Chapter 79 Warm congratulations on the victory of the Huaihai Campaign[1]

(January 20, 1949) Comrades Liu Bocheng, Chen Yi, Deng Xiaoping, Rao Shushi, Zhang Yunyi, Su Yu, Tan Zhenlin, Chen Geng [2], all comrades of the East China People's Liberation Army and the Central Plains People's Liberation Army: The Huaihai Campaign began on November 6 last year and ended in complete victory on January 10 this year.During these sixty-five days of combat, you wiped out all five armies and ten divisions of the Huang Baitao Corps[3], the main force of the reactionary Kuomintang government on the southern front, and all four armies and eleven divisions of the Huangwei Corps[4]. One division uprising), Du Yuming led the three corps of Qiu Qingquan, Li Mi, and Sun Yuanliang[5] out of twelve armies and thirty-one divisions (including a cavalry brigade), Feng Zhian[6] two armies One division (three and a half divisions revolted inside), one division of Liu Ruming's[7] department, two divisions of one corps under Sun Liangcheng's[8] department, one division each of the Suxian and Lingbi defenders, and a total of 24 corps six of the regular army. Eleven divisions, together with other troops, wiped out a total of more than 530,000 enemy troops.You captured war criminals Du Yuming, deputy commander-in-chief of the Kuomintang Xuzhou "Bandit Suppression" General Headquarters, Huang Wei, commander of the 12th Corps of the Kuomintang, and many other senior generals of the Kuomintang army, and killed Huang Baitao, commander of the 7th Corps of the Kuomintang.You repelled the reinforcements of Li Yannian[9] and Liu Ruming's corps and forced them to flee along the river, thus completely liberating the area north of the Huaihe River and bringing most of the Huainan area under our control.You achieved such a great victory in the Battle of Huaihai, just like the great victories of the Northeast People's Liberation Army in the battles of Jinzhou, Changchun, Liaoxi, and Shenyang. Surrounding the enemy's several corps, they wiped out sixty-one enemy divisions in a row (four and a half divisions revolted).Since the Battle of Huaihai wiped out the main force of the Kuomintang army on the southern front, this has laid a solid foundation for you to cross the south of the Yangtze River to capture Nanjing, the nest of Kuomintang bandits, and liberate the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China would like to extend warm congratulations and condolences to all the commanders, combatants, front and rear service staff, guerrilla troops, militiamen and other personnel who participated in this great battle.At the same time, let me tell you: Although the main force of the enemy has been wiped out, the remnants of the enemy are still trying to resist, and the Nanjing puppet government is still arranging the so-called "Beijing-Shanghai decisive battle".The Nanjing puppet government launched a counter-revolutionary war, massacred millions of people, and oppressed workers, farmers, soldiers, academics, and business people from all walks of life under the so-called "suppression of bandits" and "reconnaissance of rebellions".For all these, the Nanjing puppet government has reaped its own consequences, the main force has been wiped out, the people have deserted their relatives, and the puppet government's rule has reached an unsustainable state.Under such circumstances, the Nanjing puppet government was stepped forward by the war criminals Chiang Kai-shek and Sun Ke[10], while proposing hypocritical and reactionary peace conditions, while arranging the so-called "Beijing-Shanghai decisive battle" in an attempt to prevent the People's Liberation Army from crossing the river and preserve the gang The remnants of the forces obtained aid from the U.S. imperialists, recuperated, and then launched an attack on the People's Liberation Army and wiped out the People's Liberation Army.This conspiracy has now been fully exposed.Now the people of the whole country have completely lost trust in the Nanjing puppet government, and there is no room for the puppet government to continue to exist.Although the chieftains of the puppet government wanted to love the inn, it was impossible.In order to enable the people of the whole country to achieve peace at an early date, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China has proposed eight genuine democratic peace conditions to the Nanjing puppet government and is waiting for the reply from the Nanjing puppet government.If they agree to these conditions, you should enter Nanjing peacefully, accept all powers of the Nanjing puppet government on behalf of the Chinese people, and wait for the democratic coalition government to be established.If they do not agree to these conditions, it will prove that their so-called peace proposal is nothing but a hoax, and you should order the Nanking puppet government to surrender.If they are unwilling to surrender, you should annihilate them.While waiting for the puppet government of Nanjing to reply to our peace proposal, temporarily attack the north bank of the Yangtze River and plan to cross the river, but do not cross the river immediately, so as to give the puppet government of Nanjing a chance to consider making peace.

