Pu Guanshui had met Yuan Shikai. He admired Yuan Shikai's bearing of keeping his back straight at all times; this was a bearing that a soldier must persist in. As Pu Guanshui, who was determined to become a professional soldier, naturally imitated this practice. But at this time, Pu Guanshui was not sitting straight like Yuan Shikai. He rested his elbows on the table, fingers crossed, chin resting on his thumbs together. On the wall opposite Pu Guanshui hung a military map of Anhui Province. Although Pu Guanshui's gaze fell on the map, he turned a blind eye to it completely.

From the moment the war against the Manchu government started, everyone in the Military Commission knew clearly that the war between the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army and the Beiyang Army was only a matter of time. From that time on, the Military Commission began to collect intelligence on Beiyang and make various targeted operational plan estimates. Pu Guanshui came from the Beiyang Army and provided a considerable amount of intelligence.

This morning, the news of the Beiyang New Army's dispatch had been sent to the Military Commission. Seeing those familiar names on the copied document, Pu Guanshui felt an extreme sense of boredom for no reason. Although he wanted to continue working, Pu Guanshui was emotional and couldn't calm down no matter what. After trying reluctantly a few times, he still couldn't continue working. Pu Guanshui simply sat here in a daze.

Pu Guanshui now served as the Deputy Division Commander of the 104th Division. Seeing him dazed, everyone didn't disturb him.

"Commander Pu, what are you thinking about?" Finally someone said beside Pu Guanshui.

Pu Guanshui looked up and saw He Zudao standing beside him. Although he wanted to cheer up, Pu Guanshui's voice was still somewhat weak. "Commissar He, is there anything?"

"You received the notice of the Beiyang Army's dispatch, right?" He Zudao asked.

Pu Guanshui nodded but didn't speak.

Looking at Pu Guanshui's performance, He Zudao was somewhat puzzled. Other comrades in the army were high-spirited because they were going to fight a big battle. Pu Guanshui's low mood was very special. "Does Commander Pu have any concerns?" He Zudao asked. He looked at the gazes around looking at their side. "Why don't we go out and talk?"

Pu Guanshui didn't want to move originally, but thinking that his worries would have to be said sooner or later, talking to He Zudao about this matter was actually the most appropriate. He stood up reluctantly. "Commissar He, let's talk outside."

The two stood in a secluded place. Pu Guanshui said, "Commissar He, I don't plan to talk about my understanding of Beiyang at this military meeting."

He Zudao didn't show any surprise, but listened to Pu Guanshui seriously. This attitude made Pu Guanshui feel much better. He continued, "I have left Beiyang for almost two years. I don't understand many situations in Beiyang anymore. Especially some intelligence I provided later, there was a lot of content I speculated and summarized. This may not conform to the actual situation of Beiyang. I have to consider problems from the perspective of the Revolutionary Army now; I can't always simulate Beiyang."

"Mn." He Zudao nodded. "What you said makes sense. Our strategy and tactics and war guidance mode are different from Beiyang. Beiyang fights Beiyang's way; we fight ours. I support your idea. How about this, at this Military Commission meeting, I will raise this question first. What do you think, Commander Pu?"

Pu Guanshui thought for a moment before answering, "It's better for me to say it first."

"Then I will follow to express my stance and support Commander Pu." He Zudao laughed.

Pu Guanshui breathed a sigh of relief and felt much better.

He Zudao continued, "However, Commander Pu, if you have any concerns and ideas about fighting Beiyang, you can communicate with me first. Pre-war preparation is to solve everyone's ideological problems. When fighting, there won't be time to think so much."

Pu Guanshui touched his forehead. He did have thoughts in his heart. "I feel now that I really want to fight Beiyang. I sincerely want to fight a battle with them and win against them."

He Zudao nodded. Although the political commissar was in charge of the military and political work of the army and was also the person in charge of the Party branch in the army, he didn't have a combat target he particularly wanted to target. He Zudao didn't particularly understand Pu Guanshui's enthusiasm for war. But he wouldn't dampen this enthusiasm either. "Then let's fight out the style of our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. We will definitely win."

Talking about military issues, Pu Guanshui immediately became enthusiastic. "We must apply the tactics mastered by our troops reasonably. Beiyang is unlike the Hubei New Army. In general battles, they still dare to risk their lives with you."

