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

Yang Wentong didn't care about being polite anymore. He grabbed Zhou Chuanhai's hands and shook them vigorously. Then he turned to look at the two boxes of guns, and the smile on his face could no longer be contained.

Wang Qiushi waited until he recovered before speaking again: "Chimen Township has several villages, such as Zhangshuping, Yangkou, Xiaban, and Kengtou... Each village has hundreds of able-bodied men. As long as the guns and key personnel are in place, a fighting force can be assembled in one or two months."

"If officials come to the countryside to collect taxes, you fight them. After you're done fighting, retreat and hide in the mountains so they can't find you. When they sweep through, you scatter and hide in different villages, and come out again after they leave. After a few times, they won't dare to come to the countryside so easily anymore."

"By then, the fields, grain, and people of the surrounding villages will all be under our control. So what if Liu Heding occupies the county town? Without grain, money, and able-bodied men, he's just an empty shell."

Yang Wentong stood on the drying ground, his back straight, and he felt an unprecedented strength coming from his waist.

Sure enough, only when you have a gun in your hand can you stand up straight.

"Comrade Qiushi, I've remembered. We'll collect the grain ourselves. We won't pay a single grain of tax. If the white dogs come, I have guns and men; I'll be waiting for them."

The people along the Minjiang River are busy harvesting rice and dividing up the land, and they are having a great time.

Further north, the people of the Jinqu Basin are not so happy.

If we're talking about the area where the Red Army was most demonized, the core area of ​​the Kuomintang-controlled region in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai is second to none.

Zhejiang was hailed as the Kuomintang's rear base, and that reputation was well-deserved.

Before the Northern Expeditionary Force for the War of Resistance Against Japan advanced into western Zhejiang, there had been no large-scale battles in the area for seven years.

Under the oppressive rule of the Nationalist government, many of the underground party organizations' operations were disrupted.

Before the armed uprising could gain momentum, it was brutally suppressed.

The main adversaries of the local security forces were small groups of guerrillas and sporadic bandits.

Therefore, when Zhou Hunyuan's column marched into Zhejiang, the Red Army's ambush troops immediately launched a pincer attack from the north, south, and east.

The local people's attitude of being struck by a sudden misfortune was just like that of a clerk who was eating hotpot and singing songs.

However, it's not a big problem; the people of Zhejiang were relatively fortunate during this era.

Regardless of whether the Red Army or the Nationalist Army ultimately wins, they will be the victors' sweethearts. Rape and plunder were things that had nothing to do with them before the Japanese invaded.

The Red Army's strict discipline goes without saying, but as for the Nationalist Army...

Regardless of whether they are from Zhejiang or fighting in their hometown.

If they dare to plunder in the captain's backyard, then we'll have to ask the Kuomintang bigwigs from Zhejiang whether they'll allow it.

Even if Zhou Hunyuan had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare.

Of course, Zhou Hunyuan doesn't need to worry about this now.

Because he was like a clay bodhisattva crossing the river, barely able to save himself.

The ordinary people who were hiding at home and trembling with fear had no idea that the Red Army they feared, the Zhou Hunyuan Column, which they regarded as their saviors, would soon be utterly defeated.

East of Longyou County, at the foot of Jiufeng Mountain.

The sound of gunfire had just stopped, and the smoke was still lingering on the hillside.

The Nationalist Army's infantry skirmish lines have been deployed.

Grayish-yellow figures emerged from behind the bunkers at the foot of the mountain, guns in hand, backs bent, advancing up the slope.

The officers' whistles and shouts echoed through the open mountains and fields.

In the trenches, Red Army soldiers shook off the mud from their bodies, crawled out of the artillery shelters, and quickly returned to their firing positions.

The infantrymen pulled the bolts of their rifles and then took out a few grenades from their ammunition boxes and placed them beside them.

The machine gun crew repositioned the machine guns in their firing positions, pointing the muzzles straight ahead.

As the first wave of Nationalist soldiers entered firing range, a burst of intense gunfire suddenly erupted in the trenches.

The first few Nationalist soldiers who charged forward fell to the ground, and those behind them immediately lay down and began to fight back, using the terrain as cover.

Bullets whizzed back and forth on the front line, making the soil puff and smoke.

The Nationalist army's machine gunners immediately returned fire...

Inside the command post, Zhou Hunyuan stood in front of a table covered with maps, his brows furrowed.

"Haven't they taken them yet? What is Xiao Zhiping doing? It's been almost half a day, and he can't even take down a single Red Army regiment with his entire division?"

The staff officer beside him cautiously replied, "Commander, Commander Xiao reports that the enemy's strength seems to be more than one regiment. Our intelligence appears to be incorrect."

"Impossible." Zhou Hunyuan categorically denied it. "Intelligence shows that the main force of the Red Army has advanced to Yiwu, and the vanguard has already engaged in combat with the First Regiment of Zhejiang Provincial Defense Force."

"They also dispatched small groups of troops to attack Jiande. The rearguard that remained could barely hold a regiment. Xun Huaizhou only has a little over ten thousand men in total; do you think he can conjure soldiers from beans?"

The staff officer hesitated for a moment before voicing his concerns: "Commander, have you considered this? We've been fighting for most of the day, and the Red Army's firepower is still incredibly fierce. If they weren't the main force, where would they get so much ammunition?"

"How many machine guns and how many boxes of ammunition can a regiment's rear guard have? But listen to the gunfire outside. There are at least dozens of light and heavy machine guns. This is the configuration of a division."

Zhou Hunyuan's brows furrowed even more. Ever since the last offensive half an hour ago, the enemy's firepower had suddenly become extremely fierce, as if they had received reinforcements.

But he couldn't understand why Xun Huaizhou would leave his main force in place.

With only a little over 10,000 men, if they don't mobilize, aren't they just waiting to die?

What exactly does he want to do?

If he really left his main force in the Longyou area to block him, then what about the troops he sent to attack Jinhua, Yiwu, and Jiande?

Is it all just an empty shell?

Just as he was deep in thought, the phone on the table suddenly rang urgently.

The staff officer strode over, grabbed the receiver, and said, "Feed? What? Say it again?"

His voice suddenly rose by half an octave.

Zhou Hunyuan raised his head and looked at the staff officer.

The staff officer listened to the receiver for a few seconds, his face darkening. He turned to Zhou Hunyuan and said, "Commander, something terrible has happened. Enemy troops have appeared on our right flank."

Zhou Hunyuan waved his hand: "Since we entered Zhejiang, guerrillas have frequently sprung up from the mountains in the south to harass us. Let the garrison handle it themselves. There's no need to make a fuss."

"It doesn't seem like a small guerrilla force. Reports from the front lines indicate at least a regiment of enemy troops. Their firepower is intense, and they're about to be overwhelmed."

Zhou Hunyuan's expression hardened.

Years of combat experience kicked in, and his instincts kicked in. He felt a net slowly closing in on him, a chilling intuition as if he were being watched by a wolf lurking in the shadows.

But he forced himself to suppress his unease and said in a deep voice, "It could be a small armed group in disguise. Xun Huaizhou thinks he can scare me off with this kind of tactic? Not so easy."

"Move the reserves up to hold them off. Order the 96th Division to intensify its attack; the enemy in front must be defeated before nightfall."

The staff officer responded and was about to turn around to relay the order when the phone rang again.