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

For the next two days, the base remained calm and peaceful.

Apart from the occasional reconnaissance mission by Kuomintang planes, there was no sign of any Kuomintang troops coming to pursue them.

Occasionally, intelligence agents would bring news that the Nationalist army was proclaiming a great victory in Fuzhou, celebrating the Eastern Route Army's successful recapture of Fuzhou, and that the Red Army had fled north in disarray, abandoning its armor and weapons.

This became the most talked-about topic during the Red Army soldiers' tedious northward march.

Zhou Zeyuan even made up a joke: "Annihilate 100,000 enemies, and dominate Fuzhou! Never won a battle, but never lost a verbal battle!"

After everything was settled, the Northern Expeditionary Anti-Japanese Vanguard Team set up its leadership headquarters in Danyang Town, a location between Lianjiang and Luoyuan.

This is also the location of the newly established Mindong Special Committee's headquarters.

Upon hearing the news, the leaders of the Mindong base area and several local armed forces rushed to the scene.

Danyang Town, a tiny place, has been bustling with activity these past few days.

The special committee's office was located in an old ancestral hall at the east end of the town, and people were constantly coming and going from the entrance.

Some were in military uniforms, some were in civilian clothes, and some came in carrying guns to report.

Several local officials squatted by the threshold, smoking as they looked at the regular troops who had come from Fuzhou. Their eyes held a mixture of curiosity and a hint of inexplicable awe.

When Su Da, the former secretary of the Provisional Special Committee of Eastern Fujian, entered the ancestral hall, he bumped into Chen Shangrong coming out from inside.

The two looked at each other and were stunned for a moment.

Then Su Da laughed heartily, opened his arms, put his arm around Chen Shangrong's shoulder, and patted him hard.

"Old Chen! You're really lucky! Last time you were arrested, it just so happened that the Fujian Incident happened. Before they could even interrogate you, the incident broke out, and you managed to escape in the chaos."

"You got arrested again, and then your comrades liberated Fuzhou. I told you, with your luck, you could definitely make a fortune gambling on jade!"

Chen Shangrong was so tightly held by him that she almost choked. She tried to break free but couldn't, so she gave up. "You've been arrested just as many times as I have. You'd better watch yourself."

Zhou Zeyuan walked out from inside, leaned against the door frame, and crossed his arms.

"It's alright. From now on, you two will mainly be in charge of the base area. Even if you're going to die in glory, it will most likely be on the battlefield. It's better to be glorious on the battlefield than to go to jail."

Su Da released Chen Shangrong, turned around and saw Zhou Zeyuan. He looked him up and down, then exclaimed "Eh!"

"Isn't this Ozawa Haruka? He's grown so much!"

Zhou Zeyuan rolled his eyes.

Three years ago, when we were fighting as guerrillas in central Fujian, Su Da called him that countless times, and he just couldn't get rid of it.

Now he's at least a military commander, but in Su Da's mouth, he's still "Xiao Zeyuan".

Zhou Zeyuan held up one finger and said seriously, "Strictly speaking, you should call me Comrade Legion Commander. Also, I remember it's only been three years since we last met, have things changed that much?"

Su Da chuckled, not annoyed at all. He took two steps forward and looked Su Da up and down again.

"Yes, Comrade Corps Commander. I really didn't expect that back then, when we were chased all over the mountains by the Kuomintang reactionaries, you even lost one of your shoes and walked barefoot on the rocks, wincing in pain."

"Only three years have passed, and you have led a large army to defeat the Kuomintang reactionaries so thoroughly that they were running away in disarray."

Zhou Zeyuan felt several pairs of eyes staring at him from behind.

He didn't even need to turn around to know that the people in the Legion were watching with expressions of amusement, waiting to see how much more of his dark history could be dug up.

"Oh, right, the shoes." Zhou Zeyuan quickly changed the subject, turned around and walked back to his desk, took out a pair of cloth shoes with multi-layered soles from the drawer, "It's been a long time, I brought you a gift."

