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

The principal picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and said unhurriedly, "Mo San, victory is in our grasp right now, and Xun Huaizhou can be wiped out at any time."

"But we can't take unnecessary risks. If a Red Army were to emerge in our heartland, it would be a huge political failure. What would our colleagues in Nanjing think of us? Wouldn't those warlords be tempted to pursue their own ambitions because of this?"

He put down his teacup, his eyes blazing. "I have made up my mind to prioritize annihilating this Red Army force that has entered Zhejiang."

"Moreover, according to my prediction, Su Yu is leading his troops rapidly northward, and it is highly likely that he is the commander of this operation."

"Since we can't spare any troops to wipe out Xun Huaizhou in a short time, eliminating Su Yu would be a great achievement."

Gu Zhutong intuitively felt that this plan was unreliable, but his reputation as Gu Baishun was well-deserved, and he quickly adjusted his mindset.

"Principal, I understand. In that case, three armies may not be enough, and may not be able to guarantee everything. If Su Yu and Xun Huaizhou's main forces complete their rendezvous, they may become a major threat."

"We should allocate more troops to lay a trap and capture the Red Army heading north. Then we can turn around and wipe out the bandit army in Huaiyu Mountain."

A look of approval appeared on the principal's face, and he nodded: "Alright, you're in charge of handling this matter. No cost whatsoever in this battle."

He leaned back in his chair, his tone tinged with complex emotions, "Mo San, Jiang Mingsan, Wei Junru, and Chen Cixiu have all suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Red Army. Now I'm counting on you to help me turn the tide. Let these youngsters see that experience still counts."

Gu Zhutong stood up, stood at attention, and saluted: "Yes, Principal, I will certainly live up to your expectations."

He turned and strode out of the conference room. The door closed softly behind him.

The meeting room fell silent for a moment.

The principal did not get up immediately. He turned to the adjutant who had been standing silently beside him and said in a calm and deep tone, "I'm afraid Mo San is not capable of dealing with two generals at the same time, Su Yu and Xun Huaizhou. Let's transfer Liu Jing over."

The adjutant bowed slightly and replied, "Yes, Commander-in-Chief Liu is known as a lucky general. With him in charge, things should be even more secure."

Ruijin, Central Military Region Headquarters.

Secretary Xiang was hunched over his desk reviewing documents. He wrote a few lines, then stopped and rubbed his temples.

He had barely slept a full night these days, and had two obvious dark circles under his eyes.

Since the fifth counter-encirclement campaign, the territory of the Central Soviet Area has shrunk smaller and smaller, the casualties of the troops have increased, and the ammunition has become increasingly scarce, while the encirclement by the Nationalist army has tightened day by day.

He's been bombarded with bad news every day and is almost numb to it.

"To Secretary Xiang!"

A series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door, and then the door was pushed open abruptly, and a staff officer rushed in, clutching a telegram in his hand.

He was breathless from running, and after catching his breath by leaning against the doorframe, he managed to say, "The Nationalist army... the Nationalist army has retreated!"

Secretary Xiang suddenly looked up. "What did you say?"

The staff officer strode to the table and handed over the telegram: "Commander Zhou Jianping reports! The Nationalist army has retreated twenty li and shifted from offense to defense!"

Secretary Xiang snatched the telegram, his eyes quickly scanning the words on the paper. He read it twice, confirming that he hadn't misread it, and a hint of joy first appeared on his face, but that joy was quickly replaced by a deeper doubt.

"There's nothing to be happy about... It's just that the Nationalist army was tired from fighting and needed a breather."

The staff officer grew anxious and took half a step forward: "Secretary! No! The Nationalist army has hundreds of thousands of troops. If they get tired, they can just rotate them. But they're retreating across the board, changing from an offensive to an encirclement. This isn't as simple as just taking a breather."

Secretary Xiang's finger stopped on the table. He picked up the telegram again and read it once more, this time even more carefully than before.

His gaze lingered on a few keywords for a moment, and the fragmented information in his mind began to be pieced together rapidly.

A few days ago, our comrades at the front said that the Nationalist army's offensive had slowed down. It was later found that a group of Nationalist troops had been transferred to the north to encircle and suppress Comrade Xun Huaizhou in Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi.

"You mean... the Nationalist army has once again withdrawn troops?"

The staff officer nodded vigorously: "That's exactly what Division Commander Zhou means! Secretary, what should we do?"

A struggle flickered in Secretary Xiang's eyes, but he finally sighed, "What? What should we do? We need to focus on resting and reorganizing the troops. Do we really have the strength to launch a counterattack? Do our job well, hold Ruijin, and delay the inevitable for as long as possible—that is victory."

In the afternoon, more definitive intelligence came from the front lines.

The reconnaissance company of the 24th Red Army Division captured several prisoners. Through interrogation, they learned from the confessions of these Nationalist soldiers that troops from several divisions had been transferred to the east and north.

Their current mission is to encircle the enemy and not to launch any offensive attacks.

This intelligence confirms Zhou Jianping's previous speculation.

When the news reached the top leadership in Ruijin, several key leaders gathered together to read the telegram, and their faces showed a long-lost look of relief.

A murmur of discussion arose in the office. Someone let out a long sigh, as if to expel all the pent-up frustration that had been building up in their chest over the past few days.

Although the situation has not fundamentally improved, at least we can catch our breath for now.

Later that evening, intelligence coming from the Hunan-Hubei-Jiangxi base areas and other underground party organizations in various places surprised them.

News came almost simultaneously from several major base areas: the Nationalist army's frontal offensive had slowed significantly, and there had even been large-scale retreats, with the offensive being replaced by encirclement.

The underground party members in Wuhan sent an astonishing message: two divisions transferred from Henan had barely gotten off the train when they were loaded onto a boat, heading downstream.

Downstream, that is, going east along the Yangtze River.

The target is self-evident.

It's either Fujian, Zhejiang, or Jiangxi; it's Fujian.

A silence fell over the office. Several people sat around the table, exchanging bewildered glances.

This should have been good news, as the pressure on the major Soviet areas had been temporarily relieved.

But stress doesn't just disappear; it just shifts.

With the Nationalist army making such a move, the Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area is likely to suffer greatly!

This is not because they lack confidence in the Seventh Red Army.

In fact, they had overestimated the trio of Zhou, Xun, and Su as much as possible.

But the situation they face now is indeed unprecedentedly severe, and none of them would have the confidence to win this battle.

Even when the Central Soviet Area was in its most difficult period, the National Revolutionary Army mobilized 500,000 troops to encircle and suppress it, but they had never drawn so many troops from various battlefields at once.

However, at present, the number of troops withdrawn from the front lines of several base areas alone has exceeded 100,000.

Li Runtan leaned back in his chair, clutching a telegram in his hand, turning it over and over several times. The expression on his face was complex and hard to describe.

"Comrade Zeyuan, Comrade Huaizhou, and Comrade Su Yu... what exactly did they do? Did they dig up the brigade leader's ancestral graves?"