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

Su Yu was stunned, staring fixedly at Zhou Zeyuan.

After a long while, he sighed softly: "A reactionary Kuomintang... actually has more confidence in us than our own people."

Zhou Zeyuan understood the underlying meaning in his words, but didn't respond. He simply patted him on the shoulder.

A river breeze blows by, carrying the scent of water plants and earth.

Just then, footsteps sounded behind them.

The two turned around and saw Xun Huaizhou striding over, holding a telegram in his hand.

"A telegram from the Central Military Commission, would you two like to listen to it?" He walked up to the two men and waved the paper in his hand.

Zhou Zeyuan raised an eyebrow: "It took so long for the telegram to arrive. I'm actually quite curious about what those three are planning to do with us."

Xun Huaizhou didn't keep them in suspense. He unfolded the telegram and read aloud: "First, a commendation order."

"Our Northern Expeditionary Force defeated the main force of the 98th Division of the National Revolutionary Army, successfully completed the meeting, and severely damaged Luo Zhuoying's column. It tied down the enemy forces along the entire southeast front, forcing Nanjing to be unable to send air and ground troops westward to reinforce the main force of the Xiangjiang River encirclement and suppression campaign. It was a remarkable strategic achievement."

"They took the initiative to raise the banner of marching north to resist Japan, sent telegrams throughout the country to awaken patriotic public opinion, undermined the morale of the enemy army and the people, and achieved remarkable political results."

"A commendation order was issued to the entire army. All officers and soldiers who performed meritorious service at the front were registered and will be promoted and awarded the Red Star Medal after the war. All military equipment and supplies captured in Quzhou City will be allocated and used by the advance team."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zeyuan raised an eyebrow slightly, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved into a smile.

Su Yu's expression also relaxed a bit.

However, before the two could speak, Xun Huaizhou's tone suddenly turned somber.

"Second, disciplinary action. The three of us will receive a major demerit, which will be reported to all Soviet areas and filed in all army corps."

"The Central Military Commission characterized it as follows: without prior approval, it arbitrarily used a high-powered radio to send a telegram to the whole country in plain text and released a major political declaration to the outside world without permission from higher authorities."

"We three are ordered to jointly write a written self-criticism, deeply analyzing the problems of disorganization and lack of discipline. From now on, for all major external communications and overall operational adjustments, we must wait for a clear reply from the Central Military Commission, and are strictly prohibited from making decisions on our own."

The wind by the river suddenly calmed down for a moment.

Su Yu frowned, carefully choosing her words before asking, "Why doesn't this disciplinary action mention the matter of us threatening to reduce our workload by appealing to the central government?"

Zhou Zeyuan glanced at him and couldn't help but laugh: "Are you stupid? Would I make such a mistake? Don't forget, the suggestion to reduce the burden was put forward by Comrade Qiu Bai. What does it have to do with us? They've linked the two things together, but they'll never put it on the table."

Xun Huaizhou nodded and agreed, "That's right. At least nominally, we only have one fault, which is issuing a telegram to the whole country without approval. As for any talk of showing off military power or daring to speak frankly, that's all baseless. Those are just some people's unfounded interpretations."

Su Yu was stunned for a moment, then deeply shocked. He opened his mouth, and after a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "So... this matter is over?"

Zhou Zeyuan nodded, his tone nonchalant: "It's over. There are still some minor issues, but it's okay, someone will handle them for us."

"Our next focus should be on fighting, crushing the Kuomintang so badly they won't even recognize their own mothers. Then all the problems will disappear."

Su Yu took a deep breath, and as the gentle breeze from the river blew, her mind began to race:

"After capturing Quzhou, we pushed the battle line to Longyou, finally gaining some strategic depth, which allowed us to engage in a strategic decisive battle with the National Army in the Jinqu Basin. However, we were still at a disadvantage in terms of troop strength."

Zhou Zeyuan, however, was unconcerned. "The 10th Red Army has four divisions, and the 11th Red Army has three divisions, totaling more than 60,000 men. Our forces are stronger than ever before. I am very confident that we can concentrate our forces to fight a major battle."

Xun Huaizhou suddenly interjected, his tone tinged with an unusual hesitation: "Zeyuan, I just don't understand, how come you're not afraid of anything?"

"To be honest, none of the three of us have ever commanded an army of more than 50,000 men in combat. We're still a little unsure about what to do."

"The Nationalist army is different. They have a lot of veteran generals, many of whom have commanded troops of 100,000 or even hundreds of thousands. They have far more experience than us."

Zhou Zeyuan almost burst out laughing. After a moment, he said, "What's the use of experience from fighting each other like chickens? Fighting too many low-intensity wars may seem like you're experienced, but if you switch to a high-intensity opponent, that experience will only become a series of deadly traps."

"Let me give you an example. Our domestic warlords fought for years. In terms of combat experience, weren't they more experienced than the Japanese?"

"Although the Japanese are known for their aggression, they had fought very few battles before the September 18th Incident. Logically, most of their soldiers should have lacked combat experience. But what happened in actual combat?"

Su Yu stroked his chin thoughtfully: "I seem to have heard that during the Great Wall Resistance, our Chinese army could actually gain the upper hand in small-scale conflicts with the Japanese army by relying on sheer courage. But in large-scale battles, especially when it comes to testing command and coordination capabilities, they always made many mistakes."

Zhou Zeyuan made the final decision: "Ultimately, combat experience is more important for those at the grassroots level, but high-level command values ​​ability more."

"I can say with certainty that the only people in the Nationalist army who pose a slight threat to us are Xue Yue and Wei Lihuang. As for the rest, they are roughly on par with Chen Cheng."

Xun Huaizhou clapped his hands, his eyes lighting up: "Why didn't you say so sooner! If you had said so earlier, I would have been much more confident."

Su Yu was still somewhat uneasy. "We still can't be careless. I heard that the Nationalist army across from the Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area is advancing towards the base area at a speed of ten miles a day. They are proceeding cautiously, fearing an ambush."

"At this rate, the real decisive battle is still some time away. Could we borrow some troops from Commander Chen? Even borrowing some militia to bolster our forces would be helpful."

Zhou Zeyuan pondered for a moment, about to respond.

Xun Huaizhou decisively waved his hand: "No way!"

Zhou Zeyuan immediately became interested. "Huaizhou, what brilliant idea have you come up with?"

Xun Huaizhou's lips curled slightly. "Of course there are ways. Improving our chances of winning the decisive battle isn't just about strengthening ourselves, but also about weakening the enemy. Aren't the Nationalist troops in Zhejiang retreating northward?"

"Alright, let Comrade Ye Fei lead troops into southern Zhejiang. The target could be Wenzhou, Qingtian, or Lishui, anywhere is fine, as long as it makes a big splash. They want to concentrate their superior forces? Well, I'll make sure they don't."

Zhou Zeyuan's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly: "That's a good idea. Here's what we'll do: after the Nationalist troops stationed around Wenzhou begin to move, we'll order Comrade Ye Fei to send troops to Wenzhou. Then we'll spread the word that this whole thing in western Zhejiang is just to cover the main force of the Red Army in northern Fujian as they march north to launch a surprise attack on Fenghua."

Su Yu and Xun Huaizhou looked at each other in bewilderment.

A moment later, the two said in unison, "You're so mean."