This [the crossing of the bridge] is complete invention. There was no battle at the Dadu Bridge. Most probably, the legend was constructed because of the site itself: the chain bridge over the roiling river looked a good place for heroic deeds. There were no Nationalist troops at the bridge when the Reds arrived on 29 May ... the strongest evidence debunking the myth of ‘heroic’ fighting is that there were no battle casualties. The Red Amy crossed the bridge without incurring a single death. The vanguard consisted of twenty-two men, who, according to the myth stormed the bridge in a suicide attack. But at a celebration immediately afterwards, on 2 June, all twenty-two were not only alive and well, they each received a Lenin suit, a fountain pen, a bowl and a pair of chopsticks.
Jung Chang and John Halliday, Mao: The Unknown Story (Jonathan Cape, 2005), pp.159–160.