"Then let's go back to the conference room to talk." He Zudao suggested.

When the two returned to the conference room, several senior military and political cadres were already sitting at the table, discussing the upcoming war enthusiastically. Seeing He Zudao and Pu Guanshui, everyone stood up and saluted. After He Zudao and Pu Guanshui returned the salute, everyone's topic went straight to the war.

He said he wouldn't talk about Beiyang's military situation, but Pu Guanshui just didn't want to report to everyone like interrogating a prisoner. And he also knew that his report would not be regarded as a real strategic backbone before it could be verified. In this kind of normal discussion now, he still unknowingly told the situation he knew. "Beiyang is fed by silver. Whether enough money can be issued during war actually determines Beiyang's fighting will. On this point, the Beiyang Army is very similar to the Hubei New Army. The will of the commanding officer has a great influence on the troops. Li Yuanhong's original attitude was very passive, so the march relied entirely on the trained mode. We deployed for combat specifically, and Li Yuanhong was immediately beaten passively."

The military academy training in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army only reached the platoon level training now, and the platoon level training was not completely finished either. In terms of military literacy and theoretical analysis, Pu Guanshui now ranked after Chen Ke. Yan Fu was navy. In terms of army command alone, Pu Guanshui was absolutely not below Yan Fu. Other comrades had their own strengths in specific combat command, but when analyzing before the war, they still listened to Pu Guanshui more.

"Then what kind of commander is this person Duan Qirui?" Deputy Chief of Staff Gao Yujie asked.

"Actually, I'm not worried about Duan Qirui. I'm worried about Wang Shizhen. I don't know what performance Wang Shizhen can have facing a strong enemy, but this person is meticulous and knows how to observe very well. He will absolutely not act emotionally when doing things, and he is extremely decisive. Duan Qirui will definitely lead the vanguard. With Wang Shizhen supporting him behind, this battle is not easy to fight."

Deputy Chief of Staff Gao Yujie frowned and thought for a while. "Mn... Then why don't we let Duan Qirui into the base area first, and then concentrate forces to eliminate Wang Shizhen. After all, we have so many ships and have advantages in inland river maneuvering. The old troops also have experience in long-distance raids by water. We could march on a large scale in the Manchu-controlled area. Now we are on our own territory; marching efficiency will only be higher not lower."

Pu Guanshui's mind was full of thinking about how to solve Duan Qirui's 3rd Division. Originally he considered how to complete "closing the door and beating the dog" against Duan Qirui's 3rd Division. The military plan proposed by Gao Yujie made Pu Guanshui's eyes light up. The tactic the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army focused on training now was mobile warfare. Using large-scale water maneuver to conduct long-distance mobile warfare, Duan Qirui would absolutely not expect such a situation. Once Wang Shizhen was annihilated first, Duan Qirui would be trapped deep in the base area without reinforcements. This would be out-and-out closing the door and beating the dog.

"The farther the distance, the lower the degree of controllability." He Zudao expressed a relatively cautious attitude. This was not denying the strategic deployment proposed by Gao Yujie, but asking Gao Yujie to come up with more detailed ideas.

Gao Yujie knew this well. He laughed, "At this time you know how to make things difficult for our Staff Department. There is absolutely not only one military contingency plan. Formulating each contingency plan takes a lot of time. Looking at the notice, Beiyang will arrive in Xuzhou within a month. This battle is estimated to be fought in 40 days. There must be fifteen days of preparation time. You wait for our Staff Department to risk our lives with you first. If you still have a breath, the Logistics Department will continue to risk their lives with you."

"Beiyang is not easy to fight." Pu Guanshui said this again.

