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

He turned to look at Le Shaohua, a hint of amusement on his face:

"Comrade Shaohua, why are you telling me not to be angry? That sounds very strange."

"Comrade Zeyuan... what makes you say that?"

"The Central Committee is sending a highly respected senior official to oversee Party affairs and cultural propaganda work. This is a division of authority between you and Comrade Hongyi. I should be the one advising you two not to be angry, so why is it the other way around?"

Le Shaohua and Zeng Hongyi exchanged a glance.

His eyes were filled with resentment and anger.

She doesn't flinch, she really doesn't flinch.

These days, the two of them are constantly asking for instructions and reporting on everything, and you have to nod your head first before doing anything.

Hasn't all that power already ended up in your pocket, Zhou Zeyuan?

And they even said they'd "take away our power"!

Besides the power to do things, what else do we have left?

The new big boss has arrived. Surely he won't take away our authority to get things done?

Could things get any worse than they are now?

Moreover, what if this high-ranking leader doesn't get along with Zhou Zeyuan after he arrives...

Perhaps, just maybe, they can make another splash.

Even if we don't want to bring Zhou Zeyuan down, we should at least curb his arrogance and reclaim some of our authority.

But before that, the two of them had to continue to keep a low profile and get through this most difficult time.

Zeng Hongyi's resistance to this was actually very small.

Sometimes he would think that if Zhou Zeyuan could value him a little more and respect him a little more, life would actually be quite good.

If you had to choose someone to rely on, there would indeed be no one more suitable than Zhou Zeyuan.

He is a "hexagonal backer" who can provide comprehensive protection in military, political, and daily life aspects.

Being his comrade gives me a real sense of security.

But for some reason, he always felt that Zhou Zeyuan looked down on him.

Therefore, he felt it necessary to prove that he was still very capable.

Thinking of this, Zeng Hongyi took out a thick proposal from his briefcase, stood up, and walked over to Zhou Zeyuan:

"Comrade Zeyuan... The main sections of the Lianluo Highway have been basically repaired. As originally planned, I have arranged for the mobilized people to go home and granted three days' leave to the comrades who participated in the road repair."

"Next, I plan to carry out a new round of repairs on some roads and bridges within the base area."

"Especially along the route from Danyang Town to Pingnan County, the mountain roads are rugged and streams are everywhere. Most of the existing roads and bridges were built spontaneously by the local mountain people. It's fine for ordinary people to walk on them, but it's too much of a strain for our large group to pass through."

Zhou Zeyuan immediately perked up, took the proposal, and began to read it carefully.

Le Shaohua, standing nearby, was dumbfounded.

No, are you serious? You're really planning to bide your time and wait for your chance?

However, he thought about his notebook, which was filled with detailed notes on various key points regarding the development of the military industry. It seemed…

No, I did this not to please Zhou Zeyuan, but purely out of love for the revolutionary cause.

His starting point was completely different from that of Zeng Hongyi, that opportunist.

Zhou Zeyuan flipped through Zeng Hongyi's proposal page by page, a look of surprise gradually appearing on his face.

Apart from some inaccuracies in the description of the topography in the mountainous areas, the entire plan can be described as flawless.

Most importantly, this plan does not involve building a completely new road, nor does it intend to widen the existing road.

Instead, we should concentrate our efforts on solving the biggest problems and most fatal hidden dangers along this path.

Wooden bridges over mountain streams, steep slopes at risk of landslides, and muddy road sections became the key targets for repair.

The options are to rebuild the bridge, open a new, safer section of road, or reinforce the roadbed with stones and timber.

Zeng Hongyi's plan took into account the amount of work involved from the very beginning.

If this road were to be completely renovated, even with straightening some sections, the total length would still reach 90 kilometers.

However, unlike the Lianluo Highway, this is a purely mountainous off-road road, which makes construction several times more difficult.

Moreover, the population along the route is not dense, and there are no large agricultural settlements. To carry out large-scale projects, even grain must be transported from elsewhere.

The cost of building one kilometer of road is at least ten times that of the Lianluo Highway.

The most reasonable aspect of this plan is that it focuses on tackling the most difficult and time-consuming sections of the terrain.

The total workload is not too large; it can be completed by mobilizing the people in the mountainous areas.

Zhou Zeyuan continued flipping through the pages, examining them more and more closely.

Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Huh? Comrade Hongyi, you actually thought of setting up road signs along the way? That's something I hadn't considered before."

Zeng Hongyi puffed out his chest with a hint of smugness: "I've been doing organizational work in Fujian for so many years, I'm not without any experience."

Le Shaohua muttered to himself, "When it comes to experience in evading the Kuomintang's pursuit, who among us can compare to you?"

Zeng Hongyi's smug expression froze for a moment, looking slightly embarrassed.

Zhou Zeyuan, however, seemed to have discovered a new continent. Who said that being good at running away is not an advantage?

Even trash has its value.

Old Zeng's talent was simply not used in the right place.

However, this guy's revolutionary stance is not firm enough, and we must be wary of that.

Old Zeng is just a tool; he's used when he's convenient and discarded when he's not.

Lao Le, on the other hand, is a comrade who has gone astray, and there is still a chance to win him back.

Zhou Zeyuan closed the plan and pondered, "I originally thought that with the expansion of our base and the capture of a batch of grain, our lives would be more comfortable. But now it seems we still need to find new sources of food."

Le Shaohua frowned slightly: "Comrade Zeyuan, aren't you being a bit too pessimistic?"

Zhou Zeyuan became interested: "Comrade Shaohua, do you have a different opinion?"

Le Shaohua cleared his throat and said seriously, "Comrade Su Da and I have also exchanged opinions on the matter of grain."

"Although the population statistics and grain output of each county have not yet been fully reported, according to estimates, the population of our entire Mindong Soviet Area should not be less than 1.5 million."

Zhou Zeyuan shook his head: "But our eastern Fujian region is mostly mountainous, and grain production is low. It's already quite good if we can support one soldier for every fifty people. Any more would probably place a heavy burden on the people in the base area, which is definitely not what we want."

If they had heard when they first arrived in eastern Fujian that this base could support 30,000 soldiers, they would have jumped for joy.

But now, 30,000 soldiers are no longer enough to satisfy their appetite.

Five field divisions, with a total strength exceeding 30,000 men.

But this doesn't even include the staff of the Legion Headquarters, the Special Committee, and Party and government officials, who number at least several thousand.

It doesn't seem like it's much more than that, but there's an even bigger one.

After defeating the Nationalist Army's 80th Division, 3rd Division, and newly formed 10th Division, they captured another 8,000 prisoners, bringing the total number of prisoners in the base area to over 10,000 for the first time.