Body Overview
1. Outline: Understand the several meetings of the Party Central Committee during the Long March of the Red Army to correct the chaos and determine the fate
2. Time span: 1934-1936
3. Important terms: strategic transfer channel meeting Liping meeting Monkey farm meeting Zunyi meeting Tashi conference Gouba meeting
4. Important people: Mao Zedong, Bogu, Zhou Enlai, Zhang Wentian, Wang Jiaxiang
Brief description of the Long March
In October 1934, the fifth anti-encirclement and suppression campaign of the main force of the Central Committee, the Red Army, failed, and in order to preserve the revolutionary forces and get rid of the encirclement and pursuit of the Kuomintang troops, it was forced to withdraw from the central base areas, carry out a strategic transfer, and begin the Long March.
The Long March is a great miracle in the history of mankind, on the way the Central Red Army carried out more than 380 battles, captured more than 700 counties, sacrificed more than 430 cadres at or above the battalion level, the average age is less than 30 years old, a total of hundreds of regiments of the Kuomintang army attacked, during which a total of 14 provinces, over 18 mountains, across 24 rivers, through the barren grassland, over the white snow mountain, the journey of about 25,000 miles, the Red Army in October 1935 arrived in Wuqi Town, Northern Shaanxi Province, and joined the victorious division of the Red Army in Northern Shaanxi.
In October 1936, the Red Second and Fourth Fronts arrived in the Huining area of Gansu Province and joined the Red Army in divisions.
The three main forces of the Red Army met the division, marking the end of the victory of the Long March.
Beacon
The victory of the Long March is not a source of water and no wood, in addition to the belief of the vast number of commanders and fighters to fight to the death and will win, it also stems from the process of the Party Central Committee constantly correcting mistakes, unifying thinking, strengthening confidence, and strengthening unity.
During the Long March, the CPC Central Committee held many important meetings, of which more than 30 were recorded; these meetings embodied the principle of democratic centralism, played the role of collective leadership, constantly corrected the direction of the Red Army's advance, constantly fought against the erroneous left-leaning line, and commanded the Red Army's arduous battles on the Long March and won the final victory. Several of the most important meetings on the Long March are described below.
Channel meetings
In October 1934, more than 80,000 people from the main force of the Central Red Army and the central organs left the central base area and began a major strategic transfer. Bogu and military adviser Li De hoped to join the Second and Sixth Red Armies of Western Hunan Province.
In early December, in light of the actual situation during the Long March at that time (the Kuomintang had already deployed heavy troops on the way to western Hunan), Mao Zedong suggested to the central authorities: abandon the plan to go to western Hunan to join the Red Second and Sixth Armies, and instead advance to Guizhou, where the enemy's strength is weak, and establish a base area on the border of Sichuan and Qian.
On December 11, the Central Red Army occupied the county seat of Tongdao, Hunan. On December 12, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held an emergency meeting here, which was attended by Bogu, Zhou Enlai, Zhang Wentian, Mao Zedong, Wang Jiaxiang and Li De.
At the meeting, Mao Zedong again suggested abandoning the original plan and advancing to Guizhou, where the enemy's strength was weak, to avoid entering the enemy's encirclement, which was recognized by most of the participants.
The meeting averted greater losses after the Battle of the Xiangjiang River of the Red Army.
Liping Conference
On December 15, 1934, the Red Army captured Liping, Guizhou. On December 18, Zhou Enlai presided over a politburo meeting to debate the red army's next strategic approach, and Zhou Enlai decided to adopt Mao Zedong's advice and cross the Wu river west to the north. Zhang Wentian, then a member of the Politburo Standing Committee, and Wang Jiaxiang, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and director of the General Political Department, both believed that Comrade Mao Zedong should be allowed to take out military command.
The Liping Conference can be said to be an important meeting related to the fate of the Red Army and the future of the Chinese revolution; it negated the erroneous ideas of Li De and Bogu and adopted Mao Zedong's flexible and mobile strategic and tactical thinking. The Liping conference laid the foundation for the subsequent meeting to formally resolve the issue of military command lines.
Monkey Farm meeting
On January 1, 1935, the Central Red Army arrived at the Monkey Farm in Wong'an, Guizhou. The Cpc Central Committee held a meeting of the Politburo here, and Mao Zedong once again suggested that the Red Army should establish a new base area centered on Zunyi in the border areas of Sichuan and Qian, and most of the participants agreed with this opinion, once again rejecting the unrealistic propositions put forward by Li De and Bogu.
The resolution made at the Monkey Farm meeting pointed out: "Regarding the operational policy and the choice of the time and place of the operation, the Central Military Commission must make a report at the Politburo meeting. This strengthened the leadership of the Politburo over the Central Military Commission, and in fact began to limit the command of Bogu and Li De. The Monkey Farm Conference in fact endorsed Mao Zedong's military policy, basically ended the military command of the "Three-Man Regiment", established the principle of the Politburo to decide major issues, and laid the foundation for the subsequent Zunyi Conference.
