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

The sun had just set, and a lingering glow remained on the horizon. Su Yu hurriedly entered Zhou Zeyuan's division headquarters.

"Zeyuan! Didn't we agree during the day to launch a feint attack under the cover of night, and then retreat as planned? Why do I see all the units still reinforcing their positions, showing no signs of preparing to withdraw? What are you waiting for?"

Zhou Zeyuan was looking down at a rough sketch of a county town. Instead of answering directly, he asked, "Where is the Legion Headquarters located now?"

Su Yu paused for a moment, then replied, "Based on the planned route and time, we should be almost at Meixian Town by now. What's wrong?"

Zhou Zeyuan muttered to himself, "Meixian Town is more than ten kilometers away from here... Hmm, that should be enough."

"What exactly are you muttering about?" Su Yu took two steps closer, staring at Zhou Zeyuan's face, trying to discern something from his usual composed expression.

"You're not planning to cause any more trouble, are you? This is a matter of life and death for the entire legion!"

Zhou Zeyuan straightened up, dusted off his hands, and a sly smile appeared on his face: "Comrade Su Yu understands me best. Now, I can be frank with you."

"The whole plan was a smokescreen. From the very beginning, I was determined to take down this tough nut of Youxi County!"

Su Yu's shock lasted only a moment. He knew Zhou Zeyuan too well. This guy acted erratically, but he never fought a battle he couldn't win.

His mind raced, and he immediately grasped the key point in Zhou Zeyuan's words: "What exactly do you mean by 'more than ten kilometers'? What does that have to do with the location of the legion headquarters?"

Zhou Zeyuan gave him an approving look. "This means the sound of the explosive charge won't travel that far. The people in the Legion Headquarters won't be able to guess how I captured the county town. My secret weapon can remain a secret."

"Oh?" Su Yu's curiosity was completely piqued. "What secret weapon? Explosive charges used for sieges have existed since ancient times, so is that considered a secret weapon?"

Zhou Zeyuan smiled mysteriously: "Tell me, wouldn't a charge of explosives that can be loaded into a cannon barrel and fired dozens or hundreds of meters like a cannonball count as a secret weapon?"

"What?!" Su Yu was genuinely shocked this time, her eyes widening. "You really have something like that? An explosive charge that can be used as a cannonball? Then, why didn't you say so earlier? If we had such a weapon, our entire Red Army..."

His words came to an abrupt halt as he saw Zhou Zeyuan slowly shake his head, his eyes filled with a deep worry.

"It's precisely because this weapon is so easy to manufacture that we can manage to build a few dozen, while the White Dogs, once they find out, can build thousands! If I had revealed it earlier, and the enemy had learned how to use it, they would probably already be at the gates of Ruijin by now!"

Su Yu gasped, instantly understanding the implications of the situation.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his head, his gaze sharp as he looked at Zhou Zeyuan: "Zeyuan, tell me the truth. Your choice to keep this from the Legion Headquarters, is it... because you're worried about the Commander-in-Chief?"

"Huh? You guessed that too? I thought you were going to say Political Commissar Yue."

Su Yu sighed, her expression complicated: "Alas, we and Political Commissar Le are only different in our ideas and methods, but I personally believe that his revolutionary will is firm, and his starting point is also for the revolution."

"But this Commander Zeng... I've observed him for some time now, and I always feel that he's all show and no substance. He panics when things happen, is afraid of death, and may not be reliable in critical moments. He's definitely not a revolutionary fighter with a firm will."

"If you're keeping this from the Legion Command, it must mean you suspect someone might have unintentionally or intentionally leaked secrets. Hmm... I really can't think of a more suitable candidate than him."

Zhou Zeyuan didn't deny it, but patted Su Yu on the shoulder: "Better safe than sorry. Some trump cards are best kept to a minimum. Hopefully, tonight the heavens will be on our side and let the moon sleep soundly in the night. It's a dark and stormy night, a night for murder!"

In fact, his choice to carry out the operation late at night was not only to catch the enemy off guard, but also, more importantly, to minimize the risk of intelligence leaks.

The cover of night is the best cover, allowing the secret of the Flying Thunder Cannon to be kept only among his closest confidants.

Many people believe that the Red Army suffered from severe malnutrition and night blindness during the later stages of the Long March, making them unskilled in night fighting.

But that was during an extremely difficult period when we lost our base.

When the Central Soviet Area was still in existence, due to its relatively clean and efficient organization, the limited military funds were used effectively, and the soldiers' food and nutrition were even better than those of many Kuomintang Central Army units.

Therefore, the claim that the Red Army was adept at night fighting was not unfounded, and this does not contradict the widespread night blindness that later occurred due to deteriorating conditions.

Thanks to the fierce fighting during the day, the enemy's outposts and bunkers on the periphery had been cleared away, and the Red Army's forward positions were able to advance significantly.

This provided excellent conditions and a safe distance for the deployment of the "flying thunder cannon".

When Su Yu, guided by Zhou Zeyuan, saw with his own eyes the six disguised gasoline drums and the mountain of cylindrical explosive charges next to them, even he, with his extensive knowledge, was greatly shocked.

After listening to Zhou Zeyuan's brief explanation of the principles and test data, he immediately realized that although this thing was rudimentary and lacked accuracy, its power was absolutely terrifying!

If even one of those fifteen-kilogram explosive charges hits the city gate or a weak point in the city wall, it can blast open a huge breach!

The city will fall tonight!

"Zeyuan, you focus on commanding the Flying Thunder Cannons and the 7th Red Army Division in the main attack! I'll immediately coordinate with the 2nd and 3rd Divisions to have them set up ambushes on key sections of the road outside the city!"

"Once the city falls, the enemy will inevitably flee through the west and north gates. We must annihilate as many of their troops as possible and expand our gains!"

As night deepened, the soldiers, knowing that a major operation would take place that night, hurriedly put on their clothes and went to sleep, hoping to get a short rest and recover their strength.

As the battle drew closer, the veterans slept soundly, snoring loudly, as if they could sleep through the night before anything else.

Many new recruits were so nervous that they tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

They were not woken up until almost 3 a.m. by the veterans or platoon leaders next to them.

The soldiers stretched their stiff bodies and washed their faces with the icy stream water to quickly wake themselves up.

The team included some tough guys who even took out their treasured dried chilies, crushed them, and rubbed them on their temples. The spicy stimulation instantly invigorated them.

The new recruits beside him stared in astonishment, secretly clicking their tongues in amazement.

At a concealed position outside the East Gate, six gasoline drums were firmly buried at an angle in the ground, with the openings of the drums slightly raised.

Zhou Zeyuan glanced at his watch, then walked over to the artillery commander and whispered to confirm, "Old Wei, is everything ready? No problems, right?"

Old Wei, a sturdy middle-aged man, nodded vigorously. "Don't worry, Commander! The weight and angle of the medicine pack have been calculated repeatedly. We're just waiting for your order! But this thing is not comparable to the Krupp mountain gun. Its accuracy is far worse. One shot may not accurately hit the city gate."

Zhou Zeyuan grinned, "No problem! I've prepared over a hundred explosive charges. I don't believe I can't hit one of his city gates! If one round isn't enough, I'll take two. If two rounds aren't enough, I'll take three!"

When the time reached 3:15, Zhou Zeyuan took a Hanyang rifle from the guard next to him.

The night was pitch black, with only a few scattered searchlight beams occasionally sweeping across the city walls.