Chapter 73 The troops going south[1] should establish a base based on the Wuling Mountains

(June 24, 1945) Comrades from the Party Committee of the Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi Districts, and the Military and Political Committee of the Hunan People's Anti-Japanese and National Salvation Army: (1) Concentrating our forces in areas ruled by the Kuomintang and repeatedly fighting major battles with superior Kuomintang forces is not only disadvantageous militarily but also politically. (2) The strategic policy of our army is to carry out scattered guerrilla warfare in the areas occupied by the Japanese aggressors, establish and expand liberated areas, shrink occupied areas, establish and expand armies, guerrillas, and militias, and weaken the enemy, puppet, and allied enemies to attack us The stubborn army.The Kuomintang army should not take the stand of self-defense. Only when the Kuomintang army attacks us and hinders our war of resistance against Japan in enemy-occupied areas, and when the ratio of troops is favorable, can we concentrate a considerable number of troops and take the stand of self-defense. The purpose of counterattacking and winning is also to facilitate our party's establishment of liberated areas in enemy-occupied areas.The cadres and soldiers should not be instilled with the idea of ​​fighting recalcitrant troops exclusively or mainly, but should instill in them the idea of ​​fighting mainly enemy and puppet troops and only fighting recalcitrant troops from the standpoint of self-defense, so as to improve their ability to establish liberated areas in enemy-occupied areas. awareness and emotions.

(3) It should be estimated that there is only one and a half years before the collapse of the Japanese aggressors, and time is running out. It is currently possible to establish liberated areas in the Heng, Bao, Tan, and Li areas of Hunan, but after the collapse of the Japanese aggressors To continue to exist, to persevere, will be difficult.At that time, our army was in an extremely difficult position, and it might even be forced to return to the north. Moreover, it could not be integrated with the Guangdong forces[3], which violated the strategic intention of establishing a situation on the southern wing so as to contain the Kuomintang wing when the Kuomintang launched a civil war.This policy is different regionally from what we told you in Yenan, but we think it is correct.

(4) Therefore, your existing main force and the follow-up troops of Zhang and Wen[4] should take the enemy-occupied area to the south (via the enemy's and stubborn joints, and take the "Zigzag" road) until the Hunan-Guangdong border connects with the Guangdong troops , and plans to divide the troops and cadres into several parts, on the border of Guangdong and Jiangxi with Sannan[5] as the center, in Yizhang, Pingshi, Lechang, and Nanxiong areas, in Chenzhou, Daozhou[6], In the Linwu, Lanshan, and Lienxian areas, in the Hunan-Guangxi border area centered on Yongming[7], Guanyang, and Gongcheng (if occupied by the enemy and puppet troops), many guerrilla bases were scattered and gradually became consolidated bases.Prepare all conditions so that when the Japanese invaders collapse and the Kuomintang launches a civil war, our army can persist and develop based on the Wuling [8] mountain range, prepare to be cut off, and prepare to fight independently. The only direct reliance is your internal unity, yourselves The correct military policy and the correct policy of uniting the people.If you make big mistakes in these policies, you must accept the result of failure. This must be anticipated, and the most difficult, dangerous, and darkest possible situations must be anticipated. From this point, you must overcome difficulties and strive for light. Situation with victory.

(5) All leading cadres must be very modest, refrain from arrogance, be very cautious, refrain from impetuosity, be very united, avoid and gradually eliminate possible differences of opinion, carry out democratic discussions in committees as conditions permit, gather the opinions of the majority of comrades, and then resolutely execute it. (6) The overall situation is in my favor now. As long as the party can unite, don't lose the opportunity, and don't make major mistakes in policy, we believe that you will be able to complete the great task assigned to you by the central government. We hope to send you your opinions.

central Published at 16:00 on June 24 based on Mao Zedong's manuscript. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Southward Troops refers to the Eighth Route Army’s independent first guerrilla detachment led by Wang Zhen and Wang Shoudao (commonly known as the southward detachment) and the Eighth Route Army’s second and third guerrilla detachments led by Zhang Qilong and Wen Niansheng.The Nanxia Detachment occupied Pingjiang County, Hunan Province in late March 1945, and publicly called it the Hunan People's Anti-Japanese National Salvation Army.

[2] Heng, Bao, Tan, and Li refer to Hengyang, Baoqing (now Shaoyang), Xiangtan, and Liling in Hunan. [3] Refers to the anti-Japanese armed forces such as the Dongjiang Column of the Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrilla led by the Communist Party of China. [4] Zhang, refers to Zhang Qilong (1900-1987), from Liuyang, Hunan; Wen, refers to Wen Niansheng (1906-1968), from Yueyang, Hunan.They led the second and third guerrilla detachments of the Eighth Route Army, which consisted of the second echelon of the 359th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army and the first part of the garrison brigade of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia-Shanxi-Sui joint defense army, from Yan'an on June 18, 1945. Set off south.

[5] Sannan refers to the three counties of Qiannan (now Quannan), Longnan and Dingnan in the south of Jiangxi. [6] Daozhou, now Daoxian County, Hunan Province. [7] Yongming, now Jiangyong County, Hunan. [8] Wuling is the general name of Yuecheng Ridge, Dupang Ridge, Mengzhu Ridge, Qitian Ridge and Dageng Ridge located on the borders of Guangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces.