Long March revisited 

Source: CCTV.com

10-23-2006 07:45

The autumn of 70 years ago saw a major milestone in modern Chinese history. The Red Army had trekked over ten thousand kilometers, and finally arrived in an area that later became the "launch pad" for Chinese Communists to take the whole of the country. The journey is known as the Long March. But "long" only begins to describe it. It was a march with tremendous losses and hardships. Let's take time now to retrace that route.

In 1934 the combatants were ready to square off in China's political arena. The alliance between the Kuomingtang and the Communist Party had died years ago, and the KMT was now trying to hack away the Soviet Communist Zone with a series of sieges. As the flames of war approached the Soviet capital, Ruijin, the Red Army had to move to survive.

Their first major battle came a month later at the Xiangjiang River. Over half of the troops failed to make it to the other side. The ones who did took a winding route to avoid Chiang Kai-shek's troops.

In January 1935, the Red Army entered Guizhou Province and took Zunyi. And it was from the Zunyi conference, that Mao Zedong emerged as the overall commander.

The Red Army numbered about 35 thousand as it headed north from Zunyi. Chiang had over twenty times more men.

But as the crossing of the Luding Chain Bridge proved, the art of war isn't just about numbers.

On May 29th, 1935, a 22-man Red Army assault team made its way against heavy gunfire along the chain. They took the bridge with a loss of only 7. Besides the enemy troops, the Red Army had to deal with nature.

The worst ordeal was climbing the 5-thousand-meters of Jiangjin Snow Mountain. Lack of food, clothing, and oxygen defeated many.

The survivors faced more danger in the uncharted grasslands. Treacherous bogs lurked all around, claiming half the troops.

On October 19th, 1935, Chairman Mao and his men arrived at the end of their long, hard March, at Wuqi County in Shaanxi Province. Those who started the March later gradually joined them the following year. The 10 thousand kilometers covered the least travelled route across the west of China, and lasted about two years from Autumn 1934 to October 1936.

It was the only way for the Red Army to make it to Shaanxi. There they could rest and re-group without having to fend off the Kuomingtang.

But the success came at a price of the 200 thousand who began, only 30 thousand remained. But the Long March couldn't have been accomplished without any one of them.

Editor:Sun Luying