After the Battle of Hefei, the People's Party released captives in two stages. The first stage was the collective release of uninjured Hubei New Army soldiers after the battle. The second stage was the collective release of injured Hubei New Army soldiers after treatment before the Second Counter-Encirclement Campaign began. Since some injured New Army soldiers had suffered permanent disabilities, the People's Party notified Hubei, hoping they could send ships to pick them up.

The People's Party's policy of lenient treatment of captives determined that only such a method could be adopted. So the officers and soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army did not expect that the Hubei New Army's attitude towards wounded soldiers was complete distrust.

After the Manchu Battalion officer who disguised himself and infiltrated the team of family members was exposed, there was fear in his eyes when looking at the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army soldiers, but when he turned to the wounded soldiers of the Hubei New Army, he immediately became arrogant. The officers and soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army naturally didn't care about this. Zhang Yu ordered that no bloody conflict should occur during the release of captives. To avoid accidents, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army strictly searched the family members, confiscated illegally carried weapons, and strictly controlled the temporary residential camp. Although the Manchu Battalion officer had his own ideas, he didn't have the guts to launch an attack on the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army with his unarmed subordinates.

Chen Duxiu strictly ordered the people of the Yue Wang Society not to use force. Not only that, Chen Duxiu even mobilized the people of the Yue Wang Society to stand behind the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. If the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army didn't move, the Yue Wang Society would never take the initiative either. Chang Hengfang didn't agree with this. He said, "Grand Commander, why act like this?"

Chen Duxiu knew he couldn't explain it clearly in a short time. He asked back, "Are you going to disobey military orders?"

Since returning to Anqing, the Yue Wang Society had strengthened discipline up and down. When Chen Duxiu asked this, Chang Hengfang dared not say anything more. He shouted, "Comrades of the Yue Wang Society, line up and follow me." After all, they had undergone serious training for a month. The troops lined up almost habitually and left this place of trouble.

Seeing no one stopped him anymore, the Manchu officer looked much more relaxed. "Everyone, line up quickly and follow us back to Wuhan."

Seeing an officer issuing orders, the released New Army officers and soldiers were about to lean over, but they were held tightly by their relatives. "Come home with me. We are not soldiers anymore."

These New Army officers and soldiers were stunned on the spot. They didn't understand what their relatives meant.

Seeing their relatives stupidly wanting to follow the officer back to Wuhan, the family members couldn't care about so much anymore. Someone shouted loudly, "Do you know what suffering the last batch of people sent back suffered? Many of them were beaten to death."

Hearing this, all the released officers and soldiers were stunned.

With someone taking the lead to tell the truth, the families of the New Army naturally had no more scruples. More families grabbed their relatives and shouted, "Don't go back to the New Army; go home quickly."

Seeing their relatives so anxious, the New Army officers and soldiers also knew something was wrong. And the family members also began to explain to them what exactly happened.

The first batch of captives released by the People's Party naturally would not choose to join the revolution, let alone defect to the "Anhui guys." They all chose to return to Hubei. These Hubei New Army soldiers knew that what awaited them would naturally not be a welcome. But they never expected that after returning to Hubei voluntarily, the Hubei side didn't think these people were loyal. On the contrary, both the Hubei military and government began a large-scale investigation of the first batch of captives.

The disastrous defeat in the Battle of Hefei made Zhang Zhidong feel extremely dissatisfied. As a Grand Councilor, he actually suffered a disastrous defeat when serving the country. If the People's Party had killed all the captives, the Hubei New Army could still say "fought to the end, all loyal." But the People's Party released all the captives, so this statement of "loyalty" couldn't be used. Historically, killing captives was a tradition of the Manchu Qing. Since these Hubei New Army soldiers were not "loyal," the Hubei authorities had to "figure out" why these Hubei New Army soldiers were so "disloyal."

