The Last Round With the Japanese Invaders
#PUBLICATION NOTE
This edition of The Last Round With the Japanese Invaders 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:
- The Last Round With the Japanese Invaders, in the Selected Works of Mao Zedong, First English Edition, Vol. 3, Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 1965.
- Comrade Mao Zedong Makes a Declaration Regarding the Fact That the War of Resistance Against Japan Has Entered Its Final Stage, in Mao's Road to Power, First English Edition, Vol. 9, Routledge, New York and London, 2023.
#INTRODUCTION NOTE
This is a statement issued by Comrade Mao Zedong to the New China News Agency in Yan'an, Shaanxi, China. It was first published on the 9th of August, 1945.
The statement deals with the changes in the situation resulting from the Council Union's declaration of war on Japan.
#Workers and oppressed people of the world, unite!
#THE LAST ROUND WITH THE JAPANESE INVADERS
#Mao Zedong
#Before the 9th of August, 1945
#★
The Chinese people heartily welcome the Council Government's declaration of war on Japan on the 8th of August. The Council Union's action will very much shorten the war against Japan. The war is already in its last stage and the time has come to inflict final defeat on the Japanese aggressors and all their lackeys. In these circumstances, all the anti-Japanese forces of the Chinese people should launch a nationwide counter-offensive in close and effective coordination with the operations of the Council Union and the other Allied countries. The Eighth Route Army, the New Fourth Army, and the other armed forces of the people should seize every opportunity to launch extensive attacks on all the invaders and their lackeys who refuse to surrender, annihilate their forces, capture their arms and materiel, vigorously expand the Liberated Areas, and reduce the areas under enemy occupation. We must boldly form armed working teams which, by hundreds and by thousands, should penetrate deep into the rear of the enemy-occupied areas, organize the people to wreck the enemy's communication lines, and fight in coordination with the regular armies. We must boldly mobilize the people in the occupied areas in their tens of millions and immediately organize underground forces to prepare armed uprisings and to annihilate the enemy in coordination with the troops attacking from the outside. Meanwhile, the consolidation of the Liberated Areas must not be neglected. Among the 100'000'000 people there, and among the people in all other areas as they are liberated, we should universally carry out the reduction of rent and interest this winter and next spring, increase production, build up the people's political power and armed forces, intensify militia work, strengthen army discipline, persistently develop the united front of all sections of the people, and guard against waste of human and material resources. Some areas (for example, some of the coastal areas) should also focus on splintering the enemy's «mopping-up» campaigns for the time being. All this is designed to put more punch into our army's offensive against the enemy. The people of the whole country must be on their guard to avert the danger of civil war and make efforts to bring about the formation of a democratic coalition government. A new stage in China's war of national liberation has arrived, and the people of the whole country must strengthen their unity and struggle for final victory.