Forcing Bai Chongxi to Retreat into Guangxi So as to Facilitate Our Army's Annihilation of Him
(September 1, 1949)

Lin, Deng, Xiao, Zhao:

Your telegram of the 30th[2] has been received. (1) Your plan to annihilate Song Xilian[3] is excellent. (2) After the main force of Cheng Zihua's[4] Army Group has annihilated Song Xilian in the Lixian[5] and west Changde area, please consider having that force proceed via Yuanling toward Zhijiang, annihilate Huang Jie's[6] force in that area, then advance along the juncture of the Hunan-Guizhou-Guangxi borders toward Liuzhou, forcing Bai Chongxi[7] to retreat into Guangxi and preventing him from retreating into Guizhou, so as to facilitate our army's annihilation of him within Guangxi. Because Guizhou is too poor and transport is inconvenient, while Guangxi is wealthier than Guizhou, can receive supplies from Guangdong, and moreover has our guerrilla zones and guerrilla forces to provide assistance, it is more favorable for our army's operations. (3) Ye Jianying, Fang Fang, Chen Geng, Deng Hua and others can assemble at Ganzhou in the first ten days of September, conclude their consultations by the middle ten days, and begin advancing into Guangdong in the last ten days. If Xiao Jinguang's[8] and Cheng Zihua's forces can also reach the line of Zhijiang, Baoqing, and Hengzhou[9] by the last ten days of September or the first ten days of October, they can coordinate with our forces entering Guangdong. We hope to occupy Guangzhou and the entire Guangzhou-Hankou railway[10] by November, and have the entire line open to traffic by December or January next year — this would be of great benefit to the national finance and economy.

Military Commission

[1] This is a telegram drafted by Mao Zedong for the CCP Central Military Commission to Lin Biao, Commander of the Fourth Field Army and the Central China 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 of August 30, 1949, from Lin Biao, Deng Zihui, Xiao Ke, and Zhao Erlu to the CCP Central Military Commission. The telegram said: Bai Chongxi has changed his plan of engaging our forces in western Hunan. Song Xilian has ordered his forces to set out and attack Shimen, Lixian, and Changde, but the enemy may still change his plan midway, and regardless of whether the enemy advances or not, our army plans to attack and annihilate this enemy.
[3] Song Xilian, then serving as Director of the Kuomintang Army's Sichuan-Hunan-Hubei Border Area Pacification Headquarters.
[4] Cheng Zihua, then serving as Commander of the Fourth Field Army's Thirteenth Army Group.
[5] Lizhou, i.e., Li County, Hunan.
[6] Huang Jie, then serving as Commander of the Kuomintang Army's First Army Group.
[7] Bai Chongxi, then serving as Director of the Kuomintang Army's Central China Military and Political Headquarters.
[8] Xiao Jinguang, then serving as Commander and Political Commissar of the Fourth Field Army's Twelfth Army Group.
[9] Baoqing and Hengzhou, i.e., Shaoyang and Hengyang, Hunan.
[10] The entire Guangzhou-Hankou railway, i.e., the Guangzhou to Hankou railway, now a section of the Beijing-Guangzhou line.