ABSTRACT
The importance of the Zunyi Conference in CCP history and particularly in Mao Zedong's political career has aroused the interest of many Chinese and Western historians. The variety of claims as to the starting date of and the total number of initial participants in the Long March undertaken by the Central Red Army in the Jiangxi Soviet nearly rival the number of sources in overall quantity. The command column of the Party Center and the Military Council stood at the middle with the 5th Army Corps protecting it from behind. Lying ahead of them was the second blockade line, running from Guidong to Rucheng in southeastern Hunan. The legacy of the Central Red Army received from the 6th Army Corps in this and other places seemed more negative than positive. A Politburo conference was held in Tongdao at the southwest tip of Hunan.
