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

After Mr. Zhou waited until Mr. Cai's anger subsided a bit, he continued, "Mr. Cai, revolution has never been smooth sailing."

"If successful, it will inevitably be suppressed by a united front of reactionaries at home and abroad. The October Revolution in Russia and the Paris Commune in France are living examples."

"But anything is possible with human effort. If Soviet Russia could eliminate the White Army and crush external interference, we Chinese can do the same."

Mr. Cai's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and he was about to say something when Mr. Chen interrupted him:

"I'm afraid the situation isn't so optimistic. Think about it, even if Tsarist Russia was weak, it was still one of the great powers. They could manufacture their own guns and cannons, and the gap between them and other capitalist powers wasn't that vast."

"No matter how large China is or how large its population is, it is still a backward agricultural country. Even if the Red Army were to seize power, it would be difficult for it to withstand the intervention of imperialism on its own."

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping across every face in the room: "The gap in national power between China and Japan is already enormous. If Japan has the support of Western powers... I really see no hope of victory whatsoever."

The living room fell silent for a moment. The topic was too heavy, and no one knew how to respond.

Finally, Mr. Song broke the silence: "Mr. Chen and Mr. Li, you two have come from afar, taking such great risks. You couldn't have come just to tell us that 'if this battle continues, both sides will lose.' You should have already come up with a plan."

Mr. Li took a deep breath. After all that buildup, we're finally getting to the point. Success or failure hinges on this.

"There is indeed a solution. But it requires your strong support. I hope we can unite to mediate the conflict between the two parties, so that they can lay down their arms and unite against a common enemy."

"The specific idea was that, firstly, the National Revolutionary Army would stop its encirclement and suppression of the Red Army, and the Red Army would fulfill its promise to march north to resist Japan. All three main forces would march north to the front lines in North China."

"Both sides resolved conflicts such as government clashes, military organization, and defense zone divisions through negotiations! The two militaries were given unified command, and all disputes were resolved through negotiation."

Mr. Shi closed the folding fan in his hand, his brows furrowing slightly: "What you're saying is a bit too idealistic. It's not difficult to get the Red Army on their side; they already have this need."

"But the difficulty lies in the fact that the attitude of the top leadership of the Nationalist government is too stubborn. They are determined to fight a civil war and will not give up until the Red Army is wiped out."

"We've been working on it, trying every trick in the book. But the conflict between these two sides is irreconcilable, like oil and water."

Everyone nodded in agreement. The two parties had once enjoyed a honeymoon period, working together to deal with the Beiyang warlords.

However, the difference in class positions naturally creates contradictions between the two sides, which can be barely suppressed when the external enemy is strong enough.

Once a military victory is achieved and external pressure eases, the contradictions will surface.

Military victories, in particular, lead to territorial expansion, which instantly exacerbates this conflict.

This is not just a matter of being able to share hardships but not prosperity; it is a clash between two governing philosophies.

Furthermore, someone's indiscriminate killing at a crucial moment turned this relationship into a complete mess. After so many years of war, the two sides have reached a point of deep-seated hatred.

Mr. Li and Mr. Chen exchanged a glance; they were also involved in this feud.

They were all too aware of the complexities involved.

They all have their own scales in their hearts to judge who is right and who is wrong.

Honestly, the consensus they had reached was that persuading Chiang Kai-shek to resist Japan was much more difficult than forcing him to step down.

If they had a choice, they would love to kick the captain off his position and stomp on him a thousand times.

But that won't work! The Red Army's fighting style is too fierce, often annihilating entire divisions and armies. If we continue fighting, we'll exhaust all of the Nationalist army's elite forces.

If the Red Army's strength does not grow in time, the country's defense capabilities will face a huge gap, compounded by the instability caused by various warlords harboring their own ulterior motives and colluding with the Japanese.

If the situation really comes to this point, no matter how they calculate it, there will only be one outcome—the sinking of China!

Mr. Li patiently explained, "There are usually only two reasons why you can't stop two people from fighting. One is that the one who has the upper hand thinks they are sure to win, and the other is that the person trying to stop them is too weak."

Mr. Zhou quickly responded: "Given the current situation, the Nationalist army is not in a position of certain victory at all, which weakens the first point. But the second point... we only have pens, not guns. Our persuasion is clearly insufficient."

He turned to Mr. Chen: "Mr. Li, Mr. Chen, you both came from the Guangdong Army, could you perhaps gather some of your former troops?"

Mr. Chen shook his head and answered decisively: "That Southern King used to be our colleague. But due to some power struggles, we fell out a long time ago."

"Furthermore, warlords are the most unreliable people in the world. We cannot place our hopes on them. I have experience in this area, so I am the most qualified to speak on this matter."

Mr. Li picked up the thread: "Although the principal recognizes the gun, he recognizes money even more."

He glanced at the industrialists present and said, "If we can create a momentum that makes the entire business community in Jiangsu and Zhejiang feel the threat of the Red Army, then they will force the Nationalist government to negotiate peace."

Mr. Huang frowned slightly: "But I think they are more likely to force the Nationalist government to annihilate the Red Army as soon as possible."

"That's true, they've always done it this way." Mr. Chen nodded. "But the situation is different now. The Red Army has entered Zhejiang, and they're starting to feel the pain firsthand. I've heard that rice prices in Shanghai have recently started to rise."

Mr. Huang was slightly taken aback, clearly he hadn't paid attention to the changes in rice prices recently.

The others were also baffled, wondering what this rice price had to do with the financial tycoons of Jiangsu and Zhejiang who were suffering so much pain!

Mr. Zhou added, "People's hearts are starting to waver! After the Battle of Quzhou, and especially recently, we've been engaging in verbal battles with the official media in the newspapers, exposing the Kuomintang's embarrassing situation to the public."

"Although it is a cause for celebration, many ordinary people are also terrified. They crave stability and are most afraid that the war will reach their doorstep."

Mr. Chen nodded in agreement and continued, "Right now, people in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai are very unsettled. We only need one rumor to exacerbate this panic."

He turned to Mr. Shi and said, "Mr. Shi, for the sake of the great cause of peace, could your *Shen Bao* publish some false information?"