Long March

Between 1934 and 1936, the Red Army walked 12,500 kilometers from Ruijin, Jiangxi Province, the "capital" of the Chinese Soviet Republic, to northern Shaanxi Province, fighting the Kuomintang forces. This action is also known as the Great Western Migration.

The Long March not only showed the Red Army the way forward for 11 provinces and 200 million people, but also played a role in forging the Chinese Communist Party into an invincible force. The reasons for abandoning the central base in Ruijin, which had been surrounded and defeated by the Kuomintang army five times, and embarking on the Long March were, firstly, that the army was in a difficult military situation as a result of regular warfare being waged by an ultra-left line opposed to Mao Zedong, and secondly, that the army was aiming to move north to resist Japan in the face of the Manchurian Incident. The First Front Army, under the direct leadership of the Party Central Committee including Zhu De and Mao Zedong, withdrew from its base in October 1934 with a force of over 80,000 troops. Prior to this, the Second Front Army, commanded by Helong, had advanced to the provincial border areas of Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, and Guizhou, and the First Front Army was scheduled to join it, but came under fierce attack from the Kuomintang forces and the First Front Army switched to Guizhou, occupying Zunyi in Guizhou Province. At the expanded meeting of the Central Politburo (Zunyi Conference) held here in January 1935, the far-left line was rejected and Mao Zedong's leadership within the party was established.

After this, the Red Army's actions became more mobile, and they withdrew from their bases on the borders of Hubei, Henan, and Anhui provinces, planning to join up with the Fourth Area Army, which had been in northern Sichuan. They then forced their way across the Dadu River, crossed the 5,000-meter-high Dasyu Mountains, and after a difficult march, the two armies successfully joined forces in Maogong (now Xiaojin) in Sichuan. However, Zhang Guotao, commander of the Fourth Area Army, opposed the policy of the Central Party and instead of marching north to fight the Japanese, he stayed in Xikang (the former name of a province in the southwest) and the Sichuan border. Mao's First Area Army continued to march north, and after a 368-day march, its main force arrived in northern Shaanxi province and established a new base. Meanwhile, the Second Area Army, which was in charge of supporting the First Area Army, embarked on the Long March with about 20,000 troops and joined the Fourth Area Army in Xikang Province. As a result of the political struggle with Zhang Guotao, the two armies joined forces and joined the First Area Army in Gansu in October 1936, passing through 11 provinces and crossing 18 mountain ranges before completing the Long March. The army's total force of 300,000, with replenishments along the way, is said to have reached its new base at about 30,000, which speaks to the magnitude of the sacrifices. However, they soon built a powerful base in northern Shaanxi Province and fought in the Anti-Japanese War. Meanwhile, the small unit of Chen Yi and others who remained in Jiangxi maintained their fighting power with amazing perseverance, and later developed into the New Fourth Army.

As Edgar Snow once said, the Long March was a monumental undertaking that made "Hannibal's crossing of the Alps seem nothing more than a holiday excursion compared to it" (Red Star over China), and it can be said to be a great epic that colors the history of the Chinese revolution.

[Ando Hikotaro]

"The Great Road" by Smedley, translated by Tomoji Abe (Iwanami Bunko)" ▽ "The History of the Long March of the Chinese Revolution" by Ryuzo Okamoto (1981, Simul Publishing)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

1934年から36年にかけて、中華ソビエト共和国の「首都」江西(こうせい／チヤンシー)省瑞金(ずいきん／ロイチン)から陝西(せんせい／シャンシー)省北部まで、紅軍が国民党軍と戦闘を交えながら1万2500キロメートルを歩いて移動した行動。大西遷(だいせいせん)ともいう。

　長征は11省と2億の人民に紅軍の指し示す道を明らかにしただけでなく、中国共産党を不抜のものに鍛え上げる役割を果たした。5回にわたる国民党軍の包囲討伐を受けた瑞金の中央根拠地を放棄して長征に出たのは、第一に、毛沢東(もうたくとう／マオツォートン)に反対する極左路線によって正規戦が行われ、軍事的に困難な状況に陥っていたこと、第二に、満州事変に直面して北上抗日を目ざしていたことがあげられる。朱徳(しゅとく／チュートー)、毛沢東など党中央の直接指導する第一方面軍は、8万余の兵力をもって、1934年10月根拠地を撤退した。これより先、賀竜(がりゅう／ホーロン)を指揮者とする第二方面軍が、湖南(こなん／フーナン)、湖北(こほく／フーペイ)、四川(しせん／スーチョワン)、貴州(きしゅう／コイチョウ)の省境地区に出ており、第一方面軍はこれと合流する予定であったが、国民党軍の激しい攻撃にあい、第一方面軍は貴州に転進、貴州省の遵義(じゅんぎ／ツンイー)を占領した。35年1月、ここで開いた中央政治局拡大会議（遵義会議）で、極左路線が否定され、党内における毛沢東の指導権が確立した。

　このあと紅軍の行動は一段と機動性を帯び、湖北、河南(かなん／ホーナン)、安徽(あんき／アンホイ)省境の根拠地を撤退して、四川省北部に出ていた第四方面軍との合流を策した。そして大渡河(だいとが)を強行渡河し、5000メートルもの大雪山を越え、苦難の行軍ののち四川の懋功(マオコン)（現在の小金）で両軍は合流に成功した。ところが第四方面軍の指揮者張国燾(ちょうこくとう／チャンクオタオ)は、党中央の方針に反対し、北上抗日せずに、西康（南西部の旧省名）と四川の辺境に居座ってしまった。毛沢東の率いる第一方面軍は北上を継続し、368日間の行軍ののちに、主力は陝西省北部に到着して新たな根拠地を開いた。一方、第一方面軍の援護作戦にあたっていた第二方面軍は、約2万の兵力で長征を行って、西康省で第四方面軍と合流した。張国燾と政治闘争の結果、両軍相携えて1936年10月、甘粛(かんしゅく／カンスー)で第一方面軍と合流、11省を通過し、18の山脈を越えて長征が終了した。全軍30万の兵力が、途中補充しながら、長征を終えて新根拠地に到着したときは約3万といわれ、その犠牲の大きさを物語っている。しかし、まもなく陝西省北部に強大な根拠地を建設し、抗日戦争を戦うに至った。他方、江西に残留した陳毅(ちんき／チェンイー)らの小部隊は、驚くべき忍耐によって戦力を保持し、のちに新四軍に発展した。

　長征は、かつてエドガー・スノーが語ったように、「ハンニバルのアルプス越えも、これに比べれば休日の遠足にすぎない」（『中国の赤い星』）大事業であり、中国革命史を彩る一大叙事詩といってよいだろう。

［安藤彦太郎］

『スメドレー著、阿部知二訳『偉大なる道』（岩波文庫）』▽『岡本隆三著『中国革命長征史』（1981・サイマル出版会）』

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