Here is one thing to tell you: no matter the war, war criminals must be arrested.The first of our eight peace conditions is to punish war criminals.At present, there are still the number one war criminals Chiang Kai-shek, Li Zongren, Sun Ke, He Yingqin, Wu Tiecheng, Wang Shijie, Dai Chuanxian, Zhang Qun, Chen Guofu, Chen Lifu, Weng Wenhao, Wang Yunwu, Zhang Lisheng, Zhu Jiahua, Gu Zhutong, Liu Zhi, Yu Hanmou, etc. Zhou Zhirou, Wang Shuming, Gui Yongqing, Tang Enbo, Tao Xisheng and other heinous accomplices, such as Hu Shi, Zheng Jiemin, Ye Xiufeng and others, attempted to continue doing evil.You should spy on their movements now, so that you can seize the opportunity to arrest them all and hand them over to the people's courts for conviction, whether they are advancing peacefully or solving them in battle.All fugitive war criminals, even if they escape to the ends of the earth, must be pursued and brought to justice, and will never be forgiven.As for the absolute majority of personnel (accounting for more than 90%) serving in the system of the puppet party and puppet government, a lenient policy should be adopted, exempt from prosecution, and can be recruited according to their merits and transferred to serve the people's government .For those who have committed crimes in the past and have now completely repented, and are willing to extricate themselves from the puppet side, or are willing to cooperate internally and externally to assist our army in attacking the city and annihilating the enemy when the puppet side is unwilling to settle peacefully, they should be allowed to pay for their merits and be allowed to comply. Rewards will be given according to the circumstances.In short, you should follow the three principles announced by the People's Liberation Army Headquarters long ago that the perpetrator must be dealt with, the coercion will not be questioned, and the meritorious will be rewarded, and handle it properly.

The broad masses of people from all walks of life in industry, agriculture, military, education, and business in the area south of the Yangtze River are now in dire straits. It is very urgent for you to go and help them achieve liberation. Your responsibility is still very heavy.I hope that you will unite as one, continue to work hard, and strive to complete the great task of liberating Nanjing and the Jiangnan area! Central Committee of the Communist Party of China January 20, 1949 Printed from originals kept at the Central Archives. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------

note [1] Most of this telegram was added and rewritten by Mao Zedong. [2] Liu Bocheng, then commander of the Central Plains Field Army.Chen Yi was then the first deputy commander of the Central Plains Field Army, commander and political commissar of the East China Field Army.Deng Xiaoping, then political commissar of the Central Plains Field Army.Rao Shushi was then a political commissar of the East China Military Region.Zhang Yunyi (1893-1974), a native of Wenchang, Guangdong (now part of Hainan Province), was the deputy commander of the East China Military Region at that time.Su Yu was acting commander and acting political commissar of the East China Field Army at that time.Tan Zhenlin was then the deputy political commissar of the East China Field Army.Chen Geng was the commander of the Fourth Column of the Central Plains Field Army at that time.

[3] Refers to the Seventh Corps of the Kuomintang Army under the command of Huang Baitao. [4] Refers to the 12th Corps of the Kuomintang Army under the command of Huang Wei. [5] Refers to the Second Corps, Thirteenth Corps and Sixteenth Corps of the Kuomintang Army with Qiu Qingquan, Li Mi, and Sun Yuanliang as commanders respectively. [6] Feng Zhi'an was originally the commander of the third appeasement area of ​​the Kuomintang army. [7] Liu Ruming, then commander of the Eighth Corps of the Kuomintang Army. [8] Sun Liangcheng, former deputy commander of the 1st Appeasement District of the Kuomintang Army and commander of the 107th Army.

[9] Li Yannian was the commander of the Sixth Corps of the Kuomintang Army at that time. [10] Sun Ke (1891-1973), born in Xiangshan (now Zhongshan City), Guangdong.At that time, he was the president of the Executive Yuan of the Kuomintang government.