Retreat, which is a word that is closely related to war and is not very glamorous. Only a team that has suffered defeat will face this choice. And retreating in war also means the loss of positions and the failure of formulating strategies, which contain bitter helplessness that only those who have experienced the war will understand.
In fact, not every retreat is so gray and sluggish, from another point of view, the retreat does not necessarily represent failure, but another form of comeback. It preserves living forces and prepares them for greater victories in the future. And there have been two great retreats in the history of human warfare, one for our country and the other for England.
When it comes to the retreat related to our country, I think most people have already thought of it, that is, the Long March of the Red Army. This is the greatest strategic military transfer in China in modern times, which directly saved the fate of the Chinese nation.
Due to the mistakes in our army's decision-making in the early years and the failure of the fourth and fifth anti-encirclement and suppression tactics, the 80,000 soldiers of our army were sharply reduced to 30,000 in just one month, and they would face the disaster of extinction if they continued to fight. In order to preserve its living strength, our army had no choice but to retreat and began the Long March.
On the 25,000-mile long march, our army crossed the Chishui River four times, flew to seize the Luding Bridge, and finally arrived at its destination, Yan'an, with these seeds of hope. In the end, it was precisely by relying on these forces that they swept through and came back, smashed the blockade and obstruction of the reactionaries, and established a new China. Today, every one of our Sons and Daughters of China can have such a happy and harmonious life thanks to this great Long March. Therefore, this retreat does not only mean defeat, but a turning point in the fate of the Chinese nation.
The second retreat concerned The British, called the Great Evacuation of Dunkirk. Domestic readers may be a little unfamiliar with this retreat, which was the most famous retreat during World War II.
Fast back to May 1940, the Germans were well prepared for the famous Blitzkrieg tactics launched at the beginning of World War II, plus they were the initiators of World War II. For a time, the major European powers were caught off guard, and almost no one was a rival to Nazi Germany.
At that time, the only people on the European continent who still insisted on fighting Germany were the British army. And they were not opponents of the Germans, and after several battles, they were forced by the Germans to the Dunkirk Grand Canyon. As long as the Germans take advantage of the victory to pursue, the last bit of resistance on the European continent will disappear, and the outcome of World War II may be rewritten.
In order to preserve the last fighting power of the British army, Churchill ordered the entire British civilian ships to cross the English Channel to pick up these British soldiers. With the concerted efforts of the British people, it finally took 1 week to rescue 300,000 British troops. These British troops became the main force in the anti-fascist battlefield in Europe in the future, and 3 years later, they landed through Normandy and stood on the soil of Nazi Germany as a victor.
It can be said that without the Dunkirk evacuation, the outcome of World War II, which determined the fate of mankind, could have gone to the other extreme. The Dunkirk evacuation also saved the world unquestionably. It has since been adapted into a film of the same name, which still stirs the hearts of veterans and modern people who have experienced it.
So, while retreat does sound frustrating, please don't give up hope. As the saying goes, "the sun is always after the wind and rain", without these great strategic retreats, how can we see the dawn of victory?