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

Wang Jingjiu gripped the microphone, now only showing a busy tone, his heart churning with turmoil. The Red Army's offensive was so swift and fierce! This style was completely unlike any Red Army force he had ever encountered before.

Just as he was lost in thought, a cold snort suddenly came from behind him.

The sound wasn't loud, but it was like a piece of ice hitting the floor, instantly freezing the air in the entire hall.

"Commander-in-Chief!" Wang Jingjiu turned around abruptly and snapped to attention, giving a military salute.

Jiang Dingwen was dressed in a dark yellow general's uniform, the stars on his epaulets gleaming coldly under the lamplight, his face so somber it could drip water.

He had just come from the next meeting room and happened to hear the last sentence, "Please tell your Jiang Dingwen to wash his neck and wait."

Word for word.

The staff officers all held their breath, not daring to utter a sound.

Jiang Dingwen walked to the table, picked up the still-warm telephone receiver, and slowly put it down.

"Wash your neck clean and wait for me..." he repeated in a low voice, then suddenly laughed. The laugh was chilling, like a knife slicing through ice.

"Well done, what a Red Army commander. In the entire Soviet area, among hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers, no one dared to say such a thing to me. A small force, deep in enemy territory, dares to shout that they can capture me, Jiang Dingwen, alive."

He raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a knife, sweeping over everyone present.

"Did you hear that? The Red bandits want to capture me, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army, alive in Fuzhou."

Wang Jingjiu straightened his chest and said loudly, "Rest assured, Commander! With me here, I will not allow the Red Army to cross the line even a single step!"

"I have ordered Liu Anqi's 261st Brigade to set off immediately, and Shen Fazhao's 259th Brigade to be transferred back from Quanzhou."

"I have arranged for the 518th Regiment of the 261st Brigade to deploy in advance along the line of Hongshan Bridge, Wufeng Mountain and Dafuling outside Fuzhou."

"This is an elite force that I personally trained. They are well-trained and have high morale. In addition, the defenses of Fuzhou are impregnable. Holding out for three days should not be a problem."

Jiang Dingwen glanced at him indifferently.

"Impregnable fortress? How did Datian fall? How did Youxi fall? How could Lu Xingbang's entire division not even hold out for a single day?"

The three consecutive questions left Wang Jingjiu sweating and speechless.

Jiang Dingwen turned around, walked to the large military map, and pointed sharply at the location of Fuzhou.

"Pass on the order."

His tone was chilling, yet carried an undeniable murderous intent.

"First, all units in Fuzhou shall be under the unified command of Wang Jingjiu, each performing its own duties and cooperating in combat. Anyone who retreats without authorization shall be dealt with according to military law; anyone who spreads rumors or undermines morale may be executed on the spot without authorization."

"Second, order the 261st Brigade to deploy to the city's defenses as quickly as possible upon arrival in Fuzhou; order Wu Chengren's 49th Division to immediately depart from its garrison in Hubei, enter Fujian by waterway, and move towards Fuzhou. Also order Liu Kan's 83rd Division to advance eastward from western Fujian to support the outer defenses of Fuzhou."

"Third, the entire air force will take off at dawn tomorrow to bomb the Red Army's positions and marching columns. We must not allow them to reach the city gates."

He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.

"Fourth, spread the Red Army's slogan throughout the entire city's garrison. Tell the brothers that the Red Army treats us like dirt and is shouting that they will capture Fuzhou and take Jiang Dingwen alive."

"As for you."

He looked at the staff officers in the command post, his tone becoming calmer.

"Find a reliable person and send a message to that Red Army commander. Say... I've washed his neck, but I've reserved his head."

……

After capturing Minhou County, Zhou Zeyuan barely had a moment to catch his breath before immediately dividing his troops.

Upon receiving the order, Hu Tiantao led 700 elite troops drawn from the First Division out of the city overnight.

Instead of taking the main road, they headed north into the mountains, making a large detour to reach the mountains north of Fuzhou. Their mission was a feint attack, but they had to create the appearance of a main offensive.

This step is the Achilles' heel of the entire plan.

Zhou Zeyuan knew very well that if Hu Tiantao couldn't deliver enough damage in the feint attack and deceive the enemy, then even if he managed to create an opening on the front, Wang Jingjiu could easily deploy troops to close the breach.

At that point, the siege would turn into the situation he least wanted to see—a stalemate.

Once the situation becomes tense, a war of attrition ensues. And once attrition is rampant, casualties will spiral out of control.

Casualties are precisely what Zhou Zeyuan is most sensitive about.

This commando team was the cream of the crop he had sifted from the very bones of the entire Seventh Red Army Corps.

These three thousand men are all veterans honed in real combat. They are not only the most formidable fighting force, but also the backbone of the entire unit.

The reason why those prisoners of war who had just surrendered and those greenhorns who were still adapting were able to follow the troops forward steadily was largely due to the presence of these veteran soldiers.

They acted like ballast, keeping the team in check and preventing those with ulterior motives from making any rash moves.

If these three thousand men are decimated or wiped out under the walls of Fuzhou, the Seventh Red Army Corps will be like a person whose spine has been removed.

No matter how many prisoners are captured or how many new recruits are added, this army will not be able to withstand a decent hard battle.

Therefore, Zhou Zeyuan had made up his mind from the very beginning: the battle must be fought, and Fuzhou City must be attacked, but the lives of these three thousand people must not be used to fill the city wall.

At this point, the effectiveness of a feint attack becomes apparent. Having an additional direction of attack can greatly tie down the enemy's forces.

In fact, not only was Hu Tiantao under immense pressure, but Zhou Zeyuan was also facing considerable difficulties.

The distance from Minhou to Fuzhou is only about 20 kilometers. Under normal circumstances, a new recruit could run the whole way in ten hours if he ran as fast as he could.

But the accounts cannot be calculated that way.

The Kuomintang built a series of strongholds along the river, like locks fastened to the road. Each stronghold had few people, a platoon at most.

But the positions were very tricky, all in dangerous areas on both sides of the road, with the machine gun muzzle pointing directly at the main road. If you didn't remove it, the team would just charge straight ahead.

The Nationalist soldiers inside those bunkers could then freely engage in a moving target practice, which was practically tantamount to disregarding human life.

Normally, even if a stronghold isn't defended with great effort, it's more than enough to hold off the enemy for an hour or two.

The Kuomintang had the same plan. They would take down dozens of strongholds along a stretch of dozens of miles, one by one. By the time the Red Army reached the outskirts of Fuzhou, it would take at least two or three days.

By then, the 261st Brigade had arrived, the reinforcements had established a firm foothold, and the city's defenses were now impregnable.

This plan wasn't wrong.

Logically speaking, that is indeed the case.

But Zhou Zeyuan is someone who doesn't fit into the usual logic.

To ensure the efficiency of the troops' operations, he personally went to the front line and checked each of the enemy's strongholds.

Upon reaching each fortress or outpost, Zhou Zeyuan didn't immediately order the machine gunners to set up their weapons. Instead, he signaled to his bodyguard to raise a tin megaphone and shout into the darkness opposite, "Hey! Listen up, brothers over there! We are the Red Army's Northern Expeditionary Anti-Japanese Vanguard! Get your leader out here and say something!"

After a while, someone from the opposite outpost finally spoke up, forcing a smile: "I'm in charge here! What do you want?"

For Zhou Zeyuan, as long as the commander on the other side responded, it was basically half the battle won.

He can use his keen hearing to pinpoint the location of the other person, combined with his emotional perception.

Was the commander filled with fear or anger? Excitement or greed? It was crystal clear.