The fenny grassland the Second Front Army of the Red Army passed through during the Long March

Mt. Jiajin----the first snow-covered mountain the Red Army ever climbed over during the Long March

After Mao Zedong set up the first revolutionary base in Jinggangshan Mountain, Jiangxi province, for seven years the Communists prospered despite everything Chiang Kaishek and the Nationalists Koumingtong could do in the "annihilation" campaign against the "Red Bandits".

At this time, Moscow sent Otto Braun (Li De), who was not clear about the real situation in China, to advise the Chinese communists.

After a year of terrible losses (about 60,000 men), one disastrous battle after another throughout Chiang's Fifth Campaign, the end was near.

By autumn of 1934, the Communists had lost 58% of their territory. It was decided that the Red Army must leave the area in order to survive.

In October 1934 the First, Third, Fifth, Eighth and Ninth Army Groups of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (that is, the Central Red Army, after joining forces with the Red Army's Fourth Front Army in June 1935 and restoring the name of the First Front Army), along with two columns composed of personnel of the Central Committee, its Military Commission and army units directly under the Commission, set out on a major strategic shift from Ruijin and other places in southern Jiangxi. They traversed the eleven provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangdong, Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Yunan, Xikang (now divided under the jurisdiction of Sichuan Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region), Gansu and Shaanxi, crossing perpetually snow-capped mountains and trackless marshlands and grasslands, sustaining untold hardships and frustrating hundreds of thousands of repeated enemy encirclements, pursuits, obstructions and interceptions. The Red Army covered more than 20,000 li (about 12,500 kilometers) on this march, to arrive triumphantly at the revolutionary base area in northern Shaanxi in October 1935.

The 1st Front Army of the Red Army (Central Red Army) set out on October 10, 1934 from Ruijin and Yudu of Jiangxi Province and Changting and Ninghua of Fujian Province. By way of Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Xikang, Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces, it arrived at Wuqi Town of Shaanxi Provice on October 19, 1935, wrapping up the 373-day-long Long March.

The 2nd Front Army of the Red Army is incorporated by the 2nd and 6th Army Groups and the 32nd Corps of the Red Army on July 5, 1936. The Long March of the 2nd Front Army began with the 2nd and 6th Army Groups' retreating from the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Revolutionary Base Area on November 19, 1935. 11 month later, the 2nd Front Army joined forces with the 1st Front Army at Jiangtaibao (in today's Xiji County, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region) on October 22, 1936 marking the end of its Long March. By way of such provinces and autonomous region as Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Xikang (part in today's Sichuan Province and part in today's Tibet Autonomous Region), the 2nd Front Army covered a total distance of more than 20000 l during the Long March.

The Long March of the 4th Front Army of the Red Army began with the forceful crossing of the Jialing River in March 1935 and ended when it joined forces with the 1st Front Army in Huining of Gansu Province in October 1936. By way of Sichuan, Xikang (part in today's Sichuan Province and part in today's Tibet Autonomous Region), Gansu Province and Tibet Autonomous Region, the 4th Front Army covered a total distance of more than 10000 li in 19 months during the Long March.

The Long March of the 25th Corps of the Red Army set out from Luoshan County, Henan Province on November 16, 1934 and ended when it came to Yongping Town, Yanchuan County of Shaanxi Province on September 15, 1935. By way of Henan, Hubei and Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces, They covered a total distance of nearly 10000 li in a period of 10 months.

Editor: Yan