Chapter 48 North Korea must make long-term plans

(December 21, 1950) Comrade Dehuai[1] also told Comrade Gao Gang[2] and Song and Tao[3]: Telegram at 24:00 on the 19th.The answer is as follows: (1) Under the circumstances you mentioned, it is more appropriate for the Ninth Corps to rest in the Hamhung area, transport only the seriously wounded and sick back to the Northeast, and take out cadres to go back to the Northeast to train recruits. (2) Yang Dezhi's department [4] has now concentrated in the area between Xuzhou and Jinan, held a cadre meeting, and Mr. Zhu [5] went to speak.If necessary, there is no problem in going to war in mid-March.At present, it is still appropriate to train between Xu and Ji for a period of time.One month before it is to be used, it can be sent to Shenyang and Anton [6] to replenish a new recruit (the corps has nine divisions, and each division has an average of only more than 6,000 people, which is extremely insufficient), such as the friendly [7] equipment At that time, the equipment can be replaced and North Korea can join the war. (3) Your estimate of the enemy's situation is correct.Long-term planning is necessary. (4) The United States and Britain are making use of the old impression of the 38th parallel[8] in people's minds to carry out their political propaganda and try to lure us into a truce. Therefore, our army crosses the 38th parallel to fight another battle at this time, and then rest and reorganize. necessary. (5) The method of fighting completely agrees with your opinion, that is, the US and British troops are currently concentrated in the Seoul area, which is not conducive to attacking. I should only use the puppet troops to fight.Generally speaking, as long as all or most of the puppet troops can be wiped out, the U.S. military will be isolated and it is impossible to stay in North Korea for a long time.If we can annihilate a few more divisions of the US military, the North Korean issue will be resolved better.As far as this battle is concerned, if the development goes well and food can be found, more puppet troops may be found and wiped out in the Chuncheon, Gapyeong, and Hongcheon areas. (6) Before the start of a battle, whenever possible, rest for a few days to recover from fatigue, and then go into battle.This was the case before the attack on the False First Division and the False Sixth Division, and it was also the same before the attack on Chuncheon.In short, the initiative is in my hands, and I can fight calmly without exhausting the troops. (7) If things go wrong, the troops should be withdrawn at the right time, rest and reorganize at an appropriate place and fight again. This opinion is also correct. (8) It is extremely necessary to increase the number of cars and expressly transport cotton-padded shoes, overcoats, cotton-padded clothes, and blankets.Comrade Gao Gang please try to solve it.

Mao Zedong December 21st Printed from manuscript. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Dehuai, that is, Peng Dehuai, was the commander and political commissar of the Chinese People's Volunteers at that time. [2] Gao Gang, then the commander and political commissar of the Northeast Military Region of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. [3] Song, referring to Song Shilun, who was then the commander and political commissar of the Ninth Corps of the Chinese People's Volunteers.Tao, referring to Tao Yong (1912-1967), a native of Huoqiu, Anhui Province, was the deputy commander of the Ninth Corps of the Chinese People's Volunteers at that time.

[4] Refers to the 19th Corps of the Chinese People's Liberation Army under the command of Yang Dezhi. [5] Refers to Zhu De. [6] Anton, now Dandong City. [7] Refers to the Soviet Union. [8] 38th line, see note [5] on page 99 of this volume.