Collected Writings of Chairman Mao: Guerrilla Warfare: Volume 2 - Guerrilla Warfare

Mao Zedong (also known as Mao Tse-tung) is regarded as one of the most controversial figures in modern world history. Having conquered the country he ruled the Peoples Republic of China from its establishment as a Communist state in 1949 until the time of his death in 1976. Brilliant and ruthless his legacy includes guerrilla warfare tactics violent cultural revolutions and enduring Communist propaganda. He was named one of the 100 most influential figures of the 20th century by Time Magazine. Eric Margolis of the Huffington Post writes of Chairman Mao: Mao was an accomplished poet writer and historian a profound thinker and a superb military strategist. He crushed the US-backed Nationalists 4.3-million strong armies in a series of titanic battles forcing his rival Chiang Kai-shek to flee to Taiwan... The Great Helmsman united fractured war-torn China restoring its pride and self-confidence after two centuries of humiliation. Mao thwarted both Soviet and U.S. efforts to turn China into a client state and built up Chinas military power... Maos aides dared not tell him millions were starving. Red Emperor Mao was prodigal with his peoples lives and according to aides who were close to him was shockingly indifferent to their suffering. Mao horrified even brutal Soviet leaders by saying he was prepared to lose half his people to emerge victorious from a nuclear war... The second volume in this special collection contains three important lectures and essays by Chairman Mao dealing with guerrilla warfare: *Part 1 - On Guerrilla Warfare *Part 2 - Problems of Strategy in Guerrilla War against Japan *Part 3 - On Protracted War Excerpt from Collected Writings of Chairman Mao: Volume 2 - Guerrilla Warfare by Mao Zedong. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. In September 1812 Napoleon in the course of swallowing all of Europe invaded Russia at the head of a great army totaling several hundred thousand infantry cavalry and artillery. At that time Russia was weak and her ill-prepared army was not concentrated. The most important phase of her strategy was the use made of Cossack cavalry and detachments of peasants to carry on guerrilla operations. After giving up Moscow the Russians formed nine guerrilla divisions of about five hundred men each. These and vast groups of organized peasants carried on partisan warfare and continually harassed the French Army. When the French Army was withdrawing cold and starving Russian guerrillas blocked the way and in combination with regular troops carried out counterattacks on the French rear pursuing and defeating them. The army of the heroic Napoleon was almost entirely annihilated and the guerrillas captured many officers men cannon and rifles. Though the victory was the result of various factors and depended largely on the activities of the regular army the function of the partisan groups was extremely important. The corrupt and poorly organized country that was Russia defeated and destroyed an army led by the most famous soldier of Europe and won the war in spite of the fact that her ability to organize guerrilla regimes was not fully developed. At times guerrilla groups were hindered in their operations and the supply of equipment and arms was insufficient. If we use the Russian saying it was a case of a battle between the fist and the axe.