The autumn wind blew bleakly, and the wild geese cried out in the chill. On October 16, 1934, the usually deserted wharf on the Yudu River in Jiangxi suddenly bustled with activity. Columns of Red Army soldiers arrived with hurried footsteps, assembling at the site. Entrusted by Zhou Enlai, an ailing Mao Zedong directed the construction of a bridge while lying on a stretcher; the floating bridge was constructed entirely from door planks donated by the local civilians. Over 800 boats from across Yudu County were also gathered at the riverbank. To avoid detection by the enemy, the Red Army assembled the floating bridges to cross the river each night and dismantled them the following dawn. Neither the soldiers nor the officers knew their destination, let alone considered when they might counterattack or rejoin other forces; they simply moved with the troops. And so, the Long March began. (Translated from the Chinese language overview on TMDB)
