The revolutionary war is a war of the masses; it can be waged only by mobilizing the masses and relying on them.

What is a true bastion of Iron? It is the masses, the millions upon millions of people who genuinely and sincerely support the revolution. That is the real iron bastion, which it is impossible, and absolutely impossible, for any force on earth to smash. The counter-revolution cannot smash us; on the contrary, we shall smash it. Rallying millions upon millions of people round the revolutionary government and expanding our revolutionary war, we shall wipe out all counter-revolution and take over the whole of China.

The imperialists are bullying us in such a way that we will have to deal with them seriously. Not only must we have a powerful regular army, we must also organize contingents of the people's militia on a big scale. This will make it difficult for the imperialists to move a single inch in our country in the event of invasion.

Without preparedness superiority is not real superiority and there can be no initiative either. Having grasped this point, a force, which is inferior but prepared can often defeat a superior enemy by surprise attack.