The Long March of the Red Army
The Red Army faced the threat of annihilation after its defeat in the fifth encirclement and suppression campaign. From October 1934 to October 1936, the First, Second and Fourth Front Armies and the 25th Red Army undertook a strategic evacuation, withdrawal and regrouping which would go on to become known as the Long March.
In early October 1934 a detachment from the CPC's central leadership and the main force of the Central Red Army, numbering more than 80,000, began to withdraw from the Central Soviet Area and marched west to break through the encirclement. This was the beginning of the Long March.
Subsequently, Red Army troops in other base areas in southern China also began their strategic withdrawal and embarked on their own Long Marches.
In early January 1935, the Red Army captured Zunyi, a town in Guizhou Province. The CPC Central Committee held an enlarged meeting of the Political Bureau there. The meeting focused on addressing some critical military and organizational matters following the failure in the fifth campaign. The meeting established Mao Zedong's leadership in the Party's Central Committee and the Red Army.
Afterward, over a course of nearly one year, the Central Red Army, under the leadership of the Central Committee headed by Mao, broke through the enemy encirclement and interceptions, thwarted Zhang Guotao's attempt to split the Party and the Red Army, crossed snow-capped mountains and marshes, and eventually joined with the 15th Army Group at Wuqi, a town in the Shaanxi-Gansu Revolutionary Base Area, in mid-October 1935. By that time the Central Red Army had crossed 11 provinces and covered a distance of 25,000 li (12,500 km). Their Long March represented a victory for the CPC and the Red Army and defeat for the enemy.
In October 1936 the Second and Fourth Front Armies reached Huining in Gansu Province and joined forces with the First Front Army.
The rendezvous of the three front armies marked the end of the Long March. The Red Army had sown seeds of revolution in the regions they had traversed, and the Long March became a symbol of the unyielding spirit of the Chinese people. The success of the Long March signaled the failure of the KMT attempts to destroy the CPC and the Red Army. It marked the completion of the strategic retreat of the CPC and the Red Army to northern China, bringing to the nation hope for resistance against the Japanese aggression. This marked a great turning point for the CPC and China's revolution, setting out on the path that would ultimately lead to victory. And it marked the beginning of a new advance by the CPC to liberate the Chinese people and achieve national independence.
红军长征
第五次反“围剿”失败后，面对生死存亡的严峻考验，从1934年10月到1936年10月，红军第一、第二、第四方面军和第二十五军进行了伟大的长征。
1934年10月初，中国共产党的中央机关和中央红军主力8万多人撤离中央苏区，踏上向西突围的征途，长征开始。随后，南方其他根据地的红军也先后进行战略转移，进行长征。
1935年1月初，红军攻占贵州遵义。中共中央在遵义召开政治局扩大会议，集中纠正了第五次反“围剿”以来在军事上和组织上的错误，实际确立了毛泽东在中央和红军中的领导地位。此后，中央红军在以毛泽东为首的中共中央正确领导下，经过近一年的艰苦奋战，突破了国民党军队的围追堵截，战胜了张国焘分裂党和红军的危机，爬雪山，过草地，终于在1935年10月中旬到达陕甘地区的吴起镇，与红十五军团会师。行程两万五千里、纵横11个省的中央红军的长征，终于以党和红军的胜利、敌人的失败而结束。1936年10月，红二、红四方面军到达甘肃会宁地区，同红一方面军会师。
红军三大主力会师，标志着万里长征的胜利结束。红军走过的地方，播下了革命的种子。红军长征成了中国人民坚强不屈斗争精神的象征。红军长征的胜利，宣告了国民党反动派消灭中国共产党和红军的图谋彻底失败，宣告了中国共产党和红军肩负着民族希望胜利实现北上抗日的战略转移，实现了中国共产党和中国革命事业从挫折走向胜利的伟大转折，开启了中国共产党为实现民族独立、人民解放而斗争的新的伟大进军。