中央苏区五次反“围剿”
中国共产党领导革命根据地的建立和发展，威胁着蒋介石反动政府的统治，引起了国民党反动派的恐慌。从1930年到1934年，蒋介石先后调集大批兵力对中央革命根据地以及湘赣、湘鄂赣、闽浙赣等根据地进行了五次军事“围剿”。
1930年10月，蒋介石纠集10万兵力，采取“长驱直入，分进合击”的战术，对中央革命根据地发动大规模的“围剿”。红一方面军采取“诱敌深入”的作战方针，共歼敌1.5万多人，胜利粉碎了敌人的第一次“围剿”。
1931年2月，国民党又调集20万军队，采取“稳扎稳打，步步为营”的战术，对中央革命根据地进行第二次“围剿”。红军3万人在毛泽东的指挥下，仍取“诱敌深入”方针，连续取得五场战斗的胜利，粉碎了敌人的第二次“围剿”。
1931年7月，蒋介石亲自任总司令，随带英、日、德军事顾问，率兵30万人，采用“长驱直入战术”，分三路进攻中央革命根据地。红军依然使用“诱敌深入”的战略方针，“避敌主力，打其虚弱”，前后3个月，歼敌3万人，胜利粉碎了敌人的第三次“围剿”。
1932年年底，国民党调集30个师的兵力，分三路向中央革命根据地发动第四次“围剿”。红军在周恩来和朱德的指挥下，根据毛泽东积极防御的战略思想，采取声东击西、大兵团伏击、集中优势兵力、坚决围歼的作战方针，消灭敌人三个师，取得了第四次反“围剿”的胜利。
1933年9月，蒋介石调集100万军队、200多架飞机，向各革命根据地发动第五次“围剿”，其中用于中央根据地的兵力达50万。在王明“左”倾教条主义错误的影响下，李德等人先推行“军事冒险主义”策略，在敌人猖狂进攻面前采取“拼命主义”，最后发展成“逃跑主义”，导致中央红军第五次反“围剿”失败。1934年10月，中央红军主力被迫撤出中央革命根据地，实施战略转移。
Operations Against the Five Encirclement and Suppression Campaigns of the Central Soviet Area
The establishment and growth of the revolutionary base areas under the CPC's leadership threatened the rule of Chiang Kai-shek's government. From 1930 to 1934, Chiang summoned large numbers of troops and launched five attempts to achieve military encirclements of the Central Revolutionary Base Area and the Hunan-Jiangxi, Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi, Fujian-Zhejiang-Jiangxi base areas.
In October 1930, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized about 100,000 troops and started a large-scale encirclement and suppression campaign of the Central Revolutionary Base Area in Jiangxi, planning to drive straight into the revolutionary base area and make a concerted attack by converging columns. The First Front Red Army led by Mao Zedong and Zhu De adopted a successful strategy of luring the enemy troops in deep and then counterattacking. They killed more than 15,000 KMT troops, and seized vast quantities of arms, thus achieving a notable victory in the first counter-campaign.
In February 1931, the KMT gathered 200,000 troops to launch a second campaign. This time the strategy was to consolidate gains at each step and attack only when sure of success. The Red Army, with only 30,000 men under Mao Zedong's command, continued the strategy of luring the enemy in deep and counterattacking that had been so successful in the first campaign and won five battles in succession, achieving a decisive victory against the enemy's second encirclement campaign.
In July 1931, Chiang Kai-shek personally took the post of commander-in-chief, and brought military consultants from Britain, Japan and Germany with him. Once again they followed the tactic of driving straight into the Central Revolutionary Base Area, with 300,000 troops advancing in three columns. The Red Army also repeated its successful strategy of luring the enemy in deep, avoiding its main forces, and striking at its weak spots. In three months, the Red Army killed more than 30,000 enemy troops, and achieved a third decisive victory.
At the end of 1932, KMT troops mounted a fourth encirclement campaign on the Central Revolutionary Base Area, with troops of 30 divisions advancing in three columns. The Red Army, under the command of Zhou Enlai and Zhu De, following Mao Zedong's strategy of active defense, wiped out three enemy divisions by making a feint to the east but attacking in the west, with an ambush by a large force. They concentrated their forces to create local superiority over the overstretched enemy lines. Once again they achieved a decisive victory.
In September 1933, Chiang Kai-shek mobilized one million troops and about 200 planes to launch the fifth encirclement and suppression campaign, this time on several revolutionary base areas. Half of these forces were used to attack the Central Revolutionary Base Area.
Under the heavy influence of Wang Ming's (1904-1974) "leftist" dogmatic ideas, Otto Braun (1900-1974, the German military advisor by the Chinese name Li De who was sent from the Comintern) advocated an adventurist strategy and tried to engage the numerically superior and better-equipped KMT troops in conventional open and static warfare. The results were catastrophic, resulting in huge losses of manpower and territory. This time the Red Army met a failure in Chiang's fifth encirclement campaign.
In October 1934, the main forces of the Central Red Army were compelled to retreat from the Central Revolutionary Base Area and start a strategic shift of position.
