Letter to Li Tao [1] Regarding the Number of Enemy Troops Eliminated by the People’s Liberation Army After Crossing the Yangtze River (June 5, 1950) Comrade Li Tao: Your document has been received.
What I require are materials covering the period from April 21, 1949—when the People’s Liberation Army began its Yangtze River crossing operation—up to the present, not from February of last year.
Please promptly inform me of the respective numbers of regular and irregular enemy forces destroyed by the PLA from April of last year to the present. [2] With regard to the figure cited in your letter—that 780,000 bandits were suppressed between April of last year and April of this year—please clarify whether these constitute the irregular forces and report back accordingly.
I would appreciate it if your reply could be delivered to my residence by 4:00 p.m. today. … Mao Zedong 8:00 a.m., June 5 Notes [1] Li Tao was at that time the Director of the Operations Department of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission. [ ] In his article “Struggle for a Fundamental Improvement in the Country’s Financial and Economic Situation,” written on June 6, 1950, Mao Zedong stated that during the thirteen and a half months from April 21, 1949—the date the Yangtze River crossing operation commenced—until the present, the People’s Liberation Army had eliminated 1.83 million troops of the Kuomintang reactionaries and 980,000 bandits and guerrillas.