To Peng Dehuai, Zhang Zongxun, and Zhao Shoushan[1]
(July 19, 1949)

Is it enough to use three army corps to pursue and annihilate the two Mas?[2] We feel it seems advisable to draw four to five divisions from the Eighteenth Army Corps to advance westward as a reserve force. If this is done, it would then be necessary for that army corps to concentrate its main force to attack and occupy Feng County and Liuba, threatening Baocheng[3] (though it need not occupy Baocheng), thereby forcing the enemy troops in the Southern Mountains[4] to retreat. After that, the army corps could then withdraw four to five divisions to advance westward and assist in the battle. Whether or not this should be done thus, please decide at your discretion.

[1] This is the main content of a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee to Peng Dehuai, Zhang Zongxun, and Zhao Shoushan.
[2] The First Field Army reported to the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee that, in order to pursue and annihilate the forces of Ma Bufang in Qinghai and Ma Hongkui in Ningxia, it planned to deploy the First and Second Army Corps to Long County to intercept the enemy in eastern Gansu; it was estimated that the two Mas would make a general retreat, and it planned to use the Nineteenth Army Corps to pursue fiercely along the Xi’an-Lanzhou Highway.
[3] Baocheng, an old county name, now partly under Mian County and Hanzhong City.
[4] Southern Mountains refers to the region of Hanzhong, Mian County, and Nanzheng south of the Qinling Mountains.