Telegram Regarding Deng Hua’s [1] Corps Coordinating to Clear Out Enemy Forces in Southern Guangdong (November 9, 1949)

Comrade Lin Biao [2], the South China Bureau, and also to Chen Geng [3]: According to a report dated the 6th from the CPC Regional Committee of Southern Guangdong, there are only slightly more than 4,000 enemy troops in Zhanjiang.
With one of our main-force divisions working in conjunction with the Southern Guangdong Column, we could annihilate the enemy at Zhanjiang, fully liberate the Leizhou Peninsula, and strengthen Southern Guangdong as a base for supporting the liberation of Guangxi and Qiongya, among other things.
I have previously informed you that, prior to the resolution of the Guangxi question, the primary mission of Deng’s corps was to defend the Guangzhou area and the Guangzhou–Shaoguan railway line, and not to advance into Southern Guangdong.
This policy was correct, and you had already agreed to it.
However, if dispatching a single division could resolve the situation in Southern Guangdong, then such a move would be both feasible and necessary.
Detaching one division—preferably the strongest—from Deng’s corps (not from the Fourth Corps) to Southern Guangdong to cooperate with Liang Guang’s [4] Column in wiping out the enemy there would confer numerous advantages.
If you concur, this disposition may be implemented.

Mao Zedong November 9 Based on the manuscript print.
Notes [1] Deng Hua was at the time commander of the Twelfth Corps of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. [2] Lin Biao was then First Secretary of the Central Committee’s Central China Bureau and Commander of the Fourth Field Army of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. [3] Chen Geng was at the time commander and political commissar of the Fourth Corps of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. [4] Liang Guang was at the time commander and political commissar of the Guangdong–Guangxi Border Column of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.