Chapter 70 Letter to Zhang Xueliang[1]

(October 5, 1936) Your Excellency Mr. Hanqing: It has been more than a year since the Chinese Communist Party suggested that all parties, factions, all walks of life, and all armies form the anti-Japanese national united front. In response, Hu Zongnan's [2] army was ordered to go deep into Shaanxi and Gansu to cooperate with the troops commanded by Mr. to expand the internecine civil war.We formally declare that in order to quickly implement the idea of ​​stopping the civil war and uniting in resisting Japan, as long as the Kuomintang troops do not block the Red Army’s way of resisting Japan or invade the Red Army’s anti-Japanese rear, we will first implement the cessation of attacks on the Kuomintang troops. When the Kuomintang authorities are awakened, only when the Kuomintang troops attack us will we retaliate as necessary in self-defense. This is also to promote the awareness of the Kuomintang authorities.Mr. is the leader of all the armies in the Northwest, and is an important person responsible for the divergence between the Civil War and the Anti-Japanese War. If you can take into account the way out at the critical moment in the history of the Chinese nation, I pray that you will make a decisive decision and immediately stop the attacks of the Northwest armies on the Red Army. I also pray for my opinion. Conveyed Mr. Chiang Kai-shek's immediate decision and exchanged official representatives to negotiate the specific conditions for the armistice and anti-Japanese war.Prepared a draft agreement between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party to resist Japan and save the nation [3], and submitted it to Zhuo Lan.Kou Shen is in dire straits, and I hope that Mr. Wang will draw it up quickly.

Mao Zedong Zhou Enlai October 5th According to the "Selected Letters of Mao Zedong" published by People's Publishing House in 1983. -------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------ note [1] Zhang Xueliang, courtesy name Hanqing.See note [10] on page 371 of this volume. [2] Hu Zongnan (1896-1962), a native of Xiaofeng, Zhejiang (now Anji County).At that time, he was the commander of the First Army of the Kuomintang Army. [3] See pages 446-448 of this volume.