Speech at the Enlarged Meeting of the General Front Committee of the First Front Army of the Red Army of the Communist Party of China[1]

(October 17, 1930)

I

We believe that the warlord melees among the ruling classes absolutely cannot be reconciled or come to a halt for the time being, yet neither will they continue to expand to the very end. However, on the other hand, we cannot depart from the class standpoint in our analysis and assume that the warlord melees will expand further and continue to the very end. We must understand that when class contradictions surpass the internal contradictions within the ruling class, the reactionary ruling classes will inevitably unite to attack the revolution.

II

We must not continue to attack large cities; instead, we should cross the Gan River eastward into the interior of the revolutionary base areas to shut the door and beat the dog. Under the circumstances of the enemy being strong and we being weak, and of the Hunan enemy being strong and the Jiangxi enemy being weak, we must avoid the solid and strike the hollow, using the weak to defeat the strong. The western bank of the Gan River is hemmed in between the Xiang River and the Gan River, leaving little room for maneuver; the eastern bank of the Gan River, on the other hand, straddles the borders of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi, has large mountains, and offers ample room to turn around. Within the base areas, we mobilize the masses to join the war, and we can fight however we wish.

[1] On October 17, 1930, Mao Zedong and Zhu De led the First Army Corps of the Red Army to Xiajiang. There, Mao Zedong presided over the Enlarged Meeting of the General Front Committee of the First Front Army of the Red Army of the Communist Party of China. The meeting discussed the issues of the current situation, military operations, land, and capital, and resolutions were adopted on each. Part I of this text is an excerpt from Mao Zedong's speech during the discussion on the current situation; Part II is an excerpt from Mao Zedong's speech during the discussion on the military operations of the First Front Army of the Red Army.