[[CCP]] Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] sent a secret directive to his followers which said:
[[CCP]] Chairman [[Mao Zedong]] sent a secret directive to his followers which said:
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:"The Sino-Japanese war affords our party an excellent opportunity for expansion . . . the first stage is a compromising stage . . . but in reality this will serve as camouflage for the… development of our party. The second [stage]. . . should be spent in laying the foundation of our party's political and military powers . . . until we can match and break the Kuomintang. The third is an offensive stage . . . in which our forces. . . isolate and disperse…and wrest the leadership from the hands of the Kuomintang."<ref>Documents on the Problem of the Chinese Communist Party (Chungking, 1944).</ref>
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:"The Sino-Japanese war affords our party an excellent opportunity for expansion . . . the first stage is a compromising stage . . . but in reality this will serve as camouflage for the… development of our party. The second [stage]. . . should be spent in laying the foundation of our party's political and military powers . . . until we can match and break the [[Kuomintang]]. The third is an offensive stage . . . in which our forces. . . isolate and disperse…and wrest the leadership from the hands of the Kuomintang."<ref>Documents on the Problem of the Chinese Communist Party (Chungking, 1944).</ref>
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With the making of the [[Hitler-Stalin pact]] the Soviet Union was at war on the side of Germany. The [[Chinese Communists]] (CCP) stopped fighting the Japanese in the ongoing [[Second Sino-Japanese War]], and resumed [[guerrilla]] operations against the [[Chinese National Government]] (KMT). The CCP devoted their energies to fighting the Chinese government for the portions of eastern China between the railroad lines, held by the Japanese.
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With the making of the [[Hitler-Stalin pact]] the Soviet Union was at war on the side of Germany. The CCP stopped fighting the Japanese and resumed [[guerrilla]] operations against the Kuomintang (KMT). The CCP devoted its energies to fighting the Chinese government for the portions of eastern China between the railroad lines, held by the Japanese.