Deployment for Rest and Reorganization and Operations of the Fourth Field Army[1]

(June 2, 1949)

Comrades Lin, Xiao, Zhao, and Nie:

Your telegram of 16:00 on the 30th has been received. (1) We agree that after all your armies have assembled, they should rest and reorganize for a short period, and then move simultaneously in three or two columns (except that the 13th Army Corps should attack and wipe out the enemy north of the river a few days earlier). This plan can advance on all fronts simultaneously, pushing forward in one sweep to the line of Ganzhou, Chenzhou, and Yongzhou (Lingling), and then rest and reorganize for another month, with only some necessary short rests along the way. In order to subject the various units under Bai Chongxi[2] to our fierce assault and hot pursuit, catching them unprepared and destroying them one by one, just as Liu and Deng[3] pushed forward in one sweep from the riverbank to northern Fujian, after your various armies have reached their attack preparation positions, as long as the food supply situation permits, they should rest and reorganize for at least half a month to recover from fatigue and unify their will, and then advance and attack according to plan. (2) Cheng Qian, Li Mo’an, and Chen Mingren[4] may possibly cooperate with us in opposing Chiang Kai-shek and the Guangxi clique. Li Mo’an has already made contact with our side in Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong side is now seriously pursuing this matter.

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[1] This telegram was drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and addressed to Lin Biao, commander of the Fourth Field Army and concurrently commander of the Central China Military Region; Xiao Ke, first chief of staff; Zhao Erlu, second chief of staff; and Nie Heting, deputy chief of staff.

[2] Bai Chongxi was then commander of the Kuomintang’s Central China Military and Political Administration.

[3] Liu and Deng refers to Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, who were then respectively commander and political commissar of the Second Field Army.

[4] Cheng Qian was then chairman of the Kuomintang’s Hunan Provincial Government and director of the Kuomintang’s Changsha Pacification Headquarters. Li Mo’an was then deputy director of the Kuomintang’s Changsha Pacification Headquarters and concurrently commander of the 17th Pacification Zone. Chen Mingren was then commander of the Kuomintang’s 1st Army Corps.