After winning a battle, rest and reorganize in preparation for a spring offensive
(north and south of the 38th Parallel), with a plan to rest and reorganize for two months. The old impression of the so-called 38th Parallel that existed in people's minds will disappear after this battle. It does not matter whether our army rests and reorganizes south or north of the 38th Parallel. However, if we do not fight this battle and our army merely rests and reorganizes throughout the entire winter from early December without any action, it will inevitably provoke much speculation among the capitalist countries, and some people within the countries of the democratic front will also disapprove, generating much discussion. If our army can, according to your current plan, win a battle in the first half of January, striving to annihilate several divisions of the puppet army and a portion of the American forces, and then rest and reorganize for two months to prepare for a spring offensive, the impact on the democratic front and the masses in the capitalist countries will be very favorable. It will deal a new blow to the imperialists, deepening their pessimism and sense of defeat. Comrade Filippov [1] considers the leadership of the Volunteer Army to be correct. He has criticized many erroneous views, understands the difficulties in the Korean operations, and on his own initiative proposed increasing the number of trucks by two thousand to solve your difficult problems. The Military Commission has issued a general order to the entire national army (except for Xinjiang and Xikang [2]) to draw twenty veteran soldiers from each company. If things proceed smoothly, a first batch of over 40,000 men can be assembled in February to reinforce the Volunteer Army. The new enemy commander, Lieutenant General Matthew Ridgway, has arrived in Seoul to replace the deceased Lieutenant General Walker. As soon as he arrived, he ordered the American and puppet forces to hold their ground at all costs and not retreat. This is very advantageous for our army in seeking to engage and annihilate puppet forces and a portion of the American forces. If, after this campaign, he stubbornly holds Seoul and does not retreat, it will be even more advantageous for us. At present, we are not afraid of the enemy stubbornly holding Seoul and the area north of the 37th Parallel; our only fear is that he will withdraw from that line and hold the narrow area of Daegu and Busan. However, the latter possibility does exist, and you must be prepared to deal with this situation.

Mao Zedong
December 29

[1] Filippov, i.e., Stalin.
[2] Xikang, a former province encompassing the western part of present-day Sichuan Province and the eastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, abolished in 1955.