Chapter 91 Considerations on the Time for Our Army to Cross the River

(April 14, 1949) The general front committee also told the second field and the third field: (1) The instruction telegram [1] written by the General Front Committee is very good.Please follow this instruction and explain to the cadres above the division the reasons for postponing the time of crossing the river, strengthen preparations for battle, and raise more food, grass, oil and salt. (2) The time for crossing the river is still implemented according to April 22 (Maoyang) and should not be changed.But it is possible to postpone it for a few more days, that is, to April 25 (Maoyou), or April 27 (Maogan) at the latest.Whether this is the case will not be confirmed until around April 18th.

(3) Negotiations have reached the formal stage since yesterday (thirteenth). Our draft agreement has been handed over to Zhang Zhizhong's delegation[2], and a formal meeting was held by the two delegations.Zhang Zhizhong and others expressed their acceptance of our draft in principle, and only had opinions on individual issues.However, whether Li, He, Bai, Gu[3] and others in Nanjing can reject the interference of the United States and Chiang Kai-shek (this type of interference has now been intensified) and are willing to accept it is still uncertain.We now want Li, He, Yu Youren, Ju Zheng, Tong Guanxian [4] and other five people to come to Peking to discuss together.If they do not come, Zhang Zhizhong will send people back to Nanjing to seek advice.If Nanjing refuses to sign at all, then Zhang Zhizhong's delegation will be sought to sign, and then our army will cross the river to coerce Nanjing to approve it.If Nanjing was threatened by the United States and Chiang Kai-shek without ratifying it, and fled to Guilin, the agreement would be announced and all Kuomintang peacemakers (more than 100 legislators in the Nanjing Legislative Yuan alone believed that peace should be made no matter what, and that it was not The communist army crossing the river cannot solve the problem) Support the implementation of the agreement.In case even Zhang Zhizhong did not dare to sign, then there is a reason for it. We can publish the draft agreement to win the sympathy of the people, the peacemakers and patriots in the Kuomintang, which is very beneficial to our army's southward advance.The loss of our army is only a delay of seven or ten days or at most twelve days (maogan).

(4) Soseki [5] has arrived, and he will often inform the General Front Committee of the situation here.Liu Xiao[6] also arrived.Rao and Liu are discussing Shanghai's economic issues with democrats in Shanghai's industrial circles, and studying the experience of Ping'an and Tianjin. When you start crossing the river, you will return to the Ministry. Military Commission Mao Han Published according to Mao Zedong's manuscript. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Refers to the instruction telegram of the General Front Committee on April 12, 1949 to the Second and Third Field Army Front Committees and the party committees of each corps on issues related to delaying the one-week crossing of the river.The telegram pointed out that our army's postponement of crossing the river for a week is a political and military step that must be taken, but it is also prone to the danger of lax fighting will and losing direction, so we must explain to the cadres above the division that the postponement of crossing reasons and the preparations that should be done.

[2] Refers to the peace talks delegation of the Kuomintang government with Zhang Zhizhong as the chief representative. [3] Li, referring to Li Zongren, who was acting president of the Kuomintang government at that time.He refers to He Yingqin, who was the president of the Executive Yuan of the Kuomintang government at that time.Bai refers to Bai Chongxi, who was then the chief of the Central China Military and Political Chief Office of the Kuomintang Army.Gu, referring to Gu Zhutong, who was then Chief of Staff of the Kuomintang Army. [4] Yu Youren (1879-1964), a native of Sanyuan, Shaanxi, was the president of the Kuomintang government's Supervisory Council at that time.Juzheng (1876-1951), a native of Guangji (now Wuxue), Hubei, was a member of the Supervisory Council of the Kuomintang government at that time.Tong Guanxian (1894-1981), a native of Xuanhua, Hebei, was the president of the Legislative Yuan of the Kuomintang government at that time.

[5] Shushi, that is, Rao Shushi, was the secretary of the East China Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the political commissar of the East China Military Region. [6] Liu Xiao (1908-1988), born in Chenxi, Hunan.At that time, he was Secretary of the Shanghai Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.