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

On October 7th, the Central Committee replied, approving the applications for designations of the 10th Red Army Corps, 10th Red Army, 11th Red Army, and 12th Red Army, as well as various personnel appointment requests, and even adding more responsibilities to some individuals.

However, they made a request: that the Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area carry out a large-scale feint in a certain direction, and if conditions permit, fight a major victory; if conditions do not permit, make a feint to attract the attention of the National Revolutionary Army.

Such an order is quite broad, giving the local authorities complete authority to make operational decisions.

Local officials, including Yu Qiubai and Su Yu, were naturally overjoyed.

However, there was one person who was extremely unhappy.

Zhou Zeyuan crossed his arms and asked with an unfriendly expression, "Comrade Qiu Bai, can you explain to me why my appointment is not as the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Expeditionary Anti-Japanese Vanguard, but as the Commander of the Fujian-Zhejiang Military Region? This is quite different from what we agreed on."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the conference room turned their gazes to Yu Qiubai, who was sitting in the main seat.

Yu Qiubai was also sweating profusely at this moment. He didn't know what had gotten into the comrades in the Central Committee. What was supposed to be a very logical appointment had somehow turned into a mess.

The point is, if you disagree, you disagree!

If we make things clear from the beginning, and no one has this intention, then it doesn't matter.

After all the procedures were completed, they told me in the end that nothing of the sort happened. Who could stand that?

He could only reassure him, "Comrade Zeyuan, the Central Committee's reply was very clear. It did not explicitly reject my proposal, but only said that this matter is of great importance and needs to be discussed further."

Zhou Zeyuan wasn't buying it at all. "If it's a discussion, why give me the title of commander? You've already given me a consolation prize, do you think I'm going to get the first prize too?"

"Can the same person hold both the top positions of the local army and the Central Field Army at the same time?"

Yu Qiubai blatantly lied, "Why can't you hold both positions? Look at you, so young, with such distinguished military achievements, and now you're taking on such an important responsibility."

"I believe the Central Committee has given your future much consideration and hopes you will withstand more tests. Ultimately, this commander-in-chief position is none other than yours. Is there anyone more suitable than you?"

As Yu Qiubai spoke, he became more and more confident, as if he himself was about to believe it.

"Think about it again. If the Central Committee doesn't want you to be the Commander-in-Chief, wouldn't it be better to let Comrade Huaizhou concurrently hold the position? But that's not the case! This position is left vacant, hoping that you will make further contributions."

These words were so impeccable that even Zhou Zeyuan couldn't help but ponder them carefully.

Could this whole thing be a ploy to hang a carrot in front of him?

Holy crap! What kind of amazing techniques are these?

Is this still the central government I know?

"Comrade Qiu Bai, stop trying to fool me. The military region commander is in charge of the local armed forces. He has a duty to do what he's supposed to do. If I take this position, I'll be responsible for the defense and security of the Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area. I simply can't spare the time. How can I be the commander-in-chief of the advance team?"

"Furthermore, I command the two most powerful armed forces in the southeast. Ask yourself honestly, if you were a member of the Central Military Commission, would you feel at ease? Where is the balance in this?"

Everyone present was stunned.

Weren't we here for a meeting?

How come you two are spouting such high-level personnel appointments and political considerations like gossip, as if it were free?

Is this really something we can hear?

Yu Qiubai's brain was racing, and he could no longer control his eyes from darting left and right.

"Well... it doesn't necessarily have to be a concurrent position. When the time is right, you can become the commander-in-chief, and then someone else can take over the position of commander. You have to trust the organization; the organization will definitely make the most reasonable personnel decision."

Seeing the obvious impatience on Zhou Zeyuan's face, he had a sudden idea and shouted:

"Even if you don't trust the leadership, don't you trust yourself? Who can compete with you for what Zhou Zeyuan has his eye on? Who dares to compete with you?"

Zhou Zeyuan's tense expression finally relaxed a little.

He had to admit, the compliment was incredibly comfortable.

A hundred flatteries from Zeng Hongyi wouldn't compare to a casual compliment from this bigwig.

Since that's the case, he went down that path:

"Alright, I'll let this matter drop for now, only because of your reputation. I don't really care about a mere official position, but it's really hard to accept that things were agreed upon but then changed at the last minute."

Yu Qiubai secretly breathed a sigh of relief, quickly picked up his teacup and took a sip to calm his tense mood.

Su Yu, who was standing nearby, chimed in at the right moment: "Alright, alright, now that this is over, let's not dwell on it anymore. Let's talk about serious matters."

Huang Ligui also tactfully changed the subject: "The central government wants us to take immediate action and is urging us very urgently. I don't object, but on behalf of our local comrades, I want to explain the difficulties we are currently facing."

Ye Fei looked puzzled: "We have a strong army, ample supplies, and our troops have rested. What difficulties could we possibly have?"

Huang Ligui glanced at him: "You're talking about the regular army. Have you considered the situation of the local militia?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zeyuan immediately became interested: "I heard that the military region has recently been vigorously building up militia teams in various counties, and militia teams have begun to be formed in every township and village. How are the results so far?"

Huang Ligui opened a small notebook in front of him, glanced at the data on it, and said with a hint of solemnity in his voice:

"Comrade Commander, the situation is naturally quite encouraging. Our Soviet area has a population of over one million, and even after several rounds of recruitment, there are still three to four hundred thousand able-bodied young men of eligible age."

"Now that the autumn harvest is over, it is the off-season for farming. More than 70% of the villages in the old Soviet areas have formed militia teams, and the figure has reached 40% in the new Soviet areas."

"This number is still increasing rapidly. I expect the total number of militia in the Soviet area to reach 100,000 by the end of this month."

Upon hearing this, everyone present gasped in shock.

Even Zhou Zeyuan's eyes flashed with a hint of shock.

One hundred thousand, that's a number that sounds incredibly familiar.

In terms of fame in the history of ancient warfare, this number can even be compared with eight hundred!

No, in some aspects it is even slightly better.

Huang Ligui continued, but his tone carried a hint of worry:

"Although there are more people, there are also many problems. The most critical issue is training. Too many local troops have been drawn into the militia, and many of the newly formed militia units lack qualified instructors to train them."

"Therefore, we had to merge the militia teams from several villages and train them in one place, but the results were still slow. Many militiamen could not understand the commands and could not even distinguish left from right."

Yu Qiubai put down his teacup and looked at Huang Ligui: "Comrade Ligui, from what you're saying, you don't want war to start too soon?"