amounted to a threatened declaration of war against
 power holder on the periphery. The option of a settlement
 between Peking and regional satraps was still open,
 though by no means an inviting one since the terms offered
 by the center were close to unconditional surrender.
 5. It seems possible that a new effort was made
 to reach a compromise agreement some time around the
 middle of the month. There was one report that Southwest
 party chief Li Ching-chuan, Northwest Region first secretary
 Liu Lan-tao, and Northeast boss Sung Jen-chiung all
 cam to Peking at this time under safe conduct from Tao
 Chu--the former first secretary in the Central South then
 still number four man in the central hierarchy--for talks
 with Lin Piao. When they refused to promise allegiance,
 Lin reportedly wanted to arrest them but was balked by
 Tao Chu, who spirited the three men out of the capital
 on 29 December and then fled himself to his old power
 base in the south.
 6. The sourcing of this report makes it suspect,
 and it may have been a fabrication. The story is, however,
 consistent with moves at the end of December to
 loose full-scale "cultural revolution" against bases
 of power in the provinces. Editorials in People's
 Daily at that time ordered Red Guards first into the
 "mines and factories" and then into the countryside.
 The Opposition
 7. The men threatened by this drive to finish off
 resistance in the provinces belonged to cohesive local
 groups loosely connected with each other and sharing
 a common interest in political survival. Most officials
 under attack owed their positions to Liu Shao-chi
 and party general secretary Teng Hsiao-ping, who
 had been demoted at the 11th party plenum in August. For
 years Liu and Teng had been building the party apparatus,
 both in Peking and the provinces, and their fall from
 grace jeopardized the positions of large numbers of key
 officials.
 8. Apart from this, the generally united front
 presented by regional and provincial officials against
 efforts to bring them down was a reflection of loyalties
 developed among men working together in outlying
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