So the first batch of captives who went back suffered. First, their pay was stopped, followed by various interrogations and torture. The first batch released two or three thousand people, which was a huge number. To interrogate these people, the Hubei side was exhausted. In the interrogation process, the Hubei side had to use some special people, that is, the "Manchu Battalion." Since 1904, the Eight Banners stationed in Jingzhou served as soldiers in the Hubei New Army, and mainly concentrated in the 30th Regiment of the Eighth Division. Their commander was also a bannerman. After the first Battle of Anqing in early 1907, Beijing sent many bannermen to various New Armies. These people acted as "supervisors" and "spies."

Zhang Biao, the Commander of the Eighth Division, originally thought of interrogating these New Army soldiers and sending them home, but these bannermen thought they should be strictly investigated to the end. Although Zhang Biao didn't lead the troops personally, he was the commander-in-chief of the Hubei New Army. After this disastrous defeat, he couldn't say much more. So the Banner Battalion took on the interrogation work. These people originally wanted to gain credit by "finding out the revolutionaries." Now there was an opportunity. For these "disloyal captives," the bannermen naturally tried every means to prove that these people colluded with the Revolutionary Party. For a time, a bloody storm was set off in the Hubei New Army. More than three hundred captured officers and soldiers who had grievances with the Manchu Battalion became "rebels."

What added fuel to the fire of this action was that the Hubei side sent the first telegram of "reporting rebels" to Beijing, which actually received strong praise from the Ministry of Army. Moreover, the Ministry of Army issued a notice to Hubei that anyone who reported ten rebels with conclusive evidence could be promoted one level. The Ministry of Army was just encouraging this practice of reporting rebels. But when this telegram document reached Wuhan, the people below really wanted to "report ten rebels," and they definitely wanted to get conclusive evidence.

Ten heads could be exchanged for a promotion of one level. These two or three thousand captured New Army soldiers could let two or three hundred people be promoted one level. No one could resist such temptation. The Manchu Battalion immediately worked overtime to fabricate charges. They tried their best to induce confessions from the captives. As long as they got the "confession" and waited for the captives to sign, they immediately took the captives away and threw them into the death row. After gathering a certain number, they would be executed collectively.

By the time Zhang Biao, the Commander of the Eighth Division, discovered something was wrong, more than seven hundred captured New Army soldiers had died unnaturally. Zhang Biao was also decisive. He immediately led people to snatch all the captured New Army soldiers over, and then kicked them out of the New Army on the charge of "disloyalty." Zhang Biao was not entirely out of public justice either. If the Manchu Battalion was allowed to continue unscrupulously like this, after killing the captured personnel who returned to the team, heaven knows what else they would do.

After listening to their families' narration, these injured and cured New Army soldiers turned pale with fright. These families who could run from Hubei to Anqing to meet their relatives were not poor people and had more knowledge. They actually discussed these days, and the relatives understood one thing: free treatment was absolutely abnormal in this era, let alone providing free treatment to the enemy.

The People's Party treated the wounded soldiers of the Hubei New Army, and the families worried that the People's Party did something to the wounded soldiers. Even if the People's Party really healed the wounded and saved lives, these wounded soldiers couldn't explain clearly now. The wounded soldiers now owed the People's Party a great favor. Without the treatment of the People's Party, they wouldn't be alive now. In this era, even if the government ordered the New Army to "go die," the government knew clearly in its heart that the grace of saving lives was greater than the grace of the government. After these wounded soldiers returned to Hubei, they would absolutely not be spared.

Hearing their families explain the stakes, many wounded soldiers were trembling with fear. They knew they didn't defect to the People's Party at all, but now they indeed couldn't explain themselves even with a hundred mouths. "I'm going home, I'm going home. I won't be a soldier anymore." Some wounded soldiers were already shouting repeatedly in fear.

The commander of the Manchu Battalion never expected that the families of these wounded soldiers dared to tell the truth directly. But since the truth was told, he also knew that he couldn't take these wounded soldiers back easily anymore. The commander shouted hurriedly, "Brothers, these are all rumors. We are all brothers of the New Army; who wants to kill whom? Isn't it normal for officers to ask questions after returning to camp? Not to mention officers ask questions after you fought a battle; don't officers ask questions on normal days?"

