To Wang Zhen\[1\]
(February 25, 1951)

Wang Zhen, and inform the Northwest Bureau and the Northwest Military Region:

Your telegram of the 22nd\[2\] has been received. Since the advance unit is encountering such difficulties, please consider withdrawing this unit back to Xinjiang after the mountain passes open. Thereafter, Xinjiang will be relieved of the task of entering Tibet. Do you agree with this course of action? Awaiting your reply.

The Military Commission
February 25

\[1\] Wang Zhen was then serving as Secretary of the Xinjiang Sub-bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Acting Commander and Acting Political Commissar of the Xinjiang Military Region of the People's Liberation Army.
\[2\] This refers to Wang Zhen's telegram of February 22, 1951, to the Military Commission, the Northwest Bureau, the Northwest Military Region, and requested to be forwarded to the Southwest Military Region. The telegram stated that the advance unit of the Xinjiang Independent Cavalry Division tasked with entering Tibet had already stationed itself at Zhamamangbao in the Sengkeri District of northern Tibet. The area is over 4,000 meters above sea level, the weather is highly changeable, alternating between cold and hot, the air is thin, both men and horses experience difficulty breathing, and the number of sick personnel is gradually increasing. According to a report from the advance unit, out of its 135 personnel, 6 have died of illness, 34 are currently sick, and the sickness and death of horses is even more severe. In addition to offering consolation and encouragement to the advance unit entering Tibet, we have instructed them to conduct medical examinations and treatment, and ordered the Health Department of the Military Region to research preventive and treatment methods, and to send supplementary medicines after the mountain passes open.