Editing Zhou Enlai (section)

===The Long March===
{{Main|Long March}}
[[File:Zhou enlai and Mao Zedong.jpg|thumb|right|256px|Zhou (far left) with [[Mao Zedong]] (center-left) and [[Bo Gu]] (far right) in [[Yan'an]] (1935)]]
After the decision to abandon Jiangxi was announced, Zhou was placed in charge of organizing and supervising the logistics of the Communist withdrawal. Making his plans in absolute secrecy and waiting till the last moment to inform even senior leaders of the group's movements, Zhou's objective was to break through the enemy encirclement with as few casualties as possible, and before Chiang's forces were able to completely occupy all Communist bases. It is not known what criteria were used to determine who would stay and who would go, but 16,000 troops and some of the Communists' most notable commanders at the time (including [[Xiang Ying]], [[Chen Yi (communist)|Chen Yi]], [[Tan Zhenlin]], and [[Qu Qiubai]]) were left to form a rear guard to divert the main force of Nationalist troops from noticing the Communists' general withdrawal.<ref>Barnouin and Yu 57–58</ref>

The withdrawal of 84,000 soldiers and civilians began in early October 1934. Zhou's intelligence agents were successful in identifying a large section of Chiang's blockhouse lines that were manned by troops under General [[Chen Jitang]], a [[Guangdong]] warlord who Zhou identified as being likely to prefer preserving the strength of his troops over fighting. Zhou sent [[Pan Hannian]] to negotiate for safe passage with General Chen, who subsequently allowed the Red Army to pass through the territory that he controlled without fighting.<ref name="Fiftyeight1">Barnouin and Yu 58</ref>

After passing through three of the four blockhouse fortifications needed to escape Chiang's encirclement, the Red Army was finally intercepted by regular Nationalist troops, and suffered heavy casualties. Of the 86,000 Communists who attempted to break out of Jiangxi, only 36,000 successfully escaped. This loss demoralized some Communist leaders (particularly [[Bo Gu]] and Otto Braun), but Zhou remained calm and retained his command.<ref name="Fiftyeight1" />

During the Communists' subsequent [[Long March]], there were numerous high-level disputes over the direction that the Communists should take, and on the causes of the Red Army's defeats. During the power struggles that ensued, Zhou consistently backed [[Mao Zedong]] against the interests of Bo Gu and Otto Braun. Bo and Braun were later blamed for the Red Army's defeats, and were eventually removed from their positions of leadership.<ref>Barnouin and Yu 59</ref> The Communists eventually succeeded in re-establishing a base in northern [[Shaanxi]] on 20 October 1935, arriving with only 8,000–9,000 remaining members.<ref>Spence 402</ref>

Zhou's position within the CCP changed numerous times throughout the Long March. By the early 1930s, Zhou was recognized as the ''de facto'' leader of the CCP, and exercised superior influence over other members of the CCP even when sharing power with Bo and Braun.<ref>Barnouin and Yu 49–52</ref> In the months following the January 1935 [[Zunyi Conference]], in which Bo and Braun were removed from senior positions, Zhou mostly retained his position because he displayed a willingness to display responsibility, because his tactics in defeating Chiang's Fourth Encirclement Campaign were recognized as being successful, and because he supported Mao Zedong, who was gaining influence inside the Party: after the Zunyi Conference, Mao became Zhou's assistant.<ref>Barnouin and Yu 59–60</ref> After the Communists reached Shaanxi and completed the Long March, Mao officially took over Zhou Enlai's leading position in the CCP, while Zhou took a secondary position as vice-chairman. Mao and Zhou would retain their positions within the CCP until their deaths in 1976.<ref>Barnouin and Yu 62</ref>