Conversation on Issues Concerning the Fourth Front Army and the Western Route Army[1]

(December 1937)

The failure of the Western Route Army was mainly due to Zhang Guotao’s failure to implement the correct line of the Party Central Committee. The Western Route Army did fail, but this is not to say that the vast numbers of cadres and fighters of the Western Route Army did not exert themselves. They were heroic and tenacious.

[1] This is part of a conversation Mao Zedong had in Yan'an with Li Xiannian, Li Zhuoran, Li Tianhuan, Guo Tianmin, Cheng Shicai, and others on issues concerning the Fourth Front Army and the Western Route Army. Li Xiannian, formerly Political Commissar of the 30th Army of the Western Route Army. Li Zhuoran, formerly Director of the General Political Department of the Western Route Army. Li Tianhuan, formerly Director of the Political Department of the 30th Army of the Western Route Army. Guo Tianmin, formerly Director of the First Bureau of the Western Route Army Headquarters. Cheng Shicai, formerly Acting Commander of the 30th Army of the Western Route Army.