Draw Strength for a Strong Army from the Spirit of the Long March

Author: Dong Lili, Tian Kaiyuan Unit: Party School of the Communist Party of China Tongliao Municipal Committee, Academy of Military Sciences War Research Institute

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Red Army's Long March. Looking back at that arduous and magnificent journey, the Red Army overcame numerous blockades and triumphed over countless difficulties, thanks to its political consciousness of prioritizing the overall situation, its iron-like discipline, and its close unity. This journey has written the greatest heroic epic in human history. As we step into a new era of strengthening the military, facing a complex and changing internal and external environment and heavy mission tasks, we must inherit and promote the great spirit of the Long March, integrating the awareness of the overall situation, strict discipline, and close unity into our blood and actions, to forge an indomitable collective force for advancing the modernization of national defense and the military.

Prioritizing the overall situation reflects the collectivist concept of Communists. During the Long March, the Party and the Red Army always prioritized the overall revolutionary cause, resolutely fighting against the errors of Zhang Guotao that split the Party and the Red Army, adhering to the correct policies and guidelines, and maintaining the unity of the Red Army and the strategic overall situation. Regardless of their affiliations or the dangers they faced, all Red Army units always prioritized the overall situation, set aside differences, coordinated operations, and maintained the revolutionary cause through sacrifice and dedication, ultimately achieving a victorious rendezvous. History has fully proven that having a broad vision, serving the overall situation, and defending the overall situation is a powerful spiritual driving force for the people's army to unite its will and overcome difficulties. Inheriting the spirit of the Long March in the new era means always thinking and acting from the height of the overall development of the Party and the country, and the overall strategy of strengthening the country and the military, consciously integrating troop building and practical work into the cause of strengthening the military, ensuring that we have the overall situation in mind, protect the overall situation in action, and maintain a high degree of consistency with the Party Central Committee in thought, politics, and action, ensuring that the journey of strengthening the military always has a clear direction and coordinated pace.

Strictly adhering to discipline is a glorious tradition of the Party and a winning weapon of the people's army. On the Long March, the Red Army strictly observed the iron discipline of "all actions obey orders," from strictly adhering to the discipline of the masses and safeguarding the interests of the people, to unconditionally obeying the unified command of the Party Central Committee and executing strategic deployments. This iron discipline allowed the army to maintain strong cohesion even in extreme difficulties. After the victory of the Long March, the Party Central Committee deeply summarized historical experiences, and the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee specifically formulated disciplinary regulations, institutionalizing strict discipline requirements to provide rigid constraints for the development and growth of the Party and the army. An army with combat capability must be one that is disciplined and unified in command. Inheriting the spirit of the Long March in the new era means placing strict adherence to political discipline and political rules in a prominent position, continuously strengthening political awareness, overall awareness, core awareness, and alignment awareness, fully implementing the Party's various disciplinary requirements, internalizing discipline and rules into conscious thought, and externalizing them into conscious action, forging a strong team with an iron-like style of discipline, ensuring that the people's army always listens to the Party's command, can win battles, and maintains excellent conduct.

Unity is a powerful weapon to overcome all difficulties and a source of strength for achieving great undertakings. The victory of the Long March was a victory of the entire Party and army united as one. After the meeting at Maogong, the Party Central Committee, starting from the overall situation of maintaining the unity of the two main Red Army forces, held meetings such as the Erhekou Conference and the Shawo Conference, adhering to the correct policy of advancing north to resist Japan while fully affirming the work of the Red Fourth Front Army, engaging in open and honest exchanges of opinions, and doing a great deal of persuasive education work to maximize the gathering of the common will to advance north to resist Japan. Comrades such as Zhu De and Liu Bocheng adhered to principles and patiently sought support in complex struggles, making important contributions to maintaining the unity of the Red Army; after the Red 2nd and Red 6th Armies rendezvoused with the Red Fourth Front Army in Ganzi, they resolutely supported the Central Committee's policy of advancing north and jointly promoted the strategic rendezvous of the main Red Army forces. Within the troops, officers and soldiers were united, sharing hardships, supporting each other while crossing snow-capped mountains and grasslands, relying on each other for life and death, and providing mutual support and close cooperation in battle, building a steel Great Wall of united combat with their flesh and blood. This spirit of unity forged in the crucible of life and death has not faded with the passage of time; instead, it has been passed down through generations as a treasured legacy for our army to defeat the enemy and achieve victory. On the new journey in the new era, we must vigorously promote the excellent style of close unity, think in the same direction and exert effort in the same direction, gathering a strong collective force with a shared purpose, strengthening our sense of mission, focusing on our primary responsibility of training and preparing for war, honing our skills, and striving to achieve new results in the cause of strengthening the military.

The spirit of the Long March transcends time and remains ever fresh. The spirit of prioritizing the overall situation, strictly adhering to discipline, and maintaining close unity has long been integrated into the blood and soul of the people's army, becoming a valuable spiritual asset for strengthening the military in the new era. Currently, the world is undergoing unprecedented changes, and our country's development is entering a period where strategic opportunities coexist with risks and challenges, and uncertainties are increasing. National defense and military construction face new mission challenges, requiring us to cross new "snow-capped mountains" and "grasslands," and conquer new "Loushanguan" and "Lazikou."

Inheriting and promoting the spirit of the Long March means always adhering to the Party's absolute leadership over the military, calibrating the direction of progress with a sense of the overall situation; always strictly adhering to discipline and rules, honing an excellent style with rigid constraints; and always valuing unity and maintaining unity, enhancing our winning capability with a united effort. We should take the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March as an opportunity to draw strength from the spirit of the Long March for strengthening the military, consciously becoming practitioners of prioritizing the overall situation, executors of strict discipline, and promoters of close unity, and with firm belief, strict style, and close cooperation, bravely move forward on the journey of strengthening the military in the new era, providing strong strategic support for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Guangming Daily (September 13, 2026, Page 07)