The Error of Adventurism

On a moonless night in May 1943, Liu Chunxiang sailed with a platoon (軍) 排 of eleven of his more experienced soldiers to Lung Ku Tan. When they were near the two small islands of Lung Ku and Sha Chau that were normally uninhabited (無人居住的), they were caught by surprise, as they were ambushed (伏擊) by two well-armed Japanese gunboats. All twelve soldiers were killed and their boat was sunk...It was undoubtedly the Independent Brigade's worst defeat during the entire war.

The memory of the tragic loss of their experienced leader Liu Chunxiang and other soldiers affected their morale badly. So in late May, the entire (Lantau Island) detachment assembled in Tung Chung to conduct a memorial service (儀式) for Liu and the other soldiers who died in service. The leaders took the opportunity to conduct a brainstorming session with the cadres (骨幹隊伍). One of the results of the session was that the leaders of the detachment were criticized for being overly ambitious. The terminology used in the criticism was that the leaders had committed "the errors of adventurism (冒險主義)".

Chan, S.J. (2014). East River Column -- Hong Kong Guerrillas in the Second World War and After. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.