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

Mr. Shi was silent for a moment, then smiled frankly: "We newspaper runners value integrity the most. Without integrity, we have no foundation. But compared to the fate of the nation, these are nothing but fleeting clouds."

"My father taught me that if the goal is noble, it doesn't matter if the means are a little despicable."

"However, what kind of rumors are so powerful? Those tycoons are very shrewd; they all have their own sources of information, and they can't be fooled by just a few fabricated stories."

Mr. Chen smiled faintly: "This rumor of mine is half true and half false, and it was carefully crafted by an expert. They have no choice but to believe it."

He pointed to the map spread out on the table, his finger landing on the location of the Jinqu Basin: "Now the Red Army and the National Army, totaling 200,000 troops, are facing each other in the Jinqu Basin, and a major battle is about to break out."

"However, the Red Army was attacked from two sides, and its troops and equipment were inferior to those of the National Army. The overall situation was unfavorable to the Red Army."

He raised his head, his eyes sweeping over the faces of the crowd, a mysterious smile on his face. "The Red Army's high command are all strategists. They are not prepared to sit idly by and wait for death, but to make use of their advantages—to fight guerrilla warfare and mobile warfare, dividing their forces into multiple routes and jumping to the outer lines to fight."

"And this outer line is the Yangtze River Delta region. More precisely, it is the North Zhejiang Plain, the Yangtze River basin, and the most densely populated industrial and commercial area along the entire eastern coast."

Mr. Chen spoke faster and faster, his tone becoming increasingly impassioned: "Su, Xun, and Zhou were determined to die, to perish with the National Army in order to save the Southwest from its predicament."

"To this end, we did not hesitate to turn the most valuable part of the southeastern half of the country into ruins, destroy the Kuomintang's tax base, and deprive them of the ability to launch a major war, thus fundamentally reversing the situation."

Everyone present was astonished; the living room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

This situation was even more tragic than the mutually destructive conflict they had just described; it was practically a replica of the Taiping Rebellion.

If it weren't for the deliberate destruction and massacre by foreign invaders!

Logically speaking, the aftermath of a battle between two armies should have limited destructive power.

In reality, people are naturally inclined to seek advantage and avoid harm. Once the flames of war reach their doorstep, who would have the mind to engage in production activities?

Putting aside everything else, the very tradition of the National Revolutionary Army conscripting men is enough to make many people turn pale at the mere mention of it.

Large numbers of people will spontaneously migrate to other places to escape the war.

At that time, the fields will be barren and the ground will be littered with corpses, followed by a great famine and a great plague.

At that point, forget about the prosperous Jiangnan region or its contribution to half of the national tax revenue. The Nationalist government would be lucky if it didn't throw money into it.

Mr. Cai murmured, "This doesn't sound like a rumor! I can't find any flaws in it."

Mr. Huang nodded, his tone filled with a rare sincerity: "Impeccable. If it weren't for the fact that it's a rumor, I probably would have believed it when I first heard it."

Mr. Li let out a soft breath. "This rumor is indeed powerful. When we first told Lao Cai and the others about it, they believed it almost immediately."

"The key is to spread it. We must spread this rumor throughout the business community of Jiangsu and Zhejiang before the war breaks out again, especially to make those in the upper class believe it without a doubt."

Mr. Song sat in the main seat, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes: "Is this... really feasible? Once rumors spread, people's hearts will be unsettled, and the consequences will be unpredictable."

Mr. Huang responded very decisively: "Even if the consequences are bad, it's just rumors spreading, shops closing, and factories shutting down, but that's only temporary. It's better than..."

He paused, his voice deepening, "It's better than us all becoming slaves of a conquered nation."

Upon hearing this, the hesitation in Mr. Song's eyes vanished instantly!

Many people clenched their fists, their eyes brimming with fighting spirit.

Mr. Li nodded: "As long as the plan goes smoothly, the losses will be within a controllable range!"

He paused for a moment, then explained, "This is a whole plan. Mr. Shi will ignite the fire and spread the news. You all will fan the flames so that more people and more quickly will know about this news."

"Get the literary, academic, political, and business circles moving. As long as one person takes the lead, a tremendous momentum can be created. In this way, great things will be accomplished."

Mr. Chen added from the side, "Putting everything else aside, without the support of the Jiangzhe financial magnates, the National Army would probably soon be unable to pay its soldiers. This is what we call cutting off their ambition to wage civil war at its root."

Everyone echoed the sentiment, showing no sign of backing down.

The fate of the nation rests on our shoulders; this is both a pressure and a driving force.

Ms. He, the widow of a revolutionary veteran, who had remained silent until now, also spoke up, saying, "If needed, my late husband still has some influence among his former colleagues! But everyone must be careful, especially regarding your personal safety."

Mr. Li continued, "Although we're down on our luck now, we still have some decent security personnel. I suggest that each of us be assigned 3 to 5 guards, all of whom are veterans who have followed me for many years. With them providing close protection, our safety level will be greatly improved."

Mr. Song nodded: "I can also call on the French Concession police to strengthen security in the surrounding area, which should have some deterrent effect."

"In addition, I also have some communication channels here. If you gentlemen need to communicate with the other side, I can pass on your message."

"If necessary, I can go to Nanchang. But what I say may not be effective."

Mr. Li gently shook his head: "Whether it works or not depends on whether your brother-in-law has been driven to a dead end. To put it nicely, he is a man of strong will, whose life has been full of ups and downs, but he has never changed his mind."

"To put it bluntly, that's stubbornness. He won't turn back until he hits a brick wall. This time, we'll use the Red Army's strength to make him hit that brick wall."

Mr. Zhou stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and said, "Since that's the case, there's no turning back now. The key to success is secrecy. Once we leave this room, no one should utter a single word about what we've discussed today."

No one spoke in response, but everyone nodded slightly.

The conversation lasted until late at night, with everyone discussing the operational details of the entire plan before finally leaving together.

The lights in the mansion only came on when Mr. Shi drove his car through the gate.

In the shade of the plane trees at the street corner, two figures dressed in short shirts slowly straightened up.

"The boss, whom the team leader instructed to keep a close eye on, only returned from that villa at 2 a.m. today and stayed there for most of the night. His behavior was really abnormal."

The other person said, "I'll keep watch here. You go back and report everything you saw tonight to the team leader, word for word, and see how the higher-ups want to arrange the surveillance."

What Mr. Shi didn't know was that the top brass of the Nationalist government had long harbored murderous intentions towards him, but recently the Special Service Department had been focusing its efforts on the Northern Expeditionary Anti-Japanese Vanguard Team.

One by one, the spies they sent out disappeared, and one by one they were exposed; they simply couldn't spare any more manpower!