<P> Finally, in late 1934, Chiang launched a fifth campaign that involved the systematic encirclement of the Jiangxi Soviet region with fortified blockhouses . Unlike previous campaigns in which they penetrated deeply in a single strike, this time the KMT troops patiently built blockhouses, each separated by about five miles, to surround the Communist areas and cut off their supplies and food sources . </P> <P> In October 1934 the CPC took advantage of gaps in the ring of blockhouses (manned by the forces of a warlord ally of Chiang Kai - shek's, rather than regular KMT troops) and broke out of the encirclement . The warlord armies were reluctant to challenge Communist forces for fear of losing their own men and did not pursue the CPC with much fervor . In addition, the main KMT forces were preoccupied with annihilating Zhang Guotao's army, which was much larger than Mao's . The massive military retreat of Communist forces lasted a year and covered what Mao estimated as 12,500 km (25,000 Li); it became known as the Long March . The Long March was a military retreat taken on by the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong to evade the pursuit or attack of the Kuomintang army . It consisted of a series of marches, during which numerous Communist armies in the south escaped to the north and west . Over the course of the march from Jiangxi the First Front Army, led by an inexperienced military commission, was on the brink of annihilation by Chiang Kai Shek's troops as their stronghold was in Jiangxi . The Communists, under the command of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, "escaped in a circling retreat to the west and north, which reportedly traversed over 9,000 kilometers over 370 days". The route passed through some of the most difficult terrain of western China by traveling west, and then northwards towards Shaanxi . "In November 1935, shortly after settling in northern Shaanxi, Mao officially took over Zhou Enlai's leading position in the Red Army . Following a major reshuffling of official roles, Mao became the chairman of the Military Commission, with Zhou and Deng Xiaoping as vice-chairmen ." This marked Mao's position as the pre-eminent leader of the Party, with Zhou in second position to him . </P> <P> The march ended when the CPC reached the interior of Shaanxi . Zhang Guotao's army, which took a different route through northwest China, was largely destroyed by the forces of Chiang Kai - shek and his Chinese Muslim allies, the Ma clique . Along the way, the Communist army confiscated property and weapons from local warlords and landlords, while recruiting peasants and the poor, solidifying its appeal to the masses . Of the 90,000--100,000 people who began the Long March from the Soviet Chinese Republic, only around 7,000--8,000 made it to Shaanxi . The remnants of Zhang's forces eventually joined Mao in Shaanxi, but with his army destroyed, Zhang, even as a founding member of the CPC, was never able to challenge Mao's authority . Essentially, the great retreat made Mao the undisputed leader of the Communist Party of China . </P> <P> The Kuomintang used Khampa troops--who were former bandits--to battle the Communist Red Army as it advanced and to undermine local warlords who often refused to fight Communist forces to conserve their own strength . The KMT enlisted 300 "Khampa bandits" into its Consolatory Commission military in Sichuan, where they were part of the effort of the central government to penetrate and destabilize local Han warlords such as Liu Wenhui . The government was seeking to exert full control over frontier areas against the warlords . Liu had refused to battle the Communists in order to conserve his army . The Consolatory Commission forces were used to battle the Red Army, but they were defeated when their religious leader was captured by the Communists . </P>

Chinese civil war (1930s - 1940s) - globalsecurity.org