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

Dai Yunong felt as if he had been slapped in the face, and angrily retorted, "Commander Zhou, you're so confident. Do you think you know us better than we know ourselves?"

"Not quite." Zhou Zeyuan's lips curled into a cold smile. "But I could tell at a glance that you were deliberately concealing the number of prisoners and had no sincerity in negotiations."

Mr. Cai added insult to injury: "Minister Chen, is this really true?"

Chen Lifu's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and he hurriedly defended himself: "Absolutely not! What we have shown is all of it. There may be a few from remote prisons that we haven't had time to include in the statistics, but the difference won't be too big."

Zhou Zeyuan felt the time was right and revealed his true intentions: "Were the soldiers captured during the Central Red Army's westward expedition included in the statistics?"

This situation was like fighting monsters in a game; Zhou Zeyuan slowly whittled down the opponent's health bar until he finally saw the kill threshold.

This knife went straight for the heart!

Chen Lifu's face turned deathly pale instantly, devoid of any color.

He was aware of this situation, of course, but it was precisely what the principal forbade!

The principal could allow those underground party members whose identities had been exposed to be released, because intelligence personnel had a negligible impact on the army's combat effectiveness, and exchanging them for soldiers was a sure win.

However, these captured Red Army soldiers, especially those captured in the Xiangjiang Campaign, must never be released!

Releasing one back would strengthen the Red Army's fighting power; this is simply raising a tiger to cause future trouble!

But at this moment, he couldn't directly refute them, as that would be tantamount to admitting that they had no sincerity in negotiating.

Finally, he could only stammer, "These people... are under the jurisdiction of the Military Commission. As a government official, I really don't have specific data."

Fang Zhimin immediately seized the opportunity and replied, "Then this is Minister Chen's oversight. We can discuss the data later. Actually, we have a general understanding of the number of our captured soldiers."

"Let's discuss the exchange ratio first, and then Minister Chen can consult the Military Commission after the meeting."

Yu Qiubai also spoke up at the right time, giving the other party a way out: "That's right, soldiers exchange soldiers, officers exchange officers, it's quite fair in this respect, and the talks should go much more smoothly."

Chen Lifu slumped into his chair, knowing that he had completely lost this round.

Zhang Chong quickly suggested, "We can't make a decision on this matter for now; we need to consult the Military Commission. Let's end the negotiations here for today."

Zhou Zeyuan remained noncommittal, gesturing for him to proceed, but his words were sharp and sarcastic.

"We've only been talking for less than an hour and we have to reschedule? Sigh, this efficiency is really worrying. Minister Chen, please make things clear to your principal: we Red Army soldiers are not beggars, we can't be satisfied with just a few coins."

The moment the Kuomintang negotiators stepped out of the meeting room, the tense atmosphere inside vanished.

A cheerful atmosphere began to fill the air!

Mr. Cai took off his glasses, gently wiped the lenses, looked at Zhou Zeyuan, and sighed:

"When I was in school, I read in a book that 'Zhang Yi and Gongsun Yan could make the feudal lords tremble when they were angry, and bring peace to the world when they lived in peace.'"

"I always thought this was just an exaggeration by writers. How powerful can two mouths be? But after meeting Commander-in-Chief Zhou today, I realize that when Mencius wrote this article, he probably used a plain description."

"Hahahaha!" A burst of laughter erupted in the conference room and lasted for a long time.

The laughter not only reflected appreciation for Cai Gong's witty remarks, but also showed that everyone had been holding back their laughter for a long time.

Previously at the negotiating table, I watched Zhou Zeyuan turn black into white and still be so self-righteous.

The key point is that it seems some people on the Kuomintang side actually believe it.

To maintain the seriousness of the negotiations, everyone had been trying their best to restrain themselves, but now they could finally let loose.

Yu Qiubai laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, patting Zhou Zeyuan's shoulder as he joked:

"Give an inch and you'll take a mile; your tongue is silver! Lord Cai is right. The idiom about Zhang Yi, the strategist of the Warring States period, is perfectly suited to describe our Comrade Zhou!"

Zhou Zeyuan shrugged: "Comrade Qiubai, please stop praising me. I'll feel embarrassed in front of so many elders."

Everyone looked at him with disdain. You're the most shameless one here. You're not even embarrassed?

Fang Zhimin laughed for a while, then asked, "Zeyuan, do you think the Kuomintang might agree to your conditions?"

Zhou Zeyuan shrugged, his expression becoming slightly more serious: "This matter rests entirely on the principal's mind. But he wasn't there, so I can't read his expressions and make an accurate judgment."

Yu Qiubai waved his hand, comforting him, "There's no need to demand perfection. You've done enough. Even if you can only save one comrade in the end, it's still a huge victory."

……

Prisoner of war camp.

Dai Yunong followed behind a Red Army cadre, his eyes scanning the surroundings like a hawk's.

The level of security here was somewhat beyond his expectations.

The Red Army soldiers on duty appeared to be leaning casually against the wall, but whenever Dai Yunong, a stranger, walked by, their eyes would immediately light up with vigilance, following him like a shadow.

As he walked further in, the environment made him slightly alarmed.

The barracks were clean and tidy, and the grounds were even cleaner than most of the Nationalist army's barracks.

The air didn't have that stench typical of prisons; instead, it exuded an air of orderly energy and vitality.

If prisoner-of-war camps are like this, then military camps are even worse.

No wonder they were able to win so many battles; the Red Army really had something special!

"We've arrived." The Red Army cadre stopped and pointed to an open space ahead.

Through the barbed wire fence, Dai Yunong saw Xia Chuzhong, who was being let out for exercise.

This senior from the first class of the Whampoa Military Academy was surrounded by several young people, chatting and gazing at the distant mountains through the barbed wire fence, looking quite composed.

Dai Yunong said to the cadre beside him, "Can I speak with Commander Xia alone?"

The Red Army cadre was very generous, waving his hand and saying, "No problem, he'll be leaving in a couple of days anyway. But don't stay too long, they still have work to do later."

"That's natural."

Dai Yunong quickly walked over and called out, "Senior Xia! Senior Xia!"

Hearing someone call his name, Xia Chuzhong turned around and saw Dai Yunong in a Nationalist army uniform. He asked in confusion, "Who are you?"

They were indeed aware of each other's existence. Dai Yunong recognized Xia Chuzhong, but Xia Chuzhong had no time to deal with a spy like him.

Dai Yunong quickly moved closer: "It's me, I'm Dai Yunong from the sixth class of Huangpu Military Academy."

Xia Chuzhong was taken aback for a moment, then blurted out, "Oh, it's Director Dai... What, you've been arrested too?"

Upon hearing this, everyone present was stunned for a moment. Then, the Red Army cadre who had led the way suppressed his laughter and had to turn around and shrug his shoulders.

Xia Chuzhong was still looking at him with concern, as if this was the most likely thing to happen.