Mao, at the time of the communists’ departure, was not in control of events; Zhu De was the commander of the army, and Zhou Enlaiwas the political commissar of the party. The first three months of the march were disastrous for the communists: subjected to constant bombardment from Chiang’s air force and repeated attacks from his ground troops, they lost more than half of their army. Morale was low when they arrived in Zunyi, in the southwestern province of Guizhou, but at a conference there in January 1935 Mao was able to gather enough support to establish his dominance of the party.