"Father, the trend of the world is set. Those who try to stop the chariot of history like a mantis will inevitably be crushed into powder. Within twenty years, agricultural farming that relies on human and animal power will become a lifestyle persisted in by only a small minority of farmers. Landlords and gentry who depend on this mode of production will no longer have a foundation for survival. Listen to my advice: go home and distribute the land to the landless villagers."

Xu Chengfeng's father was dumbstruck, looking at his son as if he were a patient with a brain disease.

Facing such a father, Xu Chengfeng had thought he would feel fear or find it troublesome. However, when he truly articulated the future China he was expected from the perspective of the development of productive forces—a future he was dedicating his all to realizing through war—Xu Chengfeng found that not only did he have no anxiety or fear, but he was filled with confidence and determination.

A mood that could almost be called joy overflowed in Xu Chengfeng's heart, making him suddenly realize that he was currently in a state of high spirits.

With this mood, Xu Chengfeng decided to be even more blunt. "Father, if you insist on going back to sell the land, once the land is sold, take my younger brothers and sisters abroad. Let them study overseas. That is also a very good choice."

Old Master Xu listened to his son speaking with such assurance, his shock turning into bafflement. After an unknown amount of time, the bafflement suddenly transformed into rage. He rushed forward, wanting to thrash this unfilial son.

But seeing the sturdy guard beside Xu Chengfeng, Old Master Xu did not act on his impulse. Moreover, Old Master Xu intuitively felt that his son had already made up his mind.

This caused sorrow to rise from within Old Master Xu. He pointed at Xu Chengfeng and cursed, "The Xu family has engaged in farming and studying since the Kangxi era. You want me to ruin the family patrimony accumulated over seven generations! If you are still a human being, how can you say such things!"

Xu Chengfeng felt some apology in his heart. If possible, he did not want to make his father so angry. But he had no choice. As preparations for the war against Japan were implemented step by step, Xu Chengfeng's confidence in victory was constantly rising.

The reason for fighting a tragic war with Japan was not that He Rui had any interest in tragic wars. To liberate China as quickly as possible, end the war, and let China enter a period of peaceful construction, this battle had to be fought first.

As long as Japan was rendered unable to intervene in China's liberation war, the subsequent domestic liberation war would inevitably be swift and brutal. Over the years, Xu Chengfeng had tried to find a gentler path to establish a New China while destroying as little of the old society as possible. But no matter how many times he deduced it, he could not find such a path.

The current China, from its production model to its social organization, was a purely agricultural country. The fate of an agricultural country facing an industrial country had been proven by countless bloody facts in the sixty years since the Self-Strengthening Movement.

The confidence of the Northeast's upper echelon in defeating the Japanese Army relied on an industrialized Northeast rebuilt after thoroughly smashing the old system. Xu Chengfeng simply could not find a reason to preserve the old system in his hometown of Zhoukou, Henan, after liberating China.

Even if it broke his father's heart, Xu Chengfeng could not accept such a possibility. So Xu Chengfeng calmly faced his father's angry curses. "Father, since our family has been studying since the Qianlong era, now that we have reached a critical juncture deciding the rise or fall of the nation, how can you forget the country and only think of our own family's peace? At this moment, should we not seek benevolence and gain it, turning back for nothing?"

"You..." Old Master Xu wanted to curse his son, but something choked his throat. Because the old man could see that the son in front of him was not using sophistry; he was speaking his true feelings. And his son's gaze was something Old Master Xu had never seen before—it was the gaze peculiar to great men. Old Master Xu's grandfather had been a *Jinshi* scholar; in his youth, Old Master Xu had been familiar with such gazes. Before these people spoke their thoughts, they had long since made an unshakable resolve. If the resolve of the son before him were not to scatter the Xu family fortune, Old Master Xu might have been very happy.

Suddenly, Old Master Xu felt weak all over and sat directly on the ground. Tears burst from his eyes as he wailed in sorrow, "A misfortune for the family! A misfortune for the family! Xu Chengfeng, you... will you have the face to see our ancestors after you die?"

Xu Chengfeng had the guards help his old father away, his dejected heart containing a sense of relief. That the inevitable conflict had erupted now was the best outcome Xu Chengfeng could think of.

