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10% War. The year the Communists got to Shensi (1935), the world Comintern line swung to the "united front" policy which advocated solidarity among all anti-fascist forces. Moscow instructed Ye-ran to seek a united front with Chiang Kai-shek against the Japanese.
In 1937, the Communists undertook formally to abolish the Soviet system, and to merge the Red army with Chiang's forces. To the rank & file, Communist leaders explained carefully that these were "temporary" measures to give the Communist forces a chance to recover from their "battle fatigue." Very clearly, Mao spelled out Communist strategy: "The war between China and Japan is an excellent opportunity for the development of our party. Our determined policy is 70% self-development, 20% compromise, and 10% fight the Japanese . . ."
The Reds carried out these instructions to the letter. When the Japanese were defeated by the Allies in 1945, the Communists scrambled to "accept" their surrender. They took over vast areas formerly held by the Japanese, seized huge amounts of Japanese arms.
At the same time, the Russians marched into Manchuria in their one-week war against Japan and for months prevented the Nationalist troops from entering the northern provinces. Li Lisan returned with the Red army from his Moscow exile and was established in Manchuria. He had successfully purged himself of Trotskyism, had married a Russian girl, and was said to be in high favor with Stalin.
At the end of their Long March, the Communists had been a battered band, barely controlling three small barren provinces. At the end of World War II, a Communist army of 1,000,000 men controlled some of China's richest lands—and 50 million people.
Idylls of a Comrade. In 1946, the U.S. began its ill-fated attempt to mediate between Chiang and the Reds, giving the Communists further time to strengthen their position. Special U.S. Envoy Patrick Hurley personally brought the reluctant Mao to Chungking. Before the plane took off at Yenan airfield, he nervously kissed his small daughter goodbye as though he were being taken to the executioner.
After six weeks, Mao flew hurriedly back to Yenan. Communist bigwig Chou Enlai, in charge of Yenan's public relations, remained in the big city as liaison officer until negotiations broke down. Chou is the smoothest, most urbane of the Communist leaders; in school he was famous for his female impersonations in theatricals, his most brilliant role being that of a sexy peasant wench in a play called One Dollar.