Handwritten copy of the Red Army’s Long March route map

From September 1933 to the summer of 1934, the Red Army in the Central Soviet Area conducted its fifth anti-"encirclement and suppression" campaign. Consultant Li De (also known as Waffle, formerly known as Otto Braun, a member of the German Communist Party) first implemented an adventurist offensive strategy, and then implemented a conservative defensive strategy, causing the Red Army to lose repeated battles and the Soviet area gradually shrinking. In April 1934, the Central Red Army (renamed from the First Front Red Army in January) fought a decisive battle with the Kuomintang army in Guangchang, Jiangxi Province. It suffered heavy losses and was in a critical situation. In July, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission of the Communist Party of China (referred to as the Central Revolutionary Military Commission) ordered the 7th Army Corps of the Red Army to form an advance team to go north to resist Japan and advance to the borders of Fujian, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangxi to establish new Soviet areas; it ordered the 6th Army Corps of the Red Army to start from Breaking through the Soviet areas of Hunan and Jiangxi, they marched westward and went to central Hunan to develop guerrilla warfare. The Central Revolutionary Military Commission sent two legions to march north and west respectively, with the intention of mobilizing the Kuomintang's "encirclement and suppression" troops to reduce the pressure on the Central Soviet Area. But failed to achieve the goal. In early October, the Kuomintang army attacked the central area of ??the Central Soviet Area and quickly occupied the Xingguo, Ningdu, and Shicheng lines. The Red Army's room for maneuver became even smaller, and it was no longer possible to break the Kuomintang army's "encirclement and suppression" campaign in the Soviet area, so it was forced to withdraw from the Soviet area and conduct a strategic shift (i.e., the Long March).

Previously, on September 8, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission ordered the 6th Red Army Corps of the Western Expedition to carry out guerrilla warfare in the Chengbu, Suining, and Wugang areas of Hunan Province, and then moved to western Hunan and cooperated with the Get in touch with the Third Army of the Red Army operating on the Sichuan-Guizhou-Hunan border. Later, as the main force of the Kuomintang troops from Hunan and Guangxi provinces (today's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region) moved to Suining and Jingxian (today's Jingzhou) areas to block the attack, the Red 6th Army turned its troops south in mid-September and occupied Guizhou on October 1. Jiuzhou of the province. On the 24th, the 6th Red Army joined forces with the 3rd Red Army in the Muhuang area of ??Yinjiang County, Guizhou Province. After the rendezvous, the 3rd Red Army resumed its designation as the 2nd Army of the Red Army. Then, the 2nd and 6th Red Army launched an offensive in western Hunan, successively captured Yongshun, Dayong (today's Zhangjiajie), Sangzhi and other places, and established the Hunan-Hubei-Sichuan-Guizhou Soviet Area, effectively cooperating with the Central Red Army's breakout and transfer operations.

On October 10, the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 9th Army Corps of the Central Red Army led by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Military Commission of the Central Military Commission killed 86,000 soldiers The remaining people set out from Ruijin, Gucheng and other places in Jiangxi Province and began strategic transfer, preparing to join the 2nd and 6th Red Army in the Xiangxi area. More than 16,000 people from the 24th Division of the Red Army and local armed forces stayed in the Central Soviet Area to continue the struggle.

On October 17, the Central Red Army crossed the Gongshui River from Yudu (now Yudu) to the south. On the 21st, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission used the 1st Red Army Corps as the left avant-garde, the 3rd Red Army Corps as the right avant-garde, the 9th Red Army Corps to cover the left wing, the 8th Red Army Corps to cover the right wing, and two columns composed of the Central and Military Commission agencies and directly affiliated teams in the middle. The 5th Red Army Corps served as the rearguard, breaking through the first blockade of the Kuomintang army between Wangmudu and Xintian, and completely crossed the Xinfeng River (Taojiang River) on the 25th. After that, the Central Red Army continued to use this tunnel-style formation, carrying a large amount of supplies and equipment, and slowly marched westward along the mountain road. It was not until November 15 that it successively moved from Tianma Mountain south of Rucheng in Hunan Province to the entrance of Chengkou in Guangdong Province. The route from Liangtian to Yizhang in Hunan Province passes through the second and third blockades, and then into Linwu, Lanshan, and Jiahe areas. At this time, Chiang Kai-shek used 16 divisions to attack 77 regiments to carry out "pursuit and suppression", and ordered the Guangdong Army and Guangxi Army to attack 9 divisions to intercept, in an attempt to encircle and annihilate the Central Red Army in the area east of the Xiangjiang River. At this time, in the vast area between Yizhang and Xiangjiang River, the Kuomintang army was weak and had inconsistent movements due to factional conflicts, which facilitated the Red Army's mobile operations. However, leaders such as Bogu and Li De retreated and fled passively to avoid the war, which continued to put the Red Army in a very passive position. On November 25, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission decided that the Central Red Army would be divided into four columns, crossing the Xiangjiang River westward from Xing'an and Quanzhou, and proceeding to the Xiyan Mountain area on the border of Hunan and Guangxi. On the 27th, the first unit of the 2nd Red Division, the leading force, broke through the fourth blockade of the Kuomintang army and crossed the Xiangjiang River; the next day, the first unit of the 4th Red Division also crossed the Xiangjiang River. The various Kuomintang armies advanced from north to south with superior strength, and with the support of aircraft, they violently attacked the Red Army. The Red Army fought bloody battles on both sides of the Xiangjiang River. Through battles such as Xinwei, Zhilingtou, Jieshou, Jiaoshanpu, and Xianshui, it blocked the fierce attack of the Kuomintang army and covered the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and the directly affiliated teams in December. Crossed the Xiangjiang River on the 1st. However, the Red Army suffered heavy losses. The 34th Division of the 5th Red Army and the 18th Regiment of the 6th Division of the 3rd Red Army were blocked on the east bank of the Xiangjiang River, and most of their commanders and soldiers died.

After crossing the Xiangjiang River, the number of the Central Red Army dropped sharply to more than 30,000, and the designation of the 8th Red Army was revoked.