Revolution cannot succeed by military affairs alone. If you do not establish base areas, maintain close ties with the masses, build a correct party, and carry out correct united front work, then having an army alone and merely knowing how to fight battles will not suffice. There is nothing particularly ingenious about fighting wars. To put it simply, it comes down to two phrases: fight when you can win, move away when you cannot. Fighting when you can win means concentrating superior forces to destroy the enemy—using five fingers to chop off one of his fingers. Chop one off, and he has one less. Things can be divided. Later, when the opportunity arises, you can chop off another, and he will have one less still, leaving only eight. Then, when another chance comes, chop off yet another. In short, you must keep chopping them off. What is meant by chopping off fingers is to win over the enemy—apart from killing or wounding them, you seize their officers and soldiers, rifles, and ammunition. This is what is meant by fighting when you can win. And what if you cannot win? Then move away—move far enough so that the enemy does not know where you have gone.

What is important is politics, base areas, the masses of the people, the party, and united front work. Only those who know how to do political work can fight wars; those who do not understand politics cannot fight wars. The army of the proletarian revolution is different from the army of the bourgeoisie. It is the army of the people.

[I]
This is part of Mao Zedong's conversation with two study delegations from the Communist Party of Peru (Marxist) and the Communist Party of Ecuador (Marxist-Leninist).