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

Under the guise of reporting on his work, Zhou Zeyuan also sent a telegram criticizing the erroneous military line.

After the telegram was sent, there was no reply for half a day.

Seeing that there was no further movement, Zhou Zeyuan stopped thinking about it and turned to attend to his own business.

He thought that his words had once again shut down the comrades in the Central Committee, leaving them unsure of how to respond.

But in fact it is not the case.

There was a time delay when the Central Committee drafted the telegram for him; the telegram was delayed on its way.

At the same moment he was reading the telegram, the central leaders had already entered Tongdao County, and the military conference, which would later be known as the Tongdao Conference, was held on time.

In other words, Zhou Zeyuan thought he had set a precedent before the meeting started, and then he could just watch his seniors charge forward.

In fact, by the time the telegram arrived, the fire had already started burning.

His actions were a classic case of adding fuel to the fire.

That night, the Quzhou Auditorium was packed to capacity.

More than half of the senior commanders of the 7th Red Army Corps, the top talents recommended by each division, and all the junior officers of the 21st Red Army Division and the three newly established independent regiments filled the auditorium, which could hold several hundred people.

People in the back stood on the steps, and several company-level officers who couldn't squeeze in were squatting in the aisle. A dozen soldiers on guard duty stood at the door, listening intently to what was happening inside.

A large blackboard hung in the center of the podium, with several large characters written on it in chalk: "Large-scale military operations require strict discipline."

Xun Huaizhou stood in front of the blackboard, holding a megaphone, his voice echoing in the empty auditorium.

"I reiterate once again that many of you are former guerrillas who have only recently joined the regular army and are still quite unaccustomed to regular army combat."

"But the enemy won't give us time to adapt. You must completely reverse your previous lax guerrilla tactics in the shortest possible time!"

The expressions of the people sitting below the stage varied.

The officers of the regular army agreed wholeheartedly and nodded frequently.

Some of the cadres who had just been promoted from the guerrilla forces looked ashamed and stared down at their knees.

Some looked indignant, clearly feeling that Xun Huaizhou's words had been too harsh and had hurt their pride. But no one dared to say anything.

Zhou Zeyuan sat on the podium to the side of the stage, his arms crossed, his gaze sweeping across the entire audience, taking in all the resentful expressions.

A moment later, he stood up, walked to the center of the podium, and extended his right hand toward Xun Huaizhou.

Seeing this, Xun Huaizhou stopped speaking and handed over the megaphone: "Alright, now let's invite Comrade Zeyuan to say a few words to us."

Zhou Zeyuan took the megaphone, but didn't rush to speak. He first looked around the room, and only when everyone's eyes were on him did he slowly say, "When it comes to the difference between guerrilla warfare and positional warfare, no one is more qualified to speak than me."

"I have switched between these two tactics. I have served in guerrilla forces, local troops, and the main force of the central government. Everyone is well aware of my resume, so I will not go into details."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the guerrilla-trained officers in the back row: "Commander Xun just used a term, 'guerrilla mentality.' Today I'll explain to you how this guerrilla mentality is formed."

The murmurs below the stage subsided, and the cadres who had been whispering all looked up at him.

"In the early stages of the revolution, due to the vast disparity in strength between the enemy and ourselves, we objectively lacked the capability to engage in direct combat with the Kuomintang. Therefore, we developed a guerrilla warfare tactic of fighting when we could win and running away when we couldn't."

"This is to effectively preserve and develop the revolutionary forces. This tactic relies heavily on flexibility and mobility, often requiring one to dance on the edge of a knife."

"Because the various base areas and guerrilla zones were not connected to each other and communication was interrupted, the higher command granted each guerrilla unit a great deal of autonomy."

"As a result, in the long course of combat, the guerrillas developed a fighting style of not asking for instructions or reporting, and acting on their own."

He turned his head to look at the chalk writing he had done on the blackboard.

"But in field units, this is an absolute prohibition. Because regular armies emphasize teamwork, and only with a high degree of organization can forces be united into a single, powerful force."

"But we must also look at this objectively. This relatively lax habit is by no means because our comrades' revolutionary ideals are not pure enough or their revolutionary will is not firm enough. Rather, it is the result of long-term habitual instincts."

Many of the cadres in the audience who had come from guerrilla backgrounds visibly relaxed upon hearing this. Some even nodded slightly, feeling that Zhou Zeyuan's words were fair and did not condemn everyone.

But then Zhou Zeyuan changed the subject, saying, "Just as Commander Xun said, the enemy won't give us time to adapt. This requires our cadres to overcome this habit with a more resolute and decisive will."

At this point, his tone suddenly rose: "And what I'm going to talk about next is another kind of guerrilla mentality. An extremely bad, extremely despised, and utterly reviled mentality!"

That is, avoiding the important issues and focusing only on the interests of a small group.

"A certain unit, or rather some units, only wants to eat the fat meat, but dares not gnaw on the bones. They fight when they can win, and run when they can't. As soon as they encounter a tough battle, they want to retreat, only caring about minimizing their own losses, completely disregarding the lives of friendly forces!"

"Can this kind of behavior still be called revolutionary armed force? It's nothing but banditry, warlordism, and opportunists who have infiltrated the ranks."

He raised the megaphone higher: "Then I'll put my words out there today. If you're afraid of dying, what kind of revolution are you stirring up?"

"Commander Xun is all bark and no bite; sometimes he spoils you guys too much. If an officer under me did that, there would be no need for any self-criticisms, demerits, or disciplinary actions."

"I don't care what his qualifications are or what great achievements he has made. If he dares to shrink back and retreat without authorization during combat, then I'll make him a vanguard and a demolition expert!"

A moment of silence fell over the audience. No one dared to speak, and even those who had previously looked resentful lowered their heads.

Just then, the side door of the auditorium was pushed open.

Su Yu walked in, holding a telegram in her hand.

He quickly walked up to Zhou Zeyuan and whispered, "Comrade Zeyuan, there's an urgent telegram from the Central Committee. You'd better take a look at it immediately; let's postpone tonight's study session."

"Okay, take a 10-minute break, we'll continue the lecture later." As he spoke, Zhou Zeyuan reached out to take the telegram, but Su Yu raised her hand to avoid his.

Under Zhou Zeyuan's questioning gaze, Su Yu walked to the center, reached for the megaphone, and shouted:

"Comrades, I would like to take this opportunity to announce some good news. The Central Military Commission has issued a formal appointment, appointing Comrade Zhou Zeyuan of our army corps as the commander-in-chief of the Anti-Japanese Vanguard."

After he finished speaking, the entire room was silent for about a second.

Immediately, enthusiastic applause erupted, instantly filling the entire venue!

Xun Huaizhou also stood up, clapping his hands loudly.

Many cadres stood up, some clapping, some cheering, turning the entire auditorium into a sea of ​​joy.