Comments on Nie Rongzhen’s〔1〕 Report Concerning the Relocation of the Central-South Military Region Southward〔2〕 (June 11, 1952) To be read by Zhou Lin〔3〕, then returned to Nie’s office. (1) It will suffice to deal with the situation in Hainan if the 43rd Army is stationed on Hainan Island and the 46th Army on the Leizhou Peninsula. The 44th Army should remain around Huizhou and not be moved. This arrangement allows for maneuverability between east and west; should any trouble arise on Hainan Island, it would still be timely to transfer the 44th Army there. (2) Zhao Erlu〔4〕 is to be reassigned as Minister of the Arms Industry and should not go to Guangdong. I have already discussed these two points with Tan and Zhao〔〕. As for the rest, I concur. Mao Zedong June 11 Based on the manuscript. Notes [1] Nie Rongzhen was at that time Acting Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. [2] Refers to the proposal to move the headquarters of the Central-South Military Region from Wuhan City to Guangzhou City. [ ] Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Lin refers to Lin Biao, who at the time served as Vice Chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission and Commander of the Central-South Military Region of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. [ ] Zhao Erlu was at the time Chief of Staff of the Central-South Military Region of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and was appointed on August 7, 1952 as Minister of the Second Ministry of Machine-Building Industry of the Central People’s Government. [ ] Tan refers to Tan Zheng, who at the time held the post of Third Political Commissar of the Central-South Military Region of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. Zhao refers to Zhao Erlu.