Commentary on Nie Rongzhen’s Report〔1〕 Concerning Defenses Against Enemy Landings on Our Flanks and Rear, as Well as Various War-preparation Measures (December 11, 1952)  Read by Zhou once〔2〕; returned to Peng〔3〕 and the Nie Office. I concur with this deployment〔4〕. Urgent inspections should be carried out to ensure that the task is completed without fail. Mao Zedong, December 11. Printed from the manuscript.  With regard to the railways: strive to complete by the end of April the Gucheng–Gyochon line, and at the same time construct a mountain automobile road between Gyochon and Deokchon, together with a large number of warehouses, for preliminary reverse transportation and through traffic. Another wide highway must also be maintained between Gucheng and Gyochon. Efforts should be made to add another wide highway between Hichon and Deokchon. The two existing highways are to be widened. Considerable improvements are to be sought for the Manpo–Gyochon railway line. Printed from Mao Zedong’s manuscript.

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Notes 〔1〕 Nie Rongzhen was then acting Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. 〔2〕 Zhou refers to Zhou Enlai. Zhu refers to Zhu De. 〔3〕 Peng refers to Peng Dehuai, who at the time served as Vice Chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission and Commander and Political Commissar of the Chinese People’s Volunteers. 〔4〕 This refers to the specific deployment proposed by Nie Rongzhen in his report of December 10, 1952, addressed to Peng Dehuai and submitted to Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, and Lin Biao, concerning such matters as guarding against enemy landings on the flanks and rear of the Volunteer Army. The report stated that, in accordance with Mao Zedong’s assessment and resolve regarding the future course of the Korean war, a meeting had been convened on the afternoon of the 9th, bringing together the heads of relevant departments, to jointly study and discuss measures to prevent enemy landings on our forces’ flanks and rear in Korea, various war-preparation tasks, the construction and improvement of Korean railways, the mobilization of new recruits domestically, and the fortification of the Liaodong and Shandong peninsulas, resulting in the formulation of a concrete plan. 〔〕 Mao Zedong’s commentary was written beside the following passage in Nie Rongzhen’s report: “With regard to the construction and improvement of the Korean railways, after consultation with Teng Daiyuan and Lü Zhengcao, it is proposed first to build the section from Gucheng to Gyochon (87 kilometers) and the section from Gyochon to Deokchon (37.5 kilometers), while simultaneously improving the existing line from Jianshan to Gyochon.”