The position excavation was complete. Gao Shitou originally thought Chairman He Rui would just take a look, but he didn't expect Chairman He to jump into the trench and start measuring with a tape measure. Gao Shitou felt his heart beat faster; Chairman He was an expert. If there was any cutting corners, the ruler would confirm it immediately.

But Gao Shitou wasn't afraid. The length of the entrenching shovel was fixed; one didn't need a ruler. Just by comparing it with the shovel, one would know if the depth was truly up to standard.

After He Rui finished measuring the trenches, finding all depths perfectly qualified and the layout quite reasonable, he jumped out of the trench and walked past the troops lined up for inspection. The young men were all in high spirits, their faces flushed red from the heavy physical labor, looking full of vitality.

He Rui shouted, "Hello, comrades."

The officers and soldiers answered in unison, "Hello, Chief."

"Comrades, you've worked hard."

"Serve the people!"

The response was neat and fluent, showing the troops were well-trained. He Rui shook hands with the officers and soldiers one by one, asking the grassroots soldiers some questions.

Gao Shitou had heard that Chairman He was a military strategist, but he hadn't expected him not to be the kind of high-and-mighty big shot from his imagination. Just the movement of getting in and out of the trench was practiced enough to be envious of. And during the inspection, his gestures revealed vigorous movements. If He Rui personally led Gao Shitou to fight, Gao Shitou would feel very at ease.

When He Rui walked in front of Gao Shitou, Gao Shitou grasped He Rui's hand, feeling that the palm was warm, dry, strong, and powerful. Such a hand holding a rifle would definitely achieve good results.

While he was excited, he heard He Rui ask, "How many times have you been drafted?"

Gao Shitou quickly replied, "Report to the Chairman, this is the third time!"

"Where is your home?"

"Tieling."

"How many times did you participate in water conservancy facility construction at home?"

Gao Shitou quickly recalled, but wasn't quite sure. Building water conservancy projects happened every year. Villagers not only had to participate in the village's water conservancy construction but also from the town to the village, and the county to the town. He couldn't remember exactly how many times.

However, at this moment, he couldn't stay silent, so he answered based on his impression, "...Report, probably about ten times."

He thought Chairman He would ask for details, but he didn't expect He Rui to praise, "Everyone has worked hard repairing water conservancy. Work hard, and live a good life as soon as possible."

Gao Shitou felt his heart warm up. Repairing water conservancy was indeed hard work, but after it was done, the farmers weren't so afraid of the heavens. This year there was a severe drought, but it only exhausted the water in the nearby reservoirs, and the crop harvest was still at least eighty percent of last year's. If it were in the past, the crops would likely have failed completely.

After the rain and snow later this year, the small reservoirs would fill up again. The weather was like this; after a severe drought, the weather next year would be favorable, and it would definitely be a good harvest again.

Ending the exchange with the officers and soldiers, He Rui also obtained a lot of news. The water conservancy projects were going well, especially this drought, which greatly increased the trust of these soldiers of peasant origin in water conservancy projects.

Accompanied by the Army Commander and others, He Rui went straight to the headquarters. On the way, the Army Commander asked a question, "Chairman, will the Japanese army use 120mm direct-fire guns in large quantities?"

"If the Japanese army wants to win, they will use all their firepower. I also hope the Japanese army doesn't use heavy artillery, but the Japanese army really wants to win."

The expressions of the Army Commander and other senior officers inevitably became grave. The Army Commander sighed, "If that's the case, the field fortifications must be strengthened."

He Rui could understand the Army Commander's worry. Electroslag remelting technology wasn't anything extraordinary as long as one knew the formula. The power plant in Shanghai in 1910 used turbo-generator technology, which was already relatively advanced technical equipment in the world. There was no generation gap in power generation technology.

However, electroslag remelting required a massive amount of electricity. To provide such huge energy, a large number of reliable power plants needed to be built. Organizing industrial manufacturing and production on such a scale was the real difficulty.

