Mao's Road to Power: Revolutionary Writings, 1912-49: v. 4: The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Soviet Republic, 1931-34

Revolutionary Writings, 1912-49

Zedong Mao, Stuart Schram

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781134902255
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Política y relaciones internacionales
• Subtopic: Campañas políticas y elecciones

This projected ten-volume edition of Mao Zedong's writings provides abundant documentation in his own words regarding his life and thought. It has been compiled from all available Chinese sources, including the many new texts that appeared in 1993, Mao's centenary.

Map No. 1. South-central China

Map No. 2. Southern Jiangxi Base Areas

Volume IV
The Rise and Fall of the Chinese Soviet Republic 1931–1934

MAO’S

ROAD TO POWER

RevolutionaryWritings
1912·1949

1931

Order to Attack Tan Daoyuan¹

Order No. VI² of the First Front Army of the Red Army

(Headquarters at Nanlin, 10:00 P.M., January 1, [1931])

1. The main force of Tan Daoyuan’s enemy division (the division consists of six regiments) is at Yuantou. In the area around Shangchao and Xiachao, its advance party (roughly two regiments) has reached Shupi; Rebel Xu Kexiang’s³ troops (two regiments) are still at Luokou, and Rebel Mao Bingwen’s⁴ vanguard (four regiments) reached Ningdu xian already on the 30th.⁵

2. The Front Army has decided to use its main force to wipe out this division.

3. The Second Route Army [of the Red Army] is responsible for the attack on the areas north of Guanling, Xialu, and Fengling.⁶ Its main force will take a shortcut through Youzhapi and occupy the areas in the upland north of Liaofang, before advancing to launch a fierce attack against the enemy in the Yuantou and Shangchao areas. They are to arrive at the designated areas and begin the attack at exactly 12:00 noon tomorrow (the 2nd).

The Third Route Army is responsible for an attack on the areas west of Shupi, and for occupying the 400-meter upland area at the western edge of Butou (using the sketch map of the vicinity of Xiaobu surveyed and drawn by the Third Army the second time and by the Third Army Group the first time). It will also launch an attack on the enemy at Shupi from the Yangshenwo line. They are to arrive at the designated areas and begin the attack at 10:00 A.M. tomorrow (the 2nd), luring the enemy’s attention toward the main front at Shupi.

The Twelfth Army will carry out an attack on the areas west of Dayuanli. It should return to Dayuanli from its present location via Bayunting and Shangchayuan and then move forward to attack in the direction of Xiachao. (One section must attack along the western edge of Dayuanli and in the uplands of Yangshizhai. It is to arrive at the designated areas and begin the attack at 12:00 noon tomorrow.)

4. General Headquarters will advance tomorrow to Xishan to exercise command.

Points for attention:

a. This particular campaign is of crucial importance to the general situation; all officers and soldiers must not begrudge any sacrifice whatsoever to achieve the goal of final victory.

b. The Third Army will make special efforts in building fortifications to support the position at the front.

c. After victory is won, attention must be paid to collecting the enemy’s flags and radios. Radios must not be destroyed; the entire device must be collected, and radio maintenance personnel and operators must be gathered together. It must be forbidden to distribute monies taken from enemy soldiers’ management offices, and to burn paper money—all of it must be handed over to General Headquarters.

d. At the conclusion of the campaign, each army is responsible for taking care of its respective captives and wounded soldiers.

e. Each army is responsible for handling its own small baggage and medical teams.

It is so ordered.

Commander-in-Chief	Zhu De
Political Commissar	Mao Zedong

Notes

Our sources for this text are Jiangxi dangshi ziliao, Vol. 17, pp. 120–21, and Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 196–97. The version in Mao Zedong ji. Bujuan, Vol. 9, pp. 347–48, contains a number of wrong or missing characters.

1. Tan Daoyuan commanded the Nationalist army’s Fiftieth Division.

2. This and several of the following documents are designated literally as shengzi (“victory word”) orders. For the sake of simplicity, we have used V to stand for victory.

3. Xu Kexiang commanded the Nationalist army’s Twenty-fourth Division.

4. Mao Bingwen commanded the Nationalist army’s Eighth Division. Xu and Mao are here called respectively “Xu ni Kexiang” and “Mao ni Bingwen,” meaning “Rebel (or Traitor) Xu,” etc. Such abuse was regularly employed by both sides in the civil war, and appears frequently in this volume.

5. It is unclear why the total of regiments listed (eight) is greater than the total number (six) listed for the entire division. The places mentioned in this document are mostly in southeastern Yongfeng and northern Ningdu xian.

6. The three place-names just listed, which appear in this form in the Jiangxi dangshi ziliao version, have been combined into two in the Junshi wenji. On the assumption that the editors in Jiangxi were probably more familiar with the local geography, we have followed them here.

Order to Pursue and Attack the Enemy Division of Tan Daoyuan

Order No. V2 of the First Front Army of the Red Army

(Xiaobu, 10:00 P.M., January 2, 1931)

1. The enemy division under Tan, hearing of the crushing defeat of Zhang’s division,¹ began to flee early this morning at 5:00. One section of the division retreated in defeat toward Nanbeikeng via Yuantou and Zhongcun.² Its rear guard was intercepted by our Second Route Army, and we captured large numbers of its guns. Another section of the division (its main force) fled toward Dongshao via Nantuan. As we look at this situation, the enemy forces seem to be in retreat all along the line. (The case is the same with other enemy forces.)

