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

This time, Zhou Hunyuan did not wait for the staff officer to pick him up.

He strode over, grabbed the receiver, and held it to his ear: "Feed?"

The voice on the other end of the phone was urgent and hoarse, with the background filled with the sounds of gunfire and explosions.

The voice only spoke a few words before Zhou Hunyuan's expression completely changed.

His hand holding the receiver trembled slightly, then he slowly put the phone down.

The staff officer's heart sank when he saw his commander's face suddenly turn ashen. "Commander, what's wrong?"

"On the left flank... towards Qujiang, a large force of Red Army troops has appeared. At least two regiments are flanking our army from the rear."

The command center fell silent immediately.

Everyone in An stood frozen in place, knowing what this meant.

The enemy was blocking their way from the front, enemy activity had appeared on their right flank, and their left flank was being outflanked. They were attacked from three sides!

Zhou Hunyuan slowly walked to the map, lowered his head, and focused his gaze on the area east of Longyou County.

His finger moved slowly across the map, from Yiwu to Jinhua, from Jiande to Longyou, line after line connecting in his mind, eventually converging into a clear outline.

He finally understood.

The attack on Jinhua was a feint, the attack on Yiwu was also a feint, and the attack on Jiande was a feint.

Xun Huaizhou never intended to go north to Hangzhou.

He kept his most elite forces stationed near Longyou, weaving a net and waiting silently for them to walk right into it.

No, strictly speaking, I didn't fall into his trap.

The Baojia system around Zhejiang was very strict. If the Red Army had laid an ambush from the beginning and waited for them to fall into the trap, it would have been very difficult for them to hide it from them.

Therefore, Xun Huaizhou simply played his cards openly, using an army to pin himself down in place.

Then, by flanking him with two smaller forces, he would deliberately trap himself instead of falling into the trap.

Damn it! Their forces were already weaker than ours, yet they dared to divide their troops into three routes.

This tactic of dividing forces means that if even the slightest mishap occurs, the entire army could collapse.

What a bold plan, what a sharp tactic! This young man is remarkable!

Zhou Hunyuan closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze had regained some of its composure.

"Order the 96th Division to cease its offensive and immediately switch to defense. Order all reserves to be committed to the right flank and to plug the gap at all costs."

He ordered the left-wing troops to organize a defensive line along the south bank of the Qujiang River, ensuring the Red Army was not allowed to cross. He also ordered an immediate telegram to Nanping requesting Commander-in-Chief Wei to send reinforcements.

Gunfire had been going on for almost half an hour on the mudflats on the north bank of the Qujiang River.

On the south bank, the Red Army's positions were being pushed into the water in batches of bamboo rafts and small boats.

Some bamboo rafts had a light machine gun mounted on them, its muzzle pointing towards the north bank and spitting fire.

More rafts were crowded with people. The soldiers wrapped their guns in tarpaulins and tied them to their backs. They gripped the oars in their hands and rowed forward with all their might.

The river was swift, and the autumn floods had just receded, leaving behind turbulent undercurrents.

Several bamboo rafts were swept off course by the current as soon as they left the shore, and the people on the boats had to use bamboo poles to push hard to keep them on course.

But even the swift current couldn't stop people; dozens of rafts, near and far, were scattered on the river, like fallen leaves blown by the wind.

On the Nationalist army's positions on the north bank, the sound of machine guns suddenly intensified.

The bullets hit the water's surface, creating a series of white splashes.

A volley of bullets struck the bow of a bamboo raft, causing the bamboo strips binding it to come apart and the raft to fall apart, with seven or eight soldiers falling into the water at the same time.

Some people struggled in the water for a moment before being swept away by the current; others managed to stay steady, raised their guns above their heads, and swam desperately towards the north bank.

"Target to the left front! Suppress that machine gun position!" On the south bank, a battalion commander, lying prone behind an earthen embankment, shouted at the artillery squad.

Both mortars turned simultaneously, raising their muzzles slightly.

With a short blast, two shells whistled across the river and landed behind the machine gun nest spitting fire on the north bank.

The blast of dirt and rubble covered the machine gunner's position, and the gunfire paused for a few seconds, but soon resumed from another location.

The battalion commander slammed his fist on the ground: "Damn it, we've changed positions. Artillery crew, move fifty meters to the right and fire two rapid-fire rounds!"

Shells rained down on the Nationalist army positions on the north bank, sending mud flying everywhere.

The mortar crews were no longer concerned with conserving ammunition, firing one mortar after another at the opposite bank.

There weren't many shells, but every single one landed in a key position, silencing the Nationalist army's firing points one after another.

Even so, the soldiers who were crossing the river continued to fall.

Some small boats had their hulls pierced by bullets, and river water rushed in, causing the boats to tilt rapidly. The soldiers on board fell into the water before they even reached the shore.

The soldier punting on the bamboo raft was shot and fell, causing the raft to lose its direction and spin on the river.

Several military caps and a few loose strips of oilcloth floated on the river, slowly drifting downstream with the current.

The red watermarks were particularly glaring in the twilight light.

On the shore, Jiao Liren, a staff officer who had just been assigned to the First Division, squatted down next to Hu Tiantao, stamping his feet anxiously: "Commander... the casualties are too high, and we don't have enough equipment to cross the river. If we keep fighting like this..."

"Even with heavy casualties, we must fight. The corps commander has given a strict order: the enemy's flank must be breached before nightfall."

"Even if you have to put me in the mix, you still have to complete the task." Hu Tiantao turned her head and glanced at Jiao Liren.

In that instant, Jiao Liren saw what was in those eyes—a resolute determination that chilled to the bone.

Jiao Liren swallowed hard, said nothing more, and turned to look at the river again.

Just as he turned his head, a brief commotion suddenly broke out on the other side of the river.

The first group of soldiers who successfully swam across emerged from a pebble beach at the westernmost point of the north bank.

There were only seven or eight people, soaking wet, with guns strapped to their backs.

As soon as they landed, they unloaded their guns, pulled the bolts, and charged toward the nearest Nationalist army position.

The Nationalist troops guarding that position were firing towards the center of the river, their attention entirely focused on the rafts, and had no idea that someone would sneak up from the shallows on the side.

By the time they realized what was happening, the Red Army soldiers had already rushed up to them.

A bayonet flashed in the twilight, and a short, agonizing scream ripped through the riverbank.

Immediately afterwards, the second and third waves of soldiers who swam across landed at multiple locations on the north bank.

They rushed onto the beach, soaking wet, and opened fire on the Nationalist army positions.

The mortars on the south bank also extended their range in time, and the shells landed deep within the National Army's defense line, causing dust to fill the sky.

The Nationalist army's formation began to falter.

Guarding the north bank was a regiment of the 96th Division of Zhou Hunyuan's column.

This regiment participated in the morning's attack on the Red Army's main force. Before they could even catch their breath, they were transferred to support the left flank, and they were busy running around for most of the day.

They withstood the Red Army's artillery fire for half an hour, suffering considerable casualties and consuming most of their ammunition.

What made these ordinary soldiers even more uneasy was that they heard gunfire coming from the right flank.

Any veteran with a bit of war experience clearly realized that the Red Army had also outflanked Jiufeng Mountain to the south.

The situation was dire, and a dark cloud hung over the hearts of the Nationalist soldiers at the front.

Even if they manage to hold their ground, they could very well be surrounded and annihilated by the enemy!

As a result, when the first Red Army company successfully crossed the river upstream, it cut in from the flank towards the rear of the Nationalist army.