Operational Deployment in the Northwest and Southwest Regions
(October 13, 1949)
Comrade Dehuai [1]:
(1) Regarding the troop strength entering Sichuan from Shaanxi, it has been determined together with He Long, Bocheng, and Xiaoping to be the 18th Army Corps, without involving other troops. (2) Liu Jinxuan's [2] unit and the 7th Army will cooperate in the operation. After the war, the 7th Army will be stationed in southern Gansu for work. Whether to draw a portion of Liu Jinxuan's unit into Sichuan in addition to guarding southern Shaanxi will be determined at that time.
(3) The timing of the annihilation of Hu [3] should not be too early. It should wait until the Second Field Army advances to the line of Xuzhou and Luzhou [4] and Chongqing before launching the attack. The timing will be around early or mid-December, to be determined by the Military Commission.
(4) The main force of the Second Field Army, two army corps, is currently on the line of Changde and Xiangtan and is expected to reach southern Sichuan around December. The Chen Geng Army Corps [5] of the Second Field Army can cooperate with the Deng Hua Army Corps [6] this month to occupy Guangzhou, and next month enter Guangxi to cooperate with the main force of the Fourth Field Army to annihilate Bai [7]. It is expected to enter Yunnan around January or February of next year. (5) Of the three army corps undertaking the Northwest mission, two army corps (namely the First and Second Army Corps) will be responsible for local work. Another army corps (namely the 19th Army Corps) will not undertake local work after the Ningxia work is completed, but will be deployed to the line of Tianshui, Baoji, and Shangxian for special training as a national defense mobile force in preparation for unforeseen circumstances (this point was telegraphed several months ago). Please prepare appropriate troop strength to take over the local work in Ningxia in a few months. (6) The total troop strength operating in Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Xikang [1], and Tibet is the entire Second Field Army and the 18th Army Corps, totaling approximately 600,000 people. The division of labor in the Southwest Bureau is that Deng, Liu, and He [2] will serve as the First, Second, and Third Secretaries respectively. He will be the commander of the military region, Deng will be the political commissar, and Liu will be the director of the Southwest Military and Political Committee.

Mao Zedong
October
[1] Dehuai, namely Peng Dehuai, was then the commander and political commissar of the First Field Army.
[2] Liu Jinxuan was then the commander of the Southern Shaanxi Military Region and the commander of the 19th Army.
[3] Hu refers to Hu Zongnan, who was then the director of the Kuomintang Army's Sichuan-Shaanxi-Gansu Border Region Pacification Headquarters.
[4] Xu refers to Xuzhou, namely Yibin, Sichuan. Lu refers to Luzhou, Sichuan.
[5] Chen Geng Army Corps refers to the 4th Army Corps of the Second Field Army, with Chen Geng as the commander and political commissar of the army corps.
[6] Deng Hua Army Corps refers to the 15th Army Corps of the Fourth Field Army, with Deng Hua as the commander of the army corps.
[7] Bai refers to Bai Chongxi, who was then the director of the Kuomintang Army's Central China Military and Political Governor's Office.
[1] Kang refers to Xikang, a former province, which administered the western part of present-day Sichuan Province and the eastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, abolished in 1955.
[2] Deng, Liu, and He refer to Deng Xiaoping, Liu Bocheng, and He Long.

Manuscript of Mao Zedong's telegram to Peng Dehuai.