The Epic Long March: Survival Against All Odds

How 100,000 Communist Troops Became 6,000

The Critical Early Communist-Nationalist Conflicts (1930-1934)

Despite commanding a modernized army with superior firepower and equipment, Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalist forces suffered four consecutive defeats against Mao Zedong’s Communist Red Army.

The Chinese Soviet Republic (1931-1937): Foundation of Modern China

The direct predecessor to today’s People’s Republic of China

On November 7, 1931, commemorating the anniversary of the Russian Revolution, Mao Zedong established the Chinese Soviet Republic with its capital in Ruijin, Jiangxi Province. This revolutionary state would become the foundation for what eventually grew into the People’s Republic of China.

The conflict between the two forces highlighted their vastly different military strategies. Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces relied on conventional warfare with modern weapons, tanks, and traditional tactics. In contrast, Mao Zedong’s Red Army mastered guerrilla warfare—strategically retreating into mountainous terrain, drawing Nationalist forces into disadvantageous positions, then executing devastating hit-and-run attacks before disappearing again.

Mao’s strategic brilliance was further aided by external factors. On September 18, 1931, Japan made a decisive move that would dramatically alter the course of Chinese history.

The Manchurian Crisis: Japan’s Territorial Aggression

Japan orchestrated an explosion along the railway near Liutiaogou in Fengtian Province (modern-day Liaoning) and falsely accused Zhang Xueliang’s Northeastern Army of responsibility. This staged incident provided the pretext for Japan’s invasion of Manchuria (September 18, 1931 – February 18, 1932).

The timing reveals a fascinating historical detail: on September 19, 1931—just one day after the incident—Japanese political and military leaders were still debating whether to pursue war or peace. Cabinet members expressed serious concerns about launching a Manchurian campaign during the Great Depression. However, the military had already initiated conflict with the Northeastern Army, effectively bypassing civilian authority.

When the Manchurian crisis erupted, Chiang Kai-shek was deeply engaged in his Third Communist Extermination Campaign. Facing a critical strategic dilemma, he calculated that fighting Japan would compromise his ability to defeat the growing Communist movement under Mao. In a controversial decision, he ordered his troops to retreat rather than engage Japanese forces, prioritizing the elimination of the Chinese Communist Party to secure his political dominance.

Manchukuo (1932-1945): Japan’s Puppet State

While Chiang focused on domestic opponents, Japan established the puppet state of Manchukuo on March 1, 1932. To create a veneer of legitimacy, they installed Puyi—the last Qing Emperor—as a figurehead ruler. Puyi, who had developed deep mistrust for the Nationalist government after being ousted by Yuan Shikai, had been living in exile in the Japanese concession. He eagerly accepted the opportunity to reclaim his imperial title, however hollow the position might be. With this maneuver, the Republic of China under Chiang effectively lost control of resource-rich Manchuria.

Japanese forces continued their southward advance toward the Great Wall. Faced with the loss of Manchuria, Chiang signed the Tanggu Truce in May 1933, essentially acknowledging Japan’s control over Manchuria in exchange for halting their advance at the Great Wall and establishing a demilitarized zone below it. While criticized by many for this concession, Chiang remained singularly focused on crushing Mao Zedong’s Communist Red Army. However, the Fourth Communist Extermination Campaign, launched in June 1932, ended with yet another victory for Mao’s forces.

Fortune had favored Mao through four consecutive campaigns. However, in the Fifth Extermination Campaign, everything would change dramatically, leading to the legendary 12,000-kilometer Long March that would test the very survival of the Communist movement.

The Fifth Campaign: A Strategic Turning Point

Following the Tanggu Truce in May 1933, Chiang launched the Fifth Extermination Campaign just five months later in October. Learning from his previous failures, he implemented a radically different approach.

After suffering four humiliating defeats, the Nationalist Army underwent comprehensive reorganization—restructuring units, formations, and creating specialized transport divisions capable of sustained mountain operations against Mao’s guerrilla forces. Chiang also implemented a brutal but effective strategy: forcibly evacuating all civilians from Communist-controlled areas along with their possessions to Nationalist territory, essentially implementing a starvation campaign against the Communist forces.

Employing a systematic blockade strategy, Chiang mobilized an overwhelming force of 800,000 troops across 65 divisions to gradually constrict Communist-controlled territory and sever all supply lines. During this critical period, Mao was stripped of his position as Chairman of the Chinese Soviet Republic. Despite winning the first four Extermination Campaigns, the Communists had failed to significantly expand their territorial control.

Their guerrilla tactics of striking and retreating meant they won individual battles but neither decisively defeated the Nationalist army nor secured sustainable territorial gains. The Soviet-educated faction within the Communist Party began openly criticizing Mao, claiming his leadership had achieved nothing substantial in terms of strategic victories or territorial expansion.

From Guerrilla Success to Conventional Warfare Disaster

With Mao removed from leadership, the Soviet-educated faction seized control of the Chinese Communist Party. Rejecting Mao’s guerrilla warfare doctrine, they adopted traditional Soviet military strategy focused on territorial expansion. Following the Soviet model of gradually converting neighboring regions to communism through conventional military campaigns, the new Communist leadership believed that systematically expanding their territory was the only path to victory in their protracted struggle.