Just like in the 21st century, everyone said Chinese products had low technological content. This statement was already wrong. China's heavy industry could produce massive amounts of cheap raw materials; heavy industry itself was one of the few high-tech sectors in the world.

As for mass production and the ability to sell it, that was a world-class capability. If it were in the 21st century, with ubiquitous electroslag remelting equipment, easily found hydraulic presses of several thousand tons, and numerous high-pressure equipment factories providing pressures higher than artillery chamber pressure, it would be easy to assemble factories and production lines to produce 120mm artillery.

Even now, knowing the technical direction and process, He Rui barely scraped together such a production line.

The only problem was that the production line scraped together in a short time indeed cost He Rui a huge amount of fiscal revenue.

Arriving at the headquarters, the technical department responsible for inspecting fortification construction reported to He Rui on the fortification test under 120mm artillery bombardment.

He Rui didn't say anything after listening. Seeing the comrades looking a bit anxious, He Rui smiled, "My train of thought wandered a bit. I was considering that such a battle would be a phase of the overall campaign. Please forgive me, comrades. Organize a live-fire drill; I'll take a look too."

Hearing this, the group of senior military officers and technical branch officers were not surprised but became more interested. The 8th Army Commander immediately asked, "Chairman, what period of the entire campaign will this phase be?"

"The battlefield environment applicable to 120mm artillery is certainly a stable front line. And regarding the quantity of 120mm artillery and ammunition supply, it depends on the judgment between us and the Japanese army. If it's our side, it's very likely to be used in brigade or regiment-level battles. But the Japanese army's organizational scale is relatively large; their brigades, which correspond to our division-level operations, would use them. Or they would only enter a counterattack after discovering our army using 120mm artillery..."

He Rui explained the general laws of campaign development. Especially now that the entire war was determined, its progress could be predicted...

The class sparked a lot of discussion as soon as it started. In the evening, He Rui's secretary finally found a chance to ask about Joffe. He Rui had actually forgotten about Joffe; compared to the current work, Joffe really counted for nothing. He Rui smiled, "Then please ask Comrade Joffe to come here. If we let him continue to wait, ten days or half a month isn't much."

Thus, Joffe appeared at a garrison point whose location he couldn't figure out at all, having traveled by train, car, and horse.

In the distance, smoke from cooking fires could be seen, and the town along the road had a peaceful atmosphere. Joffe was led into a house resembling a Russian village office. After waiting for a moment in one of the rooms, He Rui strode in.

Compared to the He Rui in Joffe's memory, the current He Rui didn't look much different. However, his clothes were covered in quite a bit of dust, looking not like he came out of some decent office, but more like he had returned from the countryside.

But these things were no longer important. Even if He Rui was dirty all over now, Joffe wouldn't mind. If two years ago, Joffe cared about a suddenly rising Chinese Northeast warlord, now He Rui was the representative of a political organization with military industrial production capabilities. With the area of the Northeast plus Inner and Outer Mongolia, it was second only to Russia in Europe, exceeding the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After exchanging greetings and conveying Comrade Lenin's regards to He Rui, Joffe straightforwardly asked a question, "Your Excellency, what position do you think China holds under the international order established by Britain and France?"

"I think it doesn't change much from Russia's status. If China wants to complete unification, it will certainly meet with opposition from Britain and France."

He Rui's answer didn't excite Joffe; he felt He Rui must be able to understand this. So Joffe continued to ask, "Then why does the Northeast side continue to support the White Army?"

"We have ended all trade content with the White Army. Next, the White Army will be unable to purchase any weapons and supplies from the Northeast."

This was good news for Joffe. In international negotiations, there were various misdirections, even nonsense, but rarely outright deception. Relationships between regimes were not interactions between people; the degree of seriousness far exceeded individuals. Even in interactions between ordinary people, bluffing for the sake of face was understandable. But lying meant the relationship had degraded to the bottom line.

