Chapter 57 Concentrate on the development of armed forces and establish anti-Japanese base areas

(January 28, 1940) The Northern Bureau, the Shandong Branch Bureau, the 115th Division, and the Central Plains Bureau, Peng Xuefeng, Xiang Ying, Chen Yi[1]: A. On December 9, the central government sent a long telegram asking you to develop hundreds of thousands of troops and organize millions of self-defense troops throughout Shandong and central China.The Central Plains Bureau has learned that it is going on, but Shandong and the 115th Division have not responded yet. I wonder if you agree? Can it be done? B. The development of the current situation fully proves that only by extensively developing the revolutionary armed forces to coordinate with the work of the whole country can capitulation and anti-communism be stopped, the united front consolidated, and the situation turned for the better.At present, only Shandong and Central China are the main areas that can develop armed forces.

C. Therefore, please pay serious attention to this matter and make the development of armed forces the center of all your work.Within this year, the Shandong Branch Bureau and the 115th Division should at least develop armed forces (including guerrillas) to 150,000 guns (the 115th Division should allocate cadres and troops to the whole of Shandong), and the Central Plains Bureau should develop at least 150,000 guns. One hundred thousand guns, according to this general goal, will be achieved in specific stages.According to people from Shandong, there are a lot of guns in Shandong, and this number should be realized. According to Hu Fu[2]'s telegram, the Central Plains can grow to 100,000 in half a year, but the specific plan is for you to decide.

D. Without the extensive development of the Self-Defense Forces, it is impossible to develop a large army and establish a solid base.Therefore, an organized and well-trained anti-Japanese self-defense army must be at least ten times larger than the regular army and guerrillas.For example, if there are 150,000 troops in Shandong, there must be at least 1.5 million to 2 million self-defense troops in an organized and trained manner; there are 100,000 troops in central China, and there must be at least 1 million to 1.5 million self-defense troops.Now your Self-Defense Forces are too small. E. It is impossible to build such a large armed force without political power.Therefore, we must use a firm and step-by-step plan to try our best to win most of the political power in Shandong, eastern Henan, northern Anhui, and northern Jiangsu into the hands of us and the progressives.

It is a serious struggle process to fight for such an army, self-defense army and political power, so rational and beneficial friction cannot be avoided.I must resolutely fight back against the reactionary forces and diehards who hinder the development of the anti-Japanese progressive forces and attack me. In principle, I must not make any concessions to such people.And it is all progressive and relatively progressive forces that I should try my best to fight for and establish the anti-Japanese base areas with.For middle forces such as Yu Xuezhong and Li Mingyang[3], I should adopt a policy of neutralizing them.

Geng, the Kuomintang has a plan to send more troops into the Rusu theater, so you should speed up your deployment, and before they arrive, your position has been generally consolidated. Xin. Only by making all party cadres understand this correct line of development can we create a style of vigorously moving forward and realize this plan.Concentrating all your forces to fight for the development of armed forces and the establishment of base areas is your most important and most important task.We must make the cadres understand that without great revolutionary armed forces and great revolutionary base areas, victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan is impossible.

Central Secretariat January 28 Published according to Mao Zedong's manuscript. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Peng Xuefeng was then the commander and political commissar of the Sixth Detachment of the New Fourth Army.Xiang Ying was then the Secretary of the New Fourth Army Branch of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China and the Deputy Commander of the New Fourth Army.Chen Yi (1901-1972), born in Lezhi, Sichuan, was the commander of the Jiangnan Command of the New Fourth Army at that time. [2] Hu Fu, namely Liu Shaoqi.

[3] Yu Xuezhong (1890-1964), a native of Penglai, Shandong, was the commander-in-chief of the Lusu War Zone of the Kuomintang Army at that time.Li Mingyang (1890-1978), born in Xiaoxian County, Jiangsu Province (now part of Anhui Province), was the commander-in-chief of the guerrilla headquarters of the Kuomintang Army's Sulu-Anhui border area at that time.