Opposing the Second Great "Encirclement
and Suppression"
(To the Tune "Fisherman ~ Pride 'J
(Summer 1931)'
Atop White Cloud Mountain,2 clouds about to rise,
Beneath White Cloud Mountain, the sound of frenzied shouts,
Withered trees and rotting trunks join in the effort.
A forest of rifles presses forward,
The Flying General4 sweeps down from the void.
Driving forward seven hundred li in fifteen days,5
From the azure expanse of the Gan River to the jade-like mountains of Fujian,
We have swept away an army thousands strong like rolling up a mat.
Someone weeps,
Lamenting in vain his step-by-step strategy.6


Our source for this poem is Shici duilian, pp. 41·-"13.
I. This poem was written after the defeat of !be Guomindang's Second Encirclement and
Suppression CampaignagaiiiSI the Red Army, which look place in May 1931. It is tbe las! of
the poems fuse published IOgdher in the May 1962 issue of People's Uterature. (for tbe
author's note accompanying them, see the 1101e 10 Mao's Autumn 1929 poem. ”The Will
Between Chiang Kaishek and the Guanpi Warlords." Volume Dl, p. 190.)
2. The Red Army fon:cs (aboul 30..000 Slrong) were based on White Cloud Mounrain
when this campaign was launched. The mountain is situated in southeastern li'an xian,
Jiangxi Province, where the lhree :da11 of Ji'an, Taihe, and Xinuuo come toaether. The
Guomindang troops mounled their anack from below.
3. This melaphor, which Mao had already used earlier (see Volume II, "Telegram 10
Mr. Xiao Hengshan," February 20, 1923), comes from the biography of Zou Yang in the
Records of the Historian. 1be meaning is that even the old and infirm among the population bave joined in the struggle against the Wbitc forces. Some commentators take ”withered trees and rotting trunks" 10 refer to Chiang Kaishek's forces, but that is illogical,
since the whole of this slalwl evokes the Red Army and iu supporters.
4. Li Guang, the famous Han dynuty general who fought against the Xiongnu, was
dubbed by his adversaries "the Flying General of Han." Mao is undoubtedly referring here
to the Red Army forces.
S. Beginning with an allaek by the Red Army on the Guomindang troopS II Futian
along the Gan River on May 16, this sttugle lasted until May 30 when the fighting
reached the border befween Jiangxi and Fujian provinces.
6. He Yingqin, the Guomindaag commander of the Second Encirclement Campaign,
had based his stralegy on advancing step by step and consolidating his position.