from the richest local strongmen, the communists became bolder and concentrated on guerrilla warfare against local governmental forces which were incapable of exterminating Yuan's and Wang's forces due to the strong popular support the communists enjoyed. In July, 1927, under the order of communists, Yuan's men and Wang's men raided Yongxin County, freeing over 80 Communist Party agents held in the local jail converted from a gaol. Although the town was briefly occupied, it was obvious that it was impossible for the token communist force to hold the town and thus they soon withdrew to the mountains to continue their guerrilla warfare. Joining Mao Zedong On September 30, 1927, Mao Zedong arrived at Sanwan (三湾) village of Yongxin (永新) county, just north of Jinggangshan, with the remnants from the abortive Autumn Harvest Uprising, and sent letters to both Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo to ask their help to establish a communist base locally. On October 3, 1927, Mao's force reached the town of Ninggang (宁冈) and held a conference, at which Mao personally vetoed the suggestion to eliminate Yuan and Wang by force. At first Yuan Wencai was suspicious of Mao and lay an ambush on the mountain road to Ninggang to defend his turf. Accompanied by You Chaoqing (尤超清), Mao went to meet Yuan on October 6, 1927 at Dacang (大仓) village near Maoping (茅坪), and convinced Yuan to join his men. Mao gave more than a hundred rifles to Yuan and in return, Yuan gave over a thousand silver dollars to Mao. The next day, Yuan personally held a ceremony to welcome Mao and his men to Maoping (茅坪). Yuan had his bodyguard Li Genjin (李根勤) accompany Mao to Maoping, where they set up military headquarters. Yuan subsequently helped to gather five tons of grains and a huge amount of cloth to Mao's men, and helped to established the first military hospital in the communist base. That winter Yuan's men drilled together with the Communists and were further indoctrinated in Marxist political theory, when Mao sent cadres including Xu Yangang (徐彦刚), You Xuecheng (游雪程), and Chen Bojun (陈伯钧) to help Yuan. In February 1928, the forces of Yuan Wencai and Wang Zuo were officially incorporated into the regular Communist army as the 1st Army, 1st Division, 2nd Regiment. Yuan was named as the regimental commander, and Wang as the deputy regimental commander, with He Changgong as the communist