This critical miscalculation led them to declare full-scale conventional war against the Nationalists—a disastrous decision that played directly into Chiang’s strengths. The Nationalists deployed 500 fighter planes and their fully modernized military against the Communist forces, making conventional warfare virtually suicidal for the outgunned and outmatched Red Army.

By 1934, the Chinese Soviet Republic that Mao had established was effectively erased from the map (though historically recorded as ending in 1937). With their territory collapsing and facing imminent destruction, the Communist leadership made the fateful decision to embark on what would become one of history’s most extraordinary military retreats.

The Legendary Long March: A Journey of Survival

In October 1934, approximately 100,000 Communist troops began an epic journey that would become legendary in revolutionary history. Fleeing Chiang’s encirclement, they traveled an astonishing 12,000 kilometers from Ruijin to Yan’an over 13 grueling months, crossing 18 major mountain ranges and 17 significant rivers through some of China’s most treacherous terrain.

The human cost was staggering. Of the 100,000 who began this desperate journey, only 6,000 survived to reach the relative safety of Shaanxi Province. Countless soldiers succumbed to disease, starvation, and exhaustion. An estimated 30,000 were captured as prisoners by pursuing Nationalist forces. Those who survived endured unimaginable hardships while constantly evading enemy forces.

With the Communist remnants now regrouping in Yan’an after their 12,000-kilometer ordeal, Chiang prepared to launch a Sixth Extermination Campaign to deliver the final blow to his weakened adversaries.

Japanese Aggression Forces a Reckoning

However, international events again intervened to reshape the conflict. In 1935, Japan brazenly announced plans to occupy five additional Chinese provinces: Hebei, Chahar, Suiyuan, Shanxi, and Shandong. Despite this flagrant aggression against Chinese sovereignty, Chiang remained obsessively focused on eliminating the Communists, causing public outrage throughout China. As national sentiment reached a boiling point, even the Nationalist leadership recognized the gravity of the situation, finally approaching the Communists to negotiate a cessation of hostilities.

Chiang proposed to Mao: “Let’s end our fighting. I’ll even provide support to the Red Army. But in return, the Red Army must operate under Nationalist command. Look at what the Japanese are doing to our homeland!”

Mao responded with characteristic defiance: “That’s absurd! You’re simply asking us to abandon our cause and sacrifice ourselves! Don’t waste our time with such proposals!”

The Xi’an Incident: A Forced Alliance

By December 1936, Chiang was making preparations for a Sixth Extermination Campaign targeting Yan’an, the Communist stronghold. In Xi’an, just south of Yan’an, was Zhang Xueliang, the former Manchurian warlord now serving as Chiang’s deputy commander.

When Chiang traveled to Xi’an to mobilize the Northeastern Army troops, Zhang made the shocking decision to detain him in what became known as the Xi’an Incident. Zhang and his Northeastern Army had lost their ancestral homeland in Manchuria to Japanese aggression, while Chiang showed little interest in reclaiming these territories, remaining fixated on destroying the Communists. Zhang believed that fighting fellow Chinese was counterproductive when the nation faced Japanese invasion.

Zhang urged Chiang to immediately form an alliance with the Communists and confront the Japanese, who had now advanced beyond Manchuria and threatened Beijing itself. When Chiang initially refused these demands, Zhou Enlai (1898-1976)—who would later become Premier of the People’s Republic of China—arranged a meeting with Chiang. Zhou proposed that Nationalists and Communists unite to expel the Japanese invaders. Chiang’s wife, Soong Mei-ling, also flew from Nanjing to persuade her husband to reconsider his position.

The Second United Front: A Fragile Alliance

From January to February 1937, negotiations for the Second United Front between Nationalists and Communists began in earnest. However, progress stalled when Chiang’s party insisted that the Communists abandon their plans to establish Soviet-style communist regions. The contentious negotiations dragged on for five months until July 1937.

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 7, 1937): War Comes to China

As negotiations reached an impasse, another pivotal event occurred that would break the deadlock. Like the fabricated Manchurian Incident, the Marco Polo Bridge Incident fundamentally altered China’s political landscape.

By this time, Japanese forces had expanded their control to the outskirts of Beijing. At the strategic Marco Polo Bridge, Japanese troops controlled the western approach while Nationalist forces held the eastern side. During this tense standoff, a Japanese soldier was reported missing. Though likely another manufactured pretext, Japanese military commanders demanded to search Nationalist-controlled territory for the allegedly missing soldier, deliberately escalating tensions.

Without conducting a proper investigation, Regimental Commander Mutaguchi Renya (1888-1966) ordered a preemptive attack on Chinese positions. This provocative action marked the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War (July 7, 1937 – August 15, 1945), forcing the Nationalists and Communists to temporarily set aside their differences to confront a common enemy.

[Coming soon: The next installment covering the Sino-Japanese War and its profound impact on modern Chinese history.]