On Occupying Ji'an and Establishing a
𝘑𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘹𝘪 𝘚𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵
Proclamation Number 1 of the Joint Conference
of the Front Committee, the Western 𝘑𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘹𝘪
Special Committee, and the Army Committees of
the Fifth and Sixth Armies¹
(February 14, 1930)
Resolution of the Joint Conference on plans for the first actions to be taken in the
struggle in Jiangxi:
I. To make basic plans in accordance with the resolution of the Joint Conference
concerning the political situation and the Party's tasks.
II. The overall objective and central slogans for present actions: the overall
objective for present actions is to attack and take Ji'an, and the following six
slogans are the central slogans for the present.
1. Take Ji'an and eliminate all reactionary forces.
2. Take Ji'an and set up a western Jiangxi soviet government.
3. Take Ji'an and completely redistribute the land.
4. Take Ji'an and further develop the arming of the workers and peasants.
5. Take Ji'an and put a stop to the indiscriminate fighting of the warlords.
6. Take Ji'an and give armed support to the Soviet Union.
All army groups, political organs, and mass organizations should immediately
and publicly raise and widely disseminate the above six slogans among workers,
peasants, and soldiers, and among other oppressed groups of people (medium
and small merchants and students). (For workers, peasants, and poor townspeople, they should be written all over every wall. For soldiers, these should be the
slogans shouted out during morning and evening roll call.) This is the only way
Our source for this text is 𝘔𝘢𝘰 𝘡𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘪, 𝘉𝘶𝘫𝘶𝘢𝘯, Vol. 3, pp. 75-81, which reproduces it
from a documentary collection published in China in 1982.
to mobilize the broad masses and achieve the political task of opposing the
undermining of political objectives and subversive propaganda.
III. Estimation of the enemy's situation and the significance of the attack to take
Ji'an.

1. The enemy's situation: The war in Guangxi and Guangdong continues
undecided; a coup d'état has broken out in Fujian; military action is being taken
against Zhou Lan and Wu Shang in Hunan; in Hubei there is a struggle between
the Hubei faction (Xia Douyin and Xu Yuanquan) and the Chiang Kaishek
faction; there is a stalemate between the old Guangxi faction (Li Shiqiao and Li
Yixuan) and the Chiang Kaishek faction; Chiang Kaishek and Yan Xishan are
actively cooking up a great war between north and south; the struggle of the
workers, peasants, soldiers, poor people, and vagrants is developing everywhere.
Given the situation outlined above, the Chiang Kaishek faction cannot possibly
increase its troop strength in Jiangxi within a short period of time, and in eastern
and northern Jiangxi, [we] can pin down at least three of Zhang Huizan's regiments (two eastern Jiangxi regiments and one northern Jiangxi regiment), and
Zhang can deploy only three regiments of troops to deal with western Jiangxi.
Tan Daoyuan's single division is unable to return, and Jin Handing has been
pinned down by the workers and peasants in western Fujian.2 At the same time,
he also has to participate in the fight for territory in Fujian, so for the time being
it will not be easy for him to get to western Jiangxi.

The deployment in western Jiangxi of the two regiments of the Cheng
[Guangyao] brigade, the one regiment of the Zhu [Yaohua] brigade, and the pacification defense corps is as follows: at Ji'an, the two battalions of the pacification
defense corps have a hundred and fifty rifles protecting the xian capitals of Fenyi,
Yuanzhou, and Xinyu, altogether forming one battalion, plus one roving guerrilla
company, and in addition Fenyi has a pacification defense corps of thirty rifles; at
Yuanzhou the merchant defense corps and pacification defense corps have three
hundred rifles; at Xinyu the pacification defense corps has sixty rifles; Xiajiang has
the Yi regiment headquarters and seven companies of troops and also a pacification
defense corps with eighty-five rifles and has fortifications; Sanqutan has one battalion doing guerrilla work between Ji'an and Sanqutan, Jishui has two companies
(newly deployed) and a pacification defense corps with sixty-eight rifles; Xin'gan
has only a pacification defense corps with thirty-five rifles; and Xingguo and
Wan'an each have pacification defense corps protecting the towns. The enemy
troops and the ruling classes of the above xian are all in a state of great panic.
2. Our situation: In western Jiangxi, the xian of Xingguo, Yudu, Ningdu, and
Nanfeng have a total of 1.15 million Red masses. The six xian towns of
Ninggang, Yongxin, Lianhua, Yongfeng, Le'an, and Ningdu are all ours. In

