The 18th Corps to Enter Sichuan Under the Command of He Long

(October 11, 1949)

Zongxun, [1] and inform Dehuai [2] and the Northwest Bureau:

Your telegram from Xi’an on the 9th has been received. (1) At yesterday’s meeting, the Central Committee decided that the 18th Corps shall enter Sichuan under the command of Comrade He Long, [3] commander of the Southwest Military Region. (2) In addition to the 18th Corps, the forces to be deployed in operations against Hu Zongnan [4] must also include units under Liu Jinxuan [5] and the 7th Army for coordination. After the Hanzhong area is taken, whether an appropriate part of Liu Jinxuan’s forces should enter the Sichuan border to support the 18th Corps, in addition to guarding the area centered on Hanzhong, is to be decided in light of the situation at that time. The 7th Army must be prepared to advance into and occupy Wenxian, Wudu, Chengxian, and Kangxian [6] in southern Gansu. (3) The offensive toward the Hanzhong area is to begin approximately in the first or second ten days of December. Please instruct the units concerned to complete their preparations in the last ten days of November.

[1] This telegram was drafted by Mao Zedong for the Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee and addressed to Zhang Zongxun, First Deputy Commander of the First Field Army.
[2] Dehuai refers to Peng Dehuai, then Commander and Political Commissar of the First Field Army.
[3] He Long, formerly Commander of the Northwest Military Region, had by this time been appointed Commander of the Southwest Military Region, which was to be formed.
[4] Hu Zongnan was then Director of the Suiyuan Office for the Sichuan-Shaanxi-Gansu Border Area of the Kuomintang army.
[5] Liu Jinxuan was then Commander of the Southern Shaanxi Military Region and concurrently Commander of the 19th Army.
[6] Wenxian, Wudu, Chengxian, and Kangxian refer to Wenxian County, Wudu County, Chengxian County, and Kangxian County in Gansu Province.