Issues Regarding the Areas and Routes of Advance for the Corps Led by Chen Lu and Deng Hua [1]
(July 25, 1949)
To Lin, Deng, Xiao, and Zhao; also to Liu, Song, Zhang, Li, Su, Tang, and Zhou; and to the South China Bureau:
(1) We have received your telegram of 23rd at 24:00 (2). The deployment outlined therein is very sound and may be carried out as planned. (2) This morning we sent you a telegram whose spirit is consistent with yours. In that dispatch, we stated that the main forces of the Fourth Field Army should strive to reach You County, Xiangxiang, and areas north of them by mid-September. As there is still a month and a half until mid-September, if you follow the deployment in your 23rd at 24:00 telegram—resting during the dog days before advancing—you will indeed be able to reach the line of You County and Xiangxiang by mid-September. Moreover, you have already ordered each corps to send forward vanguard divisions farther ahead, which will facilitate the subsequent advance of the main force. (3) Fang Fang’s telegram requests that one of our columns entering Guangdong pass through San’nan, Heping, and Heyuan to emerge at Huizhou. We consider this arrangement necessary. Before mid-September, except for the vanguard units, the main forces of the Chen and Deng Corps should not cross the Wuling Mountains (3), which form the boundary.
Starting from mid-September, preparations should be made for the Chen Corps to proceed via…
[1]
This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong on behalf of the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee to Lin Biao, Commander of the Fourth Field Army and concurrently of the Central-South Military Region; Deng Zihui, Second Political Commissar; Xiao Ke, First Chief of Staff; and Zhao Erlu, Second Chief of Staff.
[2]
Refers to the telegram sent by Lin Biao, Deng Zihui, Xiao Ke, and Zhao Erlu to the Central Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee at 24:00 on July 23, 1949. The telegram stated that our main forces in Hunan and Jiangxi would refrain from major operations during the three dog days, with each army moving to designated locations for rest and reorganization. To expand the occupied territory and to aid future advances, each corps was to dispatch vanguard divisions to press the enemy eastward, thereby reducing looting and destruction in the newly liberated areas. These vanguard units were to pay particular attention to grain procurement and road repair.
[3]
The Wuling Mountains refer to the five mountain ranges—Yuecheng, Dupang, Mengjing, Qitian, and Daqing—that mark the borders among Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Guangxi provinces.

One route would lead from Nanxiong southward along two paths to the North River, first seizing Shaochuan and 1111; the Deng Corps could advance southward in parallel along two or three routes via Wengyuan, Lianping, and Heping to reach the East River, initially capturing Huizhou. In Shaogzhou and Huizhou, cadres would be concentrated and troop dispositions adjusted, after which the two corps, in coordination with our forces in Guangdong, would jointly attack Guangzhou (it is estimated that by this time, Yu Hanmou and others in Guangzhou might be open to a peaceful resolution). However, by September 5th, Fang Fang must arrive in Ganzhou to meet with Ye, Zhang, Chen, and Deng [3] to discuss overall plans. (4) With enemy forces such as Hu Ban and Yu Yingqi operating in the Han River basin [4], the Ye Fei Corps is tasked with sending one division from Zhangzhou to Chaoshan [6] to assist in resolving the situation. The Deng Hua Corps, on the other hand, will not deploy troops to the Han River region. Since the Deng Corps has only two divisions available for entry into Guangdong, once Guangzhou is captured, its main body should remain in the Guangzhou area, with a portion stationed in Huizhou, another in Shaogzhou, and yet another operating along the southern route; it would therefore be impossible to simultaneously handle matters in the Han River area. The Chen Corps, however, is required to move out of Guangxi. (5) Fang Fang has requested that a unit be dispatched to deal with enemy forces in the Huichang and Xunwu areas, a task that can be undertaken by one of the divisions Deng Hua has left in southern Jiangxi.
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Shaogzhou refers to present-day Shaoguan in Guangdong Province.
[2]
Yu Hanmou,
who at the time served as Director of the Guangzhou Pacification Office of the Nationalist Army.
(3]
Ye refers to Ye Jianying, who at that time held the positions of Chief of Staff of the General Staff Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and Mayor of Beiping. Zhang refers to Zhang Yunyi, formerly Deputy Commander of the East China Military Region, who had by then been assigned to work with the South China Bureau.
Chen refers to Chen Ku. Deng refers to Deng Hua.
(4]
Hu Si,
who at the time was Commander of the Second Training Command of the Nationalist Army, Commander of the Twelfth Corps, and also served as Commander of the Eighteenth Army. Yu Yingqi was then the overall commander for “bandit suppression” operations along the Guangdong–Guangxi border under the Nationalist regime.
[5]
The Ye Fei Corps refers to the Tenth Corps of the Third Field Army, with Ye Fei serving as its commander.
[6]
Chaoshan denotes the cities of Chaozhou and Shantou in Guangdong Province.