2. The Front Army has decided to pursue and attack the enemy troops in Dongshao early tomorrow morning, and then to wipe out in succession Xu [Kexiang]’s division (two regiments) and Mao [Bingwen]’s division (two brigades) of the forces of Rebel Zhu Shaoliang,³ so as to establish political prestige.

3. The Twelfth Army is responsible for launching a frontal attack. It is to arrive near Dongshao Market via Nantuan and Linchi before 10:00 tomorrow morning, and advance to attack the enemy troops in Dongshao. It should occupy positions north of Linchi and south of Shaweizui. The Third Army Group is responsible for the left flank; it must arrive near Pitou before 10:00 tomorrow morning and advance to attack the enemy troops in Dongshao.

The Third Army is responsible for the right flank. It should advance as far as Tianying by 10:00 tomorrow morning, and use its main force to pin down the enemy’s reinforcements from Luokou (Xu’s division). In addition, part of its forces should carry out a flanking movement to the upland east of Dongshao Market and north of Shanxiaping, and attack the enemy in Dongshao.

The Fourth Army serves as a general reserve force and is to be deployed in Longtan west of Dongshao. (The Fourth Army should depart tomorrow morning at 12:00 and then follow behind the Twelfth Army.)

The Political Guards Regiment will remain stationed in Matian and should send out separate guerrilla detachments tomorrow morning to Luokou, Dongshanba, and Pingtian to wage guerrilla warfare.

4. The small baggage of the Third Army Group is to be carried behind the Third Army. The small baggage of the Third Army is also to be carried behind the Third Army. The small baggage of the Fourth and Twelfth armies (under the direction of a small baggage officer to be appointed by the Twelfth Army) is to be carried behind the Fourth Army. (Baggage may not be carried among the regular troops.)

5. General Headquarters, along with the Workers’ and Peasants’ Revolutionary Committee, will follow the Fourth Army to the location of the general reserve force in Longtan to exercise command.

Supplementary notes:

a. The route for the Third Army Group’s baggage carriers is from Yuantou to Pitou via Zengfang, Shiaoxia, Dongmaoao, Zhangjiaqian, Yangtan, Luyuan, Fengshanxia, Xintan, Baishui, and Chenjia.

The route for the Twelfth Army’s baggage carriers is from Xiachao to Dongshao via Nantuan, Jiaobian, Aobei, Wangjiakeng, and Longtan.

b. Each army’s bandage unit [bengdai suo]⁴ may choose its own location. The hospital is located in Yangcheng. All divisions will hire people for delivery work.

It is so ordered.

Commander-in-Chief	Zhu De
Political Commissar	Mao Zedong

Notes

Our source for this text is Mao Zedong junshi wenji, Vol. 1, pp. 198–200.

1. Tan and Zhang are respectively Tan Daoyuan and Zhang Huizan. Regarding the defeat of the latter’s Eighteenth Division, see Volume III, pp. 731–32.

2. These and other places mentioned in the text are in southeastern Yongfeng and northern Ningdu xian.

3. Zhu Shaoliang commanded the Nationalists’ Sixth Route Army.

4. This was probably the equivalent of an aid station in Western armies.

Order to Carry Out Decentralized Fund-raising Activities After Smashing the First “Encirclement and Suppression”

Order No. V4

(Headquarters at Xiaobu, 8:00 A.M., January 16, 1931)

1. Both Mao [Bingwen]’s division and Xu [Kexiang]’s division of the enemy’s Sixth Route Army have retreated to the vicinity of Nanfeng City. The remnants of both Tan Daoyuan’s division and Lu Xiaochen’s division,¹ which had been stationed in Fuzhou, are preparing to move within the next few days (probably toward Le’an). Both Cai’s division and Dai’s division² of the Nineteenth Route Army have moved to take up positions along the line of Xingguo, Yinfu, and Jiangkou. The Gong division of the Ninth Route Army³ has retreated to the Ji’an-Taihe line.⁴ Luo Lin’s division⁵ is now moving toward Yongfeng, and Zhu Yaohua’s brigade has retreated to Jishui.⁶ All the aforementioned enemy troops seem now to be forming a bow-shaped line of defense against us along the line of Nanfeng, Le’an, Yongfeng, Jishui, Taihe, and Xingguo.

Most of the forces of Hu Zuyu’s brigade have remained in Yiyang without moving. Zhao’s regiment is moving toward Fuzhou via the Jiujiang-Nanchang railroad. Han’s division and Sun’s brigade are in Xiajiang, and Liu’s brigade is in the area around the Jiujiang-Nanchang railroad and Gaoan.⁷

One brigade of Wang Jinyu’s forces already arrived at Pingxiang on the 11th. Several brigades of Rebel Liu Heding arrived at Jiangle and Taining on the 10th, and one brigade followed and arrived at Shunchang on the 11th. The troops of Rebel Zhang Zimin have arrived at Jianning.

2. The First Front Army has decided to continue actively to raise money within the next few days and to build up an adequate supply of provisions, so as to be ready to wipe out the enemy’s forces according to the original plan.

3. Except for one division assigned to stay in Dongshao to help the local people in t...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgements
• General Introduction: Mao Zedong and the Chinese Revolution, 1912–1949
• Introduction: The Writings of Mao Zedong, 1931–1934
• Note on Sources and Conventions
• About the Maps
• Map 1. South-central China
• 1931
• 1932
• 1933
• 1934
• Appendix
• 1931
• 1932
• 1933
• 1934
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Editors