(November 11, 1930)

I. The Bold Expansion of the Red Army Is an Indispensable
Condition for the Preparation of a Decisive Class War

At present the revolutionary upsurge in the entire nation is rising higher every
day, the reactionary ruling class has gone completely bankrupt politically and
economically, and its doom is at hand. When class contradictions transcend the
contradictions within the ruling class itself, to save its own life, it is inevitable
that the ruling class will temporarily reconcile its internal clashes, allocate some
of its military forces to attack the revolutionaries, and make a final effort before
its death. At this time there is only one solution, that is, to assemble all the
revolutionary forces to prepare for a decisive class war. To achieve this objective, we definitely must expand the Red Army boldly, and call on the broad
worker and peasant masses to participate passionately in the Red Army. Only
thus can we guarantee victory in this decisive war.

II. One of the Major Tasks of the Party in Southwestern Jiangxi
at Present Is to Call on the Worker and Peasant Masses to
Join the Red Army

The Red Army's actions in surrounding and attacking Nanchang, occupying
Changsha and then attacking it yet again, and occupying Ji'an, have promoted
the development of the revolution. At the same time, they must necessarily
promote awareness of the revolution on the part of the ruling class, and incite the
ruling class to attack the revolution. The victory at Ji'an marks the beginning of
victory in one province, Jiangxi, but for the ruling class it is the beginning of
failure in one province. It was therefore inevitable that the ruling class should
send its armies to attack Jiangxi in an attempt to wipe out the revolutionary
Our source for this text is Jiangxi dangshi ziliao, Vol. 6, pp. 205-10.


forces, wrest Ji'an from the hands of the workers and peasants, and restore its
ruling status in the whole country. At this moment, if we fail to intensify our
efforts, initial victory in Jiangxi will certainly be delayed. Therefore we must
necessarily step up our efforts of all kinds; we must divide up the land completely and evenly, and carry out resolutely the policy of letting the workers
supervise capital, so as to arouse the worker and peasant masses to stand up and
join the decisive class war for victory in one province. Apart from these tasks,
Party headquarters at all levels must also call on the masses to carry out the work
of expanding the Red Army. We must closely integrate our work of expanding
the Red Army with the work of opposing rich peasants, opposing the AB Corps,
completely and evenly distributing the land, letting the workers supervise capital,
transforming the Party and Youth League, and transforming the government. All
these actions must be carried on simultaneously.
III. Oppose the Policies of Commandism and Deception
In the past, the new recruits sent by various localities were affected by serious
mistakes in the expansion of the Red Army made by the local Party and Youth
League organizations. The first mistake was employing the commandist method
in levying conscripts, or even forcing people to join the army. A man was sent to
the army even if he was the only one to cultivate the land in order to feed a
family of nine. Directives from superiors were carried out mechanically. Their
only concern was to send a sufficient number, and to send the new recruits
beyond the xian borders; they were entirely unconcerned about how the masses
would react to this behavior. The consequences of having this kind of irresolute
and unwilling new recruits in the Red Army extended even to using AB Corps
hats to threaten the masses, claiming that those who refused to go were AB
Corps elements. This is an extremely dangerous method which will alienate us
from the masses. The second mistake was the policy of deception. Many new
recruits only learn that they are being asked to join the Red Army when they are
assigned to various divisions and regiments. All the new recruits from places
such as Xingguo, Ji'an, Jishui, Taihe, and Yongxin declared with one voice that
the township, district, and xian levels had deceived them. Instead of being told
that they were about to become Red Army men, they were only told that they
were going to Ji'an to catch reactionaries. Such a policy of deceiving the masses
likewise alienates us from the masses. New soldiers recruited by the aforementioned two methods (commandism and deceiving the masses) will either weep
and wail, and want to go back home, or, if they do join the ranks, will become
deserters in great numbers before long. Using these methods of commandism
and deception to expand the Red Army is assuredly a mistake made by Party
organizations below the xian level, but it is also the case that in the past, the
policies of the Special Committee for opposing commandism and deception were
inadequate. Sometimes it would simply stipulate that so many men were needed,
by such-and-such a date. It seemed that they were not concerned about what
methods the local Party organizations used; so long as the new recruits were
procured, everything was fine. Comrades! we must be aware that the methods of
commandism and deception are extremely dangerous methods which will alienate us from the masses. Not only will they directly provoke the opposition of the
masses, and fail to contribute to the expansion of the Red Army, but they will
actually obstruct the growth of the Red Army. Moreover, they provide excellent
propaganda materials for the rich peasants and the AB Corps. The rich peasants
and the AB Corps can bribe backward elements to spread rumors about how
Communists are no good, and soviets are no good. Our Party organizations at
every level must resolutely oppose this kind of erroneous line, and must make
every comrade understand thoroughly that this kind of line is absolutely wrong.
IV. The Correct Line for Expanding the Red Army
First, in political terms, we must show the masses a way out. Our party organization at every level should encourage comrades who work for the government to
tell the masses clearly about the present political situation (the different kinds of
revolutionary forces in the whole country, the internal contradictions of the
ruling class and its situation of collapse, and so on), and let the masses know that
the revolution will certainly be victorious. At the same time, we should point out
that if they embrace ideas of localism and conservatism, and are unwilling to
expand the Red Army or to expand the struggle, they will certainly be defeated.
To secure victory in land distribution, and solve the problem of the shortage of
salt and the high price of cloth, we must definitely expand the Red Army and
attack the enemy. In order to bring about the victory of the revolution in the
whole country, and the rapid collapse and death of the enemy, we must proceed
in this way to rouse the courage of the masses for struggle, so that they are
willing to join the Red Army.
Second, we should point out to the worker and peasant masses that it is the
duty of the workers and the peasants to join the Red Army. We must explain that
the Red Army is the principal driving force of the Chinese revolution, that it is
the armed organ of the workers and peasants themselves, which serves to carry
out their class mission. If we want to guarantee the victory of the revolution, if
we want to fulfill our task of overthrowing the ruling class, we must definitely
join the Red Army, and all armed forces must be in the hands of the workers and
peasants. At the moment in Hunan, Hubei, Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang and
many other places the Red Army is being expanded. If, in Jiangxi, we wish to
seize power first in one province, it is even more important to expand the Red
Army. We must unite the strength of the several million Red Army men all over
the country, and the worker-peasant insurrections, thoroughly liquidate imperialism and the warlord system, and strive for victory in the whole country; only
thus can the worker and peasant masses achieve a final solution, and win peace.
Therefore, for the worker and peasant masses to join the Red Army is for them to
seek a solution themselves, and it is a task which their own classes should carry out.