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

He lightly tapped the table and rebuked sternly, "Comrade Zhou Zeyuan! Your battle plan, to put it nicely, is flexible and mobile; to put it bluntly, it's opportunistic! It's typical guerrilla tactics!"

"Our Red Army is a mighty force. When we conquer cities and seize territories, we must have the courage and determination to do so! Your hesitation and indecisiveness tarnish the Red Army's reputation! I think you lack the conviction to win and are being influenced by right-leaning conservative thinking!"

A barrage of hats was slapped down on him.

Zhou Zeyuan was already used to this and calmly retorted: "Political Commissar Le, fighting is not about acting out of spite, much less putting on a show. My approach is based on the optimal choice according to the balance of power between the enemy and ourselves, with the aim of achieving the strategic goal of moving north at the lowest possible cost."

"How can this be called speculation? If Political Commissar Le has a better plan, he might as well share it so that everyone can learn from it."

Le Shaohua, with his neck stiffened, indeed proposed a completely different solution:

"I believe we should adopt a strategy of primarily launching a frontal assault, supplemented by feints on the flanks! Concentrate all our mortar and heavy machine gun firepower, choose a relatively weak point in the county town's defenses, and launch a fierce attack!"

"After breaking through the breach, the main force quickly joined the battle, expanded the gains, and captured the county town in one fell swoop! This is the kind of fighting a main force should do! It's a lesson learned from the advanced experience of the Soviet Red Army!"

When this Soviet-style tactic of "artillery bombardment, infantry assault" was introduced, Zeng Hongyi was the first to jump up and object:

"Absolutely not! Political Commissar Le, this is reckless! According to the Central Committee's directives, we must head north as soon as possible and reach southern Anhui! Your plan of a direct assault will inevitably prolong the siege and cause huge casualties!"

"What about all those wounded? That will severely slow down our march! This completely contradicts the Central Committee's spirit of 'moving north as soon as possible'! I strongly oppose it! We should follow Comrade Zeyuan's plan!"

Xun Huaizhou immediately expressed his support: "I also support Comrade Zeyuan's plan. Political Commissar Le's plan is too idealistic and does not conform to our current reality."

Now, in the three-person leadership group, it's a two-to-one vote.

Zhou Zeyuan's subtle influence on Zeng Hongyi and his actions to isolate Le Shaohua came into play at this moment.

For his own safety, and for everyone's safety, and ultimately for his own safety, Zeng Hongyi did not hesitate to stand on the side of the more professional.

"If Political Commissar Le doesn't have any more practical suggestions, I think we should proceed with my plan."

"This siege is intended to be 'limited to the point'. I plan to draw two regiments each from the 7th, 2nd, and 3rd Red Army Divisions to participate in the front-line siege and feint attacks, with the remaining forces serving as the general reserve."

"If a favorable opportunity arises in the battle, we will decisively commit the entire army to capture the county town in one fell swoop; if no opportunity arises, we will withdraw in an orderly manner after dark according to plan. In this way, we can maintain pressure while controlling risks."

Le Shaohua was now in a difficult position. Looking at Zhou Zeyuan's calm and composed demeanor, as if he had everything under control, and thinking about how he had been repeatedly suppressed by Zhou Zeyuan and had his limelight stolen, a surge of anger rushed to his head.

He slammed his hand on the table: "Zhou Zeyuan! With your fighting style, constantly resorting to opportunism and deliberately preserving your strength, I see you in danger of sliding into a warlord mentality! The army must obey the Party's command, not any one person's private army!"

"I remind you that as the corps political commissar, I have the authority to participate in decision-making and offer opinions on military operations, and even, when necessary, the final say! I hope you will carefully consider your operational plan and not act unilaterally!"

The threat was palpable.

The air in the command center froze instantly, and everyone looked at Zhou Zeyuan.

In the past, when similar situations arose, everyone's attention was on the legion commander, but now, Zhou Zeyuan has gradually become "the last hope of the village".

As expected, Zhou Zeyuan remained unfazed.

"Political Commissar, your words are incoherent. Flexible tactics and adapting to local conditions—how do you equate that with warlordism? Is there any necessary logical connection between the two?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd before finally settling on Le Shaohua's somewhat stiff face:

"Let me give you an example. During the Soviet Civil War, the famous General Blyukher, or rather, General Galen, when commanding the Far Eastern Special Army Group, did not choose to confront the White Army, which had a numerical advantage."

Instead, they chose the northwest direction where the enemy's forces were relatively weak, and led their troops on a long-distance raid, covering more than 1,500 kilometers. They maneuvered and penetrated the enemy's lines, fought continuously, and finally annihilated seven enemy regiments. The size of their own troops also increased from less than a thousand men at the start to tens of thousands.

"Commissar Le, did General Blücher employ a strategy of avoiding the enemy's strength and striking their weakness, employing flexible and mobile tactics? Did he also preserve and develop his strength? According to your logic, does a proletarian revolutionary military strategist like General Blücher also exhibit warlord-like behavior?"

"..."

Le Shaohua's mouth was open, but it felt like a piece of red-hot coal was stuffed into his throat, and he couldn't utter a single word.

His face turned from red to white, then from white to green, and he wished he could slap himself on the spot.

I was careless! I was careless again!

How could he forget that this kid has an excellent understanding of Soviet military history and figures!

He used Lenin's words to shut himself up last time, and this time he brought up Blücher!

It's really strange. How could a native Red Army commander who never studied abroad know so much?!

Seeing Le Shaohua's extremely embarrassed appearance, Zeng Hongyi, fearing that another argument would delay the important matter, quickly stepped in to smooth things over:

"Alright, alright, it's all for the sake of revolutionary work. Discussing tactics is normal, so it's fine to have disagreements. Since Political Commissar Le... uh, doesn't object to Comrade Zeyuan's plan, then I think it's settled!"

"This time, we must learn from General Blücher's spirit and launch a brilliant mobile raid! This will both expand our forces and open up a passage northward! That's it! Huaizhou, immediately formulate a detailed battle plan, and all units must prepare immediately!"

Xun Huaizhou and Su Yu exchanged a glance, both seeing the smile in each other's eyes. In this round, Zhou Zeyuan delivered another beautiful finishing blow.

Le Shaohua slumped back into his chair, watching as everyone began to enthusiastically discuss the details of Zhou Zeyuan's proposal. He felt like a superfluous bystander.

That feeling of powerlessness and marginalization welled up in my heart again.

Soon, Su Yu made detailed additions and improvements to Zhou Zeyuan's rough plan, and a set of interlocking combat plans was thus created.

He astutely filled in a potential loophole in Zhou Zeyuan's plan: Datian was farther from Youxi County than Zhanghuban was.

If Lu Xingbang had realized the Red Army's true intentions the moment they marched north, and had decisively transferred the regiment from Zhanghuban back to the county town, the Red Army would have been unable to catch up no matter what.

At that time, the First Division's plan to besiege the town and attack reinforcements would become empty talk, and with an additional regiment, the defense of Youxi County would be more solid, making the attack much more difficult.

Therefore, Su Yu suggested implementing a "feint attack" tactic to confuse the enemy.

The First Division was instructed to send out a regiment or so of troops to march north through the eastern mountainous region in a grand manner, setting up numerous cooking fires and displaying many flags along the way to create the illusion that the main force of the Red Army intended to bypass this route and march north.