schools. The
air force has 7,500
and the
navy has 7,700,
(Airmen, are there? Sailors, are there?)
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This summer and autumn the People's Liberation Army will be able to clear the provinces of Fujian, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Shaanxi, and in the winter it will be able to liberate the provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Xikang, Gansu, Ningxia, and Qinghai. Thereby the hostilities against the Guomindang will be terminated in the main. To be liberated yet will then be Formosa [Taiwan], Hainan island, Xinjiang, and Tibet. The issue of Tibet should be resolved by political means and not by the military option. Formosa, Hainan, and Xinjiang will be liberated next year. Since part of the Guomindang forces on the island of Formosa might take our side, the liberation of Formosa could take place even earlier than the above date. We would like to liberate Xinjiang as soon as possible were it not for the great obstacle of clearing the enemy from the route to Xinjiang and getting traffic moving along it. Another great difficulty is the shortage of required transport (traveling from Gansu to Xinjiang, one must cover a great distance passing through desolate areas devoid of food supplies and drinking water). If we can overcome these difficulties, we could liberate Xinjiang much sooner.
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Alongside military victories we also have political victories. The American imperialists and Jiang Jieshi's Guomindang are now completely isolated. All democratic parties and groups are on our side. The popular masses are warmly greeting the People's Liberation Army and coming out against the imperialists and the Guomindang. We believe there could now be no doubt about the victory of the Chinese Revolution. Yet because of the constraints imposed on the operations of our troops by roads and terrain, some time will yet be needed for us to score a complete victory. We have always reckoned with the possibility of imperialist armed intervention against the Chinese Revolution. The instructions given to us on this matter by the Soviet Communist Party, which we have accepted in full, have alerted us to pay more attention in this regard. Although we have not slackened our caution with respect to the probability of imperialist armed intervention, yet, judging by the current international situation, there can be no possibility for the imperialists to dispatch troops more than a million strong for a massive intervention in China. Such moves on their part could only delay the ultimate victory of the Chinese Revolution but they are unable to annihilate or stall the Chinese Revolution. On the contrary, they would put the imperialists in a very awkward position.
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Quite possibly, the imperialists would dispatch 100,000 to 200,000 troops for seizing three or four Chinese ports or for committing various acts of sabotage. Considering the possibility of such actions, we have made certain preparations. Since we have no navy or air force, we have no naval defenses. A possible armed attack by the imperialists may pose difficulties to us and may cause damage to us, but our armed forces will not suffer a defeat. Such actions on the part of the imperialists will make the Chinese people and its army rise against the imperialists, and they will drive out the interventionist forces.
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