Page "New Fourth Army incident" Paragraph 3

For PRC historians the incident began in December 1940, when Chiang Kai-shek ordered Eighth Route Army and the New Fourth Army to withdraw from Anhui and Jiangsu in a month.

The Communist Party agreed to move the New Fourth Army troops in Southern Anhui ( Wannan ) to the northern shore of the Yangtze River.

On 4 January, the 9000-strong force started to move from Yunling Township in Jing County towards Jiangsu, planning to cross the river along three routes.