The Long March of the Red Army

The Red Army faced the threat of annihilation after its defeat in the fifth encirclement and suppression campaign. From October 1934 to October 1936, the First, Second and Fourth Front Armies and the 25th Red Army undertook a strategic evacuation, withdrawal and regrouping which would go on to become known as the Long March.

In early October 1934 a detachment from the CPC's central leadership and the main force of the Central Red Army, numbering more than 80,000, began to withdraw from the Central Soviet Area and marched west to break through the encirclement. This was the beginning of the Long March.

Subsequently, Red Army troops in other base areas in southern China also began their strategic withdrawal and embarked on their own Long Marches.

In early January 1935, the Red Army captured Zunyi, a town in Guizhou Province. The CPC Central Committee held an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau there. The meeting focused on addressing some critical military and organizational matters following the failure in the fifth campaign. The meeting established Mao Zedong's leadership in the Party's Central Committee and the Red Army.

Afterward, over a course of nearly one year, the Central Red Army, under the leadership of the Central Committee headed by Mao, broke through the enemy encirclement and interceptions, thwarted Zhang Guotao's attempt to split the Party and the Red Army, crossed snow-capped mountains and marshes, and eventually joined with the 15th Army Group at Wuqi, a town in the Shaanxi-Gansu Revolutionary Base Area, in mid-October 1935. By that time the Central Red Army had crossed 11 provinces and covered a distance of 25,000 li (12,500 km). Their Long March represented a victory for the CPC and the Red Army and defeat for the enemy.

In October 1936 the Second and Fourth Front Armies reached Huining in Gansu Province and joined forces with the First Front Army.

The rendezvous of the three front armies marked the end of the Long March. The Red Army had sown seeds of revolution in the regions they had traversed, and the Long March became a symbol of the unyielding spirit of the Chinese people. The success of the Long March signaled the failure of the KMT attempts to destroy the CPC and the Red Army. It marked the completion of the strategic retreat of the CPC and the Red Army to northern China, bringing to the nation hope for resistance against the Japanese aggression. This marked a great turning point for the CPC and China's revolution, setting out on the path that would ultimately lead to victory. And it marked the beginning of a new advance by the CPC to liberate the Chinese people and achieve national independence.

紅軍長征

第五次反“圍剿”失敗后，面對生死存亡的嚴峻考驗，從1934年10月到1936年10月，紅軍第一、第二、第四方面軍和第二十五軍進行了偉大的長征。

1934年10月初，中國共產黨的中央機關和中央紅軍主力8萬多人撤離中央蘇區，踏上向西突圍的征途，長征開始。隨后，南方其他根據地的紅軍也先后進行戰略轉移，進行長征。

1935年1月初，紅軍攻占貴州遵義。中共中央在遵義召開政治局擴大會議，集中糾正了第五次反“圍剿”以來在軍事上和組織上的錯誤，實際確立了毛澤東在中央和紅軍中的領導地位。此后，中央紅軍在以毛澤東為首的中共中央正確領導下，經過近一年的艱苦奮戰，突破了國民黨軍隊的圍追堵截，戰勝了張國燾分裂黨和紅軍的危機，爬雪山，過草地，終于在1935年10月中旬到達陜甘地區的吳起鎮，與紅十五軍團會師。行程兩萬五千里、縱橫11個省的中央紅軍的長征，終于以黨和紅軍的勝利、敵人的失敗而結束。1936年10月，紅二、紅四方面軍到達甘肅會寧地區，同紅一方面軍會師。

紅軍三大主力會師，標志著萬里長征的勝利結束。紅軍走過的地方，播下了革命的種子。紅軍長征成了中國人民堅強不屈斗爭精神的象征。紅軍長征的勝利，宣告了國民黨反動派消滅中國共產黨和紅軍的圖謀徹底失敗，宣告了中國共產黨和紅軍肩負著民族希望勝利實現北上抗日的戰略轉移，實現了中國共產黨和中國革命事業從挫折走向勝利的偉大轉折，開啟了中國共產黨為實現民族獨立、人民解放而斗爭的新的偉大進軍。