Su Da was taken aback, looked down at the cloth shoes, and waved his hands repeatedly.

"This won't do, this won't do..."

"Comrade Su Da, please accept it." Xun Huaizhou came out from the inner room at some point. His injuries had not fully healed, but his voice was full of energy.

"This is not a gift from Comrade Zeyuan personally, but a collective token of our appreciation from our Northern Expeditionary Anti-Japanese Vanguard Team to the comrades in the Eastern Fujian base area. We have prepared 30,000 pairs of cloth shoes, which will come in handy in our upcoming mobile warfare against the Nationalist army."

Su Da stopped refusing, reached out and took the cloth shoes, and immediately tore off the worn-out straw sandals on her feet and put on the new ones.

He stood up and stomped his feet hard on the ground twice, making a dull thud.

"Oh, that's great! Sutan, your regular army has arrived. We local comrades are relieved."

Le Shaohua, who had been sitting in the main seat without saying much, spoke up at this moment.

"Comrade Su Da, our army has arrived in eastern Fujian to help the local comrades develop their base areas and build up an armed force sufficient to protect themselves."

Zhou Zeyuan understood the implication: Le Shaohua was treating this place as a temporary rest stop and didn't intend to stay long.

He immediately replied, "Old Su, even brothers need to keep clear accounts. When it comes to developing military strength, we must prioritize the regular army. Don't take offense at this."

Suda waved his hand dismissively, saying, "What's there to be emotional about? The regular army is the fist, and we are the fingers. Only when the fist is strong can the fingers be powerful. I understand that principle."

Seeing Su Da's straightforward attitude, Le Shaohua pressed on, asking, "Comrade Su Da, our Northern Expeditionary Anti-Japanese Vanguard has suffered considerable losses and captured a great deal of spoils after a series of major battles, and we need to replenish our ranks. How many able-bodied men can the Eastern Fujian Special Committee mobilize to join the army?"

Suda thought for a moment, then held up one finger, and after thinking for a moment, added another.

"Twenty thousand."

The ancestral hall fell silent for a moment.

Several local county party secretaries, however, remained calm and composed.

But the expressions on the faces of the people at the legion headquarters changed.

Zhou Zeyuan chuckled inwardly, but showed no sign of it on his face.

He slammed his hand on the table, pointed at Su Da, and raised his voice several octaves.

"Comrade Suda, there's no joking in the army! If we really ask you for 20,000 men, you'd better not be unable to produce them!"

Suda was not intimidated by his slap and shout; instead, she straightened her chest.

"What do you mean by 'can't produce'? We have 20,000 registered members in our Red Army! And the farmers' associations and regional Party organizations in various places can also mobilize young men to join the army. And I'm being conservative with 20,000!"

He continued speaking, his tone carrying a pent-up energy that had been building up for a long time.

"The entire Min-Dong base area, including the guerrilla zones in various counties, had a total population of over one million. Previously, because the Nationalist army controlled key transportation routes and important counties and townships, our forces were dispersed."

"Everyone lacks guns and ammunition, and without the support of a regular army, it is difficult to break through this constraint. They can only fight on their own, guarding their own little piece of land, and no one can help anyone else."

"But now, with the arrival of the Northern Expeditionary Force to Fight the Japanese, the entire situation has been revitalized immediately."

Le Shaohua raised an eyebrow and said unhurriedly, "There's no need to conscript all 20,000 people. Recruiting 5,000 will be enough for now."

Zhou Zeyuan frowned.

"Five thousand? Comrade Political Commissar, you made a fortune in Fuzhou, why are you suddenly being so fussy?"

Le Shaohua's expression darkened slightly.

"What do you mean by that? I'm not against expanding the army, I'm just saying there's no need to try to get fat in one bite."

"Our current troop strength is more than enough to handle the current situation. If we recruit so many new soldiers, who will lead them? Who will train them? What will they eat? What will they use?"