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

(Thanks to the expert 71032337 for the verification, an extra chapter is added here)

At its peak, the Central Soviet Area did indeed have hundreds of thousands of militiamen, but they were not the same as the militiamen of the Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area.

One hundred thousand militiamen may not seem like much, but he added a suffix—the armed force rate exceeded 30%.

This is terrifying. It means that even excluding the regular army, the second-line troops of the Fujian-Zhejiang Military Region have more than 30,000 guns.

He took a deep breath. "My goodness, we're going to be rich! Comrade Su Yu, are all these guns under my command? If I tell them to go east, will they go west?"

Su Yu suppressed a laugh and replied, "Are you afraid that Comrade Zeyuan will cause you trouble? No, he won't. It won't be long before the three of us go to Zhejiang to cause a big disturbance, and he'll be counting on you to keep the family in check."

"However, you know the rules of our military region. As the commander, to direct the troops, you need the support of the political commissar, that is, to work well with Comrade Qiu Bai; the support of the military sub-district commanders and other senior commanders is also crucial."

Director Chen nodded: "Comrade Qiu Bai, that's an old friend of mine. I know his temperament, so there shouldn't be any problem. Who are the high-ranking commanders you mentioned?"

"Mainly three comrades: Ye Fei from the 12th Red Army, Liu Chouxi from the Central Fujian Military Region, and Huang Ligui from the Southern Fujian Military Region."

"Oh!" Director Chen raised an eyebrow, a knowing smile appearing on his face. "Liu Chouxi and I are old acquaintances. We fought side by side during the first, second, and third counter-encirclement campaigns."

"At that time, I was the commander of the 22nd Red Army, and he was a division commander of the 3rd Red Army. We had quite a few interactions."

Upon hearing this, Su Yu felt immediately reassured. That's the advantage of seniority—it allows you to keep people in check.

Liu Chouxi dared to act like an old revolutionary in front of him, but when he met Director Chen, he was suppressed by a triple force of seniority, ability, and position.

Not to mention, the two had a past relationship. For both personal and professional reasons, Liu Chouxi would not, and dared not, cause trouble in front of Director Chen.

Director Chen continued, "I've heard of Comrade Huang Ligui; he's a very steady and reliable old revolutionary. I don't know much about Comrade Ye Fei, though. Introduce him to me… wait, something's not right…"

He stopped mid-sentence, his face twitching as if he had been stung by something.

Su Yu quickly asked, "What's wrong? Comrade Ye Fei is also a very reliable comrade."

"Oh dear, I wasn't talking about Comrade Ye Fei. I was, I was..." Director Chen was startled by the thought that popped into his head and suddenly didn't know how to organize his thoughts.

He suddenly slapped his forehead. "I'll ask you one question: does this paper not include the personnel and equipment of the 12th Red Army?"

Su Yu replied quickly: "Your statement is inaccurate. It should be said that this does not even include the local troops in central and southern Fujian."

"These are the local armed forces and militia units directly under the Fujian-Zhejiang Military Region in eastern, northern, and southern Fujian. Hmm... the 12th Red Army, as well as the units in central and southern Fujian, are on the last few pages. You didn't even turn the page."

Director Chen was both surprised and delighted, and quickly flipped the paper to the back.

His gaze swept over the numbers line by line, and his breathing became increasingly heavy.

The 12th Red Army was fully equipped with American weapons and numbered 22,000 men, while the Central Fujian Independent Division had 8,000 men and the Southern Fujian Independent Division had 9,000 men.

Independent regiments, guerrilla units, Red Guards... a dense array of numbers flowed into his mind like streams, surging into a vast ocean in his heart.

He took a deep breath and said in a somewhat resentful tone, "You little rascal, you really gave me a fright!"

Su Yu suppressed a laugh, "You can't blame me for this. Ze Yuan sent the telegram. If you want to blame someone, blame him."

"Hmph, since this is a pleasant surprise, I won't hold it against you." Director Chen carefully folded the paper, put it in his pocket, and patted it.

"I took a quick look and found that the two independent divisions in central and southern Fujian, plus the 12th Red Army, make up a fully armed force of 40,000 men."

"The Red Twelfth Army was equipped with an unusually luxurious array of American weapons. With this configuration, it was at least equivalent to the strength of two elite armies of the Central Army. Add to that the local armed forces in various regions, and its strength was even greater than that of the Red First Front Army during the Third Encirclement Campaign."

As he spoke, he suddenly laughed, "I can't even imagine how terrified they would be when the Kuomintang troops actually attacked the Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area."

"Huh! That's a fitting word. So, Commander, you're already confident of victory?"

Director Chen waved his hand: "Haha, even if you haven't eaten pork, haven't you seen pigs run? It's just a counter-encirclement campaign. We'll deal with whatever comes our way."

"Oh, by the way, speaking of Comrade Ye Fei, what's his personality like?"

Su Yu replied earnestly, "He's a very good young man. His family are overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia. Inspired by the revolutionary spirit, he returned to his hometown in Fujian to participate in the revolution. He has a considerable understanding of the local customs, geography, and terrain."

"He was an upright and honest man, courageous and responsible, incorruptible and self-disciplined, pragmatic and flexible. He was an outstanding local general in the Mindong Soviet Area."

"When Zeyuan first came to Mindong, he attached great importance to him and entrusted him with important tasks time and time again, and Comrade Ye Fei was always able to complete the tasks satisfactorily or even exceed expectations."

Director Chen stroked his chin thoughtfully: "Oh, I didn't expect the Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area to be so full of talent. No wonder it was able to repeatedly thwart the Kuomintang's attacks."

His gaze lingered on Su Yu's face for a moment. "So, according to you, this Comrade Ye Fei was promoted by Zhou Zeyuan, and he should obey his every word?"

Su Yu answered almost without hesitation: "No, Comrade Ye Fei greatly respects Comrade Ze Yuan, but he endorses the truth and obeys correct orders."

"Many people say that everyone in the Fujian-Zhejiang Military Region is Zeyuan's man, but this is just malicious speculation from an outsider."

"Whether it's Comrade Qiu Bai, Comrade Huang Ligui, Comrade Liu Chouxi, or Comrade Ye Fei, who among them has any personal relationship with Ze Yuan?"

"They only recognized commanders who could lead them on the right path. In the entire Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area, only Comrade Su Da had a past relationship with Ze Yuan, but Ze Yuan did not deliberately promote him because of this."

He paused, his tone becoming serious, "If anyone accuses Zeyuan of forming cliques, then I can only say that this clique cannot be called small; it should be called large."

"Oh? A big group? Just how big is it?"

Su Yu stated unequivocally: "Of the tens of thousands of officers and key personnel in the Fujian-Zhejiang Military Region and the Seventh Red Army Corps, at least eight thousand belong to this group. This group is not for the personal gain of any individual, but for comrades who are willing to dedicate their lives to the revolution and who share the same ideals."

Director Chen slapped his thigh suddenly, his voice loud and firm: "Good! If that's the case, then from today onwards, I, Old Chen, am also a member of this group!"