'Crossings' that turned the tide

More than 30,000 against 400,000. The two numbers capture the stark imbalance between the Communist Party of China-led Red Army and the encircling Kuomintang troops during one of the most decisive military campaigns of 1935.

At first glance, the odds seemed insurmountable. Yet, the vastly outnumbered Red Army not only survived but also turned the campaign into a pivotal moment in the Long March (1934-36), the epic two-year military trek that paved the way for the eventual victory of the Chinese revolution and the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Known as the "Four Crossings of the Chishui River" campaign — which Chairman Mao Zedong later described as "the proudest achievement" of his military career — the legendary operation has recently been brought to the big screen in Crossing, which opened in theaters nationwide on June 26.

Released as a tribute to the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March, the film opens in the aftermath of the Battle of Xiangjiang River, one of the bloodiest engagements of the Long March. Fought in 1934, the battle was a setback for the Red Army, leaving more than 50,000 soldiers dead, wounded, captured or missing.

After the Zunyi Conference in Guizhou province, Mao regained military command and abandoned rigid conventional tactics in favor of highly mobile warfare. Facing an encirclement by some 400,000 Kuomintang troops led by Chiang Kai-shek, he directed the Red Army across the border region of Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces to confuse, outmaneuver and wear down the pursuing enemy.

From Jan 19 to March 22, 1935, the Red Army crossed the Chishui River, which flows through three provinces, four times, ultimately breaking out of the encirclement while preserving the core strength of the CPC-led forces with minimal losses.

Beyond vividly recounting the historic campaign, the film also focuses on ordinary Red Army soldiers. Told through the eyes of veteran Zhao Defa and a homeless orphan, A'jin, who volunteers to assist Zhao and his comrades, the story explores the courage, conviction and resilience that made the force so formidable.

Director Xu Zhanxiong, known for The Pioneer — a 2021 biopic about Li Dazhao, a founding member of the CPC — told China Daily that his original motivation was to "retell a story that every Chinese person has encountered in history textbooks in a way that truly moves audiences, while inspiring younger generations to explore history more deeply".

The project took shape during the 19th Changchun Film Festival in 2024, when Xu was approached by Yu Dong, founder of Bona Film Group, which has produced several acclaimed revolutionary blockbusters including The Battle at Lake Changjin and The Founding of an Army. Xu recalls being struck by Yu's passion for bringing the campaign's lesser-known stories to the screen.

"Every time Yu talks about the campaign, he speaks with remarkable familiarity and profound knowledge. His genuine passion is infectious and inspires everyone around him," says Xu.

In October that year, Xu and the film's creative team set off on their first research trip to Guizhou, one of the campaign's major battlefields. Retracing the Red Army's route, they visited historic sites including Tucheng Ancient Town in Xishui county, where Mao directed his first battle after regaining military command, and Loushan Pass, a strategic mountain pass more than 1,500 meters above sea level at the junction of Zunyi and Tongzi counties.

"The Battle of Loushan Pass marked the Red Army's first major victory after the start of the Long March, and it was fought with extraordinary intensity," Xu says. He adds that Mao later wrote a famous poem, expressing his confidence that the Red Army would overcome every hardship on its road to ultimate victory.

During a visit to a museum in Zunyi, Xu learned that there was no bridge across the Chishui River when the Red Army made its first crossing. Instead, soldiers gathered bamboo poles, wooden planks and small boats from local villagers to build makeshift pontoon bridges that swayed beneath their feet as they crossed.

The film's 107 scenes were shot entirely at 32 locations across Guizhou, with nearly 2,000 students from Guizhou Police College and Qiannan Minzu Polytechnic volunteering to play Red Army soldiers. Although filming took place during last winter's freezing weather, the youngsters, wearing straw sandals and carrying heavy gear through muddy terrain, completed the demanding shoot without a single person dropping out, according to the producers.

Executive producer Andrew Lau says he was deeply impressed by their dedication. "They were about the same age as the Red Army soldiers — mostly in their 20s — and worked alongside the cast under extremely harsh conditions. At times, looking at them through the camera, I felt as if I were seeing the young Red Army soldiers of 90 years ago," says Lau.

Actor Liu Ye lost 8.5 kilograms to portray Mao during one of the most grueling periods of the Long March, when the revolutionary leader endured illness, hunger and bitter cold.

The film marks Liu's third time portraying Mao, following Beginning of the Great Revival (2011) and The Founding of an Army (2017). He recalls one memorable behind-the-scenes detail: although he rarely eats spicy food in real life, Liu chewed chili peppers during filming to better reflect Mao's well-known fondness for them, enduring a burning sensation in both his mouth and stomach to stay true to the role.

The film also features several prominent figures from the Kuomintang side, including its leader Chiang and Guizhou warlord Wang Jialie. Wang's army was mockingly known as the "two-gun troop", a nickname referring to the fact that many of his soldiers carried both a rifle and an opium pipe. Since Wang did not ban opium poppy cultivation and instead profited from the trade during his rule over Guizhou in the early 1930s, widespread opium addiction was tolerated within his ranks.

More than a year after filming wrapped, Xu says the project's greatest impact on him was gaining a firsthand understanding of how extraordinary the campaign truly was. "The path the Red Army soldiers walked is nothing short of a miracle in human history. Every step they took, every drop of blood they shed — all of it helped shape the course of history," he says.