The New Army officers and soldiers also felt this made sense, but how could the families let their relatives go back to die in vain? Someone shouted immediately, "We won't be soldiers and won't eat rations anymore."

The Manchu Battalion commander suddenly sneered, "I risked such great danger to come to meet you, but you suspect me of having bad intentions instead. You know the rules of our Hubei New Army; families must guarantee each other (*Lian Bao*). If you don't go back, I won't say more."

After speaking, the Manchu Battalion commander greeted his subordinates and actually left just like that.

Most of the Hubei New Army were children of good families, and they needed the joint guarantee of the village to be soldiers and eat rations. This was originally a means adopted by Zhang Zhidong to wash away the old atmosphere in the New Army, but when it was used as a threat now, both the officers and soldiers of the New Army and their families were scared.

Seeing that it was impossible for any mutiny of the New Army to occur, the commander of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army began to return to Anqing with the troops. Seeing the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army taking action, Chen Duxiu didn't act on his own either, taking the troops of the Yue Wang Society to withdraw into the city together.

As soon as they entered Anqing, the troops closed the city gate immediately. Chen Duxiu went to the Municipal Committee to report back to Zhang Yu.

After introducing the situation and what he heard, Chen Duxiu asked, "Mr. Zhang, are you going to let such a good opportunity go?"

Zhang Yu knew what Chen Duxiu was referring to. He laughed, "Mr. Chen, do you want to mobilize these New Army soldiers? If you want to develop in Hubei, I have no objection."

"If we raise our arms and shout at this time, I'm afraid these Hubei officers and soldiers will rise up against the Manchu Qing for their own lives." Although he wanted to do this very much in his heart, Chen Duxiu had already made up his mind that he would absolutely not do things that the People's Party dared not do.

Looking at Chen Duxiu's eager look, Zhang Yu asked, "Mr. Chen, the revolutionary comrades we want to unite cannot be people who are greedy for life and afraid of death. At least they must be people who dare to turn their weapons around because they don't want to die. Even if we kill that Manchu Battalion commander now and incite these Hubei New Army people. So what? They just take shelter with us, and what those people think in their hearts is not just their own survival. They sincerely want us to save their families who might be implicated. Do we have this strength?"

Chen Duxiu fell silent. Although Zhang Yu's words were a bit philistine, they indeed penetrated the true thoughts of the Hubei New Army. If the People's Party was powerless to save the families of those Hubei New Army soldiers who defected to the People's Party, then once these Hubei New Army soldiers learned the news that their families suffered, they would naturally resent the People's Party. Now, although watching the Hubei New Army go to die, at least the Hubei New Army wouldn't transfer this resentment to the People's Party.

Zhang Yu was only in his twenties, yet he could be so unenticed by immediate petty profits. This firmness and coldness made Chen Duxiu have to admire. "No wonder Chairman Chen appointed Mr. Zhang as the Mayor of Anqing; I am indeed inferior."

Regarding Chen Duxiu's praise, Zhang Yu acted as if he hadn't heard it. He asked, "Mr. Chen, the Hubei New Army will come to attack Anqing before long. We might retreat. I also hope Mr. Chen makes preparations early."

"Retreat to where?" Chen Duxiu asked.

"Just near this Anqing. If the Hubei New Army occupies Anqing and is still not satisfied, and wants to continue attacking the base area, then we will fight them. We absolutely cannot let them continue north."

Chen Duxiu knew that the People's Party didn't care about Anqing. After taking Anqing last time, the People's Party left as they said. Zhang Yu giving up Anqing this time was not a surprise. But he didn't expect that what Zhang Yu wanted to give up was only Anqing city. Chen Duxiu asked, "Mr. Zhang, since you gave up Anqing, why not retreat to other places conducive to sticking to?"