Arrogance, ostentation, coldness, cruelty. These counted for nothing in the diplomatic field. But deception was unacceptable. Between nations, once deception was proven, it meant serious consequences. Consequences so grave that even an Imperial Chancellor couldn't bear them. Even an Imperial Emperor often couldn't bear them.

So if He Rui dared to say this, Joffe, facing a regime's diplomatic head, had to believe He Rui's words. Otherwise, there was no need for Joffe to travel over ten thousand kilometers to meet with He Rui.

Joffe also stated his diplomatic mission, "Comrade Lenin believes that China is a great country, the temporary division will not last, and China will definitely be fully unified again."

"Comrade Lenin's vision is commendable. There is a saying in China: 'The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide.' All Chinese people, including my comrades, look forward to complete unification."

Joffe smiled slightly and continued, "In the process of China's unification, I wonder if Russia can provide help?"

"I look forward to a more lasting good relationship," He Rui smiled. Regarding the Soviet Union, He Rui had nothing much to say. Perhaps because of He Rui's changes, the Soviet Union wouldn't disintegrate.

"Comrade Joffe, regarding Russia, I have a suggestion. Both sides should retain police forces on the border and not station troops. There is a long border between China and Russia; even reciprocal garrisoning would only be a waste of national strength. Personally, retaining garrisons on such a long border of thousands of kilometers is a meaningless military arrangement."

Joffe was stunned; He Rui's suggestion could only be described as abrupt. So Joffe didn't answer but tried to think about what He Rui's purpose was.

Finally, Joffe responded from the most well-intentioned angle, "Your Excellency He Rui's view of hoping for peace between the two countries is admirable."

"Peace is precious, naturally the longer the better. As long as both sides try their best to maintain it, I believe China and Russia can possess long-term peace."

The conversation went on for a long time, and Joffe increasingly felt that He Rui before him had excellent strategic vision. Peace between China and Russia had immense benefits. He Rui was very clear about this. And He Rui was also very clear about the current situation in Europe; the pressure Soviet Russia faced also left it with no ability to ask for exorbitant prices.

Moreover, He Rui was very clear that Soviet Russia and Tsarist Russia were not the same country. So He Rui expressed strong indignation at Tsarist Russia's aggression against China but also expressed appreciation for Soviet Russia's communist path.

Talking about Tsarist Russia, He Rui stated that he would absolutely not accept any treaties after 1870.

The biggest territorial change between China and Russia was before 1870; afterwards, the territory Tsarist Russia obtained from China wasn't large. Although Comrade Lenin's view was the willingness to abolish the unequal treaties between Tsarist Russia and China after 1900. He Rui's statement made Joffe feel the asking price was high, but the pressure wasn't great.

More importantly, He Rui's statement proved that he had no thoughts of attacking Russia. This was good news for Russia.

However, He Rui's words couldn't be taken as goodwill. Joffe asked, "Then what is Your Excellency He Rui's view on Kolchak?"

"I think the Red Army can win and can achieve victory in the short term. The strength of Kolchak's army is being consumed rapidly; a desperate battle based on fear cannot be sustained for too long."

Joffe looked solemn, "But Kolchak's army is still using weapons and ammunition produced in the Northeast to fight."

He Rui smiled slightly and said a few words to his secretary. Shortly after the secretary left, he brought a document. He Rui handed it to Joffe, "Comrade Joffe, this is the weapons and ammunition provided by the Northeast to Kolchak within half a year. Based on battlefield consumption, I think this ammunition won't last too long..."

Joffe took it and looked: 300,000 rifles, 220 million rounds of ammunition, 600 mortars. Just this number made Joffe feel immense pressure.

He Rui was indifferent. This little amount of weapons and ammunition, especially that pitiful number of mortars. For a modern war, it really wasn't much use.

Six hundred mortars. Now every platoon of the Northeast Army was equipped with a 60mm mortar. In the recent construction of defensive positions, He Rui proposed several platoon-level circular positions of WWII standards. Mortars were deployed in the center of the three-trench circular position.

