Telegram Concerning the Concentration of the 45th and 46th Armies for Comprehensive Training to Prepare for Any Eventuality (January 9, 1951)

To Deng, Tan, and Zhao [1], and inform Ye and Fang [2]:

Your telegram of January 6 has been received.

(1) The suppression of bandits in Guangxi is progressing smoothly. According to Tao Zhu [3], the bandit suppression in the two key areas, north and south, should be completed before March. In this case, the 45th Army should concentrate in Wuzhou for comprehensive training within March, and the 46th Army in Hunan should concentrate along the Chenzhou-Hengyang line for comprehensive training within February. As long as these two armies can concentrate in the aforementioned areas within February and March, they can prepare for any eventuality.

(2) What is the situation of the 48th Army in southern Jiangxi? If there is an urgent need, can this army also be transferred to Guangdong? Please inform us.

(3) After the 21st Army Corps completes its bandit suppression work in the two key areas, north and south, of Guangxi, if there is no urgent need in Guangdong, it should be deployed to northwestern Guangxi for bandit suppression to gain experience. Otherwise, it should also concentrate in Wuzhou for comprehensive training. A decision on what to do should be made at that time.

(4) Is the bandit suppression work in Guangdong now being carried out with particular intensity? Why have there been no reports of achievements in bandit suppression for a long time? Please have Ye and Fang investigate and report by telegram.

Mao Zedong
January 9
Printed according to the original handwritten document preserved in the Central Archives.

Notes:
[1] Deng refers to Deng Zihui, then Third Secretary of the CCP Central South Bureau and Second Political Commissar of the Central South Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Tan refers to Tan Zheng, then Deputy Secretary of the CCP Central South Bureau and Third Political Commissar of the Central South Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Zhao refers to Zhao Erlu, then Chief of Staff of the Central South Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.
[2] Ye refers to Ye Jianying, then First Secretary of the CCP South China Sub-Bureau, Commander and Political Commissar of the Guangdong Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Fang refers to Fang Fang, then Third Secretary of the CCP South China Sub-Bureau.
[3] Tao Zhu, then a member of the Standing Committee of the CCP Central South Bureau and Director of the Political Department of the Central South Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, was sent to Guangxi to assist in bandit suppression work.