Took one year and many troops perished. They had to leave Kiangsi or face annihilation. Morale was low among the one hundred thousand of troops. Twenty thousand troops were injured and had to be left behind in Kiangsi and which were later captured and killed.
Nationalist forces surrounded Jianxi, a million people died in the fighting, starvation and disease brought on by the blockade.
87,000 soldiers started the retreat carrying such items as typewriters, furniture, printing presses etc. They also took with them 33,000 guns and nearly 2 million ammunition cartridges. It took the Red Army 40 days to get through the
blockhouses surrounding Jiangxi but the Nationalist attacked them at Xiang. In the battle, the Red Army lost 45,000 men – over 50% of their fighting force.
Many of the troops die of diseases. There were no medicines, hospitals or ammunition; a good number of the guns became useless.
In 1934, Mao's troops crossed 18 mountain ranges and 24 rivers. They fought 14 major battles, traversed 12 provinces - many larger than most European countries - and marched once for ten days through uninhabited lands without any food or water supplies.
Overcoming numerous natural obstacles and despite constant harassment by Nationalist troops and the armies of provincial warlords, the Red Army arrived at its new home in the north in Oct, 1935
Communists suffered 150,000 to 170,000 casualties and defections of the approximately 200,000 who started from Kiangsi
Only 28,000 marchers reached Shaanxi province, where they established a new headquarters at Yan'an.
