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

Zhou Zeyuan's gaze fell on the table, and he said, "The most crucial thing is to take Gutian, remove this thorn in our side, and push the battle line forward to the Minjiang River."

"In this way, the roles of offense and defense will be reversed. Our army can cut off the Minjiang River waterway at any time, making it difficult for the enemy to defend both ends."

"Unfortunately, time is too tight. If it really comes to the point where we have no choice but to launch it ahead of schedule."

Su Da thought that Zhou Zeyuan's statement about the tight timeframe meant that the central government's order was urgent and would force them to head north as soon as possible.

In fact, Zhou Zeyuan had a timetable in mind. Ma Yier's fleet had reached the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and in a little over half a month, he had to concentrate his forces to take Fu'an or Ningde.

Suda asked, "Is taking down Gutian... that important?"

"It's extremely important. Of course, it doesn't mean we absolutely have to take Gutian; taking Ningde and Fu'an would have the same effect. The key is to secure a strategic buffer in the central region."

"Otherwise, given the current situation, if our army leads a main force northward, the Nationalist army will inevitably launch a large-scale attack on the base area. Pingnan will be the first to bear the brunt."

"Because we don't have enough strategic buffers, and we can't afford the cost of losing it, we can only have a quick decisive battle. That would put us in a very passive strategic position."

Su Da nodded thoughtfully. "This shouldn't be a big problem, right? Speaking of which, Comrade Qiu Bai is a leader in our Soviet area, but your Seventh Red Army Corps belongs to the Central Military Commission and is a field force of the Central Committee, not under the jurisdiction of our local government."

Zhou Zeyuan shook his head: "The Central Military Commission will issue the order as soon as the time is right. If it doesn't issue the order, it means it doesn't understand the local situation or our capabilities."

"They were worried about escalating the conflict, yet they also wanted our northward deployment to achieve the best results, so they had many concerns. With Comrade Qiu Bai's arrival, after understanding the situation and reporting it to higher authorities, the Central Military Commission should have made up its mind."

"However, both sides have their own agendas, which gives us room to maneuver."

Su Da suddenly lowered his voice: "I think our internal problems are bigger. Political Commissar Le and Commander-in-Chief Zeng are probably going to start plotting something again."

Zhou Zeyuan's lips curled slightly: "That's easy. Go see Lao Zeng later and tell him that I've already gotten word from Comrade Qiu Bai that the Central Committee firmly wants us to lead our main force to advance into western Zhejiang and sabotage the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Railway."

Su Da paused for a moment, then laughed: "You're really cunning. Commander Zeng definitely won't side with Comrade Qiu Bai."

"This old Zeng is a fence-sitter. He's too timid and will drag us down sooner or later." Zhou Zeyuan's gaze was calm, but his tone carried a hint of sharpness.

"In military matters, I am not averse to risk; in fact, I quite enjoy it. But I weigh the risks against the rewards more carefully."

"There's a hidden meaning in your words."

"It's nothing, Comrade Qiu Bai can't tolerate any nonsense, Old Zeng is going to be in big trouble." Zhou Zeyuan reopened his notebook and picked up his pen.

"Don't forget, Le Shaohua is the secretary of the Special Committee. He'll be reporting to the committee earlier than you tomorrow."

Su Da didn't understand the logic at first. Although the two had conflicts before, they hadn't reached the point of no return. Why would Le Shaohua report Zeng Hongyi?

But upon deeper reflection, regarding political stance, it's correct that as long as Political Commissar Le aligns himself with Comrade Qiu Bai and supports his northward strategy...

Then Zeng Hongyi, who firmly opposes going north, will become a target, and Le Shaohua doesn't want another teammate who will drag him down.

Since we can't be friends, we can only be enemies.

Having figured this out, Su Da's face broke into a smile: "Hahaha, this is truly good news. This guy who infiltrated our revolutionary ranks... hmph, he should have been kicked out long ago."

Zhou Zeyuan smiled, but there was a hint of amusement in the depths of his eyes!

This game is so much fun!

Today's friend, tomorrow's enemy.

They may have been at odds for a long time in the past, but now they have to protect him because of their own interests.

As is well known, the battalion commander has five tiger generals, who are trusted and loyal generals who made outstanding contributions during the Northern Expedition and the Central Plains War.

They are Liu Zhi, the "Lucky General"; Gu Zhutong, the "Loyal General"; Jiang Dingwen, the "Flying General"; Chen Cheng, the "Diligent General"; and Wei Lihuang, the "Tiger General".

It must be said that before the War of Resistance against Japan, Wei Lihuang was always at the bottom in terms of both official rank and military achievements.

He has long been competing with Chen Cheng, the youngest of the Five Tiger Generals, for the bottom spot.

Gu Zhutong's official career advancement was the most stable due to his unconditional loyalty to the brigade leader.

During this period, Liu Zhi and Jiang Dingwen became the most famous due to their outstanding performance in the Central Plains War.

This can be seen from their positions: Jiang Dingwen was the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army, Gu Zhutong was the commander-in-chief of the Northern Route Army, and Wei Lihuang was the forward commander of the Eastern Route Army and the commander-in-chief of the Fifth Route Army.

He's clearly a level below these people.

But at that time, no one could have imagined that on the battlefield of the War of Resistance against Japan, Wei Lihuang would single-handedly secure the title of one of the Five Tiger Generals.

It's absolutely a case of one leading four!

But nobody thinks that way now. The captain is still lamenting that Liu Zhi is currently in Henan, otherwise he would be the most suitable person to be the commander-in-chief of the bandit suppression campaign.

Zhou Zeyuan, a master pig catcher, has also lost his most suitable opponent!

Nanping, the headquarters for the suppression of bandits in Fujian and Zhejiang.

Military maps hang on the walls of the operations room, with the mountains and rivers of northern and eastern Fujian marked in dense detail.

Wei Lihuang sat in an office chair at the end of the long table, holding a stack of intelligence reports in his hand. Several other reports were scattered on the table, all of which had just been delivered by the General Staff.

In the command room, several staff officers stood against the wall, some talking in hushed tones, others organizing documents, and occasionally one of them would steal a glance at the newly appointed commander-in-chief.

After flipping through the document in his hand, Wei Lihuang put it aside and picked up another one.

After flipping through a few pages, his brow suddenly furrowed.

He put down the intelligence report and looked up at one of the staff officers beside him:

"This intelligence includes information about the legion commander Xun Huaizhou, the chief of staff Su Yu, the political commissar Le Shaohua, and the commander-in-chief who has little presence."

"Why is the information about that deputy corps commander Zhou Zeyuan so brief? Didn't I say that information about Red Army commanders, no matter how small, must be delivered to us?"

Before the staff officer could reply, Chief of Staff Guo Jiqiao had already taken over the conversation:

"Commander-in-Chief, the intelligence department's gathering is selective. For example, Commander-in-Chief Zeng Hongyi joined the Northern Expeditionary Force just before it set off. He was clearly a supervisor and didn't have much actual command authority. So we didn't spend too much effort gathering intelligence on him."

"The same goes for Zhou Zeyuan. It is said that he was just a division commander before, but he had a good mentor behind him and was also very good at social maneuvering, which is why he was able to become the deputy corps commander."