Other comrades couldn't help nodding. The Beiyang Army was the trump card in the hands of the Manchu Qing after all. If they could annihilate Duan Qirui's 3rd Division and destroy the troops of Admiral of Jiangbei Wang Shizhen at the same time, then the vast area from Anhui to Xuzhou would be completely open to the People's Party. Especially the canal grain transport (*Cao Yun*); the People's Party could completely control a section of it. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal includes multiple sections: 1. Tonghui River. (2) North Canal; (3) South Canal. (4) Lu Canal; (5) Middle Canal; (6) Inner Canal; (7) Jiangnan Canal. The Ming and Qing dynasties maintained the foundation of the Yuan Canal. In the Ming Dynasty, the river section in Shandong that had been silted up at the end of the Yuan Dynasty was re-dredged. From the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty, canal projects such as Kaijiaokou Canal, Tongji New River, and Middle River, which separated the Yellow River and the Canal, were carried out between Xiazhen (now Weishan County) of Weishan Lake in Shandong and Qingjiangpu (now Huai'an). And the Moon River was excavated between the Yangtze and Huai Rivers, carrying out the project of separating the lake and grain transport. After the victory of the People's Party, fleets departing from Yangzhou shouldn't even think of going north without the consent of the People's Party. This blow to the Manchu Qing would be fatal.

While Pu Guanshui and others were talking, other comrades of the Military Commission arrived continuously. Soon the Military Commission members including Hua Xiongmao and Yan Fu were all present. Hua Xiongmao clapped his hands. "Comrades, Chairman Chen is holding a Politburo meeting now and won't attend the Military Commission meeting first. We formulate the military combat plan now, and examine and approve it together after Chairman Chen arrives."

Although Gao Yujie jokingly said the work of the Staff Department was heavy, in fact, the Staff Department had already had several preliminary plans long ago. The strategic layouts were similar, all luring the enemy in deep and adopting the mode of mobile warfare to close the door and beat the dog. The difference between these plans lay in to what extent the People's Party allowed the enemy to penetrate. The combat of the Manchu Qing had a core characteristic, which was relying on traffic lines for combat. Railways, main roads, and shipping were the combat core of the Manchu Qing. The People's Party was different. Due to mastering the countryside, the People's Party had a broader space for movement. If the Manchu Qing didn't leave the main road, then their traffic lines and supply lines were extremely fixed and fragile. If they left the main road, they could only adopt the mode of small unit action. It was impossible for the Manchu large troops to march into the countryside at will. Tens of thousands of people in the wild with unknown conditions, let alone fighting, just drinking water was a big problem.

After speaking a few basic ideas first, the comrades' eyes fell on Yan Fu in unison. Inland river shipping was the key in this battle. Anhui had dense waterways, plus capturing the ships of the Hubei New Army, the People's Party's inland river force was strong. So Duan Qirui either had a decisive battle with the People's Party on the inland river first to eliminate the inland river troops first. Leaving aside whether the Beiyang Army had this naval strength, many ships were not small in size. Once the inland river fleet sank in large numbers, even without man-made obstacles by the People's Party, just clearing the river channel would be enough to keep the Beiyang Army busy for a few months.

Those from the army occupied the majority in the Staff Department, but after several meetings, everyone had discussed these details of the navy. If Duan Qirui wanted to fight quickly, he had only the land route to take. Then as a naval expert, Yan Fu's opinion was particularly important.

Looking at the gazes of the young comrades, the old handsome man Yan Fu laughed, "If I were Duan Qirui, I definitely wouldn't attack the base area."

Listening to the old handsome man's joke, the young comrades couldn't help laughing out loud.

Yan Fu had a very serious personality originally, but since joining the People's Party, the smiles on his face increased day by day. In fact, Yan Fu was not a rigid person. The old handsome man was also quite active when he was young, but the surrounding environment forced him to be "serious and rigid." In the base area, the army stressed "serious, earnest, tense, lively." The old handsome man was with these vigorous young revolutionary soldiers; everyone had consistent ideals, and there was no internal strife or factional struggle. Yan Fu could originally achieve the first three of these four articles. Since he didn't need to bother with officialdom problems anymore, the fourth article also naturally emerged in Yan Fu.

Hearing Yan Fu's words, Hua Xiongmao laughed, "Then in the final analysis, we still have to discuss the enemy's strategic deployment?"

Saying lively, it wasn't comrades talking nonsense indulgently. Although they laughed, neither Hua Xiongmao nor Yan Fu spoke nonsense.

Yan Fu nodded. "So reconnaissance work must be done well. Moreover, our army cannot let the Manchu Qing block us in the Huai River now. The enemy is not stupid either. They know we captured the gunboats of the Hubei New Army; they will definitely worry about our fleet problem too. If the Beiyang Army marches along the river, it's not guaranteed when they will be shelled by our gunboats. They cannot accept this happening. So the Beiyang Army must at least consider blocking us in the Huai River so we won't cut off their rear. Duan Qirui is not an incompetent person, and Wang Shizhen is even known as the Dragon of Beiyang, considering problems very meticulously. They won't fail to think of this point."

