Commemorating the 90th Anniversary of the Victory of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army's Long March | Night Crossing at Yudu: The Great Expedition Sets Sail

1934 · Yudu · Ten Send-offs of the Red Army (four-panel joined oil painting, collection of the National Museum of China) — created by Chen Shuzhong, Chen Yimo, and Tian Xin

At the Central Red Army Long March Departure Memorial in Yudu County, Jiangxi Province, on the banks of the Yudu River, the resounding voices of a local red song ensemble performing the "Long March Cantata" (长征组歌) carry people back to those storm-battered years.

From October 17 to the early hours of October 21, 1934, after the various units of the Central Red Army completed their assembly north of the Yudu River, they crossed the river in accordance with the river-crossing plan promulgated by the Central Revolutionary Military Commission (中革军委), passing through ten crossing points: Yudu, Huaqiao, Tantouwei (Longshiju), Laigong Temple, Dapingxin (Longshanmen), Xiashanwei (Mengkou), and others.

On the evening of October 18, 1934, Comrade Mao Zedong walked out of the He Family Old House with his guard soldiers and stepped onto the Chengdongmen Ferry crossing on the north bank of the Yudu River.

The Chengdongmen crossing was lined with Red Army units in full kit ready to depart, as well as crowds of people bidding reluctant farewells. Mao Zedong stood to one side of the crossing, silently watching the columns — their bodies hung with grain sacks and straw sandals — pass over the pontoon bridge and press toward the south bank.

In September 1933, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized 500,000 troops to launch the Fifth "Encirclement and Suppression" (围剿) campaign against the Central Soviet Area. At that time, erroneous military command had placed the Red Army in a passive and grueling struggle, and the red political power was in grave peril. The History of the Chinese Communist Party records: "In May [1934], the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee made the decision to withdraw the main force of the Central Red Army from the base area."

Mao Zedong, who at the time was serving as Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Chinese Soviet Republic, had been stripped of his positions as General Political Commissar of the First Front Army and Secretary of the General Front Committee at the Ningdu Conference dominated by the Wang Ming line, and had been removed from the center of decision-making. Nevertheless, he continued to follow the evolving situation closely. As Guangchang fell and Nationalist Army forces pressed toward the heartland of the Central Soviet Area, the far-sighted Mao Zedong swiftly made an accurate judgment regarding the next strategic moves of the Party Central Committee and the Central Red Army.

In mid-September 1934, Mao Zedong traveled from Ruijin to Yudu County seat, moving about despite illness to investigate the military situation. On September 20, Mao Zedong sent a telegram from Yudu to Zhou Enlai reporting on enemy conditions in Gan County, Yudu, Dengxian, and other areas, as well as the defensive situation of the Red Army and local armed forces. He raised the point that "throughout Yudu and Dengxian there is no red martial law (赤色戒严), making it easy for enemy agents to move in and out; efforts are now being intensified to establish day-and-night sentries in the western and southern district areas and to carry out suppression of counter-revolutionaries (肃反)."

More than 92 years later, a telegram preserved in the Central Red Army Long March Departure Memorial stands out with particular force: "Along the lower reaches of the Xinfeng River, from Shangxia Wantan upstream, through Sanjiangkou, Jilongtan, Xiahuwei, and Datian to a line within ten li of the eastern bank of the Xinfeng River, enemy small units have at times crossed the river to harass, but none have been seen in the past week…" A scrap of paper carrying the weight of a thousand jun. Liu Ying, who had served as head of the Organization Department of the Communist Youth League Central Bureau, later recalled: "The Central Red Army crossed the Yudu River safely, and the route taken was the one chosen by Chairman Mao."

The Yudu River is the local name for the Gongjiang — a tributary of the Gan River — within Yudu territory; it is also called the Yu River or Gongshui, with an annual runoff of approximately 13.424 billion cubic meters. In ages past, the ancient Gongshui gave rise to beautiful legends such as "The Immortal Maiden Subdues the Waters" and "The Carp Spirit Repays a Kindness." In other ages, the Yudu River brought the convenience of boat transport to the local people for moving bamboo, timber, native paper, and other agricultural and sideline products, nourishing more than 200,000 mu of red-soil farmland on both banks and the generations of common people who lived there.

