reached He Long's communist base in Hubei. Even with their combined forces they could not challenge the nationalist forces, and did not return until the establishment of the People's Republic of China 15 years later. The failure of the diversionary force resulted in their loss of contact with the CSR. The communist leadership failed to coordinate its next move, still believing that a temporary retreat near (or within) the CSR would allow them to recover and counterattack. Main retreating force The portion of the First Front Red Army engaged in mobile warfare was actually the bulk of the communist force making a general retreat, and was much diminished from its peak of more than 140,000 men. With most of its equipment lost, many Chinese Red Army soldiers were forced to arm themselves with ancient weaponry. According to the Statistical Chart of Field Army Personnel, Weaponry, Ammunition, and Supply' completed by the Chinese Red Army on 8 October 1934 (two days before the Long March began), the Long March forces consisted of: Combat formations Five combat corps, totaling 72,313 men: First Corps (the largest, with 19,880 men) Third Corps Fifth Corps Eighth Corps (the newest and smallest, with 10,922 men) Ninth Corps Two columns: Central Committee First Column Central Committee Second Column The corps and columns had a total of 86,859 men. Weaponry The Statistical Chart of Field Army Personnel, Weaponry, Ammunition, and Supply (in the People's Liberation Army Archives) provided weapons and provisions for the Long March. The weapons included: Artillery: 39 total Mortars: 38 Mountain gun: 1 (originally not included; added later) Breech-loading firearms: 33,244 total (with 1,858,156 rounds of ammunition); of these a total of 29,016 were distributed to the five corps, including: Rifles: 25,317 Heavy machine guns: 333 Light machine guns: 285 Submachine guns: 28 Handguns: 2,804 Other weapons included: Lances: 6,101 Sabers: 882 Other weapons were also deployed which were not counted. These included: Muzzle-loading and smooth-bore muskets Flintlock and snaphance guns Matchlock and wheellock guns Spears and rakes: Later in the Long March, spears were more useful as canes. Axes and poles: Later in the Long March, poles were useful as building material and for stretchers. Daggers and knives Provisions included: Winter clothing: 83,100 sets Horses: 338 Herbal medicines: 35,700 kg Salt: 17,413 kg Currency: 1.642 million CSR dollars Dissolution The Chinese Soviet Republic continued to exist formally, since the communists still controlled some areas