Wait Several Days into the Negotiations
before Deciding Whether to Storm Pukou and
Puzhen
(March 19, 1949, 2:00 A.M.)
To Chen [Yi], Rao [Shushi], Deng [Xiaoping], Su [Yu], Tan [Zhenlin], and Zhang
[Zhen]:1
We received your telegram of March 18 from Xuzhou.
	 1.	 We must negotiate contact for several days before we can decide whether
to attack and occupy Pukou and Puzhen.2 If we decide that we have hope
of succeeding, then we will not storm them in order to facilitate peacefully
resolving the issue of taking Nanjing. If we decide we have no hope of succeeding, then we should consider if there is a military necessity for attacking and occupying them. If attacking and occupying Pukou and Puzhen is
necessary in the battle to cross the [Yangzi] River, then we should attack and
occupy them. If there is no such necessity, we can disregard them.
	 2.	 It has been decided that the Nanjing representative should reach Beiping
and begin talks on April 1. (Wait until March 25 before publicly announcing
this.) By April 5, we should be able to reach a conclusion as to whether or not
there is hope. By around April 6, you should be able to carry out the operation of capturing a stronghold on the northern bank of the Yangzi (not necessarily including Pukou and Puzhen). You should cross the river by April 10.
Beginning on April 1 we will need tight radio communications with you day
and night. They cannot be cut off.
Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 5, pp. 520–21, where it is
1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission.
Chen Yi was commander and political commissar of the Third Field Army, Rao Shushi was
political commissar of the East China Military Region, and Deng Xiaoping was political
commissar of the Second Field Army. Su Yu was deputy commander and second deputy
political commissar of the Third Field Army, Tan Zhenlin was first deputy political commissar of the Third Field Army, and Zhang Zhen (张震) was chief-of-staff of the Third
Field Army.
2.  Pukou and Puzhen are both towns located northwest of Nanjing on the northern bank
of the Yangzi River.
DOI:  10.4324/9781315719436-247

	 3.	 Apart from deciding whether or not to attack and occupy Pukou and Puzhen
depending on how the negotiations go and on whether it is militarily necessary, regardless of how the negotiations go, it will not prevent our operation
from capturing the northern bank and crossing the river on April 10.
The Military Commission

reproduced from Mao’s handwritten manuscript preserved in the Central Archives.