In the spring of 1935, during the Long March—a major strategic military operation by the Chinese Red Army—one of its main forces, known as the Fourth Front Army, was operating in Sichuan Province. On March 28, the army's commander, Xu Xiangqian, ordered a forced crossing of the Jialing River, a major waterway, at a place called Tazishan in Cangxi County.

They launched the crossing along three separate routes. The main force crossed at Tazishan under the cover of darkness, using small boats and bamboo rafts while enemy artillery bombarded the river. Meanwhile, diversionary attacks elsewhere pinned down the defending troops. After fierce close-quarters fighting on the opposite bank, the Red Army shattered the enemy's heavily fortified "600-li defensive line" (a li is about half a kilometer, so 600 li is roughly 300 kilometers, or 186 miles). This operation is a classic example of a well-planned river crossing in the history of the Fourth Front Army, and it marked the official start of the Long March for that force.