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

"However, the combat effectiveness of the six divisions is uneven. The Mindong Independent Division and the Minbei Independent Division were both recently established."

"The Mindong Independent Division is a bit better, after all, it has been tested in actual combat during the Nanjishan Campaign and is a trustworthy unit."

"The Northern Fujian Independent Division really needs a period of adjustment; at least I wouldn't dare let them fight positional warfare against the elite Nationalist troops."

Yu Qiubai pressed further, "What about the equipment? Didn't you just say the armament rate was less than 70%?"

Zhou Zeyuan chuckled: "Well... I can only say that we still have room for improvement, but for now it's enough. At least I can ensure that the front-line squads, platoons, and companies have enough weapons to use."

"However, the situation is uncertain for battalion and regimental headquarters, as well as logistics and medical units."

Zhou Zeyuan wasn't wrong.

In fact, if you do the math, a 140-man infantry company, excluding machine guns, would be perfectly adequate with 120 rifles and pistols.

Nine infantry companies, that's only 1080 units.

Apart from the special service company, which needs to be fully armed, other units directly under the regiment, such as the mortar company, supply corps, and medical team, do not need to be equipped with too many weapons.

With 1400 rifles and a 7% armament rate, that's just about enough.

But if we could have another two or three hundred rifles for non-frontline combat personnel to use for self-defense, that would be even better.

Therefore, an 8% armament rate is the most ideal.

But Zhou Zeyuan doesn't pursue these things; he only cares about having enough soldiers.

He could also be ruthless enough to cut the army's armament rate in half.

If all else fails, we can just rob the Kuomintang again!

"I see!" Yu Qiubai pondered for a moment, then suddenly changed the subject, "Zeyuan, do you think that if our army were to advance into western Zhejiang at this moment and sabotage the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway, would we have a chance to turn the tide of the war?"

Zhou Zeyuan was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head: "Theoretically there is hope, but in reality it's almost zero."

"Let me just say this: the Kuomintang has been preparing for this battle for over a year. How long do you think their frontline supplies can last?"

"In addition to relying on the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway, the Northern Route Army also relied on the Yangtze River waterway to transport supplies from various provinces along the Yangtze River to northern Jiangxi."

"Let alone the fact that we can't cut off the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway in the long term, even if we could, the situation wouldn't be fundamentally reversed."

He looked directly at Yu Qiubai: "Secretary Yu, you didn't come here this time with some kind of imperial edict from the Central Committee, did you?"

Yu Qiubai shrugged: "Nonsense, you're just too suspicious. If I had some kind of imperial sword, would I be hiding it?"

"Hard to say," Zhou Zeyuan muttered to himself.

Isn't your seniority the most powerful weapon? Otherwise, why would I waste so much time talking to you?

However, those words just now have revealed a clue: this bigwig did indeed come here to oversee the army.

Otherwise, why would Comrade Qiu Bai, who has never been involved in military affairs, suddenly show such unusual concern?

Of course, there is another interpretation!

It didn't involve military matters because there hadn't been an opportunity to do so, but now there is.

They are in their prime, the time to strive and work hard. What's wrong with having some political ambitions?

In Zhou Zeyuan's view, no matter how good-tempered a person is, they will not like to sit on the sidelines.

Compared to Comrade Qiu Bai's political experience and status, a secretary of a provincial-level region is truly a waste of talent.

If this were Zhou Zeyuan's previous cultivation world, he would at least be a half-step Great Emperor.

Even the supreme ruler of the restricted area.

He once reached the pinnacle, but suffered severe injuries in the Emperor War and fell from his realm.

Now that we have obtained enough immortal essence, we can gradually recuperate our ailing bodies. There is still a chance to strive for further sublimation.

I wouldn't dare say that he's invincible across the nine heavens and ten earths, after all, Emperor Ye's strength is somewhat beyond the realm of ordinary people.

However, in this golden age of multiple emperors rising together, it is not impossible to regain the peak.

Zhou Zeyuan himself?

As a young prodigy, he only thought about dominating the next generation and becoming invincible among his peers. As for the battles among the older generation, he only cared that his side won.

After all, someone once said that the Great Way should not be so narrow, and the protectors of the Way should not be so few.

As night fell, the Mindong Special Committee compound remained lit.

In the office of the deputy secretary of the special committee, Su Da was organizing the materials in his hands.

He went through the document he was going to report to Comrade Qiu Bai about tomorrow three times.

After confirming that nothing was missing, I aligned the pages, tapped them on the corner of the table, and put them into the folder.

But his gaze kept drifting to the side.

Zhou Zeyuan sat in a chair against the wall, a notebook open in front of him, writing and drawing with his head down.

He wrote with great concentration, the pen tip scratching on the paper. Occasionally he would stop, tap his forehead with the pen, and then continue writing.

Suda glanced at him a few times out of the corner of her eye.

The writing wasn't exactly scribbles, but it was clearly encrypted.

There were more than a dozen names written in the notebook, but he didn't recognize any of them.

The nouns are connected by lines, with their relationships marked next to them: friends, classmates, former subordinates, political enemies... like a dense network of relationships.

Su Da held back for a long time, but finally couldn't help but ask, "Zeyuan, what exactly is our Comrade Qiu Bai doing here all this way?"

Zhou Zeyuan continued writing without looking up: "What else could it be for? Isn't it obvious? To prevent warlordism from emerging in the newly established Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area, to strengthen Party and government education, and to strengthen the Party's leadership."

"Stop giving me that platitude," Su Da frowned. "Aren't we all impeccably politically educated? Aren't we all long-time Party members? Where does this warlordism come from?"

"Just tell me straight, is Comrade Qiu Bai here on a mission from the Central Committee?"

Zhou Zeyuan stopped writing.

He looked up at Suda and said, "You already guessed, why ask?"

Su Da leaned forward slightly: "What? Is the Central Committee still insisting that the Seventh Red Army Corps pass through western Zhejiang and head to southern Anhui?"

"That's not the case. Going to southern Anhui is pointless; we all know that." Zhou Zeyuan closed his notebook and leaned back in his chair.

"They wanted us to cut off the Zhejiang-Jiangxi railway line and stir up a hornet's nest for the Nationalists. To be honest, if Comrade Qiu Bai had come any later, we ourselves would have been preparing to head north, towards southern and western Zhejiang. The Central Committee was too impatient."

"Oh? So, according to your plan, what should we do now?" Su Da also agreed, as the Seventh Red Army Corps continued to fight in the eastern Fujian area.

This is also the thought of many local officials!

Despite the significant progress made by local armed forces during this period.

However, without the support of the main force, they were not confident that they could maintain their territory in the Soviet area under the heavy encirclement and suppression of the Nationalist army.

The situation is unlikely to get worse than before, but the loss of numerous county towns and key transportation routes makes a return to guerrilla warfare foreseeable.