Brits question length of Mao’s Long March
Two Britons have walked the full length of the Red Army’s Long March and found it 2,200 shorter than hitherto believed.
Though modern Chinese history is unlikely to be revised, the two British backpackers retraced the famous steps of the Red Army’s Long March, and found it shorter than expected.
Ed Jocelyn, 35, and Andy McEwen, 37, became the first foreigners to walk the mammoth journey.
In the annals of twentieth century Chinese history, Communist leader Mao-Tse-Tung and his troops fled for 368-days from the advancing nationalist forces of Chiang Kai-shek.
Of the 80,000 who began the trek, only 4,000 of Mao’s troops survived. Many died from disease and starvation.
But the two Brits claim they had walked 4,000 miles, nearly 2,200 miles less than the officially decreed 6,200 trek in 1934-35.
