THE

Enhua Zhang

Chinese Communists built up revolutionary bases in the early 1930s in , Hunan, Hubei, and neighboring provinces through guerrilla war. In 1931, they founded the Soviet Republic of in Ruijin, Jiangxi. Meanwhile, the Nationalists were determined to annihilate the Communists and started five extermination campaigns between 1931 and 1934. In order to break away from the fifth extermination cam- paign, on October 16, 1934, 86,000 people, mostly Central Red Army (a.k.a. the First Front Army) troops and Communist officials, started retreating from Yudu, Jiangxi to the west. They passed through 11 provinces in one year, trekked zigzagging, back and forth, for 25,000 li (8,000 miles), and reached northern in October 1935. No more than 10,000 people survived the journey. Two other forces, the Second and the Fourth Front Armies, also retreated westward. These three groups joined finally in northern Shaanxi in October 1936. This is the so-called Long March (Changzheng 长征) in Chinese history. Chased by the Nationalist troops and bombs, the Red Army had to march through rushing torrents, precipitous mountains, and treacherous swamps. From November 25 to December 1, 1934, they encountered the most severe attacks from the Nationalist Army along the , a of the River. The Communists lost more than 40,000 men in this battle and the river was red with blood. By the time they crossed the river, the Red Army had been reduced to 30,000. In January 1935, they arrived at Zunyi, province. From Janu- ary 15 to 17, the Politburo held an enlarged meeting there to discuss the lessons from the retreat and the next move. was elected a standing committee member of the Politburo, which restored a portion but not all of his power within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Red Army. Under his leadership, to shake off the Nationalist pursuit, the Red Army went back and forth over the , a branch of the Yangtze, four times by the end of March. After crossing the around May 10, the Red Army broke through Chiang Kai-shek’s encirclement. On May 21, the Red Army was confronted by 34 enhua zhang the , where Shi Dakai, the King of Wing during the Taip- ing Rebellion, had suffered his final defeat in 1863. The Communist troops seized an iron-chain bridge in Luding and overcame the natural barrier by crossing the river at the end of May. In the middle of June, they climbed over the snowy mountains and in Maogong, met with the Fourth Front Army led by Zhang Guotao 张国焘, who had begun his westward retreat from the revolutionary bases in Hubei, , and Anhui provinces in October 1932. The celebration of the union of the two Red Armies was joyful and harmonious. The Fourth Front Army had 45,000 troops, while the First Front Army numbered fewer than 10,000. But disagreement surfaced between the two leaders over the leadership of the CCP in general and of the Red Army in particular. Mao’s conflict with Zhang Guotao resulted in separation: Mao led the First and Third Corps of the First Front Army north after two months of rest. Zhang stayed and then headed south with the remaining forces. Mao and his followers reached a town called Wuqi in northern Shaanxi in November 1935. At the beginning of July 1936, the Second Front Army joined the Fourth Front Army at Ganzi (in modern-day ). In October 1936, the Second and Fourth Front Armies arrived in Huining, Shaanxi, where they were welcomed by the First Front Army. Thus the three Red Armies reunited and concluded the Long March.

The Term

The term “Long March” did not exist when the event actually started. Originally called withdrawal or retreat (zhuanyi 转移 or chetui 撤退), the Long March was not thought of as such even as late as the sum- mer of 1935, after the Red Army finished two thirds of their journey. The earliest extant written use of the term “Long March” is dated September 12, 1935; it is found in the document “Guanyu Zhang Guotao tongzhi de cuowu de jueding” (Decision on comrade Zhang Guotao’s mistake).1 In October, after the Red Army crossed Mount Min, Mao wrote his spectacular poem “Changzheng”.

1 The decision was passed at the meeting of the Central Political Bureau held at Ejie ( province) on September 12, 1935. Published based on the mimeograph version preserved in the Central Archive of China. http://news.xinhuanet.com/ ziliao/2004–11/30/content_2276121.htm (retrieved March 6, 2005).