Southern guerrilla warfare: I led the Red Seventh Army Corps to amassed a million troops.

That afternoon, Liu Shengmu led his team back along the same route they had come from.

The group included 600 wounded Red Army soldiers and 3,000 Kuomintang prisoners of war, who were organized into ranks and escorted by local armed forces.

The spoils were relatively few.

Su Yu used the spoils to complete another round of clothing changes.

He replaced all the guns and ammunition of the main force, and he didn't throw away the obsolete weapons, intending to use them to expand the troops in the Zhouning area.

So even older models of the same type of rifle were kept by him as long as the gun was still in good condition.

In the end, all Liu Shengmu brought back were about a thousand old and damaged rifles and over a hundred thousand spent bullet casings.

These can be taken back to the military factory as raw materials to see how many guns can be repaired and how many bullets can be reloaded.

Ye Fei on the other side did the same thing.

He captured more than two thousand guns, first replacing some of the worn and damaged guns with those of the 3rd Regiment of the 7th Division, and then distributing the rest to the Mindong Independent Division.

The comrades who assisted in the transportation did not bring back much spoils, and half of the people who went were even left behind and directly recruited into the two units.

When the news reached Danyang Town, Zhou Zeyuan was looking at a map.

Instead of getting angry, he laughed.

"This kid has quite the appetite. Allocate 500 of those veterans recently converted from Kuomintang prisoners of war to the Eastern Fujian Independent Division."

The staff officer next to him paused for a moment, then said, "Commander, more than 300 of those veterans came from the 1st Supplementary Brigade, and all the divisions are keeping an eye on them..."

"I know, I'll do as you say."

The news caused an uproar.

Zhang Qiming rushed to the command post, shouting as soon as he entered, "Commander, you can't do this!"

"We also really need to replenish the veterans of the First Brigade. You can't be biased towards outsiders!"

Zhou Zeyuan looked up at him.

Zhang Qiming felt a chill run down his spine from that look, and his voice immediately lowered: "Commander, that's not what I meant, I just..."

"Who do you think you are? You have a problem with that?"

"No, no, no!" Zhang Qiming waved his hands repeatedly. "I just feel that the Fujian-East Independent Division already has enough manpower, and our 7th Red Army Division is fighting alone, so we need to be replenished..."

"Are you done talking?" Zhou Zeyuan interrupted him.

Zhang Qiming quickly shut up.

Zhou Zeyuan stood up, walked to the map hanging on the wall, and pointed to the location of the northern front: "The Third Regiment is transferred to the western front and returned to its original unit."

Zhang Qiming was stunned for a moment, then his eyes lit up.

"The Western Front? Commander, are we planning a major operation on the Western Front?"

Zhou Zeyuan didn't answer, he just glanced at him.

Zhang Qiming immediately understood, stood at attention, and saluted: "I'll go prepare right away!"

The adjustments were made quickly.

The 3rd Regiment of the 7th Division of the Red Army was transferred from the northern front to the western front and rejoined its original unit.

The northern front was taken over by the Fujian-East Independent Division, while the western front was taken over by the main force of the 7th Red Army Division.

In this way, each of the three defense lines—north, south, and west—would be manned by a division.

Zhou Zeyuan was clearly not someone who liked to distribute troops equally.

He did this for one purpose only—to take the initiative on the western front and relieve the pressure on Su Yu.

Upon receiving Zhou Zeyuan's telegram, Xun Huaizhou rushed back from the southern front without stopping.

As soon as I entered the command center, I saw Zhou Zeyuan writing furiously at his desk.

"Zeyuan, why did you call me back in such a hurry? Is there a big battle about to begin?"

Zhou Zeyuan put down his pen and looked up: "Didn't you also fight a major battle on the southern front? What, still not satisfied?"

Xun Huaizhou smiled and shook his head: "I can only mobilize two battalions in total, which is only enough to fight against security regiments and transport teams. What kind of major battle is this? It's just an appetizer at best."

"Haha, I knew you weren't satisfied. I invited you back to prepare for a big battle."

Zhou Zeyuan stood up and walked to the map on the wall. "Su Yu is expanding his territory along the northern front. The local troops in northeastern Fujian are no match for them."

"After capturing Zhouning the day before yesterday, we split our forces into two routes, one heading north to capture Shouning, and the other heading west to capture Zhenghe. The Kuomintang must have started mobilizing troops, so we need to buy them some time."

The success of the war made Zhou Zeyuan's appetite grow bigger and bigger.

Since conditions permit, let's simply turn all the guerrilla areas in eastern Fujian into base areas.

Once this feat is accomplished, it will strategically encircle and isolate the few major cities of Fu'an and Ningde.

The various scattered base areas and guerrilla zones were completely connected, making the exchange of supplies unimpeded.

The Mindong Soviet Area had a population of over one million, which included only stable base areas and contiguous guerrilla zones.

The population of the white areas is not included in the statistics.

If Su Yu's actions go smoothly, the population of the Mindong Soviet Area will grow to 150 million in another week.

The reality is that the operations of the First and Third Divisions could not possibly go poorly.

Zhou Zeyuan insisted on sending these two units to fight on the outer lines because the predecessor of the 7th Red Army Corps was the 19th Red Division, which was originally formed from local troops of the Fujian-Zhejiang-Jiangxi Military Region.

A considerable number of young men from northern Fujian have returned to their hometowns to fight, and their fighting spirit is beyond words.

Returning home in wealth and honor is like wearing brocade at night.

Just imagine the battles that Xiang Yu fought to conquer the Three Qin regions.

He then heard about the rebellion in Jiangdong and how bandits had occupied his hometown.

At this point, how high can the Overlord's rage level go?

Returning home in wealth and honor, coupled with rescuing his fellow villagers, creates a double buff that makes him truly unstoppable.

If there were a population of 150 million, supporting 3 full-time military personnel should not be difficult.

The ratio of military personnel to civilians is approximately 50:1, so the burden on ordinary people is not too great.

Of course, he only considered this in his own mind; others probably haven't noticed it yet.

Xun Huaizhou walked to the map, his gaze lingering on the western front for a moment: "I understand. So our objective is to wipe out Li Yutang's Third Division?"

Zhou Zeyuan waved his hand: "Your appetite is too big. Just keep them occupied. What I mean is, attack Lu Xingbang first, so that Li Yutang won't dare to focus on the north."

Xun Huaizhou pondered for a moment, then tapped his finger on the map: "It is indeed a good idea. But have you considered this? What if they don't fall for it and insist on moving their troops north? Wouldn't this plan be in vain? We'd be too passive."

Zhou Zeyuan didn't care. Liu Bang wouldn't be jealous of Han Xin's talent because he didn't rely on military command for a living at all.

"You have a better way? Then do it your way."

Xun Huaizhou was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled slightly: "How about you hand over the command of the Seventh Red Division to me, and I will take charge of the front-line command?"

Zhou Zeyuan said innocently, "What nonsense are you talking about? You are the real corps commander, and the command of the 7th Red Army Division is rightfully yours. You can move them around as you please."

Xun Huaizhou glanced at him sideways: "Don't even try. If I really did that, our Commander Zhou would be unhappy again."

"Look at what you're saying! Do you think I'm the kind of person who's petty and narrow-minded?"

Xun Huaizhou nodded very seriously and said earnestly, "You're definitely not. Because you fucking never let revenge linger overnight."

Zhou Zeyuan paused for a second, then burst into laughter: "Get lost! Hurry up and get to the western front, don't delay things."