In the autumn of 1934, the Yudu River took on an unprecedented mission. More than 86,000 soldiers of the Central Red Army launched their epic expedition from this point.

"The Red Army marches far to resist Japan, crossing Yudu by night to the sound of rushing water." On the eve of Army Day in 1962, Marshal Ye Jianying recalled the night of the Long March departure — crossing the Yudu River — and the scene of his comrade Liu Bojian coming to see him off, and composed this poem from deep feeling.

In the autumn of 1934, the Yudu River was in its dry season, yet the channel stretched more than 600 meters wide, with a maximum depth of approximately 20 meters. At the time, there were no ferries large enough, no ready-made bridges available, and a massive force of more than 86,000 people had to cross the river safely right under the enemy's nose — was this not the stuff of legend?

Wang Yaonan, who at the time commanded a Red Army engineer detachment, wrote in his memoirs: One day in early October 1934, Division Commander Hong Chao and Political Commissar Huang Kecheng summoned Comrade Liu Ziming and me to division headquarters. Division Commander Hong came straight to the point: headquarters orders you to reach Yudu without fail before the 12th to carry out the bridge-building mission.

When Wang Yaonan led his unit to the deep-water crossing, more than 800 boats mobilized by the Soviet government of southern Jiangxi Province were already in position. Together with more than 1,000 boatmen and carpenters who had been called up, they used the method of "wooden boats laid side by side, fixed with iron anchors, connected with rope, and planked over with wooden boards" to construct pontoon bridges across the channel. To avoid enemy aircraft reconnaissance and bombing and to protect the Red Army's secret crossing, the pontoon bridges were assembled uniformly after dusk and dismantled by day, rebuilt by night. During the main force's crossing, the five pontoon bridges on the Yudu River were assembled and dismantled a combined total of 15 times.

Beginning on October 17, the main force of the Central Red Army crossed the river in batches through ten crossing points. On the evening of the 18th, Mao Zedong — just recovered from a serious illness — bid farewell to the people of the Soviet area, while Zhou Enlai and others bowed in respectful thanks to the Soviet area's populace before reluctantly stepping onto the pontoon bridge at Yudu's Dongmen crossing.

Yang Chengwu, who at the time served as Political Commissar of the 4th Regiment, 2nd Division, 1st Army Corps, recalled: "The water flowed gently beneath the bridge, and our columns passed slowly over it — no head visible at the front, no tail visible at the rear… Forward, forward, into the dim evening mist, listening to the sound of the water growing ever fainter, until gradually that sound was replaced by the footsteps of the rapid march."

At crossing points such as Liyu, Shiwei, and Yuwengbu, Red Army soldiers used small boats to ferry across or waded through the water. Peng Jialun, who at the time served as head of the Propaganda Section of the Political Department of the 1st Army Corps, wrote in his memoirs: "Red soldiers emerged in column after column from the various villages, line after line advancing continuously toward the banks of the Yu River — the sounds of horses, carrying poles, bayonets scraping, marching feet, and singing all mingled together… The boatmen rowed their wooden sculls without pause, ferrying load after load across…"

Night fell deep and vast; the Gongshui murmured and sobbed. Behind them were the Soviet area's people, sending them off with tears; ahead lay an unknown and boundless road. The Red Army officers and soldiers bidding farewell to the Central Soviet Area wore expressions of steely resolve and marched with firm, resounding steps.

At the site of the "First Crossing of the Long March," Li Mingrong — a descendant of boatmen from Yumin Village, Gongjiang Town — has for decades told with deep feeling the story of his forebears ferrying the Red Army across the river by night: "During those days, my father Li Shengren, my mother Wang Jiufa, and several dozen clan members rowed more than 20 of our family fishing boats to the Luoao Shiwei crossing, making dozens of round trips through the night. On our family's boat, my father worked the oar and my mother worked the scull; for several nights running, they ferried the Red Army across to the far bank, group by group."

In the Central Red Army Long March Departure Memorial, two strategic transfer planning charts have drawn the attention of many visitors.

