The sky is all white;
Amid the snow, our march grows ever more urgent.
Above us loom towering mountains,
As the red flag, whipped by the wind, sweeps past the great pass.
Where does this journey lead?
To where the winds and snow of the Gan River veil everything in mist.
Last night the order was issued:
A hundred thousand workers and peasants are advancing on Ji’an.




 [Commentary]
  This ci poem describes a military march through the snow. It was composed in February 1930, when the Red Army crossed the Wuyi Mountains into southern Jiangxi, passed through Guangchang, and then advanced to attack Ji’an.

 [Notes]
  (1) “Reduced-Character Mulan Flower”: A form derived from the “Mulan Flower Melody” by shortening its lines and altering its rhyme scheme.
  (2) Guangchang: Located south of Nanfeng County in Jiangxi Province, on the northwest bank of the upper reaches of the Ru River.
  (3) Ji’an: Situated in central Jiangxi.
  (4) Ban: To announce.