now been entirely exposed. The people of the entire country have completely
lost trust in the Nanjing puppet government, and the puppet government thus
has no room to continue existing. Although the heads of the puppet government are still reluctant to leave their posts, the situation has become impossible.
For the people of the entire country to obtain peace as soon as possible, the
Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party has put forward eight truly
democratic conditions to the Nanjing puppet government, and it is awaiting a
response. If it accepts these conditions, you should then peacefully march into
Nanjing and represent the Chinese people in taking over all power from the
Nanjing puppet government and wait for management by the forthcoming democratic united government. If it does not accept these conditions, it indicates
that its peace proposals are but a trick. You should then order the Nanjing puppet government to surrender. If it also does not want to surrender, you should
wipe it out. While awaiting the Nanjing puppet government’s response to our
peace terms, your attacks should be temporarily kept north of the Yangzi River;
be prepared to cross the river, but do not cross it immediately to give the personnel in the Nanjing puppet government a chance to consider the prospects for
peace and war.
There is one thing we must tell you: Whether in peace or war, we must capture
the war criminals. The first of our eight conditions for peace is to punish the war
criminals. In Nanjing City, these are now the foremost war criminals: Chiang
Kaishek, Li Zongren, Sun Ke, He Yingqin, Wu Tiecheng, Wang Shijie, Dai
Chuanxian, Zhang Qun, Chen Guofu, Chen Lifu, Weng Wenhao, Wang Yunwu,
Zhang Lisheng, Zhu Jiahua, Gu Zhutong, Liu Zhi, Yu Hanmou, Zhou Zhirou,
Wang Shuming, Gui Yongqing, Tang Enbo, Tao Xisheng, and other accomplices
in the most heinous crimes, such as Hu Shi, Zheng Jiemin, and Ye Xiufeng,
attempting to continue doing evil. You should now detect their intentions and capture all of them without missing any opportunities at the end of the war, regardless
of whether you march in peacefully or resolve the issue in battle, and then hand
them over to the people’s court to declare their guilt. All the war criminals are at
large. Even if they escape to the ends of the earth, we will have to follow them,
capture them, and punish them by law. We must not forgive them. Nevertheless,
we should adopt lenient policies toward the majority (over 90 percent) of those
who served in the internal system of the puppet party and government and not
pursue them and we should discern between the best and worst of them and make
use of them based on their quality in service to the people’s government. As for
those who did commit crimes in the past and have repented and are willing to
come back from the puppet side or to cooperate from within to help our forces
attack the city and wipe out the enemy when the puppet government does not
want to resolve the war peacefully, we should give them opportunities to expiate
their crimes by doing good deeds and reward them accordingly. To sum up, you
should follow the three principles enunciated by the General Headquarters of the

People’s Liberation Army long ago, namely: We must punish the arch-criminals,
avoid pursuing those forced to act as accomplices, and reward those who make
contributions, handling matters properly, neither overlooking nor abusing, to
achieve success.
At present, numerous people from all strata, industry, agriculture, military,
education, and commerce in areas south of the Yangzi River who are in miserable
situations expect you to come and help them gain liberation. This is very urgent,
and your duties are still very crucial. We expect you to unite as one, continue
making great efforts, and strive to complete the great task of liberating Nanjing
and the region south of the Yangzi River.
The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party

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Notes

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 239–42, where it is reproduced
from the original preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1.  Liu Bocheng was commander of the Central Plains Field Army. Chen Yi was first
deputy commander of the Central Plains Army as well as commander and political commissar of the East China Field Army. Deng Xiaoping was political commissar of the Central Plains Field Army. Rao Shushi was political commissar of the East China Military
Region. Zhang Yunyi was deputy commander of the East China Military Region. Su Yu
was acting commander and acting political commissar of the East China Field Army. Tan
Zhenlin was deputy political commissar of the East China Field Army. Chen Geng was
commander of the Fourth Column of the Central Plains Field Army.

2.  Huang Baitao was commander of the Guomindang’s Seventh Army Group.

3.  Huang Wei was commander of the Guomindang’s Twelfth Army Group.

4.  Qiu Qingquan, Li Mi, and Sun Yuanliang were the commanders of the Guomindang’s Second, Thirteenth, and Sixteenth army groups, respectively.

5.  Feng Zhi’an was formerly commander of the Guomindang’s Third Pacification
Zone.

6.  Liu Ruming was commander of the Guomindang’s Eighth Army Group.

7.  Sun Liangcheng was formerly commander of the Guomindang’s First Pacification
Zone and commander of its 107th Army.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-229

8.  Li Yannian was commander of the Guomindang’s Sixth Army Group.

9.  Sun Ke was chairman of the Guomindang government’s Executive Yuan.