On October 14, 1934, the Red Army broke through the KMT line on the Jiangxi Soviet's south-west corner at Xinfeng with 85,000 soldiers and 15,000 party cadres and embarked on the "Long March". In order to make the escape, many of the wounded and the ill, as well as women and children, were left behind, defended by a group of guerrilla fighters whom the KMT massacred.[128][129] The 100,000 who escaped headed to southern Hunan, first crossing the Xiang River after heavy fighting,[129][130] and then the Wu River, in Guizhou where they took Zunyi in January 1935. Temporarily resting in the city, they held a conference; here, Mao was elected to a position of leadership, becoming Chairman of the Politburo, and de facto leader of both Party and Red Army, in part because his candidacy was supported by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. Insisting that they operate as a guerrilla force, he laid out a destination: the Shenshi Soviet in Shaanxi, Northern China, from where the Communists could focus on fighting the Japanese. Mao believed that in focusing on the anti-imperialist struggle, the Communists would earn the trust of the Chinese people, who in turn would renounce the KMT.[131]
From Zunyi, Mao led his troops to Loushan Pass, where they faced armed opposition but successfully crossed the river. Chiang flew into the area to lead his armies against Mao, but the Communists outmanoeuvred him and crossed the Jinsha River.[132] Faced with the more difficult task of crossing the Tatu River, they managed it by fighting a battle over the Luding Bridge in May, taking Luding.[133] Marching through the mountain ranges around Ma'anshan,[134] in Moukung, Western Szechuan they encountered the 50,000-strong CPC Fourth Front Army of Zhang Guotao, together proceeding to Maoerhkai and then Gansu. However, Zhang and Mao disagreed over what to do; the latter wished to proceed to Shaanxi, while Zhang wanted to flee east to Tibet or Sikkim, far from the KMT threat. It was agreed that they would go their separate ways, with Zhu De joining Zhang.[135] Mao's forces proceeded north, through hundreds of miles of Grasslands, an area of quagmire where they were attacked by Manchu tribesman and where many soldiers succumbed to famine and disease.[136][137] Finally reaching Shaanxi, they fought off both the KMT and an Islamic cavalry militia before crossing over the Min Mountains and Mount Liupan and reaching the Shenshi Soviet; only 7-8000 had survived.[137][138] The Long March cemented Mao's status as the dominant figure in the party. In November 1935, he was named chairman of the Military Commission. From this point onward, Mao was the Communist Party's undisputed leader, even though he would not become party chairman until 1943.[139]
Many if not most of the events as later described by Mao and which the CPC claims are true are seen as false by historians such as Jung Chang. During the decade spent researching the book, Mao: The Unknown Story,[140] for instance, Chang found evidence that there was no battle at Luding and that the CPC crossed the bridge unopposed. Chang interviewed an eye witness to the crossing of the Dadu (Tatu) River at Luding, Mrs Zhu De, then 93 years old, who recalled no deaths, except for two people who fell from the bridge at Luding while repairing it. Chang also points out the contradictions in the version of events as told by the CPC, which said the bridge was taken by a suicide attack by 22 men, but that these men were also present at a ceremony following the crossing of the bridge.[141]
Chang and Halliday also dispute the Communist Party of China's official version by claiming that far from the Long March being a masterful piece of strategy by the CPC, it was in fact devised by Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the KMT. Chiang's aim was to give the CPC an easy route to follow through warlord controlled areas. Hemmed in by Nationalist troops on three sides, the CPC was forced to follow the route dictated by the KMT. The aim of this was to allow KMT forces to follow the reds into warlord controlled areas such as Sichuan and win over warlords scared of the sudden arrival of the Communist force. The only glitch in this plan came when Mao refused to follow the easy route into Sichuan where he was to meet up with a red army much larger than his own and led by a more senior CPC member, Chang Kuo Tao. Mao recognised the threat Chang posed to his rising position in the CPC and doubled back to give himself time to further cement his political power, causing the needless deaths of thousands of his own troops.[141]
Chang and Halliday also claim that Mao and other top CPC leaders did not walk the Long March, but were carried on litters – Mao himself told his staff that being carried on the Long March gave him much time to read – with the litter bearers' knees being worn to the bone when forced to carry Mao up mountains.[
