On the Modification and Supplement of Chen Mingren’s Troops: A Telegram to Lin Biao
(4 November 1949)

Comrade Lin Biao, with information for Zihui [1]:
I have received your telegram of 2 November. The policy you have adopted toward Chen Mingren’s troops [2] is correct. If the captured soldiers of the 62nd Division have not yet been dispersed, they may be allocated to supplement Chen’s forces.

Mao Zedong
4 November

[1] Chen Mingren, formerly a general of the Kuomintang government forces, led his troops in an uprising with Cheng Qian at Changsha in August 1949. At the time, he served as Vice Commander of the Hunan Military District and Commander of the 21st Corps of the People’s Liberation Army.
[2] Lin Biao, at the time, served as Commander of the Fourth Field Army of the People’s Liberation Army and Commander of the Central China Military District.
[3] Zihui, namely Deng Zihui, at the time, served as Second Political Commissar of the Fourth Field Army and Second Political Commissar of the Central China Military District of the People’s Liberation Army.
[4] In his telegram of 2 November 1949 to Mao Zedong and Deng Zihui, Lin Biao proposed the following policy toward Chen Mingren’s troops: “Step up political and organizational reform, study revolutionary principles, promote progressive elements, correct erroneous thinking, and train backward cadres in batches, with political reform taking priority at present.” The telegram also stated that, after the conclusion of the Guangxi campaign, plans were to select two or three independent divisions from the Northeast or one complete army to combine or intermix with Chen Mingren’s troops. It also mentioned that Chen Mingren had requested that the captured officers and soldiers of the Kuomintang government’s 62nd Division be used to supplement his own forces.