Chapter 61 North China should immediately turn on the defensive militarily

(March 16, 1940) Comrade Dehuai[1]: Yuandian [2] read it today.From a general point of view, we must avoid further conflicts with the Central Army in the Lingchuan and Linxian areas. If they advance, we should retreat northward. , otherwise it would be very unfavorable to me politically.At present, the focus of the struggle should be shifted to the Huaihe River Basin, because Li Pinxian [3] is now sending decent troops to oppress the Xuefeng and Hufu districts [4], and Chiang Kai-shek has paid attention to this area, trying to cut off our army from the New Fourth Army.The way out for our army in the future lies in the Central Plains. If we don't fight now, it will be even more difficult in the future.Therefore, it is proposed to transfer the 3rd, 4th, and 4th brigades between Longhai and Huaihe Rivers to assist Peng Xuefeng in establishing a base area and support Hu Fu. In the future, another brigade will be deployed to go deep into northern Jiangsu, so that the Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army can be integrated.This kind of action is to put a new problem in the east, so that Jiang and Wei [5] have to turn their attention to the east, and reduce their attention to North China, so that North China can be firmly consolidated.At present, the struggle in North China should urgently come to an automatic end, otherwise there is a danger of turning passive.Once our army has turned politically passive, Chiang Kai-shek will counterattack me politically, making a big publicity claim that I am unreasonable.The Zhu Huaibing incident[6], Jiang will also make use of it.He Yingqin [7] has already reported once at the permanent meeting of the Political Council [8].There will be five meetings of the Political Council next month, and he is now sending an inspection team from Luoyang and other places back to Sichuan, which will definitely make a big fuss.We should now be prepared to meet Chiang's new offensive politically. Therefore, militarily, we must stop immediately and turn to the defensive. The other army advances, our army retreats, does not shoot a single shot, and obeys orders to create a politically favorable position.Please consider seeing you again.

Zedong sixteenth Printed from manuscript. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Dehuai, that is, Peng Dehuai, was the deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army at that time. [2] Refers to the telegram sent by Peng Dehuai to Mao Zedong on March 13, 1940 (Yuan), which stated that Chiang Kai-shek and Wei Lihuang were oppressing Lin County steadily, and our army was going to fight back in a defensive posture, and then wiped out the others One or two armies, "in this way, the future may be improved, and at the same time, the danger of armed struggle may be expanded, but the expansion will not lead to a nationwide anti-communist war."

[3] Li Pinxian (1892-1987), a native of Cangwu, Guangxi.At that time, he was the deputy commander-in-chief of the Fifth Theater of the Kuomintang Army, the commander-in-chief of the 21st Army Group, and the chairman of the Anhui Provincial Government of the Kuomintang. [4] Refers to the Henan-Anhui-Soviet Border Region where Peng Xuefeng was the commander and political commissar of the Sixth Detachment of the New Fourth Army, and the Anhui-Anhui Anti-Japanese Base where Hu Fu (Liu Shaoqi) was the secretary of the Central Plains Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

[5] Jiang refers to Chiang Kai-shek.Wei, refers to Wei Lihuang, who was then the commander-in-chief of the first theater of the Kuomintang army. [6] Zhu Huaibing was the commander of the Ninety-seventh Army of the Kuomintang Army at that time.In February and March 1940, Chiang Kai-shek ordered him to gather Pang Bingxun, Zhang Yinwu, Hou Ruyong and other troops to attack the 129th Division of the Eighth Route Army in the Taihang Mountains in three routes, but was defeated by the Eighth Route Army. [7] He Yingqin, then Chief of Staff of the Military Commission of the Kuomintang Government and Minister of the Military and Political Department.

[8] The Political Council, referring to the National Political Council, was an advisory body established by the Kuomintang government during the Anti-Japanese War.In order to unite and resist Japan, the Chinese Communist Party sent representatives to participate in the Political Council.