Peng and Deng:

Reflections on the Enemy’s Reaction to Our Army’s Movements

Telegram to Peng Dehuai and Deng Hua [1]

(October 25, 1950)

Of all the reports received so far, only the intelligence staff officer of the puppet 6th Division says that, according to refugees, on the nights of the 19th and 20th, sixty trucks carrying the Eighth Route Army travelled from Sinuiju to Sinchang in Changsong County. Apart from this, there is no reflection from any side that our troops have arrived. Both the U.S. forces in Pyongyang and in Tokyo believe that they can reach the Yalu River within a few days. Furthermore, some people think that Kim Il Sung still wants to organize a final stand at Kanggye.

Mao Zedong

6:30 a.m., October 25

[1] Peng Dehuai, then Commander and Political Commissar of the Chinese People’s Volunteers. Deng Hua, then Deputy Commander and Deputy Political Commissar of the Chinese People’s Volunteers.