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

At this moment, the main force of the Red Army had left Tongdao County, and the vanguard of the First Army Corps had already occupied Liping and entered Guizhou Province.

Located at the junction of Hunan, Guangxi, and Guizhou provinces, this area has rugged terrain and barren land, so neither the Nationalist army nor various warlords had a strong desire to pursue them.

The Red Army was able to make gradual adjustments during the intervals of its march!

The first step is to streamline the organization; the relocation-style retreat strategy has been abandoned at the operational level.

With so many conscripted laborers in the team, it wouldn't be of much use!

These people are different from the new recruits!

Take the Eighth Red Army Corps for example. No matter how thin or weak those child soldiers were, their revolutionary will was firm.

The commander had nothing to worry about; these men would simply scatter under the sound of gunfire!

One thing needs to be clarified here: not all the Red Army soldiers were revolutionary fighters.

The logistics soldiers within the establishment and the temporary civilian laborers are two different concepts.

The latter, having not been indoctrinated with revolutionary ideas, had a considerably high desertion rate during long marches.

These people stayed in the ranks for a long time, but were not transformed into revolutionary fighters.

Rather than keeping them around as a burden, it would be better to provide them with travel expenses and send them home.

The second blow to streamlining government agencies was aimed at the Central Military Commission's directly subordinate units.

A significant portion of the supply department, security bureau, radio service personnel, buglers, and young general staff were added to the front-line infantry regiments.

Regimental commanders were reassigned as battalion commanders, and battalion commanders were reassigned as company commanders, with a large number of officers from headquarters being sent down to lead troops.

These are all young, healthy, non-combat personnel among the government officials.

They had been with the army for a long time, and their combat skills might not be as good as those of soldiers on the front lines, but in terms of revolutionary conviction and physical fitness, they were much better than new recruits.

The First and Third Red Army Corps, which had suffered extremely heavy losses in the previous battle, have thus recovered a significant amount of blood.

Although they are still far from their peak condition, the arrival of some fresh blood in the army has brought a positive change to the officers and soldiers at the grassroots level.

The seeds of hope took root and sprouted in the hearts of the soldiers.

……

Another great meeting has come to an end. The former ruler has once again reclaimed a portion of his power, and is not far from returning to his peak state.

This meeting completely shut down Li Bo's erroneous military proposals.

The Red Army no longer insisted on heading north to western Hunan to join forces with the Second and Sixth Red Army Corps.

Many people believe that western Hunan was clearly a trap set by the Nationalist army!

You should always pick the softest persimmons!

As everyone knows, among the various provincial warlords in the south, none was easier to deal with than Wang Jialie.

The reputation of the dual-wielding soldiers resounded throughout South China.

If we don't really give them a good talking-to, it would be a real disservice to the host's good intentions.

Just as the Red Army was steadily advancing southwest, the intensity of the fighting between the Red and White armies suddenly escalated along a front stretching hundreds of kilometers in northern, central, and southern Fujian.

Previously, the Nationalist Army had been advancing steadily, at a snail's pace, but with unwavering determination.

The Red Army continuously sent small detachments to harass and attack the enemy's transport convoys in the rear, bleeding the enemy dry while slowing down their preparations for war.

This tactic was indeed effective; it took Jiang Dingwen an extra half month to complete the stockpiling of supplies for the front lines.

In the past two weeks, thousands of people have been killed or wounded.

But at least they managed to deliver the food, ammunition, and supplies needed by 20 troops to the front lines.

As a result, the vanguard of the National Revolutionary Army began to accelerate its advance.

The Red Army launched a series of targeted ambushes and harassment campaigns!

Start by using piecemeal attacks to slowly bleed your opponent dry!

When Commander Chen was conducting military mobilization, he said something very vivid: "The Nationalist army is like a fat, strong fat man. If we rush up and fight them head-on, it is very likely that we will be the ones who fall."

But even the strongest person is afraid of having their blood drawn. We'll draw one tube from him today and another tube from him tomorrow.

Before long, he will have to go from fat to thin.

When the time comes, we'll go up and beat the dog when it's down.

