On the Great Victory in the North-West and on the New Type of Ideological Education Movement in the Liberation Army

#PUBLICATION NOTE

This edition of On the Great Victory in the North-West and on the New Type of Ideological Education Movement in the Liberation Army has been prepared and revised for digital publication by the Institute of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism under the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Switzerland on the basis of the following editions:

• On the Great Victory in the Northwest and on the New Type of Ideological Education Movement in the Liberation Army, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 4, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.
• Spokesperson for the Headquarters of the People's Liberation Army Discusses How the Great Victory at Yichuan Has Changed the Situation in the Northwest, in Mao's Road to Power, First English Edition, Vol. 10, Routledge, New York and London, 2023.

#INTRODUCTION NOTE

This is a comment drafted by Comrade Mao Zedong for the spokesperson of the General Headquarters of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Yangjiakou, Mizhi, Shaanxi, China. It was first published by the New China News Agency on the 7th of March, 1948.

At that time, the enemy offensive in the North-Western theatre of war had been smashed, and the people's army had gone over to its own offensive. This commentary analysed the situation in the North-Western theatre and also outlined conditions in the other theatres of war. More importantly, it stressed the great significance of the new type of ideological education movement in the army, carried out by the methods of «pouring out grievances» and of the «Three Checkups». This new type of movement was an important development of the political work and the democratic movement in the People's Liberation Army. It was the reflection in the army of the movements for land reform and Party consolidation then vigorously proceeding in all the Liberated Areas. This movement greatly enhanced the political consciousness, discipline, and combat effectiveness of all officers and soldiers. At the same time, it most effectively sped up the process of reforming large numbers of captured Nationalist soldiers into Liberation Army fighters. Thus, it played an important role in consolidating and expanding the People's Liberation Army and in ensuring victories in the field.

#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!

#ON THE GREAT VICTORY IN THE NORTH-WEST AND ON THE NEW TYPE OF IDEOLOGICAL EDUCATION MOVEMENT IN THE LIBERATION ARMY

#COMMENT BY THE SPOKESPERSON OF THE GENERAL HEADQUARTERS OF THE CHINESE PEOPLE'S LIBERATION ARMY

#Mao Zedong

#Before the 7th of March, 1948

#★

The recent great victory of the North-Western People's Liberation Army has changed the situation in the North-West and will affect the situation in the Central Plains. It has proved that, through the new type of ideological education movement in the army by the methods of «pouring out grievances» and of the «Three Checkups», the People's Liberation Army will make itself invincible.

On this occasion, the North-Western People's Liberation Army suddenly encircled an enemy brigade at Yichuan, and Hu Zongnan ordered Liu Kan, Commander of his 29th Corps, to rush four brigades of two reorganized divisions from the Luochuan-Yijun line to the relief of Yichuan. They were the 31st and 47th Brigades of the Reorganized 27th Division and the 53rd and 61st Brigades of the Reorganized 90th Division, totaling more than 24'000 troops; they reached the area south-west of Yichuan on the 28th of February. The North-Western People's Liberation Army started a battle of annihilation, and in 30 hours of fighting on the 29th of February and 1st of March, completely wiped out these reinforcements, letting none escape from the net. More than 18'000 troops were captured, and more than 5'000 were killed and wounded; Liu Kan himself, Yan Ming, Commander of the 90th Division, and other officers were killed. Then, on the 3rd of March, we captured Yichuan and here again wiped out over 5'000 troops of the 24th Brigade of the enemy's Reorganized 76th Division, which was defending the city. In this campaign, we wiped out, all told, one corps headquarters, two division headquarters, and five brigades of the enemy, a total of 30'000 troops. This is our first great victory in the North-Western theatre.

Of the 28 brigades of the so-called «Central Army» directly commanded by Hu Zongnan, eight belonged to his crack divisions, the Reorganized First, 36th, and 90th Divisions. Of these divisions, the First Brigade of the Reorganized First Division had been wiped out by us once before at Fushan, southern Shanxi, in September 1946, and the main force of the same division's 167th Brigade had been wiped out once at Panlong town, northern Shaanxi, in May last year; the 123rd and 165th Brigades of the Reorganized 36th Division had been wiped out once at Shajiatian in Mizhi County, northern Shaanxi, in August last year; and this time, the Reorganized 90th Division was also completely wiped out. Of the remainder of Hu Zongnan's main force, only the 78th Brigade of the Reorganized First Division and the 28th Brigade of the Reorganized 36th Division have not yet been wiped out. Hu Zongnan's whole army can therefore be said to have practically no more crack units. As a result of the Yichuan battle of annihilation, of the 28 regular brigades formerly under Hu Zongnan's direct command, only 23 are left. These 23 brigades are distributed in the following areas: one brigade, namely the 30th Brigade of the Reorganized 30th Division, at Linfen in southern Shanxi, is immobilized and doomed; nine brigades are on the Shaanxi-Henan border and along the Luoyang-Tongguan line, namely, three brigades of the Reorganized First Army, three brigades of the Reorganized 36th Division, one brigade and four regiments of the Reorganized 65th Division, and two brigades of the 206th Division of the Youth Army, to cope with our field army under Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi; and another brigade in southern Shaanxi is guarding the Hanzhong area. The remaining 12 brigades are distributed along the T-shaped communication lines from Tongguan to Baoji and from Xianyang to Yan'an. Of these, three are «reserve brigades», the 144th Brigade of the Reorganized 76th Division, the 84th Brigade of the Reorganized 17th Division, and the 17th Brigade of the Reorganized 38th Division, composed entirely of recruits; two have been completely wiped out by our army and replenished recently, namely, the New First Brigade of the Reorganized 76th Division and the 135th Brigade of the Reorganized 15th Division; another two have received crushing blows from us, namely, the New Second Brigade and the Cavalry Brigade; and five have received relatively few blows, namely, the Temporary Second Brigade, the 83rd Brigade, the 12th and 48th Brigades of the Reorganized 17th Division, and the 27th Brigade of the Reorganized 30th Division. It can be seen that, not only are these forces very weak, but also they are mostly on garrison duty. In addition to Hu Zongnan's army, there are two brigades under Deng Baoshan defending Yulin, while nine brigades under Ma Hongkui of Ningxia Province and Ma Bufang of Qinghai Province are distributed in the Sanbian and Longtong areas.¹ All the regular troops under Hu Zongnan, Deng Baoshan, and the two Mas now total 34 brigades, including the units replenished after having been wiped out once or twice.

