Mao Zedong’s evaluation of the Battle of Linfen On June 1, 1948, Mao Zedong spoke highly of the Battle of Linfen in his “Telegram on the Battle of Liaoshen”: [Reprinted from Jagged Community/] “Linfen under the command of Comrade Xu Xiangqian In the battle, I used nine brigades (only two of which had siege experience) to attack the enemy's two regular brigades and other miscellaneous troops, about 20,000 people. It took 72 days and cost 15,000. We suffered casualties and finally conquered. Our nine brigades (about 70,000 people) gained experience in attacking the city. It was a very meaningful victory. The Linfen position is very strong and the enemy is very tenacious. The enemy and our forces are the main offensive and defensive forces. The method was tunnel struggle. Our army used many tunnels to attack, and the enemy also used many tunnels to destroy our tunnels. Both sides summed up their experience at any time. As a result, I used the tunnels to go down and win.