The Northeast Field Army to First Dispatch Two Armies to Approach Hankou and Contain Bai Chongxi’s Forces[1]

(February 12, 1949)

To Lin, Luo, and Nie, with information to Liu, Chen, and Deng, the East China Bureau, the Central Plains Bureau, and the North China Bureau:

To coordinate with the operations of the East China and Central Plains Field Armies,[2] which are to move out in mid-March and cross the Yangtze River by the end of March, it has been decided that Lin and Luo shall first dispatch two armies, totaling approximately 120,000 troops, to arrive in the area between Yancheng and Xinyang by March 20. They shall seize Xinyang and Wusheng Pass by the end of March, capture the Huayuan[3] and Xiaogan areas by April 15, approach Hankou, rest and regroup while awaiting orders, and contain Bai Chongxi’s[4] forces to prevent them from reinforcing Nanjing, thereby facilitating Liu, Chen, and Deng’s capture of Nanjing. To carry out the above tasks, these two armies shall complete their preparations for departure by February 18 and set out from the Beiping-Tianjin Railway[5] on February 19. Comrades Rao Shushi and Deng Zihui[6] are requested to calculate and report by telegram within three days of receiving this message the railway transport capacity from Jinan via Xuzhou and Zhengzhou to Yancheng, and whether it is possible to transport 120,000 troops and their attached equipment to Yancheng on schedule,

so that a decision can be made on whether the two armies should march entirely on foot to Jinan for rail transport, or whether part of them should be transported first by rail while the other part proceeds on foot via Daming and Zhengzhou to arrive later (the route from the Beiping-Tianjin Railway via Daming to Xinyang is approximately 900 kilometers, and including rest periods, they can arrive by the end of March).

Central Military Commission

Chouwen

--- Notes

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, addressed to Lin Biao, commander of the Northeast Field Army; Luo Ronghuan, political commissar of the Northeast Field Army; and Nie Rongzhen, commander of the North China Military Region.


[2] On February 9, 1949, the East China Field Army was redesignated the Third Field Army. On February 5, 1949, the Central Plains Field Army was redesignated the Second Field Army.


[3] Huayuan, a town located in the northern part of Xiaogan City, Hubei Province.


[4] Bai Chongxi, then commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang’s “Bandit Suppression” General Headquarters in Central China.


[5] The Beiping-Tianjin Railway refers to the railway between Beiping (present-day Beijing) and Tianjin, now a section of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway.


[6] Rao Shushi, then political commissar of the East China Military Region. Deng Zihui, then deputy political commissar of the Central Plains Military Region.