Spending some time to calm his mood, Xu Chengfeng resumed his work. Although it was unlikely that the Soviet Red Army would suddenly attack the Northeast at this time, tactical preparations were mandatory. If the Soviet Red Army saw an opportunity, heaven knew if they would do something foolish.

Even if the Soviet Red Army had clear thinking, letting Japan see the Northeast Army being negligent in response would only give the Japanese Army some delusions they shouldn't have.

When he threw himself into work, Xu Chengfeng soon forgot everything. On the map in the headquarters, the small flags and numbers along the long border line represented thousands upon thousands of troops.

Under He Rui's tutelage, Xu Chengfeng had come to understand that the so-called "million-strong army" referred to troops executing military missions on the front line. Behind this million-strong army, at least two million conscripted recruits had completed military training, ready to be integrated at any time into units withdrawing from the front, or even to replenish the units fighting fiercely on the front line in emergencies.

The miniature General Staff sent by Germany had only stayed in the Northeast for three months, but in those three months, the upper echelons of the Northeast Army had confirmed that the German General Staff operated the German Army in exactly this way.

The German Army displayed astonishing strength in the tragic European war, relying on Germany's powerful industrial capacity. Behind the three million frontline and reserve troops in the future war lay the more than thirty million people of the entire Northeast. From the moment He Rui arrived in the Northeast, he had been building the Northeast Government and the Northeast Army with such a scale of war as the goal.

Finally understanding what kind of war he was dedicating himself to, Xu Chengfeng felt that his family's meager assets were insignificant and completely unworthy of wasting his precious time.

If anything was more valuable than this war, it was the future where China would return to the peak of the world after total liberation.

It was not just Xu Chengfeng; the high-ranking officials of the Northeast Government and the Northeast Army shared the same thoughts. Everyone was doing their best to complete their work, preparing to witness the destruction of Kolchak and the subsequent temporary stabilization of the Far East situation.

In late September, the vanguard of the White Guard began to move north. The division commander leading the troops was Major General Pavlov. There were not many people seeing them off in Vladivostok. Standing in the most prominent position were the Orthodox bishop and priests, wearing their vestments and praying loudly, "Lord, please bless God's warriors to defeat those atheist Red Bandits..."

Apart from the priests praying with great effort, only some women walked out of the wooden houses. They held no flowers to wish for victory in their hands, but handkerchiefs to wipe their tears.

Major General Pavlov did not see his wife and daughter, although the General had instructed them not to come to see him off. But when he truly set out for the battle line, the Major General regretted it. Initially, he worried that seeing his wife and daughter would shake his resolve to fight to the death, but before rushing to the battlefield, the Major General realized he was wrong.

If he was destined to die on the battlefield, why couldn't he look at his wife and daughter one last time?

But until the Major General left Vladivostok, he did not see their figures. When the troops boarded the train, the Major General looked back once more. Women were weeping, children were weeping, and the soldiers in the army were also weeping.

His Excellency the Major General had once fought fiercely with the Soviet Red Army near Moscow but fell short of success. After experiencing a series of defeats, he finally fled to Vladivostok. This was already the last base of the White Russian Army. The purpose of going north this time was to seize key points before winter, buying time for the great counteroffensive next year.

Turning his head back, the Major General finally stopped considering any lingering attachments. If there was anything more terrible than losing one's family, it was losing Russia—letting those vicious mud-legged Red Bandits become the masters of Russia.

After the White Russian troops departed, He Rui received the news. The Military Commission was disappointed that they couldn't send observers; only by seeing the combat effectiveness of the White and Red armies with their own eyes could they know the enemies they might face in the future.

He Rui didn't care. The advantage of the Soviet Red Army lay in its ability to arm an army of tens of millions and exchange blows one-on-one with Germany. As for the violent aesthetic elements in Soviet military equipment, it proved the Soviet talent for system integration. But that was all.

Moreover, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the subsequent Russian Federation returned to the feeling of Czarist Russia. As far as He Rui knew, even in 2018, the Russian military high command submitted a report on the 1992 Gulf War as if presenting a treasure, analyzing US tactics and expressing Russia's profound agreement with "informationized warfare."

What hope could one have for such a country?

