After World War II, Hu Zongnan battled the Communist Party of China and in the early stage of the struggle, was once successful in the Battle of Yan'an taking Yan'an, the capital of the communist base in Shaanxi. Yan'an had served as the capital of Red China from the end of the Long March in 1935, through World War II, until its capture in 1947. The earlier KMT campaigns in the 1930s had been a failure. There was only token Red resistance, as most Reds had already fled in advance in a strategic withdrawal to lure Hu to the Northwest.