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

When night fell and Zhou Zeyuan, Su Yu, and others led their troops into the county town, they found that order had been restored.

The prisoners were being held in a centralized guard, Red Army soldiers were posting notices to reassure the people, and propaganda team members were beginning to give speeches to the citizens.

The officer in charge of taking over the city reported, "Reporting to the division commander and chief of staff, all the enemy troops have surrendered, and their leader, Wu Guanwen, has been captured by his men. A preliminary inventory shows..."

Zhou Zeyuan waved his hand, indicating that he would report in detail later. "Where is that He Laosan? Bring him to see me."

A moment later, He Laosan, with a scar on his face and a somewhat uneasy expression, was brought over. He glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and saw that he was a young leader, but he dared not underestimate him.

Having spent so many years in the Fujian region, he knew all too well that the younger the Red Army commander, the more difficult he was to mess with!

Nepotism is not allowed here. The generals who can lead troops on the front line are all promoted based on their military achievements.

"Your name is He Laosan? Did you lead the way in controlling Wu Guanwen and opening the city gates?" Zhou Zeyuan's tone carried a hint of authority, which sounded like a magistrate's gavel to the terrified He Laosan, making his heart tremble.

"Yes, sir. I... I was forced into this situation. Wu Guanwen is guilty of heinous crimes and wants to drag all the brothers in the city down with him... I just don't want everyone to die in vain."

"Hmm." Zhou Zeyuan nodded noncommittally. "What did you do before? How come you have such a big scar on your face?"

He Laosan was taken aback for a moment, then honestly replied, "Reporting to the sir, I used to... I used to hang out in the mountains in my younger days. This scar is from when I was fighting another group for territory. Later, I was recruited by Wu Guanwen and became the battalion commander of the security regiment."

"In other words, he was a bandit and also a henchman of the reactionaries," Zhou Zeyuan said calmly.

He Laosan's legs went weak, and he almost knelt down: "Sir, spare my life! I... I'm willing to atone for my crimes with meritorious service! I'm familiar with the mountain roads and villages in this area, and I'm willing to guide the Red Army!"

Zhou Zeyuan and Su Yu exchanged a glance. This kind of person was not trustworthy, but right now, they did need someone familiar with the local situation.

"To atone for your crimes, you need to see concrete actions." Zhou Zeyuan stared at him. "Write down everything you know about Wu Guanwen's crimes, the situation of the wealthy families in the city, the surrounding terrain, and the distribution of local militias. We will verify whether you have concealed anything."

"Yes! Yes! I will tell you the truth and will never dare to hide anything!" Old He was as if he had been granted a pardon. He bowed repeatedly and was led away by the soldiers.

Watching He Laosan's retreating figure, Su Yu said in a low voice, "This kind of person can be used, but not trusted, and certainly not given important responsibilities. Key information must be verified from multiple sources."

"I know," Zhou Zeyuan smiled. "It's just a temporary wood-chopping knife. Once it's used up, it can be recycled or disposed of as needed. But for now, it's useful to us."

Although the ambush did not last long and the intensity of the battle was not high, the troops were inevitably somewhat fatigued after marching for many days.

Therefore, the corps leaders decided to rest in the county town for three days, using the time to fight against local tyrants, distribute their wealth, promote revolutionary policies, and mobilize young people to join the army.

For the first time ever, Zhou Zeyuan did not raise any objections. His men had suffered significant casualties in this battle, and he was happy to have three days to treat the wounded.

At least for now, apart from the 45th Division, which has been crippled, the closest Eastern Route Army unit to them is the 85th Division stationed in Liancheng.

Not to mention that they have the mission of sealing off the Soviet area and will not be easily transferred.

Even if Peanut himself gave the order, it wouldn't be easy to escape when there was the threat of the Red Ninth Army Corps on the front.

In three days, they probably won't even reach the edge of Datian.

However, he still had a hidden worry in his heart: this time, the capture of Daejeon was achieved a few days earlier than in history, and the results were even more fruitful.

The more glorious the victory, the more it would stimulate Peanut's sensitive heart, and he feared that the enemy's encirclement and suppression would come even faster!

But there's no other good way right now, we can only deal with things as they come.

After all, his influence over the First, Second, and Third Divisions wasn't significant enough. If he were to overturn the tables recklessly, it could very well lead to infighting among the brothers. That would only hasten his demise!

In the short term, maintaining this state of fighting without breaking apart is more conducive to the survival of the northward anti-Japanese vanguard.

In these kinds of situations, you either don't take action at all, or if you do, you have to be thorough and decisive.

In this regard, learning from Sima Qian is the right thing to do.

Putting aside the nonsense about Luoshui, from a purely technical standpoint, the Gaopingling Incident was indeed a remarkably brilliant operation.

Don't think that he acts without considering the consequences or the future.

In fact, as a master of verbal sparring, he has no need to fear future reckoning.

Once in a peaceful and stable environment, people like Zhou Zeyuan will only thrive even more.

Those enemies he had dealt with, those opponents who saw him as an obstacle, felt utterly powerless when facing such a young general who held military power.

Once the country enters a period of peaceful development, Zhou Zeyuan's talents will be fully displayed. At that time, those who are scheming and opportunistic, those who are doing well, may be qualified to even smell his ass.

Being an official, what does it matter if you have a lot of filth in your ass? As long as you make sure no one dares to pull down your pants, then your ass is clean.

What is very likely to happen then is that Zhou Zeyuan will sit in front of the platform and shout, "Who is below the court, accusing this official!"

The next morning, Zhou Zeyuan arranged some affairs of the division headquarters, mainly sending Chen Sheng's reconnaissance company northward to find out the situation in Youxi County and try to make contact with the local party committee.

Afterwards, he went to the Legion Headquarters and sought out Xun Huaizhou.

He doesn't intend to get involved in things like confiscating wealth from the wealthy and distributing ill-gotten gains; those tasks will be handled by the professionals in the work team.

But since they had three days to spare, they could sweep through the surrounding towns, villages, and mountain bandits and make some money.

These landlords, bandits, and militias all had some usable guns and ammunition hidden away.

Regardless of whether they are good or bad, they should all be disarmed!

It just so happens that there's He Laosan, a local tyrant who's been both a bandit and a government soldier.

If we let him lead the way, it would be like Kublai Khan conquering the Mongols—as easy as going home!

Xun Huaizhou readily agreed. During the siege and reinforcement operation in Datian County, the new recruits of the Second and Third Divisions didn't have much opportunity to participate in actual combat. It would be good to target these scattered armed groups in the surrounding area to gain some combat experience.

The conversation was going smoothly until this point, but when Kuaile Shaohua's serious, almost rigid face appeared at the entrance of the command center, the atmosphere inside immediately changed.

He walked straight in, his gaze sweeping over Xun Huaizhou and Zhou Zeyuan's faces before finally settling on Zhou Zeyuan.

"Comrade Zeyuan, you've come at the right time. I heard from Comrade Hongyi that you fought as a guerrilla in central Fujian for several years. You should be familiar with the Datian area, right?"

"What advice does the political commissar have for me?" Zhou Zeyuan remained noncommittal.