Late October, 1936

In order to open up a route to access assistance from the Soviet Union, a part of the Fourth Front Red Army receives instructions from the Central Revolutionary Military Commission to cross the Yellow River to the west and prepare for a campaign in Ningxia. On November 11, in accordance with a Central Committee decision on the matter, the troops crossing the river are named the West Route Army. Under extreme hardship, the troops venture deep into the Hexi Corridor and engage in four months of fighting. They are greatly outnumbered and defeated in March 1937.

Source From: CHRONICLE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA (JULY 1921–JUNE 2021),by Institute of Party History and Literature of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China