One is the Field Army Action Schedule from October 10 to 20. The plan shows: the 5th Army Corps (红5军团) was assigned rear-guard duty; the other field army corps and the various Central Column units carried out mobile assembly; unified arrangements were made for the entire army's rest and recuperation, grain procurement, bridge construction, and casualty evacuation, achieving integrated coordination of combat, march, and logistics.

The other is the Field Army Plan for Crossing the Gongshui Southward. The plan specifies the crossing time periods, crossing point assignments, and boat scheduling for the two Military Commission columns and each army corps, implementing staggered night crossings to avoid crowding and scrambling to cross and to guard against enemy aircraft reconnaissance and surprise attack, ensuring that the field army completed its river-crossing movement covertly, swiftly, safely, and in good order.

At the time, all planning and preparation for the strategic transfer proceeded in secrecy. Liu Ying described in her memoirs the scene of meeting Mao Zedong after arriving at Yudu: "I asked Chairman Mao again: 'Where are we going?' He said: 'I don't know.'"

Yet everything was advancing in an organized and planned manner. On September 29, Zhang Wentian published an article in Red China (《红色中华》) stating: "Preparations must be made to break through the enemy's blockade lines, and mobilization and explanation work for long-distance marching and combat must be carried out." On October 7, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission ordered the 24th Division (红24师) and local forces to relieve the various field army corps of their defensive duties. On the 9th, the General Political Department of the Red Army issued the Political Directive on Preparing for Long-Distance Marching and Combat. On the 10th, the CPC Central Committee and the Central Revolutionary Military Commission led their directly subordinate organs in departing from Ruijin and transferring toward the Yudu area. Prior to this, the various field army corps had already successively departed from their respective stations and concentrated toward their assembly areas along the banks of the Yudu River. By October 16, the various units of the Central Red Army had essentially completed their assembly north of the Yudu River.

At 8:30 a.m. on October 12, 1934, Zhu De, Chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission, issued an order to each army corps and column: "All field army actions stipulated in that table [the Field Army Action Schedule from October 10 to 20] are to be executed with a one-day delay from the scheduled dates; however, the First Central Column is still to move on the evening of today, the 12th."

At 19:00 on October 16, Zhu De sent a telegram to Dong Zhentang and Li Zhuoran informing them that the Red Army Independent 3rd Regiment would arrive the following day (the 17th) in the area south of Xingguo to relieve the 5th Army Corps of its mission of resisting Zhou Hunyuan's column, and that the 5th Army Corps should transfer to the Shefu area on the evening of the 17th… The 5th Army Corps should establish contact with Independent Regiments 3 and 13 and specify their operational deployments.

Looking deep into history, it is not difficult to see that the main force of the Central Red Army's assembly at Yudu and commencement of the Long March was not an isolated action.

At the time, in the Chongxi mountain area of Dexing County, Jiangxi Province, the 7th Army Corps (红7军团) — which had departed from Ruijin, Jiangxi, in early July on a northward mission to "draw away the enemy" — was advancing in great strides toward the Fujian-Zhejiang-Jiangxi Soviet Area; in the Ganxi area of Shiqian County, Guizhou Province, the 6th Army Corps (红6军团), which had struck out westward alone to "scout the way," continued pressing toward the eastern Guizhou direction after several days of fierce fighting against the enemy that had cost it more than half its strength. One to the north, one to the west — two advance columns — sounded the prelude to the Central Red Army's Long March.

After the Central Red Army's departure, Xiang Ying, Chen Yi, and others led the 24th Division and local armed forces — a combined 16,000 personnel — along with more than 30,000 wounded and sick soldiers who remained in the Soviet area to persist in guerrilla warfare. Most of them later sacrificed their lives; the officers and soldiers who survived became the backbone of the 1st Detachment of the New Fourth Army.

At this critical juncture of life and death, the heroic Red Army, with a dauntless spirit and iron-willed execution, moved at the sound of orders, each bearing its heavy responsibility, preserving the vital forces of the Chinese revolution.

On May 20, 2019, Chairman Xi, at the Central Red Army Long March Departure Memorial on the banks of the Yudu River, warmly met with representatives of Red Army descendants and revolutionary martyrs' family members from Yudu County and said with deep feeling: "During the years of revolutionary war, the people of Jiangxi paid enormous sacrifices and made enormous contributions to the victory of the revolution."

