Comments on a Report[I]

(January 2, 1952)

Comrade Liu Yalou:

(1) I approve your plan;[2]
(2) A long-range night bombing mission should be meticulously organized in the next few days, but it must not pass through the Panmunjom area.

Mao Zedong
23:00, January 2, 1952

[I] This is Mao Zedong’s comment on a report submitted at 13:00 on January 2, 1952, by Liu Yalou, Commander of the PLA Air Force; Wu Faxian, Deputy Political Commissar and Director of the Political Department; and Wang Bingzhang, Chief of Staff.

[2] This refers to the opinions put forward in the report by Liu Yalou and others. The report stated: In order to seize the opportunity and allow as many newly formed air force units as possible to gain combat training experience, each division or regiment should be rotated back to the rear after engaging in five or seven battles against enemy aircraft formations of equal size, so as to make room for other new units to enter combat. If the Korean War continues for a prolonged period, these air force units that have undergone training but have not yet reached full maturity may be redeployed to Andong. Based on the above principles, air force unit rotations should be arranged, and military, political, mechanical, logistical, and training cadres should continue to be sent to Andong for field internships, so as to further acquire knowledge and experience in organizing and commanding air force operations. Drawing on the experience of the 28th Regiment of the 10th Air Force Division, which conducted a nighttime raid on enemy positions near Taehwa Island last year, and given that the armistice negotiation deadline has now passed, consideration should be given to whether night bombers should be used to strike enemy airfields at Gimpo and Suwon, as well as the port of Incheon.