Unity: The Convergence of the Three Main Red Army Forces

BEIJING, Oct. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- An interview from China.org.cn with Wang Xiaohui and David Ferguson on the Long March:

Wang Xiaohui:

We have all been through something similar — a group of people disagreeing with one another, with each side holding sound reasons to believe their own judgment is correct.

In such moments, should they part ways, or find another path forward together?

David Ferguson:

The word "unity" is often understood as a strategy. People unite when they face a common enemy, and when that enemy disappears, the cooperation ends with it. But I've always wondered if there is a different kind of unity — one not forged by a common enemy, but by a common destination. A unity that isn't temporary, that doesn't fall apart the moment circumstances change. I wanted to find out.

Wang Xiaohui:

An arduous expedition like the Long March posed unparalleled trials for any military unit.

Bitter cold on snow-capped mountains, hidden mire across marshlands, and dangers lurking every step of the way; food and warm clothes were constantly scarce, while enemies and artillery fire were relentless. Even so, through the Long March, these poorly equipped and raggedly dressed Red Army troops remained tightly bonded as one.

This bond was not coerced by harsh military discipline, but arose spontaneously from every soldier's heart. Before they even set off, shared ideals and conviction had already taken deep root within every soldier, steeling their resolve to follow the Communist Party of China without hesitation. Along the trail, officers and soldiers of the Red Army ate from the same pots and wore uniforms made from the same coarse cloth. High-ranking commanders like Zhu De and Peng Dehuai covered most of the journey on foot alongside their troops, leaving their horses to the ill and wounded, while splitting their last rations with soldiers. Amid food shortages, even when columns in the front discovered edible greens, they would never dig them all up; instead, they sent words to rear units so that all troops could share.

The Red Army's unity took root in shared ideals, flourished under equal treatment for all, and was forged through countless moments of entrusting each other with their lives. It also became the unshakable foundation that carried them through every ordeal.

In the late autumn of 1936, the Loess Plateau in northwestern China witnessed two hopeful rendezvous, marking the Long March's triumphant close. First in Huining, soldiers of the First and Fourth Front Armies embraced in a long-awaited reunion. Just over 10 days later, at Jiangtaibu, the waiting First Front Army finally greeted the travel-worn soldiers of the Second Front Army.

Many of these soldiers had never met before, yet they greeted one another like long-lost brothers, eyes brimming with tears as they clasped hands. Officers and soldiers of the First Front Army sent whatever supplies they had saved up to their brother troops. Three battle-hardened columns merged into a mighty iron stream across the plateau. Just one month later, they fought in coordinated formation to secure triumph in the battle of Shanchengbao, putting a glorious full stop to the Long March.

When scattered sparks merge, inherent unity surges into a mighty force, powerful enough to rewrite an army's fate and shift the course of a nation's history.

At the time, Japanese invaders advanced deeper into China, occupying more and more territory, yet the civil war persisted. The CPC clearly understood that brutal conflict among the Chinese would only play to the invaders' hands, and only national unity could safeguard the motherland. The CPC publicly called for an end to the civil war and joint resistance against Japanese invaders, officially proposed to build the national united front against Japanese aggression, and even took the initiative to halt military operations and withdraw troops as a gesture of goodwill — when the survival of a nation hung by a thread, they chose to unite all Chinese people.

The two KMT officers, Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, who were stationed in the northwest, witnessed the nation's peril and were touched by the CPC's advocacy of a united resistance. Resolved to collaborate with the CPC to fend off Japanese aggression, Zhang and Yang repeatedly pleaded with Chiang Kai-shek to shift focus to national defense, but to no avail. Ultimately, they detained Chiang by force, which later became known as the Xi'an Incident.

When word spread of Chiang's detention, many assumed the CPC would demand a public trial, given years of bitter partisan strife. Instead, Zhou Enlai personally traveled to Xi'an with the CPC delegation to mediate, laying out the stakes for all parties concerned: executing Chiang would only result in a much larger-scale civil war, handing the Japanese aggressors golden opportunities to advance further into China. The only path to a promising future for the Chinese nation lay in a peaceful settlement that would compel Chiang to join the resistance against Japanese aggression.

Setting aside partisan divisions and prioritizing the supreme interests of the nation — this was the answer delivered by the CPC. At last, the Xi'an Incident was settled in peace, bringing an end to a decade of war. Since then, the Chinese nation finally stood united in fighting back against foreign invasion.

Nearly a century has passed, yet the spirit of unity forged on the Long March has never faded.

In September 1949, the First Plenary Session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was convened, officially instituting the system of multiparty cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. The spirit of solidarity tempered amid the Long March was thereafter embedded in the very fabric of China's governance system, with unity becoming one of its enduring tenets.

From the early reconstruction years since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, through the era of reform and opening up since 1978, to today's march toward China's modernization, each successive trial has burnished this core spirit of unity. In the fight against absolute poverty, the whole nation pulled together as a single force: the more developed eastern regions lent robust support to underdeveloped western regions, officials devoted themselves to working at grassroots communities, and local residents worked hard and strove for self-improvement. Together, hundreds of millions of Chinese worked to eradicate absolute poverty nationwide. When earthquakes and floods struck, rescue teams rushed to disaster zones from every corner of the country, while relief supplies and charitable donations poured in ceaselessly.

From the helping hands extended between soldiers along the Long March to the nationwide solidarity repeatedly demonstrated today, the essence of unity has never changed. It was the key that carried the Red Army through seemingly impossible odds, and it endures as China's bedrock strength that propels China forward to this day.

David Ferguson:

After hearing the stories of the reunion of the three main forces of the Red Army and the Xi'an Incident, I found my answer.

The Long March showed me that unity is a condition for survival — not in the sense of "I need you for now, so let's work together." Rather, it was "We believe in a common cause, so we must stand together." That kind of unity does not dissolve when the danger is gone, because it is rooted not in fear, but in conviction.

Whether I look at stories of the Long March or at China's development today, what strikes me is not simply unity itself. What gives unity its power is the shared ideal that enables people to stand together, and the common mission that at critical moments, enables them to rise above the interests of the individual, of groups, and even of political parties.

Wang Xiaohui:

From the arduous trails of the Long March to the contemporary journey of national rejuvenation, when a group of people or a whole nation stand united around common ideals, they will always arrive at the future they hoped for, no matter how lengthy and winding the road ahead is.

China Mosaic 
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm 

Unity: The Convergence of the Three Main Red Army Forces
http://www.china.org.cn/2026-10/20/content_118741729.shtml 

 

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SOURCE China.org.cn