In the memorial, a set of figures on the wall is staggering: before the Central Red Army's departure, the Soviet area's people collected more than 900,000 dan of grain and more than 800,000 silver dollars; rushed to produce more than 200,000 pairs of straw sandals and more than 200,000 bamboo rain hats, along with large quantities of cotton quilts and clothing; provided large amounts of pig iron, copper and tin, native saltpeter, and other munitions materials, causing Red Army ammunition production to surge by more than sixfold; and the riverside locals (老表) spontaneously donated door planks, bed boards, melon-shed boards, and other bridge-building timber totaling more than 100,000 pieces.

Wang Yaonan once recalled an episode from the bridge-building: "At the time, an elderly man surnamed Zeng insisted on donating his own coffin. I couldn't bear to accept it, and Old Man Zeng grew angry: 'Comrade, how can you be so unreasonable? The Red Army soldiers don't even care about their lives in battle — what does it matter if I give up a few coffin planks?' I couldn't argue with him and had no choice but to accept."

In the hearts of the Soviet area's people, the accounting was clear: only when the Red Army wins battles can the common people have a clear sky overhead.

At the time of the Central Red Army's departure, tens of thousands of young and able-bodied men from the Soviet area eagerly enlisted; Yudu County alone contributed nearly 10,000 new soldiers. More than 10,000 others joined stretcher teams and transport teams to move with the army. Countless families took in and sheltered wounded and sick soldiers and Red Army dependents — one household at most sheltered seven wounded and sick soldiers. According to incomplete statistics, of the Red Army soldiers and civilian workers from Yudu County alone who participated in the Long March, more than 10,000 perished along the way. Families that sheltered wounded Red Army soldiers and their dependents were mostly subjected to persecution by the Nationalist reactionaries afterward.

The Soviet area's people bound their lives and fortunes tightly to the fate of the Party and the Red Army, injecting powerful momentum into the Long March.

During the Central Red Army main force's assembly toward Yudu, Red Guards (赤卫队), Children's Corps (儿童团), and other organizations along the route bravely took on the mission of blockade and security, sealing off information with strict discipline. The enemy remained completely unaware even after the Red Army had successfully crossed the Yudu River.

Three hundred thousand Yudu people kept an enormous secret, providing a strong guarantee for the Red Army's successful execution of large-scale operations.

Nie Rongzhen wrote in his memoirs: "Crossing the Yudu River, just as the sun was setting in the west… I kept turning to look back. Gazing at the mountains and waters of the Central Base Area, bidding farewell to the comrades and villagers who had come to see us off at the riverbank. This was the place where I had fought for two years and ten months… The people of the base area gave the Red Army the greatest possible material and spiritual encouragement and support. Thinking of all this, I was filled with reluctance to leave."

Time flows on; mountains and rivers bear witness. In the autumn of 1934, the Central Red Army's night crossing of the Yudu River became a vivid testament to the life-and-death interdependence and shared purpose of the army and the people. From that point forward — from the storming of the Wu River and the skillful crossing of the Jinsha River on the Long March, to the Eighth Route Army's eastward crossing of the Yellow River to the anti-Japanese front, to the War of Liberation and the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea — "the army wins battles because the people are its backbone (军队打胜仗，人民是靠山)" became the secret of our army's invincibility.

Time flies; the world changes. Today, at the sites of the five crossing points where the Red Army once built pontoon bridges, five magnificent modern bridges have been erected. "Fording" has become "spanning," but the words Zhou Enlai spoke 92 years ago as he stepped onto the pontoon bridge to depart — "The people of Yudu are truly good; the people of the Soviet area are truly dear" — seem still to echo over the Yudu River, warming and inspiring the people of this old revolutionary area.

In the spring of 1949, the People's Liberation Army crossed the Yangtze River. Liu Yazi said: "The People's Liberation Army crossed the river so quickly and occupied Nanjing — what brilliant stratagem did Chairman Mao use?"

Mao Zedong replied: "No brilliant stratagem. If there is one, the support of the people is the greatest stratagem of all."