October 19, 1935
Completion of First Front Red Army’s Long March
12,500 km
7,000+
The Long March
A journey that shaped a nation
Hands thatPaved the Way
October 1934 (Before the Long March)
Central Revolutionary Base, Jiangxi Province, east China.
Women worked day and night to make 200,000 pairs of straw sandalsin just one month.
Of the 2.4 million people
in southern Jiangxi at the time,more than 330,000 joined the Red Army and over 600,000 took part in efforts tosupport the troops.
Keeping theConnection Alive
October 1934,
Yudu County, Jiangxi Province, east China
After leaving Jiangxi, the Red Army continued its journey westward.
During the journey, 128 soldiers were tasked with carryinga radio transmitter and its 68-kilogram hand-cranked generator – a vitallifeline that kept the Red Army connected.
After countless battles, only three soldiers remained when they reached thegrasslands in August 1935.
Crossings thatTurned the Tide
After a series of setbacks, the Central Red Army reached the Chishui River with a little over 30,000 troops, as 400,000 enemy soldiers closed in.
Facing a far larger enemy, the Central Red Army outmaneuvered them across the Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan border, crossing the Chishui River four times to break the encirclement. Mao Zedong called it the “proudest achievement” of his military career.
January 1935, Chishui River Basin
In the first crossing,
they avoided the enemy’s main forces.
In the second,
they retook the city of Zunyi.
In the third,
they drew the enemy westward.
In the fourth,
they broke out of the encirclement.
These four crossings turned a desperate situation into a strategic breakthrough.
In 1960, British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery praised Mao Zedong’scommand of the Liaoshen, Huaihai and Pingjin campaigns, saying they rivaled thegreatest battles in history.
Mao replied that the four crossings of the Chishui River were the “proudestachievement” of his military career.
17 Soldiers,One Way Forward
After crossing the Jinsha River, the Red Army pushed northward as hundreds ofthousands of Kuomintang troops closed in, aiming to stop them south of the DaduRiver.
To open a route forward, a small team was sent across the river.
May 1935
Anshunchang Town, Sichuan Province, southwest China
17 soldiers.One boat.A river under enemy fire.
Their mission was to seize a foothold on the opposite bank.
After fierce fighting, they secured the crossing, opening a route northward for the RedArmy forces.
The Long March also left lasting traces in Sichuan.In 1935, the “Ten-Point Political Program of the Communist Party of China”was inscribed into a city wall in Jiange.Local residents covered the inscription with mud and limeto protect it from destruction by enemy forces.Preserved to this day, the inscription bears witness to the CPC's revolutionary ideals.
A Village’s Trust
After the battles along the Dadu River, the Long March entered a new stage.
By the time the Red Army forces reached northwest China’s Gansu Province,they had crossed snow-covered mountains and vast marshlands. They wereexhausted and severely short of food and supplies.
Late autumn, 1936
Hongbuzi Village, Gansu Province, northwest China.
In Huining County, soldiers forged a close bond of trust with the people ofHongbuzi Village.
People in Huining County provided more than 2.5 million kilograms of grain,while over 400 young people joined the Red Army.
Every supply was recorded and all payments
were made before the Red Army departed.
It was more than material support –
it was trust that fueledthe Long March.
October 1936
After two years of struggle, the three main Red Army forces reunited in Huining and Jiangtaibu, bringingthe extraordinary journey to a victorious end.
The Long March was a historic turning point. It thwarted the Kuomintang’s campaign to encircle andeliminate the Red Army, shifted the CPC’s revolutionary base to northwest China and set the stage for a newchapter in the Chinese revolution.
