On the Rear Supply Lines [I]
(April 28, 1954)
Comrades Peng Dehuai and Huang Kecheng:
At present, the greatest potential danger in Vietnam does not seem to lie south of Dien Bien Phu, but rather along our army’s rear supply lines. Should the enemy parachute two paratrooper battalions onto the most critical points of these lines and establish fortified positions there, the entire supply route could be severed. If our forces are unable to swiftly annihilate this enemy force, the protracted nature of the conflict might compel our troops at Dien Bien Phu to withdraw. The Military Commission’s previous telegram did indeed anticipate the possibility of the enemy seizing the supply lines, yet it did not emphasize this sufficiently and treated it on an equal footing with the Luang Prabang direction. I therefore request that you give this matter further consideration and instruct the Vietnamese side to promptly redeploy the necessary troops to appropriate areas specifically to counter such contingencies, so as to prevent the Dien Bien Phu campaign from coming to naught.
Mao Zedong
April 28
Chuan
This is a letter written by Mao Zedong to Comrade Peng Dehuai, Vice Chairman of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission of the Central People’s Government, and to Comrade Huang Kecheng, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the People’s Revolutionary Military Commission and Minister of the General Logistics Department.