1933-34: CCP adopts Mao's proposal--and Chinese Red Army is wiped out

Michael M. Sheng, Battling Western Imperialism: Mao, Stalin, and the Unted States (Princeton UP 1997), p. 19: "However, Mao's narcissistic personality continued to lead him to argue that had the Party followed his policy, a failure could have been avoided. At the Zunyi conference in January 1935, Qing Bangxian, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Gu then the Party chief, stated that the Red Army's defeat in 1933-34 in Jiangxi was due to the overwhelming strength of the GMD. Mao disagreed, and he contended that it was due to the incorrect strategy of the Qing-Braun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Braun_(communist) leadership which abandoned guerrilla strategy. In reality, after pacifying the rebellions of the GMD local factions, Jiang gathered massive forces to attack the CCP using the blockhouse strategy. Facing the new situation, Mao too doubted the efficacy of guerrilla warfare. He proposed on 20 November 1933 that the Red Army abandon the Jiangxi area and thrust into the Zhejiang-Jiangsu-Anhui region to wage mobile warfare in Jiang's home base. Mao's idea was too bold and its result too unpredictable for the CCP Center, which refused to adopt it. The Qing-Braun leadership decided to defend the soviet area in Jiangxi at any cost. The defeat of the CCP was predictable. The Qing-Braun strategy failed; nonetheless, this should not be taken as proof that Mao's could have succeeded. One could well argue that the CCP armed forces would have been totally wiped out, had they marched into Jiang's home base." [emphasis added--DT] https://books.google.com/books?id=HZJcxq1DIOYC&pg=PA19

Admittedly, there were so many times that the GMD was on "the verge" of wiping out the Chinese Red Army that I somehow feel that here too at least part of the Red Army would escape. But suppose it is indeed wiped out? There may be scattered guerrilla forces elsewhere, scattered underground cells in the cities, etc. but it's hard for me to see how the CCP can recover...
 
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Admittedly, there were so many times that the GMD was on "the verge" of wiping out the Chinese Red Army that I somehow feel that here too at least part of the Red Army would escape. But suppose it is indeed wiped out? There may be scattered guerrilla forces elsewhere, scattered underground cells in the cities, etc. but it's hard for me to see how the CCP can recover...

Mao was always good at running away, and successfully blaming others for his screwups. Likely he would escape and rise to the top of a smaller CCP
 
Mao was an admirer of the medieval General Chen Qingzhi, who lead a mobile warfare with a small band troops of the (Chinese) Southern Dynasty within the realm of the (Half-Chinese, Half Nomadic) Northern Dynasty, defeating Northern Wei’s much larger armies.

The problem was, 1) Chen’s legend was heavily romanticized, 2) Chen was fighting a disintegrating Wei, 3) Chen’s army survived on pillaging. It maintained unit cohesion as the soldiers feared vengeance by the civilians they looted.

If Mao went ahead with his plan against a consolidating Chiang, not only would the reds be decimated, they would also suffer irreparable damage to their reputation.
 

Deleted member 94680

A devastated and weakened CCP might be able to recover and solidify back in Jiangxi.

Would a Jiangxi Soviet be able to survive as an independent entity for long?
 
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