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

"Brothers, the Red bandits over there are out of bullets! Charge forward! Kill one and get three silver dollars!" A Nationalist battalion commander leading the charge shouted loudly, but deliberately shielded the soldiers in front of him with his body.

Soon, the Nationalist troops rushed to within fifty meters of the position.

At this distance, for a regiment of over six hundred veterans, as long as it's not a moving target swaying left and right, they can basically hit one out of two or three shots.

Don't underestimate this hit rate; actual combat on the battlefield and shooting training are two completely different concepts.

Not only are there many interfering factors, but also, due to concerns about enemy fire, few people can remain completely focused when firing.

Zhang Qiming squatted in the trench, holding a well-maintained Hanyang rifle.

He had just aimed at the battalion commander hiding behind the soldiers, even just as the soldiers in front of him were shot dead, when he pulled the trigger. The gun jolted, and the battalion commander in the distance swayed violently, clutching his chest as he collapsed to the ground.

"Fifty meters!" Zhang Qiming pulled back the bolt, ejected the spent cartridge, and as a new bullet was chambered, he roared at the top of his lungs.

The roar was like a gate being suddenly pulled open.

In the trenches, the veterans, whose palms were sweating from waiting, peeked out from their hiding places almost simultaneously.

They quickly shouldered their rifles, pressed their cheeks against the cold barrels, and stared intently through the rudimentary sights at the increasingly clear yellow figures ahead.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A burst of gunfire, not particularly well-coordinated but exceptionally dense, suddenly erupted! The sound echoed through the valley, carrying a cold, metallic quality.

The dozens of Nationalist soldiers at the forefront seemed to be hit head-on by an invisible wall.

Some collapsed to the ground, some staggered backward, and some clutched their wounds, letting out short, agonizing screams. The vanguard of the charge was instantly shredded!

This is not over yet.

After the first volley of gunfire, before the smoke had even cleared, another group of soldiers in the trench, who considered themselves to be slower at reloading and preferred a more cautious approach to killing, pulled the trigger.

Their target was the enemy who had managed to dodge the first round of fire.

Scattered but precise shots rang out again. Several Nationalist soldiers who were a little slower to react or whose prone movements were not swift enough shuddered violently and never got up again.

In just over ten seconds, two well-paced volleys were fired.

The front of the Nationalist Army's assault column was cleared by nearly ten meters!

Twenty or thirty people lay sprawled on the ground, their groans and dying gasps mingling together.

The initial momentum of the charge seemed to have hit a brick wall, causing it to stall, and the morale of the entire team visibly declined.

This almost rigid, yet highly efficient and ruthless volley fire tactic is a "touchstone" that the 7th Red Army Division has discovered through countless battles.

Zhou Zeyuan called it a "modern simplified version of queuing up for executions." The purpose was simple: to test the quality of the enemy troops.

If a volley of bullets causes the enemy to collapse and scatter like birds and beasts, then they are third-rate. The battle can then be turned into a mopping-up phase. No matter how many people they have, just launch a counter-offensive.

If the enemy can withstand this blow and quickly regain their footing, they can at least be ranked as second-rate.

This indicates that the lower-ranking officers have a reasonable level of control, and the soldiers have a certain degree of discipline and fighting spirit, and are by no means a mob that will collapse at the first sign of trouble.

Looking at it now, the 45th Division, a motley crew of bandits, may have been tactically rigid and prone to underestimating the enemy and acting rashly, but they certainly didn't lack the bloodthirsty courage of a desperate outlaw.

After a brief period of chaos and panic, under the stern reprimands and even gunfire from officers in the rear, the remaining Nationalist soldiers quickly lay prone on the ground and reorganized their firepower by taking advantage of the undulating terrain.

Rifles and light machine guns began to return fire at a position, bullets whizzing as they hit the earthen mounds in front of the trenches, kicking up plumes of dust.

"Damn it, they actually held on." Zhang Qiming spat out a mouthful of dirt-covered saliva and retreated back into the trench.

"Attention, all companies! Alternate cover fire, staggered firing! Don't let them catch their breath! Machine gun teams, keep a close watch on their light machine guns and officers!"

