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

He closed the list. "However, I hope you'll provide genuine products. After all, we're offering them at this price."

The foreigner took the cigar out of his mouth, spread his hands, and made a sincere gesture:

"The quality is absolutely fine. You know we foreigners are the most greedy. We want to make even more money later. If there's a problem with this shipment, how will we do the next order?"

Old Zhang was amused by these words, and the guerrillas next to him couldn't help but laugh out loud as well.

Old Zhang turned around and glared at them, and the guerrillas quickly shut their mouths.

"Alright then, let's unload the goods."

At his call, the sailors in the cabin began to get busy.

Boxes of goods, tightly wrapped in tarpaulins, were lifted from the cargo hold by booms and placed steadily on the deck.

The guerrillas took the ropes, carefully tied the crates together, and then slowly lowered them down.

The people on the small boat below caught the cargo boxes, stacked them on the bottom of the boat, and then covered them with tarpaulins.

The entire process was quiet and orderly, with box after box of rifles, machine guns, and ammunition being handed over in the darkness of night.

About an hour later, all the cargo, weighing over ten tons, was loaded onto the fishing boat.

The foreigner stood by the ship's railing, looking at the two heavy wooden crates on the deck—neatly stacked with silver dollars.

He patted the box with satisfaction and nodded to Old Zhang: "Captain Zhang, it's been a pleasure doing business with you. Contact me by radio for the next shipment."

Old Zhang cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and said, "Have a safe journey."

The foreigner grinned and turned to walk towards the cockpit.

A moment later, the cargo ship's engines emitted a deep roar, and the ship headed towards the open sea.

The wake at the stern gleamed silvery-white in the moonlight, gradually disappearing into the night.

The next day, because Xiao Zhong's mouth was intermittently unreserved.

They are extremely tight-lipped when necessary.

You couldn't get any secrets out of him.

They are very loose-lipped when it's not needed, or perhaps when it is.

As a result, the events that unfolded at the legion headquarters last night quickly spread throughout the entire base area.

Sympathy is one thing, but politics is politics.

When it's time to reap the rewards, Zhou Zeyuan will show no mercy.

He wanted everyone to know who was really in charge of the Seventh Red Army.

Zeng Hongyi and Le Shaohua remained the commanders-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Force against Japanese Aggression and the secretaries of the special committees of the base areas.

Their positions and powers have not changed much.

But he lost something very important for a leader—authority!

The chain reaction from this incident was that several political commissars, including Liu Shengmu, came to Zhou Zeyuan's office to report on their work.

At noon, Xun Huaizhou, Su Yu, and Su Da walked side by side to the door of Zhou Zeyuan's office and ran into Liu Shengmu, who was being seen out by Zhou Zeyuan.

Liu Shengmu had a file tucked under his arm, pondering the new tactics Zhou Zeyuan had taught him.

He looked up and saw the three of them, and paused slightly in his steps.

Their eyes met, and a hint of awkwardness just began to rise.

Zhou Zeyuan immediately smoothed things over: "Director Liu, regarding the ideological work with the prisoners, we'll proceed as I previously suggested. This matter must be taken very seriously and cannot be taken lightly."

Liu Shengmu immediately nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll take care of it right away."

After speaking, she nodded slightly to Xun Huaizhou and the others, and hurriedly left the awkward place.

Su Da watched Liu Shengmu walk away before turning back to glance at Zhou Zeyuan's desk, which was piled high with documents, and clicked his tongue.

"Your place is practically a vegetable market. Even Comrade Huaizhou, the real legion commander, isn't this busy."

Xun Huaizhou, completely oblivious to anything amiss, leaned back in his chair with a smile:

"I'm not like him, doing everything myself. Back in Fuzhou, this kid only slept four hours a day at most, and even after we got to the base, he only managed six hours. If I followed his example, I'd be bedridden again in less than three months."

After everyone sat down, Zhou Zeyuan took a sip of tea and explained, "We are currently in a period of power transition, and people's hearts are unsettled. I am using this relatively gentle approach to establish my authority."

"Once things stabilize, I'll appoint a few leaders to oversee these tasks and delegate the specific responsibilities, leaving me only with oversight duties."

Su Yu's gaze lingered on Zhou Zeyuan's face for a moment before she suddenly said, "Zeyuan, I feel you've changed. You would never let those who offended you in the past get away with it."

"I remember you once said that of the four prime ministers of Qin, you respected Shang Yang the most and liked Fan Sui the most. A true man repays a debt of gratitude for a single meal and avenges a petty grudge!"

Zhou Zeyuan smiled and said, "If it were someone else, they would definitely say something like that that they've grown up. But I wouldn't. I've never changed."

"I do harbor resentment towards those two. But now I'm managing a valuable family business, and I'm counting on it to grow bigger and bigger so I can support my teacher in the future. Let this personal grudge go with the wind."

Suda sat to the side, watching these three talented and virtuous young people.

Xun Huaizhou is upright yet flexible, Su Yu is calm, perceptive, and meticulous, and Zhou Zeyuan is far-sighted yet adheres to his bottom line.

These three individuals have gradually grown into pillars of the Red Army.

At least for now, the most outstanding young members of the National Revolutionary Army are far inferior to those of the Red Army.

Overwhelmed with excitement, he couldn't help but slap his thigh: "Great! Absolutely great!"

Zhou Zeyuan turned to look at him: "Old Su, what do you mean by 'this is really good'?"

Suda chuckled and shrugged, "What 'really good' means is...really good!"

Zhou Zeyuan was defeated by his nonsensical literary statement.

There were practically no peers who could put him in a bad position, and not many elders either; Su Da was one of them.

There was no other way; when I first arrived in central Fujian, I was unfamiliar with the place and the people.

Thanks to Lao Su for giving him directions, he was able to evade the Kuomintang's pursuit and gain a foothold in the area.

He always remembered this favor.

It's definitely not because of any dark history.

He doesn't care about any of that; those are just scars from growing up.

"Alright, enough of the small talk. The three of you coming together must be for something important, right?"

Su Yu took out several neatly folded sheets of paper from her pocket and handed them over: "An important intelligence report has been sent from the Central Committee, but its accuracy has not been verified."

"The comrades from the newly rebuilt Fuzhou Central Municipal Committee happened to obtain some scattered information from the Japanese resident area. After verifying the information, we felt that the intelligence was highly credible, so we came to you for analysis."

Zhou Zeyuan took it, glanced at it, and a playful smile appeared on his lips: "Interesting. Actually, this kind of information that is verified from multiple sources is often very reliable. It seems that our 'Mr. Niang Xipi' has been quite overwhelmed lately."

As he spoke, he stood up and walked to the map of eastern Fujian hanging on the wall.

On the map, the entire area stretching from southern Ningde to northern Fuzhou, spanning over a hundred miles, is painted in dark red.

This is a core base area with a clearly defined main force for defense.