This year marks the 70th anniversary of the completion of the legendary Long March. 70 years ago, soldiers of the Red Army marched through snowy mountains, dread roads, and dangerous rivers under various harsh conditions. As a result, they made both a historical record of zigzagging through 25,000 kilometers within three years’ time and a psychological record of enduring all kinds of hardship beyond human tolerance.

    What exactly did the Red Army Soldiers have to endure?

    Firstly, they had to endure the extreme lack of food, clothing, and even water along the way, not to mention the severe malnutrition and poor medical treatment that followed. Secondly, they had to endure the enemies that chased after them from all directions. Attacks from air and ground were as frequent as mosquitoes that flied around. Thirdly, they had to endure the harsh weather in some of the coldest areas in China.

    Numerous people collapsed of freezing coldness. Last but not the least, they had to endure some unnecessary losses due to the lack of communication between fractions of the army. Taken together, the Red Army soldiers endured a physical condition that even animals could barely manage. Nonetheless, they bravely fought with the enemies from all grounds even though their health was gravely poor.

    What then, gave the red Army soldiers the gut to endure the all above? Psychologically, it’s the super high morale that gave the soldiers the gut. More specifically, they all held a strong conviction that a communist tomorrow would be better off than now, and it was worth sacrificing anything for it, even if their lives. They also developed a strong group cohesion that is characterized by a keen compassion for one another, and everyone felt like living in big family, young or old, male or female. In fact, the remaining soldiers of the Long March all claimed that they had never felt so close to each other during the time.

    So what psychological miracles did the Long March make? My answer is that it made miracles of human endurance, human compassion, and human determination. And they will always be remembered!