The battle entered an even more brutal stalemate. Relying on their numerical advantage, the Nationalist troops attempted to surge forward wave after wave.

The 1st Regiment of the 7th Division, relying on its advantageous terrain and superior marksmanship, steadily wore down the enemy's manpower and charging momentum.

Of course, not all the soldiers in the regiment displayed bravery and fearlessness in this battle.

One of the recruits, seeing the enemy getting closer and closer, trembled with fear, closed his eyes, and was about to pull the trigger.

The veteran, quick as a flash, kicked the recruit in the backside, knocking him to the ground. "You spineless coward! Watch how I beat you!"

The veteran pulled the bolt, aimed, and fired. A Nationalist officer at the forefront fell to the ground.

The recruit got up, mimicking the veteran, stared intently at the enemy opposite him, and fired a shot with trembling hands. Although he missed, the fear seemed to lessen considerably.

Meanwhile, a sense of fear began to spread among the Nationalist army.

I thought they were just a small group of bandits, and that I could finish the fight by charging in.

After engaging in combat, they discovered that these were not bandits, but clearly the main force of the Red Army!

Seeing that the frontal assault was unsuccessful, Brigade Commander Chen ordered a flanking maneuver to the two hillsides.

Just then, the second and third regiments on both sides of the hillside opened fire.

The moment the gunshots rang out, they launched an armed maneuver toward the mountaintop, but to their surprise, they didn't encounter a single enemy.

Many soldiers cursed inwardly, thinking, "They don't even know how to send scouts to the high ground on both sides, they're nothing!"

The superior firepower from above was devastating to the Nationalist troops trapped in the valley. Grenades rained down, exploding in bursts of light among the crowd.

The Nationalist army's formation was instantly torn apart, and the soldiers scattered like headless flies, searching for cover.

"Retreat! Retreat!" Brigade Commander Chen finally realized that he had fallen into a trap set by the main force of the Red Army. This was not a guerrilla force at all; this was a regular army!

The Second Brigade abandoned hundreds of corpses and fled in disarray back the way they came.

Taking advantage of the situation, a regiment launched a counterattack, sounding the charge. Red Army soldiers, bayonets at the ready, swept across the hillsides like tigers descending a mountain, attacking the retreating enemy.

Along the way, stragglers of the Nationalist Army kept throwing away their weapons, kneeling by the roadside, and raising their hands in surrender.

If you look closely, you'll see that although the soldiers of the 7th Red Army Division charged fiercely, they did not spread out too much between each other, maintaining a relatively dispersed yet closely connected formation, ready to deal with enemy counterattacks or other unexpected situations at any time.

This was the result of Zhou Zeyuan's long-term training, but it was clearly superfluous to use it on this ragtag group of soldiers today.

Commander Chen had lost all courage and was only concerned with leading his remaining troops in a desperate escape, hoping to save their lives as long as they could get out of the valley.

However, when they reached the mouth of the valley, panting heavily, they were devastated to find that their escape route was completely blocked.

The First Division, led by Hu Tiantao, had already constructed a formidable defensive position at the mouth of the valley. The dark muzzles of guns were pointed at this group of frightened birds.

"Surrender and you will not be killed!" The shouts of the Red Army soldiers echoed through the valley.

Commander Chen looked around at the soldiers who were putting down their weapons one by one, and dejectedly threw away his sidearm.

The battle ended even faster than expected. An entire enemy brigade was swiftly and decisively wiped out.

Zhou Zeyuan walked down the hill and looked at the spoils scattered all over the ground: brand-new rifles, boxes of ammunition, and several mortars.

He turned to look at Su Yu, "Commander-in-Chief, well done."

Su Yu's eyes held a complex expression. "It's because your soldiers are good; they have strong execution capabilities."

He wasn't just flattering him; during the battle, he discovered that the regiment's fighting strength was extraordinary.

Marksmanship and execution are secondary; the key is his strong ability to survive. He strives for speed and efficiency in every shot, exposing only his head as much as possible to reduce the chance of being hit by the enemy.

During the charge, the formation was also carefully arranged, being both dispersed and subtly forming triangles.

This reduces enemy fire damage and facilitates mutual support.