In Agreement with the Plan to Cross the
Yangzi River and to Engage in Battle at the
End of March
(February 11, 1949)
To Liu [Bocheng], Chen [Yi], and Deng [Xiaoping]; Rao [Shushi], Kang
[Sheng], and Zeng [Shan]; Su [Yu] and Tan [Zhenlin]; and to Lin [Biao] and Nie
[Rongzhen]:1
We received your telegram of February 9th.2
	 1.	 We agree with the plan to advance in the middle of March, and to cross the
Yangzi River and engage in battle at the end of March. We hope you prepare
according to this schedule.
	 2.	 When Rao [Shushi], Kang [Sheng], and Zeng [Shan] arrive, you should
hold a meeting of the East China Bureau and organize everything according
to the aforementioned plan and the instructions that the Central [Military
Commission] gave via telegram on February 8th3 (the time for rectification
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 500–502, where it is
and training stated in that telegram should be shortened to half a month and
should therefore be completed by the middle of March).
	 3.	 Among the eight items mentioned in your telegram of February 9th, aside
from the eighth item, which was for Lin [Biao] and Luo [Ronghuan]’s4
troops to march southward first, and upon which we have already acted by
notifying Comrade Luo Ronghuan in another telegram, regarding the seven
remaining items that you should resolve yourselves, do so at the East China
Bureau meeting. Those that should be resolved by the Central [Military
Commission] will be dealt with in another telegram.
	 4.	 Comrades Liu Bocheng, Deng Xiaoping, Zhang Jichun, and Chen Geng5
should join the East China Bureau as committee members.
	 5.	 The General Front Committee should continue as before to exercise authority
in leading armies into battle. The East China Bureau and the General Front
Committee should be under the direct command of the Central Committee.
	 6.	 The regions of Jiang-Huai and western Anhui should be immediately consolidated, but whether we should immediately establish an Anhui Provincial
Party Committee, or whether we should move the Henan-Anhui-Jiangsu
Branch Office to Hefei, to consolidate the two regions of Jiang-Huai and
western Anhui and parts of Anhui north of the Huai River, is something that
you should resolve at the upcoming meeting (if Deng Zihui6 is still where
you all are, he should participate in this meeting of the East China Bureau),
act upon it immediately, and report back to the Central Committee so it can
be put on record.
	 7.	 The Second Plenum has been set for the 1st of March. It should run for five
to seven days. All your work should be slated for completion by February
25th. Aside from those comrades who will not be able to take part because
of work, all comrades attending the meeting should arrive at the Central
Committee on February 28th. The meeting place is still Shijiazhuang.
The Central Military Commission
reproduced from Mao Zedong’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.

--- Notes

1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission.
Liu Bocheng was commander of the Second Field Army. Chen Yi was commander and
political commissar of the Third Field Army. Deng Xiaoping was political commissar of
the Second Field Army. Rao Shushi and Kang Sheng were secretary and deputy secretary,
respectively, of the East China Bureau of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist
Party. Zeng Shan was director of the Organization Department of the East China Bureau.
Su Yu was deputy commander and second deputy political commissar of the Third Field
Army, and Tan Zhenlin was first deputy political commissar of the Third Field Army. Lin
Biao was commander of the Northeast Field Army. Nie Rongzhen was commander of the
North China Military Region.

2.  The telegram from Liu Bocheng et al. included eight points, including a proposal
to cross the Yangzi in mid-March and to engage in battle around Wuhu and Anqing at the
end of March (with detailed deployment plans), a request for the immediate establishment
of the Anhui Provincial Party Committee to accommodate the urgent needs of battle, and a
request for provisions and reinforcements.

3.  See “Directive of the Central Military Commission to Deng [Xiaoping], Chen [Yi],
etc. on the Task of Army Training and Consolidating,” February 9, 1949, in this volume.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-241


4.  Luo Ronghuan was political commissar of the Northeast Field Army.

5.  Zhang Jichun was deputy political commissar and head of the Political Department
of the Second Field Army. Chen Geng was commander and political commissar of the
Fourth Army Corps of the Second Field Army.

6.  Deng Zihui was deputy political commissar of the Central Plains Military Region.