In the intelligence He Rui provided to Cheng Ruofan, the Bolshevik Central Committee believed that the workers' and peasants' revolution in Poland was at a high tide, making it an opportune time for the Red Army to attack Poland. Cheng Ruofan knew nothing about the situation in Poland and could not clarify the domestic situation there, yet he intuitively felt that things would not be so simple.

After pondering for a moment, Cheng Ruofan thought of a question. "Chairman, hasn't Poland only been independent for a few years? If they can identify with the Russian Red Army, how could they organize an army of hundreds of thousands?"

This was indeed a good question. He Rui also felt that the Bolshevik Central Committee's view of the world was somewhat naive. Intense social contradictions within Poland did not mean that the Polish people could simply discard their nationalist sentiments. The terrible things Russia had done to Poland over the past few centuries were too numerous to record. If one were to ask the Polish people at this time whether they hated their own capitalists more or the Russians more, the majority of Poles would undoubtedly hate the Russians more.

So He Rui raised a question, "Ruofan, do you think it is necessary for us to send a telegram to Comrade Lenin to remind him?"

Cheng Ruofan was quite puzzled. "Why be so proactive?"

He Rui just had a somewhat impulsive thought and hadn't deliberated on it specifically. If he had to find a reason, it was probably to express goodwill. After all, China and Russia would need to cooperate in the future. Having raised this line of thought, He Rui shared his reasoning with Cheng Ruofan.

Cheng Ruofan thought for a moment and answered decisively, "If that's the case, it would be better to publish it directly in major European newspapers. Let the whole world see the Chairman's insight and boldness. At the very least, publish it in domestic newspapers. However... Chairman, publishing such a prediction—if the judgment is wrong, people will laugh at us."

He Rui was not afraid of being laughed at; at this moment, he found Cheng Ruofan's suggestion very interesting. If it were published domestically, given the number of European and American reporters currently in China, as well as the existence of the Bolshevik government's representative office, Comrade Lenin would likely see it very quickly.

Having made the decision, He Rui immediately picked up his pen and began to write. Seeing that He Rui hadn't asked him to leave, Cheng Ruofan was in no hurry to go. Taking a notebook from his briefcase, Cheng Ruofan prepared for his own work. The recent exchange with the German General Staff personnel had given Cheng Ruofan more feelings about the current organizational form of the Northeast Army, and it was a good time to organize these thoughts.

The commentary article was not long. Before Cheng Ruofan had written down a few of his own reflections, He Rui had finished writing. After reading He Rui's article, Cheng Ruofan was somewhat surprised. "Chairman, will the Bolshevik government really care about such an article?"

"Why do you think they won't care?" He Rui smiled.

Cheng Ruofan really couldn't understand He Rui's thinking. "Chairman, these are things even a child can figure out. The Bolshevik government managed to win the Russian Civil War, after all; it's impossible for them not to understand even this."

He Rui shook his head. "I think some of them really haven't figured it out, or at least are unwilling to accept it."

Just as expected, as soon as the article was published in the *Northeast Daily*, the Bolshevik government's representative office in Shenyang immediately noticed it and promptly forwarded the article to Moscow.

Comrade Lenin looked at He Rui's article, his expression turning grim.

"...Therefore, in this Russo-Polish War, the Red Army will certainly carry all before it in the beginning. If the Red Army can recognize that its advantage lies in its familiarity with Poland's geography and the combat effectiveness forged during the civil war, and uses this power carefully and cautiously, there is a high probability of defeating the Polish government and forcing it to make concessions.

"If the Russian Red Army believes that its victory lies in the revolutionary high tide of the Polish proletariat, this is very unserious. *A people without trust cannot stand*; the Polish people believe that the Russian Red Army's military actions are no different from the invaders of Tsarist Russia. Such an impression has been accumulated over hundreds of years. Whatever thoughts the Russian Bolshevik Central Committee may have, they will not affect the views of the Polish people.

"Without the support of the Polish people, the Russian Red Army is likely to suffer a major defeat in the short term, thereby completely losing the goodwill of the Polish proletariat toward the Russian Revolution..."

Originally, Comrade Lenin thought that He Rui had considerable goodwill toward the Bolshevik government, and was even quite supportive. Seeing this article, that goodwill instantly vanished.

Standing up, Comrade Lenin began to pace the office with his hands behind his back. He Rui's books, works, and past statements flashed through Comrade Lenin's mind one by one. In the end, Comrade Lenin had to categorize He Rui as a nationalist following the path of bourgeois reformism.