That is how things stand with the enemy in the North-West. To return to the T-shaped communication lines, of those five brigades which have received relatively few blows, two are hemmed in at Yan'an and three are in the Greater Guanzhong Area.² As for the other brigades there, most of them have been recently replenished, and a few have received crushing blows. In other words, the enemy's forces in the whole Greater Guanzhong Area and especially in Gansu Province are very sparse and weak and cannot possibly stop the offensive of the People's Liberation Army. This situation is bound to affect some of the dispositions of Jiang Jieshi's forces on the southern front and, first of all, his dispositions against our field army under Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi on the Henan-Shaanxi border. In its present southward drive, the North-Western People's Liberation Army has won victory as soon as its banner was displayed, gained resounding fame, and changed the relation of forces between the enemy and ourselves in the North-West; from now on, it will be able to fight even more effectively in coordination with the forces of the People's Liberation Army on the southern fronts.

Since last summer and autumn, our three field armies, commanded respectively by Liu Bocheng and Deng Xiaoping, Chen Yi and Su Yu, and Chen Geng and Xie Fuzhi, have advanced south across the Yellow River, swept through the length and breadth of the territory enclosed by the Yangzi, Huai, Yellow, and Han Rivers, wiped out large numbers of enemy troops, manipulated and drawn towards themselves some 90 out of the 160-odd brigades which Jiang Jieshi has on the southern front, forced his armies into a passive position, played a decisive strategic role, and won the acclaim of the people all over the country.³ In its winter offensive, our North-Eastern Field Army braved bitter cold of -30°, annihilated most of the enemy troops, captured one well-known city after another, and won resounding fame throughout the country.⁴ After wiping out large numbers of enemy troops in heroic battles last year,⁵ our field armies in the Shanxi-Chaha'er-Hebei area, Shandong, northern Jiangsu, and the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan area completed their training and consolidation last winter, and they will soon unfold their spring offensive.⁶ A review of the whole situation proves one truth. Provided we firmly oppose conservatism, fear of the enemy, and fear of difficulties, and provided we follow the general strategy of the Party's Central Committee and its directive on the «Ten Major Principles of Operation»,⁷ we can unfold our offensives, wipe out vast numbers of enemy troops, and strike such blows at the forces of the Jiang Jieshi bandit gang that they can only parry them for a time without being able to hit back, or that they cannot even parry our blows and will be completely wiped out, one after another.

The combat effectiveness of our North-Western Field Army is far higher than at any time last year.⁸ In last year's fighting, the North-Western Field Army could destroy at most two enemy brigades at a time; now, in the Yichuan Campaign, it has been able to wipe out five enemy brigades at one time. The reasons for this outstanding victory were many, among which we should point out the firm yet flexible command of the leading comrades at the front, the energetic support given by the leading comrades and the broad masses in the rear, the relative isolation of the enemy troops, and a terrain favourable to us. What is most noteworthy, however, is the new type of ideological education movement in the army, which was carried out for more than two months last winter by the methods of «pouring out grievances» and the «Three Checkups». The correct unfolding of the movement for «pouring out grievances» (the wrongs done to the working people by the old society and by the reactionaries) and the «Three Checkups» (on class origin, performance of duty, and will to fight) greatly heightened the political consciousness of commanders and fighters throughout the army in the fight for the emancipation of the exploited working masses, for nationwide land reform, and for the destruction of the common enemy of the people, the Jiang Jieshi bandit gang. It also greatly strengthened the firm unity of all commanders and fighters under the leadership of the Communist Party. On this basis, the army achieved greater purity in its ranks, strengthened discipline, unfolded a mass movement for training, and further developed its political, economic, and military democracy in a completely well-led and orderly way. Thus, the army has become united as one, with everybody contributing their ideas and their strength, fearless of sacrifice and capable of overcoming material difficulties, an army which displays mass heroism and daring in destroying the enemy. Such an army will be invincible.

It is not only in the North-West that this new type of ideological education movement in the army has been carried out; it has been, or is being, carried on in the People's Liberation Army throughout the country. Conducted between battles, the movement does not interfere with fighting. Taking in conjunction with the movement for Party consolidation and the land reform movement now being correctly carried out by our Party, taking in coordination with our Party's correct policy of narrowing the scope of attack by opposing only imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism, by strictly forbidding beating and killing without discrimination (the fewer killings, the better), and by firmly uniting the masses of the people who make up over 90% of the country's population, and taking in coordination with the application of our Party's correct urban policy and its policy of firmly protecting and developing the industry and commerce of the national bourgeoisie, this ideological education movement is bound to make the People's Liberation Army invincible. However desperate the exertions of the Jiang Jieshi bandit gang and its master, US imperialism, against the great struggle of the Chinese people's democratic revolution, victory will certainly be ours.