The comrades of the Military Commission nodded in agreement. Predicting the enemy's action is a very troublesome thing, unless there are our own people inside the enemy, or we know the enemy very well. Otherwise, underestimating the enemy's ability is definitely not okay, and overestimating the enemy's ability is even less okay. And the less incompetent the enemy is, the more they know how to collect intelligence and observe and judge changes in the battlefield situation. It is not easy to make such an enemy fall into the trap pre-set by the People's Party easily.

"Then how did Chairman Chen predict Li Yuanhong?" Someone asked this question.

Hua Xiongmao replied, "Chairman Chen emphasized this repeatedly. He didn't predict, but made Li Yuanhong have only one choice to make. Now the Beiyang Army has quite a few choices."

"I know the Beiyang Army has many choices. Then we analyze them carefully one by one and exclude them one by one."

This suggestion was approved by the comrades.

Gao Yujie saw that everyone was about to discuss this issue immediately, and this issue could definitely not be solved in a short while. He hurriedly said, "Please wait a moment; I have a strategic idea. We don't fight Duan Qirui first, but wipe out Wang Shizhen behind Duan Qirui first. No matter how they imagine, the enemy will think we fight Duan Qirui at the front end first. Wang Shizhen is behind, so prevention is relatively less. We don't care what tricks Duan Qirui plays, or even whether Duan Qirui leads the vanguard or Wang Shizhen leads the vanguard. As long as we annihilate the Manchu troops located behind, the Manchu troops leading the vanguard will be trapped deep in the base area, and destruction is only a matter of time."

This idea opened up the thinking of many comrades at that time. Yan Fu and Hua Xiongmao both showed smiles of approval. Pu Guanshui hurriedly added a sentence, "I came from the Beiyang Army. At least when I was in the Beiyang Army, I absolutely didn't know what People's War meant. If I were the vanguard, even if I couldn't win and wanted to retreat, I would also think that the vast countryside is free to pass."

Hearing this, almost all comrades laughed. Yes, before everyone learned People's War, everyone also thought that the vast countryside could be passed at will. Uninhabited fields, villages and towns where supplies could be obtained. Although one wanted to retreat, the enemy couldn't grow wings and fly ahead. But now, the revolutionary soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were all clear. When a non-people's army entered the vast countryside, in front of the People's War, they just fell into a death trap. If they broke out relying on traffic lines regardless of life and death, there might be a slight possibility of survival.

"We don't know what the Beiyang Army will do, but does everyone have ideas on which strategy to choose?" Seeing his suggestion received praise, Gao Yujie continued to ask.

"What about the Hubei New Army and the Jiangnan New Army?" Pu Guanshui asked. He was very concerned about the dynamics of these two troops.

Hua Xiongmao replied, "Although we also have to guard against them, Chairman Chen's meaning is very clear. The Hubei New Army will absolutely not repeat the same mistake this time. Through small unit attacks, the Hubei New Army will probably make a show of attacking Anqing this time. The Restoration Society has great power in the Jiangnan New Army. Chairman Chen has sent people to contact the Restoration Society. He doesn't want the Restoration Society to stop the Jiangnan New Army from moving out, nor does he want the Restoration Society to incite the New Army to rebel. He only wants the Restoration Society to propagate one thing in the Jiangnan New Army: wait for the opportunity to move."

Hearing these arrangements, the comrades of the Military Commission nodded repeatedly. Chen Ke's attitude was actually very clear, which was to knock out the strongest Beiyang Army route. As long as the Hubei New Army and the Jiangnan New Army could be stabilized temporarily, after the People's Party annihilated the Beiyang Army, these two armies would immediately choose to retreat. This was inevitable.

"So, what do you think?" Gao Yujie continued to ask.

The comrades of the Military Commission looked at each other. Yan Fu spoke first, "I approve of Comrade Gao Yujie's plan."

"I also approve." Hua Xiongmao followed to express his stance.

After voting, the Military Commission passed Gao Yujie's plan to hit the rear first and then the front.