Before long, Commissar Trotsky arrived at Comrade Lenin's office. The representative office had sent He Rui's article to the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs, which then distributed it to the Central Committee members. With the outbreak of the Russo-Polish War, Tukhachevsky served as the commander and Stalin as the Front Commissar. Both were away from Moscow. As the creator of the Red Army, Trotsky was very sensitive to military-related content. After reading it, he was truly angered.

Trotsky handed a copy of the article directly to Lenin and said immediately, "Comrade Lenin, He Rui is demonstrating against us! His attitude is opposed to ideological interests and opposed to advancing the world proletarian revolution!"

Lenin was not surprised that such a label was pinned on He Rui, because he thought so too. The series of victories after the October Revolution had led the Bolshevik Central Committee to believe that ideologically driven military struggle was very effective. The Red Army had become strong quickly through political work and had defeated the White Army, which possessed total superiority.

To believe that nationalist sentiment could overwhelm the proletarian revolution was undoubtedly reactionary, backward, and even decadent. He Rui, this decadent and backward warlord, had finally revealed his tail as a bourgeois reformist.

However, Comrade Lenin did not make an intense statement like Trotsky. China was different from Poland; although Russia had conducted extensive infiltration into China, the results were very limited. Russian influence in the Northeast had been wiped clean by He Rui within a few years, and it was currently impossible to effectively influence He Rui.

Comrade Lenin calmed down completely at this point. "Comrade Trotsky, to what extent can the logistical work for this Red Army operation be carried out?"

Trotsky was in charge of this work. He recalled slightly and replied, "Comrade Lenin, for this operation, the logistics department has provided nearly 100,000 horse-drawn carts for logistical supply. The Red Army's logistical work has never been this complete."

100,000 horse-drawn carts provided a heavy logistical transport capacity for the current Red Army, but Lenin was still somewhat worried. "Can the supply of materials be guaranteed?"

Trotsky was agitated. Compared to the needs of the civil war, the logistics for this war were unprecedentedly powerful. The Russian Red Army had grown from nothing to its current scale in just a few years. Trotsky was very confident. "Please rest assured, Comrade Lenin, we will definitely ensure that the Red Army comrades on the front line eat the best food and have an ample supply of ammunition!"

In the civil war up to this point, besides establishing the commissar system, Trotsky had been quite daring in distributing funds for logistics. previously, although the troops had money, prices fluctuated greatly under war conditions, and the money was never enough.

After three years of civil war, the Bolshevik government had completed the management of cities and industries, and material supplies had increased significantly. Since Trotsky was so confident, Comrade Lenin felt much more at ease.

The displeasure caused by He Rui's article had been thrown to the back of his mind. The views of a foreign reactionary warlord were not important to Comrade Lenin.

He Rui also believed that the Bolshevik Central Committee would not care about his views. However, if intelligence matters were not utilized in a timely manner, they would expire and become invalid. To make an imprecise analogy, this was like the money in the hands of an investment bank. If the project managers invested at a loss, it was a problem affecting KPIs. But if the investment managers held onto the money for fear of loss, it was a problem of being fired. So He Rui also put this matter completely out of his mind. The paper exercise for the war against Japan began.

The exercise headquarters was divided between two floors. To ensure discipline, guards were placed between the floors, strictly prohibiting personnel movement.

He Rui's side consisted of ordinary staff officers. Originally, the exercise headquarters prepared to let He Rui choose his people, but He Rui ordered, "Since you're letting me choose, I only want ordinary staff officers."

For a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward. He Rui smiled and said, "I'm not looking down on anyone. An exercise is not play-acting; it's best not to presuppose the opponent's personality. Everyone knows each other too well. On the contrary, ordinary staff officers often do the unexpected. I'm actually taking a big advantage; you all need to be careful."

Xu Chengfeng and the others didn't quite believe He Rui's words, yet they didn't dare to truly disbelieve them. In this mood of anxiety about personal gains and losses, the exercise began.

With the issuance of the exercise order, not long after, the 'reconnaissance unit' confirmed that two divisions of the 'Japanese Army' had begun to cross the Yalu River and started their attack on the Northeast.

The 'Japanese Army' commanded by He Rui acted very rashly, but such rashness was also the swiftest. The opening move put the Northeast Army under immense pressure. Since every step of the exercise had time requirements, Chief of Staff Cheng Ruofan's view was to block layer by layer and guide the Japanese Army into the frontal defense line.

