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

Based on his experience, the Red Army was still fighting fiercely with friendly forces on the other side of the mountain, and there were no pursuers behind them at all.

Even if there are any, they would only be small groups that have infiltrated, and they are not worth worrying about at all.

"Damn it, I have no choice but to run. Everyone ahead of me has run away, and I'm the only one left here to die?"

As he thought this, he quickened his pace.

Hundreds of people surged to the city walls.

The Nationalist army commander guarding the city gate stood on the city wall, looking down at the dark mass of people below, and his mind went blank.

Don't open the door!

What if there were Red Army spies mixed in with these fleeing soldiers?

What if the Red Army comes chasing after them?

Once the city gates opened, the Red Army chased after them and stormed in, and the entire city of Ningde was completely destroyed.

"Set up your guns!" he ordered through gritted teeth.

On the city wall, the sound of several machine guns being cocked rang out, their dark muzzles pointed at their own people below.

"The commander has ordered! Everyone retreat to their positions immediately! Otherwise, you will be court-martialed!"

The routed soldiers were stunned.

They ran for miles, panting, until they reached the city gate, only to be met not with orders to open the gate, but with machine guns fired by their own men.

"Fuck you! I'm risking my life up front, and you guys are just sitting on the city walls enjoying the breeze! And now you're pointing guns at me?"

The insults grew louder and louder, like a snowball rolling downhill.

But machine gun bullets have no eyes. When the first volley of bullets hit the mud in front of the crowd, the fleeing soldiers still turned around and walked away, cursing.

After walking a few hundred meters, an old soldier suddenly stopped, slammed his rifle on the ground, and cursed, "Damn it! They actually pointed their guns at me! I'm done!"

That roar seemed to have opened some kind of floodgate.

Someone slammed their gun on the ground and roared, "Damn it! I used to be a mountain bandit, living the high life. I never had to put up with this scum!"

"Let's go! Let's become outlaws! There are hundreds of us brothers, where can't we find food?"

The crowd stirred, and the buzzing of discussion grew louder and louder.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Let's go join the Red Army!"

The entire room fell silent.

Everyone was stunned.

The wind blew through the crowd, carrying the muffled sound of cannons in the distance.

After a brief silence, someone jumped up and down, yelling, "Damn it! Who shouted that?!"

A bearded veteran stepped forward from the crowd and shouted, "I shouted! What's wrong?"

He turned around and faced everyone: "You bunch of brats really don't know what's good for you! There are Nationalist troops all around here."

"You want to join the outlaws? If you do, you'll be caught at any time and used as cannon fodder by machine guns! Listen to me, if you want to live, there's only one way: join the Red Army!"

Someone muttered under their breath, "Would the Red Army... want us?"

"Why wouldn't we want to?" Old Zhang with the big beard waved his hand. "I've heard that the Red Army is very disciplined and doesn't kill prisoners of war. If we don't like it, we can leave anytime. Why put up with this nonsense?"

"Besides, look at the Red Army's formation, the way they fired their artillery, the way they charged... They were the real force that fought tough battles. Isn't it better to follow a force like that than to follow those cowards?"

These words completely moved this ragtag group of soldiers.

Even if they stayed in the Nationalist army system, they would be bullied and would never see a chance to get ahead.

As a warlord force, even after being reorganized by the central government, their treatment did not improve much.

It was even worse than when they were independent warlords; delaying military pay and deducting allowances were commonplace.

Now that this has happened again, everyone is trying to survive and also to vent their anger.

I'll defect to the CCP!

……

When the Red Army troops broke through the continuous mountain range, they finally saw the outline of Ningde City in the distance.

At the same time, they saw a white flag raised in front of them, and more than four hundred people squatting under the white flag.

After taking these surrendered Nationalist soldiers into custody, the morale of the outflanking troops soared, and they continued their advance.

The intense gunfire finally reached Ningde City.

Inside the newly formed 10th Division's command post, chaos reigned.

The radio kept ringing, like a death knell.

The telephone operator, gripping the receiver in one hand and cranking the handle incessantly with the other, his voice hoarse from shouting, "Hello! Hello! 49th Division! 49th Division!"

The staff officer next to him, holding another telephone, shouted even louder than the telephone operator: "Hold on a little longer! Reinforcements are coming soon! Soon! Just hold on a little longer!"

Chen Qixuan sat at the table, holding the receiver tightly, his spittle almost spraying onto the telephone line:

"Hey, you surnamed He! You were such a braggart, weren't you? You said you'd hold out for three days! How come the Red Army was at the city gates in less than half a day? Are you a communist traitor? Confess!"

A furious voice came from the other end of the phone: "Bullshit! Listen to this! Listen to this! How fierce the Red Army's artillery fire is! If you think I'm not commanding well, how about we switch positions?"

"I told you so, if you don't send reinforcements soon, I'm not going to hold out! The main force of the Red Army is all on your side, you won't survive either!"

Just as Chen Qixuan was about to retort, his staff officer behind him suddenly shouted, "Commander! The south gate is under attack! If reinforcements aren't sent soon, the city will fall!"

Chen Qixuan whirled around, roaring, "Damn it! Are you trying to call me back? Can't you see I'm busy? A few more minutes won't make a difference! The other side is just a small Red Army unit. Tell the soldiers to hold them off!"

The staff officer, his face contorted with grief, nearly knelt down: "Commander, deserters have already appeared at the south gate. Rumors are flying everywhere in the city; some say the Red Army has already broken in, others say we're surrounded… If we don't send reinforcements soon, I'm afraid…"

"What are you afraid of!" Chen Qixuan slammed his fist on the table. "Notify the guard battalion! Get them in line! Anyone who tries to desert or undermine morale will be killed without exception!"

"Yes, Commander!" The staff officer felt as if he had been granted a pardon and ran off to relay the order.

Chen Qixuan had just turned his head back and hadn't even had a chance to speak to He Wending again when the telephone operator who had been shaking the phone next to him suddenly exclaimed with delight, "Commander! The 49th Division has been connected!"

Chen Qixuan's eyes lit up immediately, and he grabbed the receiver of another phone.

"Hey! Is this Brother Wu? Send reinforcements quickly! The Red Army's artillery fire is extremely fierce! We can't hold out much longer!"

A calm voice came from the other end of the microphone: "Commander Chen, are you sure that the force attacking you was indeed the main force of the Red Army? Falsely reporting military intelligence is punishable by a military court."

Chen Qixuan hurriedly said, "Absolutely right! The Red Army's main attack is right here! If you don't believe me, you can ask Deputy Division Commander He. He has over six thousand men on his side, but they were already in dire straits in less than half a day!"

"The Red Army was able to divide its forces to attack Ningde. Their strength was formidable, their artillery fire extremely fierce; they were definitely the main force of the 7th Army Corps! That famous 7th Division should be the main force of this attacking force!"