Telegram Regarding the Plan to Lure Hu Zongnan’s [1] Forces to Chongqing for Annihilation (November 27, 1949) To Liu and Deng [2], with a copy to He and Li [3]: Reports indicate that Chiang Kai-shek has ordered Hu Zongnan to transport his Third Army to Chongqing by means of eight hundred trucks. Please note: (1) Whether it is possible to draw even more of Hu Zongnan’s forces into Chongqing; (2) Whether the various units of our army currently attacking toward Chongqing need to slightly slow down their advance in order to facilitate the encirclement and destruction of a larger enemy force entrenched in the city. Since Chiang Kai-shek himself is in Chongqing, we may be able to deliver a decisive blow comparable to the annihilation of Tang Enbo [4] at Shanghai. Mao Zedong, November 27th.

Printed from the manuscript. Notes [1] Hu Zongnan was appointed in November 1949 as Deputy Chief of Staff and Vice Chief of the Southwest Military and Political Administrative Office of the Nationalist Government. [2] Liu refers to Liu Bocheng, who at the time served as Commander of the Second Field Army of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Deng refers to Deng Xiaoping, who at the time was Political Commissar of the Second Field Army. [3] He refers to He Long, who at the time was Commander of the Northwest Military Region of the PLA; in October 1949 he was appointed Commander of the Southwest Military Region of the PLA, but had not yet assumed this post. Li refers to Li Jingquan, who at the time held the position of Deputy Director of the Provisional Military and Political Committee of Northwestern Sichuan. [4] Tang Enbo was appointed in January 1949 as Commander-in-Chief of the Nationalist Government’s Defense Command for the Beijing–Shanghai–Hangzhou Area. 1£¶