On October 14, 1934, the Red Army broke through the KMT line on the Jiangxi Soviet's south-west corner at Xinfeng with 85,000 soldiers and 15,000 party cadres and embarked on the "Long March". In order to make the escape, many of the wounded and the ill, as well as women and children, were left behind, defended by a group of guerrilla fighters whom the KMT massacred.[128][129] The 100,000 who escaped headed to southern Hunan, first crossing the Xiang River after heavy fighting,[129][130] and then the Wu River, in Guizhou where they took Zunyi in January 1935. Temporarily resting in the city, they held a conference; here, Mao was elected to a position of leadership, becoming Chairman of the Politburo, and de facto leader of both Party and Red Army, in part because his candidacy was supported by Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. Insisting that they operate as a guerrilla force, he laid out a destination: the Shenshi Soviet in Shaanxi, Northern China, from where the Communists could focus on fighting the Japanese. Mao believed that in focusing on the anti-imperialist struggle, the Communists would earn the trust of the Chinese people, who in turn would renounce the KMT.[131]
From Zunyi, Mao led his troops to Loushan Pass, where they faced armed opposition but successfully crossed the river. Chiang flew into the area to lead his armies against Mao, but the Communists outmanoeuvred him and crossed the Jinsha River.[132] Faced with the more difficult task of crossing the Tatu River, they managed it by fighting a battle over the Luding Bridge in May, taking Luding.[133] Marching through the mountain ranges around Ma'anshan,[134] in Moukung, Western Szechuan they encountered the 50,000-strong CPC Fourth Front Army of Zhang Guotao, together proceeding to Maoerhkai and then Gansu. However, Zhang and Mao disagreed over what to do; the latter wished to proceed to Shaanxi, while Zhang wanted to flee east to Tibet or Sikkim, far from the KMT threat. It was agreed that they would go their separate ways, with Zhu De joining Zhang.[135] Mao's forces proceeded north, through hundreds of miles of Grasslands, an area of quagmire where they were attacked by Manchu tribesman and where many soldiers succumbed to famine and disease.[136][137] Finally reaching Shaanxi, they fought off both the KMT and an Islamic cavalry militia before crossing over the Min Mountains and Mount Liupan and reaching the Shenshi Soviet; only 7-8000 had survived.[137][138] The Long March cemented Mao's status as the dominant figure in the party. In November 1935, he was named chairman of the Military Commission. From this point onward, Mao was the Communist Party's undisputed leader, even though he would not become party chairman until 1943.[139]
Many if not most of the events as later described by Mao and which the CPC claims are true are seen as false by historians such as Jung Chang. During the decade spent researching the book, Mao: The Unknown Story,[140] for instance, Chang found evidence that there was no battle at Luding and that the CPC crossed the bridge unopposed. Chang interviewed an eye witness to the crossing of the Dadu (Tatu) River at Luding, Mrs Zhu De, then 93 years old, who recalled no deaths, except for two people who fell from the bridge at Luding while repairing it. Chang also points out the contradictions in the version of events as told by the CPC, which said the bridge was taken by a suicide attack by 22 men, but that these men were also present at a ceremony following the crossing of the bridge.[141]
Chang and Halliday also dispute the Communist Party of China's official version by claiming that far from the Long March being a masterful piece of strategy by the CPC, it was in fact devised by Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the KMT. Chiang's aim was to give the CPC an easy route to follow through warlord controlled areas. Hemmed in by Nationalist troops on three sides, the CPC was forced to follow the route dictated by the KMT. The aim of this was to allow KMT forces to follow the reds into warlord controlled areas such as Sichuan and win over warlords scared of the sudden arrival of the Communist force. The only glitch in this plan came when Mao refused to follow the easy route into Sichuan where he was to meet up with a red army much larger than his own and led by a more senior CPC member, Chang Kuo Tao. Mao recognised the threat Chang posed to his rising position in the CPC and doubled back to give himself time to further cement his political power, causing the needless deaths of thousands of his own troops.[141]
Chang and Halliday also claim that Mao and other top CPC leaders did not walk the Long March, but were carried on litters – Mao himself told his staff that being carried on the Long March gave him much time to read – with the litter bearers' knees being worn to the bone when forced to carry Mao up mountains.[
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