According to the Northeast Army's "three-three" system, one corps had three divisions, one division had three regiments, and so on. A Northeast Army corps, just the mortars moving with the infantry, numbered 243. If counting the mortar platoons of battalion-level combat units, as well as all artillery companies, artillery battalions, and artillery regiments of the regiment, division, and corps levels, a corps of 40,000 men had hundreds of guns.

Kolchak's army, claiming to be 700,000 strong, had only a little over a thousand guns. This firepower intensity could be described as not worth mentioning.

This was modern warfare; what was fought was industrial strength. Taking the circular position provided by He Rui as an example, for a platoon to hold fast, every squad had a squad machine gun, and the platoon was added with two mortars and a heavy machine gun.

As long as the Japanese army didn't use 120mm guns to bombard this position, a Northeast Army platoon of just over 30 men was enough to defend against a standard Japanese company of 194-250 men. Even if this company brought mountain guns, it would be difficult to break through this circular position. Not to mention, the Japanese army wouldn't assign mountain guns to a Japanese company.

And the Northeast Army, with current arrangements, had mortars and heavy machine guns that could be assigned to frontline infantry platoons at any time during battle.

In a defensive battle, a platoon of just over 30 men would fire thousands of rounds of ammunition. 220 million rounds of ammunition to supply a White Army claiming 700,000 men. Allocating a total of over three hundred bullets per person could only be called 'pitiful'.

He Rui had absolutely no intention of explaining to Joffe. Joffe was a civilian official; it was normal not to understand. If the Soviet Red Army didn't even have military men who could fully understand the value of this list, then the Soviet Red Army wouldn't have survived until now. Even less would it have the value for He Rui to bother choosing to unite with.

It was getting late, and Joffe went to rest first. The next day, Joffe met with He Rui again. With the discussion with his entourage at night, the atmosphere of this meeting was much more relaxed.

Just as He Rui expected, there were people in Joffe's entourage who understood the value of this list. The White Army's frantic counterattack was indeed a spent force; it wouldn't be long before the White Army, attempting to overwhelm the Red Army with firepower, wouldn't be able to continue fighting.

Since there was communication on the imminent issues, Joffe asked about He Rui's considerations for China's future political system.

"We in China will aim to achieve communism and follow the socialist path." He Rui wasn't sleepy when talking about this. "Mr. Marx was a great scholar of economics. His monumental work has, to this day, made those capitalists understand what 'Scientific Capitalism' is."

Hearing this, Joffe almost choked. The term "Scientific Socialism" was the universal comment on Marxism. He Rui's phrase "Scientific Capitalism" was unheard of, at least to Joffe.

He Rui didn't feel he had pioneered anything. In 21st-century China, this was a relatively consensual view. Before Marx's *Das Kapital* appeared, the so-called capitalist world hadn't conducted a scientific exposition of capitalism itself.

The motive driving those capitalists was the fear of bankruptcy. Whatever the capitalists did was just to linger on for a while longer. Of course, those who could understand this counted as outstanding capitalists. Those who could implement it were even fewer.

Facing the astonished Joffe, He Rui continued, "Developing productive forces requires the advancement of the social system. So China's social system is bottom-up. Not top-down."

Joffe felt He Rui was high-spirited at this moment, with a kind of impassioned generosity in his heart.

But He Rui really didn't think so. The problem with the Soviet Union was that its social system was top-down, vastly different from the bottom-up Chinese revolution led by Chairman Mao. The reason for saying these things was that He Rui actually also had expectations of letting this group of Soviet leaders see another institutional model.

Chairman Mao's bottom-up approach started from the grassroots. That is, "From the people, to the people."

Concentrating forces to do big things was not in conflict with educated youth going to the mountains and countryside, connecting every village with roads, electricity, and the internet.

But if the system were top-down, it would be done for. The barbarous grain requisition and forced agriculturalization produced by the Soviet Union were all inevitable.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was really not caused by just a few bad people making it completely collapse. The communist system in the Soviet Union developing to the point where the masses could not draw strength from communism and being abandoned by people was the real reason.