Reply to Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan and Nie Rongzhen
(February 5, 1949)

Viewed from the overall situation, there is a possibility that Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai, Changsha, Nanchang, Hangzhou, Fuzhou and Guangzhou may all be resolved in the manner of Beiping. Although there is still the possibility of fighting a few more battles, the likelihood of achieving peace settlements one after another in various places is very great, and Taiyuan also has this possibility. It is therefore absolutely necessary to win Fu Zuoyi over to our side. If Taiyuan can be peacefully resolved in the same way as Beiping, and if Yan Xishan can make a gesture similar to that of Fu Zuoyi mentioned above, we can treat him in the same way we treated Fu Zuoyi. So long as Li and Bai can take a stand beneficial to the people’s cause and resolve the problems of Nanjing, Shanghai, Wuhan and other places according to the Beiping formula, we shall treat them with the attitude we adopted toward Fu.

[1] This is the main content of the telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in reply to Lin Biao, Luo Ronghuan and Nie Rongzhen.