The Long March dwarfs any event in hardship and bitter, and yet was imbued with revolutionary optimism.

　　The Long March is known for being a hard and long distance march, and is likewise a protracted operation fought under the situation of a weak Red Army fighting against a much stronger enemy. Kuomintang, at that time, raised one million troops to encircle, pursue, obstruct and intercept the Red Army with fighters hovering in the sky and chasing troops on the ground. And yet, such kind of difficult circumstances only served to kindle the heroic fighting ardor of the Red Army men. With the all-conquering sublime heroism that could overwhelm any enemy, the Red Army men succeeded in breaking through one blockade after another by adopting flexible strategy and tactics.

　　On the seemingly endless Long March road, the Red Army men not only had to march under the enemy's heavy fire, but also had to struggle against the extreme natural environment. The boundless grassy marshland was completely desolated. The Red Army was running out of food, clothes and quilts, and the officers and men had to eat wild herbs to allay their hunger and to resist cold with bonfire. Regardless of the toughness, the Red Army men were not depressed and not feeling grieved, and the only thing they cherished was the revolutionary optimism which inspired them to advance bravely.

　　The barren of cultural life in the whole course of the Long March is also beyond people's

　　imagination. The Red Army men had no access to newspapers, nor could they receive letters from the home or get information from the outside. But that didn't mean they were lonely. A common scene during the Long March was: many soldiers carried on the back a piece of white paper with new words written on it. That's the way they learned how to read and write. In early 1936, when the troops were crossing the grassy marshland, Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, together with the soldiers, made a leather ball and stuffed it with wool. Then they planted a pole on the ground with an iron ring fixed on it to play "basketball". But that was not all. Led by Commander-in-Chief Zhu De, sports events such as high jump, long jump, hurdle race, you name it, were carried out.

　　In every respect, whether to look at it from the past or from the present, the Long March is peerless in hardships, hence a miracle in the history of the mankind. Nevertheless, no sorrow and sadness could be detected on the face of the Red Army men. The optimism of the Red Army is well grounded on their sober reading of the revolutionary situation and on the basis of their stubborn pursuit of the ideal and belief they cherished. They believed that justice will eventually triumph over evil and the revolution is sure to succeed.

　　By Tian Zhizhang