Speech at a Meeting of Leading Members of the CPC Central Committee and the Revolutionary Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee[1]

(April 28, 1935)

After the Zunyi Meeting, our army carried out bold penetrations and mobile operations, leaving Chiang Kai-shek’s pursuing forces behind on our flanks and securing a favorable opportunity to cross the Jinsha River northward. The terrain conditions in Yunnan Province, unlike those in Hunan and Guizhou where there are good mountainous areas to exploit, make it inadvisable for our army to engage in large-scale battles with the enemy on the flatlands northeast of Kunming. Our army should take advantage of the enemy’s weakness along the river and the fact that the pursuing enemy is still three to four days’ march away from us, and quickly seize the crossing of the Jinsha River to gain the initiative.

[1] On April 28, 1935, Mao Zedong, Zhu De, Zhou Enlai, and others arrived at the area of Lukoushao and Shuipingzi to camp for the night. That evening, they attended a meeting of leading members of the CPC Central Committee and the Revolutionary Military Commission of the CPC Central Committee to study the operational deployment for crossing the Jinsha River northward. This is part of Mao Zedong’s speech at the meeting.