After the meeting, the Red Army forcibly crossed the Wujiang River and captured Zunyi City, temporarily getting rid of the enemy and winning a valuable period of rest, and the leadership level of the CPC Central Committee had sufficient time to solve the problem of military command.
Zunyi Meeting
From January 15 to 17, 1935, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China held an enlarged meeting of the Politburo in Zunyi. The main topic of the Zunyi meeting was to sum up the experience and lessons of the Red Army's fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign and military command of the Western Expedition.
Bogu (Qin Bangxian) first made a summary report on the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign, but overemphasized the objective reasons for the failure and excused himself. Zhou Enlai made a vice report, pointing out that the main reason for the defeat of the Red Army was the mistakes of military strategy and tactics, and took the initiative to assume responsibility.
In response to Bogu's summary report, Zhang Wentian first stood up and spoke out, expressing opposition. He pointedly pointed out that the main reason for the failure of the fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign was a series of serious adventuristic mistakes made by the trio in military command, and exposed their attempts to shirk their guilt. This became the mainstream opinion at the Zunyi conference.
Subsequently, Mao Zedong made a long speech on various controversial issues since the Long March, and he was sincere, well-argued, philosophical, and very convincing. After that, Wang Jiaxiang's speech clearly supported Mao Zedong's opinions, severely criticized Bogu and Li De's bad work style of violating democratic centralism and being arbitrary and autocratic militarily, and suggested that the central military command organs be immediately reorganized, li de and Bogu's military command power abolished, and Mao Zedong should participate in military command.
The convening of the Zunyi Conference is a historical necessity and the will of the people. At the critical juncture of life and death for the Party and the Red Army, the Zunyi Conference independently and autonomously resolved the question of the line and organization of the Party Central Committee, put an end to the rule of the "Left" line in the Central Committee, and in fact began the new leadership of the Central Committee headed by Mao Zedong, saving the Chinese revolution at the most critical moment.
Tashi Conference
From February 5 to 9, 1935, the Central Red Army withdrew from Zunyi City and entered Weixin County, Yunnan, and held three consecutive Politburo meetings, collectively known as the Tashi Conference, decided that Zhang Wentian would replace Bogu as the general responsible person of the Central Committee, adopted the summary resolution of the Central Committee on opposing the enemy's five "encirclement and suppression", and discussed and adopted the "Zunyi Conference Resolution" drafted by Zhang Wentian.
After the Tashi Conference, the vast number of commanders and fighters profoundly understood the erroneous essence of the central authorities' military line since the Fifth Anti-"Encirclement and Suppression" campaign and the Long March, fully affirmed and understood Mao Zedong's correct military thinking, and laid an ideological foundation for the Red Army to win the final victory of the Long March.
The Tashi conference adjusted the division of labor among the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, elected Zhang Wentian as the general responsible person of the CPC Central Committee, cooperated with Mao Zedong, the actual supreme leader of the Red Army, and jointly led the whole party and the whole army to create a new situation. The Tashi meeting is actually a continuation of the Zunyi conference and the implementation of the resolutions of the Zunyi meeting.
Gouba Conference
On February 28, 1935, the Central Red Army once again marched to capture Zunyi. On March 8, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China moved into Gouba, and on March 10, Zhang Wentian presided over a politburo meeting to discuss the proposal of Lin Biao and Nie Rongzhen of the Red First Army to attack the new drumming field.
On the morning of March 11, Zhou Enlai proposed to continue the meeting to discuss the attack on the new drumming field, and together with Mao Zedong, finally persuaded the participants to abandon this idea, so that the Red Army could avoid new losses.
On March 12, Zhang Wentian presided over an enlarged meeting of the Politburo in Gouba and decided to set up a new three-member military group composed of Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong, and Wang Jiaxiang to command the military on behalf of the Politburo with full authority and fulfill the task of the Zunyi Conference on changing the supreme military leadership organ of the Party Central Committee.
Follow-up meetings
After the Zunyi Conference, the Red Army was reborn and once again became the armed force that had once frightened the enemy. Before the victory of the Long March, there were several important meetings:
Luding Conference: The Central Committee decided that the Central Red Army would cross the snowy mountains to meet the Four Fronts;
Lianghekou Conference: After the First and Fourth Fronts met with the divisions, the Central Committee decided that the Red Army would go north to Shaanxi and Gansu to establish a base area;
MaoErgai Conference: The Central Committee decided that the Red Army on the left and right would quickly implement the plan to move north to the east;
Bangluo Town Conference: The Central Committee decided that the final foothold of the Red Army's Long March would be northern Shaanxi;
Wuqi Town Conference: The Politburo of the Central Committee held a meeting in Wuqi Town, Chi'an County, Shaanxi Province, analyzed the new situation, and decided that the future strategic task of the Party and the Red Army was to establish the Northwest Soviet Region and lead the national revolution, thus proclaiming the victorious end of the Long March of the Central Red Army.
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