What is the strategic goal of the Long March of the Central Red Army?

What is the strategic goal of the Long March of the Central Red Army? Historians have two different opinions.

One view is that the strategic goal of the Red Army's Long March is to go north to resist Japan. Wang Jianying, Wang Tingke and others hold this view.

Wang Jianying put forward the following reasons in the article "On the Red Army's Long March northward to resist Japan":

First, "long before the Long March", the Party issued a declaration of "* * * with anti-Japanese", put forward that "the Red Army went north to resist Japanese aggression", "published six programs to resist Japanese aggression and save the nation, and sent the Red Army north to resist Japanese aggression"; In this way, at that time, "the Red Army went northward to resist Japan" had become the party's basic political and military policy and slogan, and it had become an action slogan that deepened the morale of the army and inspired the vast number of commanders and soldiers to fight bravely. "

2. The Long March of the Central Red Army was carried out under the banner of "going northward to resist Japan". "The Red Army set off on the Long March and held high the banner of' going north to resist Japan'." The Red Army's "going northward to resist Japan", as the party's established basic political and military policy and slogan, is the fighting goal pursued by the Red Army before and after the Long March, and the political purpose of inspiring the vast number of commanders and soldiers to struggle bravely. The strategic shift of the Central Red Army was indeed carried out under the banner of "going northward to resist Japan." "

Third, "Zunyi Meeting decided the fundamental policy of crossing the river northward. Although the Zunyi meeting did not discuss the "anti-Japanese issue" and did not determine "going north to resist Japan" as the current course of action, this does not mean that the CPC Central Committee gave up the banner of "Red Army going north to resist Japan" held high since the Long March. " In fact, after the Zunyi Conference, the Party and the Red Army continued to adhere to the slogan of "going north to resist Japan", which can be seen in the slogans written by Zunyi area and the Red Army that year. For example,' The Red Army is the main force in resisting Japan and imperialism!' ,' demand to go north to resist Japan!' "Join the Red Army and fight against Japanese imperialism!" "The White Army brothers don't fight the Red Army, but drag their guns north to resist Japan!" "and so on. ; We can also see that Chen Yun, Cheng, Yang Chengwu and other old comrades mentioned in their memories that Zhu De and the leaders of the CPC Central Committee and the Military Commission "closely watched the changes in the domestic situation" in their speeches at that time. "After the Zunyi Conference, the CPC Central Committee with Mao Zedong at the core promptly determined' going northward to resist Japan' as the political and military strategic action policy, and made a correct struggle to adhere to this policy, which was the decisive factor guiding the three main Red Army to win the Long March".

Some comrades who participated in the symposium held in Beijing in June to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March also thought: "The Long March means going north to resist Japan. The reasons are as follows: (1) As early as before the Long March, the CPC Central Committee issued the "Declaration of Taking the War of Resistance as * * *" and put forward the slogan "The Red Army goes north to resist Japan"; (2) Promulgating the "Six Programmes for Resisting Japan and Saving the Nation" and sending the "Red Army's Advance Team to the North to Resist Japan"; (3) During the Long March, the Party and the Red Army always held high the banner of "going northward to resist Japan" and carried out propaganda of going northward to resist Japan; (4) Zunyi Meeting decided the policy of "crossing the river to the north"; (5) The Shawo Conference and the Maughai Conference raised the issue of going northward to resist Japan.

Wang Tingke also believes that "the Central Red Army held high the anti-Japanese and anti-Chiang banner and was forced to move and start the Long March". Although the Red Army can't break the fifth "encirclement and suppression" when fighting on interior lines, and "the direct purpose of making strategic shift is naturally to preserve the effective strength of the main Red Army", "the Long March of the Red Army was closely linked with the great cause of resisting Japan and saving the country from the beginning" and "the Red Army held high the banner of resisting Chiang Kai-shek and resisting Japan and saving the country from the beginning".

Another point of view is that the Long March of the Central Red Army did not start from going north to resist Japan. Some comrades who attended the symposium to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March held this view.

They think: "Although the CPC Central Committee has long put forward the strategic policy of the Red Army going northward to resist Japan. However, under the situation of Chiang Kai-shek's attempt to eliminate the "encirclement and suppression" of the Red Army, the strategic goal of going north to resist Japan could not be achieved. The forced strategic shift is even less likely to be aimed at resisting Japan in the north from the beginning. " This is because:

First, the "urgent task" of the Red Army at that time was to break through the enemy's "encirclement and suppression", preserve the effective strength of the Red Army and find a foothold for its survival and development. Second, judging from "the determination and changes of a series of strategic action guidelines of the CPC Central Committee in the Long March", "the choice of strategic foothold in the Long March was not decided to base itself in the north at the beginning and wage war against the Japanese aggressor troops". Third, "judging from the minutes of several meetings in the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee from the Hekou meeting to the Russian border meeting, there was no mention of the anti-Japanese issue." Fourth, "The three anti-Japanese telegrams published in the name of the Central Committee during the Long March were issued by the Shanghai Central Bureau, not by the Party Central Committee during the Long March". In short, "Only after the victory of the Long March and the solution of the problem of the survival and foothold of the Red Army can the Red Army resist Japan".