TheLongMarch(traditionalChinese:长征;simplifiedChinese:长征;pinyin:Chángzhēng)wasamassivemilitaryretreatundertakenbytheRedArmiesoftheChineseCommunistParty,theforerunnerofthePeople'sLiberationArmy,toevadethepursuitoftheKuomintang(KMTorChineseNationalistParty)army.TherewasnotoneLongMarch,butseveral,asvariousCommunistarmiesinthesouthescapedtothenorthandwest.ThemostwellknownisthemarchfromJiangxiprovincewhichbeganinOctober1934.TheFirstFrontArmyoftheChineseSovietRepublic,ledbyaninexperiencedmilitarycommission,wasonthebrinkofcompleteannihilationbyGeneralissimoChiangKai-shek'stroopsintheirstrongholdinJiangxiprovince.TheCommunists,undertheeventualcommandofMaoZedongandZhouEnlai,escapedinacirclingretreattothewestandnorth,whichreportedlytraversedsome12,500kilometers(8,000miles)over370days.[1]TheroutepassedthroughsomeofthemostdifficultterrainofwesternChinabytravelingwest,thennorth,toShaanxi.