Xu Chengfeng had a different view. He believed that since the 'Japanese Army' was so arrogant, it was best to deal them a fierce blow and knock out their spirit. He advocated launching a battle to strike the 'Japanese Army' while they were halfway across the river.

The commander and the chief of staff had conflicting opinions. Fortunately, apart from He Rui, the members of the Military Commission were all together. Finally, the Military Commission made a decision together. Xu Chengfeng, Zheng Silang, and Hu Xiushan all agreed to strike the Japanese Army hard, while Zhong Yifu agreed with Chief of Staff Cheng Ruofan's view of dragging the Japanese Army to the permanent fortifications before fighting. 3 to 2. The headquarters made the decision, and the exercise immediately entered a 'state of fierce battle'. Six infantry divisions of the Northeast Army began to fiercely attack the two Japanese divisions.

Facing superior forces, the Japanese Army commanded by He Rui did not defend to the death but instead launched fierce attacks at the junctions of the Northeast Army's positions. This was also the combat experience of the Japanese regarding the Chinese army: once the Japanese army broke through at one point, they would immediately outflank, and the Chinese army would often collapse as a whole.

The Northeast Army was an army completed with new concepts. It did not collapse after suffering such fierce attacks. Instead, it immediately counter-encircled the assault troops.

The slaughter on both sides was extremely tragic. The 'Japanese Army' sent troops to break through several times but failed. Seeing that the elite of the 'Japanese Army' commanded by He Rui were being wiped out, the six divisions immediately launched a siege.

However, He Rui relied on the Yalu River to establish a defensive system and even transported heavy artillery via the river. The Northeast Army's six divisions looked as if they were about to annihilate the Japanese Army, but they couldn't take them down.

After several rounds of fierce attacks, just as the Japanese Army within the Northeast borders was about to be annihilated, the Japanese reinforcements arrived. As a last resort, the six divisions retreated, while the Japanese Army followed the Northeast Army unhurriedly, 'watching' the Northeast Army enter their positions.

The first phase of the battle ended.

Cheng Ruofan's face was grim, and he didn't say a word. Xu Chengfeng and Zheng Silang looked equally grim. The two of them didn't speak either, plunging the headquarters into a very awkward atmosphere.

Zhong Yifu broke the silence. "I want to say something..."

Xu Chengfeng raised his hand to stop Zhong Yifu. "No need to say anything, my decision was wrong! I'll talk about my wrong decision at the analysis meeting. Now, prepare for the next battle!"

Hearing this, the division commanders and division chiefs of staff were all surprised. No one expected Xu Chengfeng to admit his mistake so frankly.

In the new silence, Cheng Ruofan spoke up. "Opposite us, commanding the Japanese Army is the Chairman. So far, he has not used the intelligence he knows. We must be careful; we must never think that the Chairman will take action because he knows the intelligence."

Xu Chengfeng frowned slightly, then nodded. "That's right. We are conducting an exercise, not acting in a play! The goal of the second phase is that we absolutely must not let the Japanese Army break through our defense line!"

However, since the 'Japanese Army' had discovered the permanent fortifications, their actions were naturally much more cautious. The exercise troops soon received notification from the exercise command that the Japanese Army had launched a large number of probing attacks.

Although the attacks all ultimately failed, the purpose of the probing attacks was to test the range of the Northeast Army's fortifications. The 'Japanese Army' paid a small price to figure out that the fortifications were distributed along the Yalu River, blocking the road for the Japanese Army to invade the Northeast hinterland in large numbers through the Yalu River front.

These permanent fortifications were divided into two parts: one part along the Yalu River and the other at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula. They were to defend against the Japanese Army invading the Northeast from the Yalu River and the Kwantung Leased Territory at the southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula, respectively.

Having figured this out, the 'Japanese Army' immediately switched combat methods and began to implement landings on the Liaodong Peninsula with the cooperation of the navy.

Xu Chengfeng and the others had long calculated this, and they had also prepared troops in places suitable for landing, ready to push the landing Japanese Army into the sea. Everyone waited nervously for the news sent by the exercise command. Soon, news came one after another. The Japanese Army actually did not implement a concentrated landing but used a small-scale landing method, landing in dozens of places. After coming ashore, the landing troops immediately attacked forward and continuously converged.