The Nationalist army also realized this situation, and most of their multi-point attacks were actually feints, used to distract and divert the Red Army's attention.

They focused their main attack on the banks of the Minjiang River, preparing to mobilize heavy troops to recapture Zhanghuban, Youxikou and other places, reopen the Minjiang River waterway, and completely drive the Red Army's forces out of the Minjiang River area.

In this way, the Red Army's base areas could be divided in two, and then defeated one by one.

However, the plan was indeed very well-developed, and it was executed very well at the beginning.

The troops of the Minzhong Military Region, together with the local armed forces on both sides of the Minjiang River, totaled 20,000 men. They fought a protracted war with the Nationalist army in the mountainous and forested areas east of Yanping.

Liu Chouxi planned to rely on several strategic locations to launch layered attacks, followed by guerrilla raids from the flanks and rear. This combination of frontal blocking and delaying tactics with operations behind enemy lines would ultimately crush the Nationalist army's offensive.

However, on the third day of the battle, Commander Chen urgently ordered a halt to the fighting.

Upon receiving the order, Liu Chouxi, though unwilling, still gave the order for everyone to withdraw from the battle under the cover of night.

Post-war statistics showed that the Red Army suffered 1800 casualties, while the opposing Nationalist Army suffered approximately 2000 casualties.

However, the opposing Nationalist army had two corps, twice the number of troops. If the conflict continued, the situation would only become more unfavorable.

The Nationalist army only discovered after dawn that the Red Army had withdrawn from the battle, so they pretended to pursue them for a while.

Then they began reporting the victory to their superiors!

At the cost of 2000 casualties, our troops decisively defeated the main force of the Fujian-Central Red Army, annihilating more than 8000 enemy soldiers and seizing countless supplies. The remaining troops fled in panic and were completely routed.

Upon receiving the news, the principal was overjoyed. His envoy was almost there, and the news of a great victory was undoubtedly a very valuable bargaining chip!

If the battle goes smoothly, the main force of the National Revolutionary Army will then sweep across eastern and northern Fujian, which will inevitably force the Northern Anti-Japanese Vanguard to transfer troops southward to stabilize the situation in the rear.

In this way, Liu Zhi and Gu Zhutong's two armies could advance from the east and west, and annihilate the Red Army in one fell swoop.

Of course, the premise is that we wait until the negotiations are over before we start fighting!

Subsequently, the principal ordered that the participating troops be commended and that the entire army be notified to boost morale.

Commander Chen did not criticize Liu Chouxi for the initial defeat, because the battle had been approved by him.

He also wanted to see the true strength of the Nationalist army on the other side!

Then, he saw it clearly!

That's it?That's it!

Since you're not strong enough, don't blame me for being ruthless.

The 12th Red Army, which had already completed its assembly ahead of schedule, rushed south.

After Liu Chouxi's Fujian Independent Division withdrew from the battle, it rested briefly before continuing to resist along the Minjiang River, slowing down the enemy's advance.

However, the frequency of combat has decreased significantly this time, giving more flexibility in issuing mission orders to rank-and-file troops.

Their mission was to stall for a few more days until Ye Fei's 12th Red Army arrived, at which point the two armies would join forces and engage in a decisive battle with the main force of the Nationalist army in the Zhanghuban area.

At that point, it would be perfectly fair to have 4 against 4.

At least that's what Ye Fei thought, as he fiddled with his American-made M1911 pistol during the march!

Why should only the National Revolutionary Army have an equipment advantage? The wheel of fortune turns, and now it's our Red Army's turn.

Zhou Zeyuan naturally saw through the Nationalist army's ulterior motives, which regarded the troops in the Fujian-Zhejiang Soviet Area as a group of militia, thinking that they could pick on the weak.

He is also looking forward to this battle!

I wonder what kind of expression the Nationalist army would have when they were beaten up by what they thought was a bunch of militia?

Losing to the regular Red Army is nothing to be ashamed of, but losing to the militia or local forces is a huge loss of face!

Just as Zhou Zeyuan was waiting to see what would happen, his advance team headquarters received an uninvited guest.