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

Gu Zhutong pondered for a moment, carefully choosing his words: "Principal, Xun Huaizhou's troops have just broken through our encirclement in southern Anhui and have withdrawn to the Huaiyu Mountain area."

"This man is extremely slippery; he never engages our army in direct combat. He always attacks briefly and then retreats, only to return again. Even if our army were to win, it would be difficult to annihilate his main force..."

The bald man's face darkened for a moment, but he quickly regained his composure. "Then add ten more divisions and send them to Huaiyu Mountain. I want to uproot them completely."

"Reinforce Jiang Dingwen's troops, and have him join forces with Wei Lihuang's troops to advance eastward and contain Su Yu. We must not allow Su and Xun to join forces."

Gu Zhutong nodded and wrote down all the orders.

Then he asked, "Principal, what about Chen Jitang... how should we respond?"

The bald man's face stiffened for a moment, but then he smiled, though his eyes were extremely sharp.

"The wording should be harsher. We cannot turn a blind eye to his mistakes. We must warn him sternly that if he is found to be secretly colluding with the Red Army, he will be severely punished without exception."

"However, it must also be emphasized that the Central Committee can still take into account the actual situation of the Guangdong Army in participating in the pursuit and suppression of the Red Army, and there is no need to force them."

Gu Zhutong paused for a moment, then looked up, his face clearly showing confusion: "Principal, what do you mean by this?"

Yang Yongtai, who was standing next to him, explained, "This is called using the harshest tone to say the softest words."

Gu Zhutong looked at Yang Yongtai, then at the bald man, and suddenly realized what was going on.

Yang Yongtai continued to explain: "Chen Jitang went too far this time. If the central government doesn't say anything strong, he will only become more aggressive. So the wording must be stern to make him understand the seriousness of the matter."

"But in practice, there should be room for maneuver. This is to tell him that as long as he doesn't completely side with the Red Army, the Central Committee won't touch him for the time being. If he is pragmatic, he should restrain himself."

The bald man stood up, his gaze returning to the map: "We must take things one step at a time, and fight one battle at a time. First, deal with the Red Army, then slowly deal with these warlords. Tell Xue Yue to press on tighter; this time, don't let the Red Army escape the encirclement again."

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the door.

All the generals stood at attention and saluted in unison, the sound of their boots striking the ground perfectly synchronized.

In the office of the Fujian-Zhejiang Military Region Command, the glow of a kerosene lamp illuminated Zhou Zeyuan's slightly tired face and his spirited eyes.

Since deciding to head north, he has been working almost non-stop, sleeping only four hours a day.

Ensure that all matters, large and small, of the Fujian-Zhejiang Military Region are arranged properly as quickly as possible.

If Director Chen comes over, he can take over a large military region with strong troops and good order.

Ye Fei stood in front of the desk, a report in his hand: "Commander, it's not that I'm complaining, but you can't make bricks without straw. You want me to focus on training the militia, but you're not providing enough ammunition. This is indeed putting me in a difficult position."

Zhou Zeyuan glanced at him, put down his pen, and said, "One bullet a week, that's the most we get."

"Do you know that if we use it this way, we will not only have to use up all the reloaded bullets, but we will also have to use a portion of the military region's ammunition reserves to fill this hole?"

Ye Fei grew anxious and took half a step forward: "I know, I know all of this. But there's no time to lose; the Kuomintang's encirclement and suppression are imminent."

"These new recruits have only just finished their military orders and drill training. Now they're practicing grenade throwing and bayonet fighting all day long. If a real war breaks out, what use will these soldiers, who haven't even touched a gun for more than a few days, be when they're added to the regular army?"

Zhou Zeyuan shook his head with a wry smile. Four bullets a month? Would other Red Army units give new recruits this treatment?

"That's easy! Just bring out all those guns stored up in the military region and let the soldiers practice firing them. As long as they don't use up any bullets, it's just handling guns, right? Let them handle as many as they want."

Ye Fei was taken aback for a moment, then gave a wry smile. That wasn't what he meant at all.

But it was clear that their commander was determined not to part with a single penny.

He didn't understand either. The military region was now richer than ever before. What was wrong with allocating a million or so rounds of ammunition to train new recruits?

This also provides an opportunity to select promising talents.

He was silent for a few seconds, then finally conceded: "Alright, you're the commander, so you call the shots. But I still hope you can approve 300,000 rounds of ammunition."

"I'm planning to organize a live-fire shooting competition to select the best recruits from these new soldiers and replenish the regular army with fresh blood. I assure you, it's absolutely worth it."

Zhou Zeyuan shook his head, his tone becoming more serious. "Comrade Ye Fei, I understand your sense of urgency. But let me tell you from my own experience, the primary goal of recruit training is not to improve their combat effectiveness, but to improve their survival skills."

"You really can't expect them to be of much use on the battlefield right after they enlist. Improving discipline is what junior commanders need most."

Ye Fei stroked his chin. "Commander, is your only requirement for new recruits to be that they don't cause trouble on the battlefield?"

"What else? At best, they can only serve to boost morale. But don't underestimate them; it's very likely that many of them will be transformed after just one major battle."

"I'm not in a hurry, not because I'm confident that I can crush the enemy's advance with just the regular army. Rather, it's because our base area does have strategic depth, which allows us to continuously wear down and delay the enemy."

He paused, looking calmly at Ye Fei: "In the current situation in Fujian, there is no possibility that a single major battle will determine success or failure. They still have enough time and opportunity to grow, but the prerequisite is that they can survive the war."

Ye Fei was silent for a moment, looked down at the report in his hand, and nodded:

"I understand. Our Fujian-Zhejiang Military Region is going to be fighting a war of attrition and a protracted war. In that case, ammunition reserves are of paramount importance."

"Alright, I'll leave the reserves as they are. I'll go and urge Political Commissar Le; the military industry bureau's production capacity has been increasing quite rapidly lately."

Before he could finish speaking, the voice of the guard, Xiao Zhong, came from outside the door: "Commander, Political Commissar Yue is outside requesting an audience."

Zhou Zeyuan's eyes showed a hint of surprise: "Xiao Zhong, Political Commissar Le isn't an outsider, why are you stopping him outside?"

Xiao Zhong scratched his head: "Commander... he came carrying a gun. I'm not saying he had any ill intentions, it's just... too strange."

Zhou Zeyuan raised an eyebrow and stood up: "Let's go take a look."

He and Ye Fei walked out of the office one after the other.

Outside the door, Le Shaohua carried a Hanyang rifle on his shoulder, his face flushed and beaming, looking as if he had just returned from a victorious battle.

When he saw Zhou Zeyuan and Ye Fei come out, he immediately took the gun off his shoulder and showed it to the two of them.

"Comrade Zeyuan, oh, Comrade Ye Fei is here too. Come, come, I have something good to show you."

Ye Fei reached out and took the rifle, examining it carefully in his hand.

He pulled the bolt back swiftly and crisply, then turned the gun over to examine the junction of the receiver and the barrel.