Because the number of Japanese troops was small, as long as the Japanese troops near the Northeast Army's deployment points were completely annihilated. But the remaining Japanese troops continued to gather, and soon a brigade-sized force was assembled on the west coast of the Liaodong Peninsula facing the Bohai Sea. This Japanese force advanced directly eastward, seizing a landing point on the coast facing the Yellow Sea. Since the Japanese Army held total maritime superiority, once the landing point was determined, the 'Japanese Army' came ashore continuously from the landing point.

The Northeast Army blocking the Kwantung Leased Territory saw that they were about to fall into a situation of being attacked from both front and rear, and had to retreat. The 'Japanese Army' from both sides joined forces and began to attack the Yalu River defense line.

Battles were fought one after another. The Northeast did not have particularly high mountains or rivers, and the flat terrain was very favorable for the deployment of large troops.

In the exercise setting, the Northeast Army had 500,000 men. The Japanese Army had a maximum strength of 25 divisions, also around 400,000 men.

Xu Chengfeng and the others originally thought He Rui would commit the Japanese Army in batches, but they didn't expect He Rui to send all the 'Japanese Army' onto the battlefield in one go. The two armies, with similar numbers, fought fiercely all the way, and both suffered heavy losses. However, the Northeast Army was driven out of the Liaodong Peninsula, and the Japanese Army completely secured logistical support.

The Northeast Army fought a fierce battle with the Japanese Army on the Yalu River defense line. At this time, Xu Chengfeng and Cheng Ruofan had a disagreement again. Xu Chengfeng believed that they could not retreat any further; if they lost the Yalu River defense line, they would not be able to organize effective combat. Cheng Ruofan believed they had to pull the Japanese Army and launch a counterattack.

This time it was 3 to 2 again. However, those supporting Xu Chengfeng became Zhong Yifu and Zheng Silang, while Hu Xiushan, who supported Xu Chengfeng last time, supported Cheng Ruofan.

Finally, Xu Chengfeng made a compromise decision, letting Cheng Ruofan command the troops to implement a pocket formation counterattack, while some troops held fast to the Yalu River defense line to pose a threat to the Japanese Army's flank.

Opposite them, the 'Japanese Army' commanded by He Rui actually left only a small number of troops to pin down the Northeast Army on the Yalu River defense line, while the main force launched a fierce attack toward Shenyang.

Under the extremely fierce attack, the troops commanded by Cheng Ruofan suffered repeated setbacks and had to launch a counterattack in an incomplete manner.

When the exercise headquarters determined that the counterattack had completely surrounded three Japanese divisions, many division commanders and division chiefs of staff breathed a sigh of relief. But Xu Chengfeng and the others looked even more serious; this was not a good thing. Cheng Ruofan, helpless, could only order the siege to be lifted, letting the three Japanese divisions that had fallen into the pocket go.

Just as the besieging troops were withdrawn here, the Japanese troops on both flanks headed straight for Shenyang. If the siege were not lifted in time, the Japanese Army would unfold a center-blossoming counter-encirclement with an even larger encirclement circle.

Thus, the tragic Defense of Shenyang began.

With the exercise reaching this point, Zhong Yifu sighed. "Should we admit defeat? Continuing the exercise is just a waste of time. We didn't start this war to fight it like this."

Xu Chengfeng didn't want to admit defeat, but hearing the last sentence, he looked at Chief of Staff Cheng Ruofan. Cheng Ruofan had a look of unwillingness on his face; he slammed his fist onto the table in the exercise hall, his handsome face full of murderous intent. Zhong Yifu thought Cheng Ruofan would refuse to admit defeat and wanted to persuade him further. Before he could speak, Cheng Ruofan said, "Admit defeat. Ask the Chairman to review the game."

Less than twenty minutes later, He Rui had walked into the Northeast Army exercise headquarters upstairs. having not seen him for two days, and with everyone working nervously on the exercise, everyone's face was very exhausted.

He Rui scanned the comrades whose faces were ashen, and then asked, "Your judgment of the Japanese Army's arrogance is far more arrogant than the Japanese Army itself. Why is that?"

Cheng Ruofan's eyes lit up, and the faces of Xu Chengfeng and the others immediately brightened. Once this layer of window paper was pierced, the reason for the original feeling was found.

Cheng Ruofan answered immediately, "Report to the Chairman, we underestimated the Japanese Army. Can we conduct the exercise again after resting for a night?"

He Rui nodded. "In that case, rest well. If you are dizzy, you won't be able to fight a war well."