3. Given the circumstances of the enemy and ourselves listed above, to "take
Ji'an" is indeed to implement the demands of the broad popular masses. Since
the past mobilizations of the broad popular masses have already shaken the
enemy's foundations, this call to action is entirely correct. Our first step is not,
however, to strike at the town of Ji'an, but rather to carry out an encirclement of
the town of Ji'an with the objective of making life even more difficult inside the
town, increasing the mental state of panic, and isolating White rule further.
Afterward, we will proceed to the plan for step two (see attached).3
IV. Moving and deploying the troops

1. East of the Gan River: (a) The three columns of the Fourth Army and the
units directly attached to Army Headquarters will all assemble at the town of
Wujiang on February 13, and on the 14th the attack on Jishui city must be
carried out with determination (the three columns of the Fourth Army will have
completely razed the Yongfeng city walls before the 12th); (b) The Fourth Detachment of the Second Column of the Sixth Army will set out for Zhonghu on
February 13, and on the 14th, in coordination with the popular masses of
Zhonghu will use armed force to destroy the enemy at Shuidong and (two companies) will set up a watch over Ji'an city, in response to the Fourth Army attack
on Jishui; (c) The Zhonghu soviet, in addition to sending a portion of the masses
to coordinate with the attack of the Fourth Detachment on Shuidong, shall also
send a portion of the masses to set out early on the 14th for Jishui city to join
with the Fourth Army attack on the enemy within the city of Jishui and eliminate
the enemy, with responsibility for tearing down the city walls and constructing a
floating bridge; (d) The Fifth Detachment of the Second Column of the Sixth
Army will arrive in Xingtian and Donggu on the 9th, and the Red Guards, under the
command of Yuan Zhenya, will reach Xingtian on the 10th and join up with the
Fifth Detachment, and organize an administrative committee to direct work in the
Xingtian area, with Yuan Zhenya as secretary (names and responsibilities of the
administrative committee separately attached); (e) The task of the Fourth Column and the Ningnan Guerrilla Corps of the Twenty-fifth Column of the Fourth
Army, as set out by the Front Committee, will be to pin down Jin Handing and to
raise funds in the large Red district comprising the three xian of Ningdu,
Guangchang, and Nanfeng; (f) The significance of having the entire Fourth Army
withdraw from Yongfeng and take Jishui is: to reveal the objective of the Fourth

