After the Nanchang Uprising, the Front Committee decided to withdraw its troops from Nanchang and go south to Guangdong to carry out the agrarian revolution and rebuild the revolutionary base areas. On August 3rd, 1927, Zhu De led the ninth army education group as an advance party, and left Nanchang two days earlier than the main force of the rebel army, and embarked on a journey to Guangdong.
After the failure of the Guangzhou Uprising, except for 1000 people from the 20th Army who went to Hailufeng, the only one left was the one led by Zhu De. Although most of this army is not Zhu De's old army, it is difficult to lead, but at the critical moment when the enemy is surrounded, Zhu De resolutely shouldered the burden of revolution.
He proposed that troops must be brought to the border of Hunan, Guangdong and Jiangxi, where the enemy's strength is weak, to preserve the seeds of revolution and seek development. According to the grim situation that the enemy was attacked on three sides, our army was isolated and had little ammunition, Zhu De put forward a secret to go north, pass through Shanxi and go straight to southern Hunan. He stressed that we should continue to do a good job in the ideological work of the army, and demanded that party member play a vanguard and exemplary role, resolutely reverse the chaotic thought of losing confidence in the revolution, stabilize the morale of the army, and prevent defeatists from leaving the team, dragging their guns and even defecting to the enemy.
Zhu De led his team out of Guangdong, passed through Yongding, Shi Feng and Wuping in Fujian, crossed the border between Fujian and Jiangxi, and entered Jiangxi, thus preserving the revolutionary fire of Nanchang Uprising.