Comrade Xiannian:1
Now is the time to try your utmost to improve [the relationship] between the Guomindang and the Communists and to resume negotiations between the two parties to restore the legal status of the New Fourth Army for the purpose of sustaining the War of Resistance. After this operation,2 try your utmost to avoid clashes while seeking compromise with the Guomindang troops in the areas around you.
Mao Zedong
Our source for this text is Zhonggong zhongyang wenxian yanjiushi, ed., Wenxian he yanjiu, 1985 huibian ben, pp. 173–74, which is based on the manuscript.
1. That is, Li Xiannian (1909–1992), a leading Chinese Communist Party military figure who joined the Party in 1927. At this time he was commander and political commissar of the New Fourth Army’s Fifth Division.
2. Here “operation” (xingdong) refers to concrete movements, such as a military operation, rather than to negotiations.