Although He Rui did not subscribe to the idea of national character, the sedimentation of national culture did exist. Regarding the collapse of the Soviet Union, there was a very harsh comment: "The demise of the Soviet Union is the collapse of 'Barbarian regimes do not last a century'." This statement was indeed harsh, but it described a certain fact and truth.

Spending effort caring about this was less useful than taking this opportunity to verify the Northeast's total mobilization system.

So He Rui issued an order: "The troops deployed in the second line are to begin comprehensive military exercises."

He Rui's order was quickly executed in the army. After all, the judgment had been made that fighting the Red or White Army was a low-probability event, so the troops placed on the front line were new recruit units. A large part of these soldiers were conscripts with half a year of service. Apart from military training, they were made to experience long-distance marching drills.

The true core field units were troops who had been conscripted at least twice. In every village in the Northeast, water conservancy maintenance was carried out during the farming off-season. The village militia had to concentrate in the towns to be responsible for the safety of the water conservancy projects. And every village had to have at least two people serve as conscripts, joining the county troops. After completing military training, they would conduct various field drills within a range of a hundred or even several hundred *li* from their homes.

Although only four people from each village participated in the draft each year, these people were not repeated. The number of soldiers who had participated in two drafts already exceeded 500,000.

Excluding soldiers identified as unqualified, the Northeast indeed had 300,000 troops with sufficient training experience that could be mobilized.

As a member of the second-line troops, Gao Shitou moved through the plains of the Northeast with his unit. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. The unit immediately halted. The reconnaissance unit moved forward under cover towards the direction of the gunshot, while the squad leaders tried hard to judge the location where the gun was fired.

Gao Shitou knew this was a military exercise; he had participated in such training after being conscripted for the second time. The opposing unit was playing the role of the Japanese Army, using Japanese weapons.

Hearing the gunshot, Gao Shitou had already pinpointed the sound and looked towards the five o'clock direction relative to the line of march. But the reaction of the squad leader and the combat group leader was a bit slower. However, the squad leader and other combat backbones had already directed the troops to crouch down, ready to receive orders at any time.

At this moment, the messenger sent by the platoon leader shouted, "The enemy is at the 5 o'clock direction! First Squad, follow the Platoon Leader to outflank the enemy from the south. Seize the high ground and be ready to engage the Japanese outflanking force at any time."

Hearing the order, the squad leader stood up and shouted loudly, "Comrades, drop packs, carry weapons, move out."

Gao Shitou and his comrades had already pulled the rifles from their packs; they immediately piled their packs together and began to advance with the squad leader.

The so-called high ground was just a small hillock. When the troops reached the side of the hillock, they didn't charge up immediately. The troops paused, and the reconnaissance unit pushed forward. Gao Shitou and his comrades watched as a squad's worth of troops groped their way up the hillock. Just as they reached the bottom, gunshots rang out from the top.

A comrade beside Gao Shitou said anxiously, "Why are there people up there?"

Hearing this, Gao Shitou wasn't anxious. In the exercise, let alone every high ground, every gully, including a small grove or a few dilapidated houses, could be a position set up by the Japanese Army.

Facing such a situation, what Gao Shitou had learned was how to judge how the Japanese positions were deployed.

This had to be determined based on the scale of the Japanese force, to figure out exactly how many rifles and machine guns this group of Japanese had, and whether it was possible for them to receive artillery support from the Japanese behind them. Or even whether this Japanese unit carried artillery.

So every battle was not a simple fight, but a battle of wits and courage. Gao Shitou had made wrong judgments many times, but he still didn't want to give up. He very much wanted to make the correct judgment and then achieve victory together with his comrades.

At this time, the platoon leader's order came down. "Judge that the defenders are a Japanese squad. While the unit's mortars provide suppressive fire, First Squad goes east, pay attention to striking the Japanese machine gunners. If the Japanese machine gun is deployed on the west side of the high ground, First Squad will launch an attack."

After listening to the order, Gao Shitou looked at the high ground in front of him and already understood the reason for the arrangement.

