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

(Thanks to the inspiration capsule from the Proud Bear Empire, I've been very inspired and will be adding an extra chapter today.)

This time, he used a tactic called spreading rumors.

In fact, rumors are very simple, and the tricks are very old-fashioned.

The point is to make the citizens of Fuzhou feel that everyone around them is helping the Red Army, and if you don't help, you might get reported!

If someone were mistaken for a spy for the Nationalist government, they would likely have to spend a few days in jail.

These rumors are mostly false, but at least for now, Fuzhou is still in the hands of the Red Army.

No matter how approachable the Red Army may have been, the fear that ordinary people had of the army as a violent machine was innate.

As a result, most of the people in Fuzhou voluntarily assisted with the transportation work.

In just two days, thousands of tons of various supplies and six thousand tons of grain were transported to Huanxi Town.

What does 6,000 tons of grain mean?

That's enough to feed an army of 30,000 men and horses for more than half a year.

Zhou Zeyuan once again demonstrated his expertise, converting 1500 prisoners into soldiers and recruiting 3,000 new recruits in Fuzhou, including more than 800 young students.

Now, the number of troops in the Northern Expeditionary Anti-Japanese Vanguard Team exceeded 16000.

If we also include the troops that joined up with those in eastern Fujian, this amount of food should be enough to last for a year.

If all this grain can be transported back to the base area, the Seventh Red Army Corps can usher in an unprecedented large-scale expansion.

After the grain was transported out of Fuzhou...

Zhou Zeyuan used his second tactic: a generous reward will surely attract brave men.

One silver dollar a day, paid on the spot, including three meals a day. If you help the Red Army transport supplies northward for a while, you will be paid on the spot, with no delays.

This salary level was considered to have broken through the ceiling in the manual labor industry at that time.

Moreover, it's paid immediately and includes three meals a day.

Now, the able-bodied young men who had been transporting grain to Huanxi Town, thinking that since they were already there, might as well make another trip, joined the transportation army.

Little did they know, once they reached the next destination, Zhou Zeyuan would increase their wages by another 50%, and add fish and meat to their meals...

These honest laborers had never seen the tricks of "ruthless capitalists" before; they were always right.

Soon, the central government's order came down, and as expected, it fully approved Zhou Zeyuan's military requests.

Surprisingly, or rather, to Zhou Zeyuan's displeasure, Le Shaohua was appointed by the Central Committee as the Secretary of the Mindong Special Committee.

In other words, the only difference between the legion commander and the legion political commissar was their division of labor in the revolution; the only difference was that the political commissar had the final decision-making power.

This move secured the Central Committee's endorsement of Le Shaohua's position as the top leader of the Mindong base area.

Although Zhou Zeyuan was still in charge of the military affairs of the Northern Expeditionary Anti-Japanese Vanguard Team, he had to obtain Le Shaohua's consent before he could come up with any ideas for building base areas.

Fortunately, this guy is currently engrossed in his military production plan, searching and purchasing equipment everywhere, and hasn't caused any trouble yet.

But this also made Zhou Zeyuan feel a sense of urgency; he absolutely had to have this leader's position.

The construction of the base area must be carried out according to his will.

Le Shaohua could not tolerate being bullied, so it seemed he needed to start planning ahead for the upcoming battle for dominance.

Lao Le, it's not that I want to mess with you, but I have no choice. Disputes over policy directions have always been like this.

During the transport, it was only after Su Yu reminded him that Zhou Zeyuan belatedly realized that there was a Lianjiang County on the roadside, which was too much of an eyesore.

At this point, part of the army had already withdrawn, and he easily captured the county town.

Little did he know that his actions confirmed Wang Yaowu's suspicions.

The fact that they didn't attack earlier or later, but only launched their attack when a portion of their troops were retreating north, proves that they had insufficient manpower beforehand.

However, Wang Yaowu, who had just arrived in Fuzhou, found himself in a predicament very similar to that of Zhou Zeyuan—his biggest enemy was his own people!

Ultimately, Wang Yaowu is just a brigade commander now; compared to Jiang Dingwen, he's nothing more than a lowly karami.

Without Jiang Dingwen's approval, he couldn't mobilize a single soldier.

This is where the importance of emotional intelligence comes into play.

In the same situation, if it were Su Yu and Xun Huaizhou, they would be completely helpless.

What can you do if the boss, who has the final say, is conservative and stubborn?

However, Wang Yaowu managed to find a compromise: instead of launching a full-scale counter-offensive, he opted for a feint attack and sent a detachment to bypass the northern mountains and attack Huanxi Town.

Destroy the enemy's logistics base!

If we win this battle, everyone will be overjoyed.

Even if we lose and a detachment is lost, but we have demonstrated the strength of our army, then it is still an honorable defeat.

Jiang Dingwen was quite interested in this claim of a show of force.

He was criticized by Peanuts for his poor command and cowardice in battle, and now he needs a victory to prove himself.

After the resolution was passed, the operation was scheduled for the evening of the following day.

This is a surprise attack, and we must not allow the Red Army to prepare in advance.

The Nationalist army considered that the people in Fuzhou were mostly troublemakers, and that if they were to move out during the day, they would definitely not be able to hide it from these people.

The operation can only be scheduled for nighttime.

The tone of this battle is then quite clear: a nighttime mountain raid.

If this battle plan were in the hands of other generals in the National Revolutionary Army, they would probably have already backed down.

Wang Yaowu, however, had a reverse mindset. He believed that the more this was the case, the less vigilant the Red Army would be.

Jiang Dingwen craved a victory to solidify his position, and Wang Yaowu was no different, hoping to pave the way for his advancement with a victory.

No more words, let's gamble, all in!

The following evening, at the temporary command post.

Chen Sheng rushed in, "Commander, we've found out the designation of the Nationalist army unit that just arrived in Fuzhou from Zhejiang. It's the First Supplementary Brigade, and the brigade commander is Wang Yaowu."

Zhou Zeyuan paused for a moment.

A very subtle light flashed in his eyes.

It's hard to say whether it's excitement, vigilance, or both.

"Alright, alright. What a small world."

Chen Sheng was stunned for a moment.

He had followed the legion commander for so long, and he had seen him curse and deceive people, but he had rarely seen him show such an expression.

It's like... like a hunter finally finding prey worth hunting.

"Commander, do you... have an old grudge against this Wang Yaowu?"

Zhou Zeyuan shook his head. "No, but it should be available soon."

"Tell all units that this First Supplementary Brigade is no ordinary unit." He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the staff officers in the tent.

"The Nationalist Army selected its most capable personnel and generals to form this unit, but used the designation of a supplementary brigade, which was clearly intended to lull us into a false sense of security."

"Pass on my order: treat this enemy force as the most elite and ace division of the National Revolutionary Army. Anyone who underestimates them will face my wrath."

Chen Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and he stood at attention, replying, "Yes!"

He turned to leave, but Zhou Zeyuan called him back.

"Also, have the reconnaissance company keep a close eye on their every move. Wang Yaowu isn't the type to stay quietly in the port sunbathing."

Chen Sheng nodded, lifted the curtain, and went out.

The tent was quiet for a moment.

"Wang Yaowu..." Zhou Zeyuan murmured unconsciously, Huaiyu Mountain, Xun Huaizhou!

Dying at the hands of the enemy is not humiliating, but to have one's grave dug up and one's head chopped off after death is intolerable!

Whenever he thought of this scene, an inexplicable anger would surge up in his heart, as if a thorn had been stuck in his chest.

I just don't know if we'll have a chance to cut this thorn out this time!