Army, by threatening Ji'an City from a point across from Ji'an, and to influence the popular masses downstream on the Gan River to rise up, and also to
make the reactionary government at Nanchang focus on western Jiangxi;
(g) After Jishui has been taken, the work of the Front Committee and of the
Jishui Xian Committee will be (i) rapidly to dismantle the city wall; (ii) to set up
a xian government; (iii) to set up a workers' organization in the xian town; (iv) to
develop Party and Youth League work within the city and set up a regional
committee.
2. West of the Gan River: (a) The activities and duties of the Fifth Army and
of the border Red Guards: The Fifth Army and the border Red Guards (with at
least four hundred rifles), will assemble at Yongyang by February 13 and, using
Yongyang as the command center, will coordinate their action with the armed
forces of the popular masses of the western district, to put pressure on the
vicinity of Ji'an City, and at the same time be on the lookout for an enemy retreat
from Taihe toward Ji'an and to cut them down if the occasion avails. All armed
forces of the popular masses in the western district area will come under the
command of the Fifth Army. (b) The First Column (originally the Second and
Third Regiments) of the Sixth Army shall arrive by February 13 and assemble at Futian (if the Third Regiment cannot make it in time this may be
delayed one day; the Second Regiment must arrive at the same time) and,
using Futian as its command center, will coordinate its action with the armed
forces of the popular masses of Xiangshui and Jintan, and the Jishui guerrilla
corps, to put pressure on the three areas of Sanqutan, Ji'an, and Xiajiang.
(i) A small unit from the First Column will be sent out to coordinate its action
with the mass armed forces to harass the enemy at Sanqutan and make contact with the Fourth Army at Jishui; (ii) The guerrilla unit in the Xiajiang area
will harass the enemy at Xiajiang City; (iii) Both inside and outside continue
to have the Red Guards and the Ruxing guerrilla units assemble at Tongshuping to harass the enemy at Ji'an (harassing the enemy means to shoot at the
enemy every day before dawn and in the middle of the night) and to cut the
communications of the enemy at Ji'an and Sanqutan downstream, which is
also a task of the First Column of the Sixth Army. All armed forces of the
popular masses in the northern sector will be under the command of the First
Column.
V. Rules of action and finance policies:
1. When any unit or group of the worker and peasant masses reaches a
location, especially a town or city, and has not yet received orders, it must not
engage in indiscriminate searches of the people or of shops.
2. When any unit reaches a location, especially a town or city, there should
be planned assignments of that unit and responsible persons to split up and
search those places that should be searched and to arrest those offenders who
should be arrested.
3. All confiscation of the property of reactionaries and all arrest of offenders
shall be under the direction of the political department. Dealing with the search
for remnants of the enemy and the confiscation of the military equipment of the
reactionaries shall be under the direction and management of the headquarters
command.
4. For all fines, fund-raising, confiscation, and dealing with offenders, the
political department or mass organ of political power must make clear public
proclamations or statements of crimes committed.
5. Schools and post offices must not be destroyed.
6. When not politically necessary, no public organs and no equipment or
implements of the popular masses should be destroyed.
7. Burning and killing that has no political significance or mass basis are
prohibited.
8. Financial policy: (a) The pay and provisions of the Red Army and the
expenses of the political organs should be taken mainly from the despotic gentry
and landlords and should not be added to the burdens of the middle and small
merchants. (b) Payments shall not be exacted from shops with less than 2,000
yuan in capital, while those with over 2,000 yuan shall be required to make
contributions to the army's pay and provisions according to the following scale:
those with capital of 2,500 yuan shall contribute 30 yuan, and those with 3,000
yuan shall contribute 40 yuan. For each additional 1,000 yuan of capital, an
added contribution of one percent on the total amount of capital shall be made.
In the case of 4,000 yuan of capital, to the 40 yuan contribution shall be added
one percent of 4,000 yuan, for a total of 80 yuan; for those with 5,000 yuan in
capital, to the 80 yuan contribution is added 50 yuan, for a total contribution of
130 yuan; someone with 6,000 yuan in capital, in addition to the 130 yuan
contribution shall pay another one percent on 6,000 yuan, or 60 yuan, for a total
of 190 yuan; increased capital shall be calculated in similar fashion. (c) Payments exacted from big gentry landlords shall be called fines, while payments
from merchants shall be called contributions. (d) For big gentry landlords who
own shops, contributions on that portion of their capital that is in shops shall be
made according to the scale, while fines shall be assessed against that portion
they have as big gentry landlords. (e) Shops owned by reactionary elements,
after the middle and small merchants have become sympathetic to the propaganda, may be confiscated; otherwise, they need not be confiscated. Reactionary
shopowners should be arrested and fined when this is necessary because of its
significance for the masses. (f) River traffic should undergo inspection as militarily necessary, but whether a certain type of boat traffic is stopped for a period
of time, or boats are detained, the goods on board such boats and other property
must not be confiscated.

--- Notes

1. This public proclamation states Mao's vision of rapid revolutionary success more
prudently than the inner-Party "Notice No. 1" which follows.


2. Tan Daoyuan (1888-1946), a native of Hunan, was at this time the commander of
the Fiftieth Division of the Second Column of the Guomindang Ninth Route Army. Jin
Handing (1891-1967), a native of Yunnan, was the commander of the Twelfth Division of
the Guomindang army.
Taihe, Ji'an, and Jishui, only the xian towns are in enemy hands, while the four
townships are in our hands. In Anfu, Xinyu, Fenyi, Xiajiang, Nanfeng, and
Yudu, a part of each of them is in our hands. Most of Xingguo is Red territory.
Add to this the fact that the various places to which the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth
Red Armies have gone in western Jiangxi still have a substantial number of local
armed forces and fighting morale is very high.

3. No such plan is in fact attached to the available text of this document.