Under the simulated Japanese rifle fire, First Squad passed through the terrain and approached the high ground occupied by the Japanese. Suddenly, the sound of machine-gun fire rang out from the west. This was the sound of blanks, very different from live ammunition. But Gao Shitou had no mind to dwell on this; he was already prepared, just waiting for the squad leader to order the attack. However, the squad leader was pricking up his ears to listen, making Gao Shitou anxious. He couldn't help but shout, "Squad Leader, the machine gun position isn't facing us, let's go up quickly!"

The squad leader was already anxious about making a judgment and felt nervous. Hearing this, he still wasn't too clear on the Japanese machine gun deployment. Just as he wanted to listen again, he heard Gao Shitou urging him again and couldn't help cursing, "If you shut your mouth and don't make a sound, will it suffocate you!"

Gao Shitou frowned, feeling that this squad leader was really useless; he couldn't even distinguish such simple movement.

Fortunately, the deputy squad leader supported Gao Shitou's judgment and said, "Squad Leader, the machine gun is deployed in the west. Let's set off."

The squad leader wanted to confirm once more, but the gunfire stopped. There was no way to judge anymore. Not long after, the platoon leader ran over personally and asked loudly, "Why didn't you attack?"

The squad leader immediately wilted and hurriedly explained, "Platoon Leader, I didn't hear clearly. Can we do it again?"

The platoon leader stomped his foot in anger. "Go back and practice more."

Seeing the squad leader's appearance, Gao Shitou felt very vindicated. Once the platoon leader left, the squad leader lowered his head with a dark face. When he looked up, he shouted at Gao Shitou, "Next time speak up earlier, don't talk while the guns are firing. I didn't hear clearly this time because you caused a delay."

A surge of anger rose in Gao Shitou. He didn't hear clearly himself, so how could he blame the person who did? But the other guy was the squad leader after all, so Gao Shitou had no choice. He could only turn his head away and stay silent.

As a result, the squad leader wouldn't let it go and shouted, "Did you hear me!"

The deputy squad leader hurriedly smoothed things over. "Forget it, Stone, just say yes."

Gao Shitou could only hold back his anger and responded.

The next day, during the summary meeting, after the platoon leader finished speaking about tactical points, he called up the First Squad Leader. "I want to ask you, First Squad Leader, what does it mean that you shouldn't talk while listening to gunshots?"

The First Squad Leader was stunned, and his gaze immediately turned to Gao Shitou and the others. However, the platoon leader gave the First Squad Leader no chance. "Not hearing clearly is nothing, but as a squad leader, you absolutely must not push the matter onto others. If everyone did this, wouldn't it mean that if I didn't figure something out, I could say you ruined things!"

The First Squad Leader hurriedly smiled apologetically and replied, "Platoon Leader, if you blame me, I'll take responsibility."

Gao Shitou was very disdainful of these words but didn't want to cause trouble. After all, he still had to serve under him. But the platoon leader did not let the First Squad Leader off because of these soft words. The platoon leader's expression became angry. "First Squad Leader, I order you now: you are immediately relieved of your duties. Report to the Personnel Department. The reason is that you have no willingness to take responsibility. Go now!"

Gao Shitou was stunned. Gao Shitou was naturally happy to see the First Squad Leader's end. But he really hadn't expected such a severe punishment.

There were many things Gao Shitou hadn't expected. For example, the issue of internal struggle was not unique to this one platoon in the Northeast Army.

In Moscow, the defeated Bolshevik Red Army was also undergoing an internal debate.

Pilsudski ordered an attack on Kiev on April 12, 1920, starting a military action to demand "lands occupied by Russia" from Soviet Russia. This greatly offended the patriotism of Soviet Russia and equally damaged the passion and yearning for "World Revolution" held by almost all leaders of Soviet Russia. How could Poland, regarded by Soviet Russian leaders as the "Red Bridge" for the world revolution, become a "thoroughfare" against Soviet Russia? Thus, Polish patriotism collided with Soviet Russian patriotism.

On April 29, the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) issued a proclamation calling on workers, peasants, and "respected citizens of Russia" to rise up and defend the Soviet Republic. The traditional Russian patriotism that Lenin had criticized, and the concept of Russia itself, were viewed by the Soviet regime for the first time as weapons to win the war against Poland. Moreover, under this banner of Russian patriotism, what was to be achieved was not merely victory in the war against Poland.