Winning Over Enemy Troops: Mao’s Leninist Approach to Fomenting Mutiny in the Guomindang (January 1930)

When the enemy advances, Mao and Zhu retreat from Fujian into Jiangxi province, drawing the Guomindang’s joint suppression force deep in after them, only to later circle back around and defeat it. In this episode we discuss how Mao conducted propaganda directed at enemy troops in order to win them over to join the Red Army.

Further reading:
Stuart Schram, ed., Mao’s Road to Power, vol. 3: From the Jinggangshan to the Establishment of the Jiangxi Soviets, July 1927-December 1930
Pang Xianzhi and Jin Chongji, Mao Zedong: A Biography, vol. 1: 1893-1949
Bixin Huang, “A Movement Without Vitality: Communist Revolution in Fujian, 1924-1934”
Mao Zedong nianpu, 1893-1937 (毛泽东年谱)
Agnes Smedley, The Great Road: The Life and Times of Chu Teh [Zhu De]

Some names from this episode:
Lin Biao, commander of the first column of the Fourth Red Army
Jin Handing, commander of the joint-suppression force launched against the western Fujian base area
Lo Pinghui, Yunnanese colonel who switched from the Guomindang to the Communists

Episode artwork: photo of Jin Handing

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