Regarding Our Army Must Cross the 38th Parallel in Operations
Telegram to Peng Dehuai[1] and Others
(December 13, 1950)

Peng, and inform Gao[2]:

Your telegram of 18:00 on December 8[3] received. (1) At present, the United States, Britain, and other countries are demanding that our army halt north of the 38th Parallel to facilitate their reorganization and renewed combat. Therefore, our army must cross the 38th Parallel. Halting upon reaching north of the 38th Parallel would place us at a great political disadvantage. (2) In this southward advance, we hope to seek out and destroy several enemy units in the Kaesong area north and south, that is, in the region not far from Seoul. Then, depending on the situation, if the enemy commits substantial forces to hold Seoul, our main forces may withdraw to the Kaesong line and areas north of it for rest and reorganization, preparing conditions for an attack on Seoul, while several divisions approach the northern bank of the middle reaches of the Han River to conduct activities and support the People’s Army in crossing the Han River to strike the puppet forces. If the enemy abandons Seoul, our six armies on the western front shall rest and reorganize for a period between Pyongyang and Seoul. (3) The replenishment of a large batch of new recruits by mid-January next year is extremely important. Please, Gao, intensify preparations. Please, Gao and Peng, consider whether it is necessary and possible to dispatch cadres from the frontline armies (a total of nine armies on both the eastern and western fronts) to Shenyang to strengthen the work of managing and training new recruits. Song Shilun’s[4] unit currently requires immediate replenishment of a portion of troops to restore its vitality. Whether this is possible, please, Gao, plan and inform us. (4) Preparations are underway for air force cover over railway transport lines, with the possibility of realization, but final confirmation remains subject to consultation and arrangement.

Mao Zedong
December 13

Based on the manuscript. Published in Selected Military Writings of Mao Zedong (Internal Edition).

Notes
[1] Peng Dehuai, then Commander and Political Commissar of the Chinese People’s Volunteers.
[2] Gao refers to Gao Gang, then Commander and Political Commissar of the Northeast Military Region of the People’s Liberation Army.
[3] Refers to Peng Dehuai’s telegram of 18:00 on December 8, 1950, to Mao Zedong and Gao Gang regarding preparations before and after the second campaign.
[4] Song Shilun, then Commander of the 9th Corps of the Chinese People’s Volunteers.