The Revolutionary Base in Jinggang Mountains

In October 1927, Mao Zedong led the troops of the Autumn Harvest Uprising to the Jinggang Mountains in Jiangxi Province. They then developed armed forces in the counties of Ninggang, Yongxin, Chaling and Suichuan, waged guerrilla warfare, mobilized the peasants and helped them overthrow local tyrants and distribute their land, and established independent armed regimes of workers and peasants. Thus, the first rural revolutionary base in China was formed.

In late April 1928, some of the Nanchang Uprising forces under the command of Zhu De and Chen Yi and the peasant troops of the Southern Hunan Uprising reached the Jinggang Mountains, and joined the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army led by Mao Zedong. Consequently, these troops were reorganized into the Fourth Army of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army (later renamed the Fourth Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army), with Mao as Party representative and secretary of the Military Committee and Zhu as commander.

On May 20, Mao Zedong chaired the First Party Congress of the Hunan-Jiangxi Border Area, and a special Party committee with Mao as secretary was set up. In October, the Second Party Congress adopted a resolution Mao had drafted analyzing the conditions under which a small, independent worker-peasant regime had been able to emerge and survive, discussed its significance, and answered a question that had been raised by some people in the Party and the Red Army, of "How long can we keep the Red Flag flying?" Mao pointed out that as long as the revolutionary situation continued, it was possible for an armed independent regime of workers and peasants to survive and grow under the following conditions: (1) a sound mass base, (2) a sound Party organization and correct policies, (3) a fairly strong Red Army, (4) terrain favorable to military operations, and (5) economic resources sufficient for sustenance.

In December 1928, Peng Dehuai (1898-1974) and Teng Daiyuan (1904-1974) led the main forces of the Fifth Red Army into the Jinggang Mountains to unite with the Fourth Army. The Red Army subsequently repelled a number of enemy assaults, and the revolutionary base area continued to expand. At its peak, the total area covered the three counties of Ninggang, Yongxin and Lianhua, and parts of the counties of Suichuan, Ji'an, and Anfu.

In January 1929, Mao Zedong and Zhu De led the main forces of the Fourth Red Army on a march to southern Jiangxi Province and western Fujian Province to launch attacks there, while Peng Dehuai stayed with a contingent of Red Army troops to defend the Jinggang Mountains.

At a point when the revolution was on the low ebb, the decision to create the rural revolutionary bases was the correct choice for the Chinese revolution. It represented a strategic shift from cities to rural areas, and paved the way for the ultimate success of the revolution – encircling the cities from the countryside and seizing power by armed force.