Requesting Soviet Assistance for Vietnam
in Resolving the Automobile and Gasoline Problem
(December 8, 1950)

Comrade Filippov [2]:

The Vietnam People’s Liberation Army, under the leadership of Comrade Ho Chi Minh [3], with China’s assistance in July of this year, first equipped two divisions and achieved its initial victory in combat in September. In the second phase, starting now, a third division and two artillery regiments are being equipped, bringing the total to 40,000 troops capable of concentrated operations. In the future, a fourth and fifth division will also be equipped. China has dispatched 100 advisors to Vietnam to assist in their work. They must capture key strongholds in the north, such as Hanoi and Haiphong, thereby fully unifying northern Vietnam before advancing operations into the central and southern regions.

At present, the primary area under the Ho Chi Minh government’s control is the liberated zone in northern Vietnam, which covers a vast territory but has a population of only about one million, while the total number of military, political, and party personnel detached from production amounts to 170,000. Consequently, they are economically unable to sustain themselves and must rely heavily on China’s assistance. Armaments, ammunition, food, uniforms, and other supplies must be regularly transported from China. However, for a distance of 800 kilometers, transportation can only rely on automobiles, human labor, and animal power. Automobiles and gasoline are currently what we lack the most, posing immense difficulties.

To overcome these difficulties, if possible, I request your assistance in providing Vietnam with 1,000 six-wheel GAZ-63 trucks, six engineering vehicles, four cranes, and a one-year supply of gasoline totaling 54,000 large barrels (7,941 metric tons), along with other machine oils and spare automobile parts. The detailed cargo list will be forwarded through Comrade Sakharov [1] upon receiving your affirmative reply. Of these, 505 trucks are requested to be delivered between January and March 1951, and the remaining 505 between June and July 1951.

Is this feasible? Awaiting your reply.

Mao Zedong
December 8, 1950

--- Notes

[1] Sakharov, then Chief Military Advisor of the Soviet Union in China.