ABSTRACT
The June truce arranged by Marshall lasted long enough for Chiang to present his proposal for the disputed areas. Zhou Enlai returned to Yan’an on June 7 to deliver it in person to the Secretariat. Unfortunately for the CCP, this new “plan for peace” amounted to little more than an ultimatum. Chiang’s proposal called for the CCP to withdraw from the Central Plains, Chengde, east Hebei, west Liaoning, and the entire Ji’nan-Jiaodong railroad.1 If accepted, it would have resulted in the severing of the connection between the north China Liberated Areas and northeast China, as well as splitting the Shandong Military District in two. In return, Nanjing would recognize Communist authority in the far north of Manchuria as well as the districts in Shandong and Shanxi the Communists had seized during Chen Yi and Liu Bocheng’s campaigns in 1945. Zhou commented that “[Chiang’s] intention was to restrict [the CCP] to these few regions, cut [the CCP] off completely and then annihilate [the CCP].”2 Mao reputedly lost more than one night of sleep over the decision, but in the end he rejected the terms. The CCP issued a counterproposal on June 21, but Chiang replied five days later by launching the General Offensive – an attack against the Communist bases in the Central Plains and the along southern perimeter of the north China Liberated Areas.
