Additional Thoughts on the Annihilation of
Bai Chongxi’s Troops
(July 17, 1949)
To Lin [Biao], Deng [Zihui], and Xiao [Ke]; Liu [Bocheng], Zhang [Jichun], and
Li [Da]; and Chen [Yi], Rao [Shushi], and Su [Yu]:1
Our telegram sent on July 162 should have arrived, and we now wish to add
several points. Please consider these points alongside those raised in the original
telegram and reply to us by telegram.
	 1.	 As Bai [Chongxi]’s3 bandits are short on financial resources, and because Bai
himself is clever, they will not fight a decisive battle with us unless the situation
absolutely forces them to do so. The general task of the Fourth Field Army is
to manage the six provinces in Central China and South China. The task of the
Second Field Army is to manage the four provinces of Southwest China and to
handle matters such as rations and roads for the advancing troops. This being
the case, we think that your respective troops should be deployed as follows:
	 2.	 The four units under Chen Geng4 should not advance farther westward
and should remain in the Anfu region awaiting orders. After the Fifteenth
Army Group arrives in Yuanzhou,5 one of its armies should advance toward
Ganzhou as the forward company. This army should be tasked with occupying Ganzhou and managing the ten or so counties in southern Jiangxi. Chen
Geng should lead his three units as well as two units from the Fifteenth
Corps to advance southward through Ganzhou, Nanxiong, and Shixing.
They should prepare to occupy Guangzhou within three months. After that,
the two units from the Fifteenth Corps should join with both militia units
under the South China Bureau and with Zeng Sheng’s units6 to take charge of
managing the entire province of Guangdong. Chen Geng should take charge
of the Second Route Army, which is to be formed from the three armies of
the Fourth Corps and advance deeply into Guangxi to seek out and annihilate the Guangxi forces, advancing from Guangzhou through Zhaoqing
toward southern Guangxi. They should coordinate with the North Route
Army, which will be advancing to Guangxi from Chenzhou and Yongzhou,
to seek out and annihilate the Guangxi enemy forces within Guangxi’s borders. Chen Geng should then advance with his three armies to Yunnan. In
addition to this deployment, the remaining army from Chen Geng’s Fourth
Corps should advance to Hunan through Anfu under the Twelfth Corps and
should be temporarily responsible for the fighting in the region of Hunan
Province. After this, it should be returned to the command of Liu [Bocheng]
and Deng [Xiaoping],7 who will lead it out of Hunan to Guizhou. Zeng
Sheng’s two small divisions should soon finish their training and consolidation and swiftly advance to Guangzhou, following Chen Geng’s route or by
the [Guangzhou]-Han[kou] railway.8
	 3.	 Aside from the army stationed in Henan, the heavy artillery unit stationed in
Hubei, the army stationed in northern Jiangxi, and the three armies stationed
in western, northern, and central Hunan, the main force of the Fourth Field
Army should form five armies with the North Route Army and advance deep
into Guangxi to seek out and annihilate Bai [Chongxi]’s bandit forces. They
should use the Hunan-Guangxi railway to advance southward to join up with
Chen Geng to annihilate the enemies within Guangxi’s borders in Guixi.
	 4.	 You should not be deceived by the Bai [Chongxi] bandits’ temporary bogus
deployment (for example, in northern Jiangxi in the past, in Chaling now,
and in Chenzhou, Quanzhou, and so on in the future), and you should engage
in the completely active deployment outlined above, because this deployment will force the bandits of Bai [Chongxi] into a completely passive position. Regardless of whether or not he is willing to engage us, and regardless of whether he withdraws to a near or distant place, he will be in a generally passive position and we will be in a completely active position, and
ultimately, we will force him to fight us in Guangxi Province. The enemy
forces in Guangxi are probably not willing to merely give up Guangxi and
flee to Yunnan, as Lu Han in Yunnan9 refuses to grant them passage, and
also because our strong guerrilla forces are still in Yunnan. At the very least,
part of the Guangxi enemy forces will remain in Guangxi while the other
part flees to Yunnan. At that time, we will order Chen Geng’s three armies
to join with Zeng Zesheng’s troops10 on your side to annihilate the enemy
in Yunnan Province. In November, the six armies in the main force of our
Second Field Army will arrive in Guizhou and Sichuan. At that time, it will
be impossible for [Bai] to flee to Guizhou and Sichuan even if he wants to.
The main force of Hu Zongnan’s11 army in Northwest China has already been
annihilated by our First Field Army in Mei county and the Fufeng region on
July 12. The 70,000 soldiers in its remaining forces have fled to the region of
Hanzhong. Our First Field Army has decided to form nine armies to advance
westward toward Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai, so as to seek out and annihilate the Ma [Bufang] and Ma [Hongkui] bandits.12 It has also prepared to
move three armies out of northern Sichuan to join forces with the Second
Field Army this winter or in the spring of next year to manage Southwest
China and to ensure the complete annihilation of all remaining bandits in
Southwest China. We hope to hear your opinion on this.
 The Military Commission



1.  Mao Zedong drafted this telegram on behalf of the Central Military Commission.
Lin Biao was commander of the Fourth Field Army and the Central China Military Region,
Deng Zihui was second political commissar of the Fourth Field Army and the Central
China Military Region, and Xiao Ke was first chief-of-staff of the Fourth Field Army and
the Central China Military Region. Liu Bocheng was commander of the Second Field
Army, Zhang Jichun was deputy political commissar and head of the Political Department
of the Second Field Army, and Li Da was chief-of-staff of the Second Field Army. Chen
Yi was commander and political commissar of the Third Field Army and the East China
Military Region, Rao Shushi was political commissar of the Third Field Army and the East
China Military Region, and Su Yu was deputy commander of the Third Field Army and the
East China Military Region.

2.  See “Carry out Outflanking Tactics by Surrounding from a Distance to Pursue and
Annihilate Bai Chongxi’s Forces,” July 16, 1949, in this volume.

3.  Bai Chongxi was commander of the Guomindang’s Central China Military and
Political Affairs Office.

4.  Chen Geng was commander and political commissar of the Fourth Corps of the
Second Field Army.


5.  Also known as the city of Yichun, in Jiangxi.

6.  Zeng Sheng was commander of the Guangdong and Guangxi columns of the Fourth
Field Army.

7.  Deng Xiaoping was political commissar of the Second Field Army.

8.  Now a segment of the Beijing-Guangzhou railway.

9.  Lu Han (1895–1974, Yi nationality, native of Yunnan) was governor of Yunnan Province under the Guomindang, and head of the Yunnan Pacification Office.

10.  Zeng Zesheng was commander of the Fifteenth Army of the Fourth Field Army.

11.  Hu Zongnan was director of the Guomindang’s Xi’an Pacification Office.

12.  Ma Bufang and Ma Hongkui were acting commander and deputy commander,
respectively, of the Guomindang’s Northwest Military and Political Affairs Office.