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

Le Shaohua was speechless for a moment.

Indeed, according to procedure, Zhou Zeyuan's personnel have not yet been formally assigned to the advance team.

I was careless. They should have announced the appointment first and waited for Zhou Zeyuan to receive the order before criticizing him.

Zhou Zeyuan didn't give him a chance to catch his breath and continued, "Even if I were to be incorporated into the vanguard, so what? When did revolutionary comrades start talking about hierarchy and rank? What is this called? This is bureaucracy, a typical bourgeois style."

As he spoke, he shook his head, "Political Commissar Le, your thinking is very dangerous."

"You!!!" Le Shaohua's temples throbbed with anger.

"Alright, alright." Zeng Hongyi finally couldn't sit still any longer. He put down the enamel mug, stood up with a smile, and adopted the demeanor of a friendly and amiable older brother. "Comrade Xiao Zhou, you can slowly raise any opinions you have. Don't just label people all the time."

Zhou Zeyuan glanced at him.

The feedback from the "Mindset Insight" is clear: Zeng Hongyi wasn't genuinely trying to mediate; he simply disliked conflict and wanted to quickly smooth things over. He didn't care who was right or wrong at all.

He turned his gaze back to Zeng Hongyi, who was, after all, a leader in their Fujian Military Region. There was no reason to confront him directly; it would set a bad example! So, he turned his attention to Le Shaohua and continued firing:

"Labeling? Which of my statements is about labeling? What did Lenin write in 'The Great Initiative'? The discipline of the proletarian party is the discipline of comrades, built on consciousness, trust, and shared ideals, not fear."

"The original words were: This discipline is the organizational discipline of trusting workers and poor peasants, the discipline of comrades, the discipline of great respect for people, and the discipline of giving full play to creativity and initiative in the struggle."

"Both of you studied in the Soviet Union; surely you haven't even read this passage from the authoritative newspaper? You disregard facts and revolutionary friendship, constantly invoking the Central Committee's authority. I ask you this: is this the behavior of a revolutionary?"

The room was deathly quiet. Of course, they had read this passage before; who says that reading it means you can memorize it?

In the past, they were the ones who used their influence to make grand pronouncements, but this time, faced with a tough challenge, they immediately became helpless.

Xun Huaizhou rubbed his temples, stood up, and tried to smooth things over. "We're all comrades, we're all comrades, stop arguing. Zeyuan, please sit down. The first item on the agenda for this meeting is to announce the personnel appointments from the Central Committee."

He took a telegram out of his pocket, unfolded it, and began to read.

"The Central Military Commission issued a telegram: The Fujian-West Independent Division shall be reorganized into the 7th Division of the 7th Army Corps of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, effective immediately. Zhou Zeyuan shall be the division commander, and Comrade Liu Shengmu, the director of the Political Department of the Army Corps, shall concurrently serve as the division political commissar."

Zhou Zeyuan's gaze immediately swept to a person in the corner of the room who hadn't said much.

Liu Shengmu, in his early thirties, was handsome and imposing. Compared to the others in the room, his presence was almost too striking.

Judging from his appearance alone, he looks more like a refined scholar than a political cadre deeply rooted in the grassroots.

"Oh my! Old Liu! I've heard so much about you!" Zhou Zeyuan's attitude was completely different from when he was with Le Shaohua. He was incredibly enthusiastic and quickly walked over, grabbed Liu Shengmu's hand and shook it.

"I've heard you're a very honest person. From now on, let's work together. Just say what you want to say; I'm very easy to talk to and get along with!"

Liu Shengmu: "..."

This was the first time he'd ever heard someone describe him as an honest person. Was this a warning? That if you weren't honest, you wouldn't survive?

He had only heard of the name "King of Death" before, and had occasionally met him at meetings, but they had never gotten to know each other well.

After witnessing what happened today, he felt a chill run down the back of his neck.

"Commander Zhou, you're too kind. I look forward to working with you in the future and will appreciate your guidance."

Taking advantage of the few seconds Zhou Zeyuan was quiet, Xun Huaizhou quickly steered the conversation back to business.

"Alright, the appointments have been read. Now, let's move on to the second item: discussing the preparations for departure. Zeyuan, you should have seen this on your way here..."

"I saw it." Zhou Zeyuan released Liu Shengmu's hand, his smile vanishing, and he immediately launched into a tirade: "Hundreds of loads of propaganda materials, Comrade Xun Huaizhou, tell me the truth, who came up with this idea?"

Hearing this blunt question, Xun Huaizhou looked embarrassed, but he was secretly overjoyed. This was exactly the kind of spirit he wanted!

As expected, Le Shaohua walked right into the line of fire, coldly taking over the conversation:

"This is a political mission assigned by the Central Committee. The Northern Expeditionary Force against Japan has 'anti-Japanese' as its core mission, and propaganda is one of our core tasks."

"These materials were rushed out by the Central Printing Plant. They include a total of 21 documents, such as 'A Letter to the People of the Whole Country,' 'A Letter to All People for the War of Resistance Against Japan and National Salvation,' and 'A Declaration in Support of the Red Army's Northern Expedition to Resist Japan.' Each one was approved by the Central Committee."

When Le Shaohua spoke these words, he stood ramrod straight, and his tone regained some of its confidence. After all, he was a veteran who had worked in politics for ten years, and he had enough confidence in his field.

Zhou Zeyuan didn't rush to refute, but instead asked a question that no one had expected.

"I have a question for Political Commissar Le. Are there more literate or illiterate people in the countryside?"

Le Shaohua frowned: "What do you mean?"

"The meaning is very simple. We've been traveling north all the way through mountainous areas and rural villages. No matter how beautifully these propaganda materials are printed in black and white, will the people understand them when they get to their hands? What's the use of something they can't understand? It's just waste paper."

"There's only one way to make these materials truly effective—capture the big cities. Cities have workers, students, intellectuals, and newspapers. Only by distributing propaganda materials in cities can they spread and have an impact."

Le Shaohua scoffed, "Of course we have to fight in the big cities. The advance team has missions along the way, passing through central Fujian and western Zhejiang. What's the contradiction between that and carrying propaganda materials?"

"This is a huge problem. Our entire Seventh Army Corps doesn't even have a single decent artillery piece. With this little resource, do you really think we can take down a major city through a frontal assault? Dream on. Our only chance is to be fast, to launch a surprise attack when the enemy is unprepared. Only then is there a sliver of hope."

"But when those hundreds of loads of propaganda materials were stuffed into the ranks, plus the logistical supplies, it exceeded five hundred loads. What does five hundred loads mean?"

"This means that the marching speed of the troops will be reduced by at least 30%. It means that the time it takes us to cross a mountain will be increased from half a day to a whole day. From western Fujian to central Fujian, there are more than a dozen mountains of varying sizes. The extra time is enough for the National Army to send two divisions to intercept us."

"Let alone guerrilla warfare or mobile warfare, if we get entangled by a Nationalist army unit along the way, we won't be able to move forward or shake off from behind, and we'll be in a dilemma. If another unit comes, it will be an encirclement, and the annihilation of the entire army is no joke."

The room was silent for several seconds.

Zeng Hongyi's hand trembled slightly as he put down the enamel mug. Although he didn't understand warfare, he understood the phrase "total annihilation."

Zhou Zeyuan's "Psychological Insights" accurately captured Zeng Hongyi's inner fears.

It wasn't the tension a man of courage would feel when facing danger, but rather a cowardly urge to run away.

Interesting. This commander-in-chief is much easier to handle than Le Shaohua. I'll have to give him a good scare a few more times when I get the chance.