Zhang Yu replied, "This is my task. The Hubei New Army must absolutely not be allowed to go north."

Seeing Zhang Yu replying to him so decisively, although he still didn't understand Zhang Yu's thoughts, Chen Duxiu asked, "Then how can I help?"

"If we give up Anqing, we need other strongholds in the locality where we can station troops. Mr. Chen is a local. I want to ask Mr. Chen if there is any intelligence to provide. We don't want to persist for too long either. Once the Hubei New Army occupies Anqing, we only need to use those places for two months."

Chen Duxiu was confused by Zhang Yu's statement.

Just then, a communicator ran in. He saluted Zhang Yu and said, "Commander Zhang, dozens of Hubei New Army officers and soldiers want to see you."

Zhang Yu knew that there would definitely be wounded soldiers of the Hubei New Army who refused to go back, but he didn't expect someone to make up their mind so quickly. "Bring their leader over." Zhang Yu said.

Naturally, it was impossible for the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army to let dozens of people see Zhang Yu together. Before long, three New Army soldiers had arrived in front of Zhang Yu. They all looked excited. "Lord Zhang, my life was saved by the People's Party. If Chairman Chen Ke hadn't transfused blood to my younger brother, my brother would have died. Now if we go back to Hubei, it is certain death. Lord Zhang, I have dozens of brothers asking you to take us in. Can you write a booklet saying we didn't survive? This can protect the safety of our families."

"Are there any seriously injured among you who cannot move?" Zhang Yu asked.

"No, not a single one." The Hubei New Army soldiers answered hurriedly.

Zhang Yu replied, "Then your names are not there. We don't have ships to transport these people who are inconvenient to move. So we only notified Hubei of their names and total number, asking them to send ships to pick them up. As for others, we didn't make a roster. If you want to pretend to be dead, I can hide it for you, but if you want us to write a letter to Hubei specifically, wouldn't that be covering one's ears and stealing the bell (deceiving oneself)?"

The New Army officers and soldiers felt it was reasonable, but they couldn't fully trust Zhang Yu. Chen Duxiu beside him saw this and had to agree that Zhang Yu's judgment of the matter was indeed very correct. But he felt it was a pity. If he could incite the New Army, Hubei might not be that difficult to take.

Chen Duxiu actually didn't think wrong. The Wuchang Uprising in history broke out because of such a relatively accidental reason.

In 1911 in history, for Hubei revolutionaries, October 10 began with an ominous sign—Liu Yaochheng and two other young revolutionaries were executed early in the morning.

When citizens speculated on the nature of the Manchu officials' search and arrest, rumors spread in the markets and barracks. Most people were convinced that the authorities had mastered the roster of revolutionaries and would slowly arrest those on the list. Some believed that officials were compiling a fake roster of all Han soldiers. A more widespread rumor was: anyone who did not keep a long queue, no matter who, had to be arrested and beheaded according to law. The three people including Liu Yaochheng killed that morning all had no long queues. This fact made this story even more credible.

The rumors flying in the strong wind made the leaders of the revolutionary grassroots organizations realize that it was necessary to execute the uprising plan that had been aborted the day before again that night. Unless acting quickly, the search and arrest would eventually fall on their heads. In this way, the revolutionary cause and even their own lives would come to an end.

When rumors were rife, any Han soldier in the New Army, especially those who had removed their queues during the queue-cutting wave at the beginning of the year, could easily believe that risking everything to join the revolution was less dangerous than simply sitting and waiting for death.

The fact was that the revolution was ripe in Wuchang. The measures ordered by Rui Cheng were carefully considered and very wise, but they couldn't stop the rolling torrent.

They searched the revolutionary organs, closed the city gates, and cancelled the leave system of the troops to prevent revolutionaries from communicating with each other. These measures were logical, and they tried to avoid provocative arrests among soldiers. But these minor palliative measures were enough to create an atmosphere of fear and distrust, creating an idea—everyone thought the Manchus were arresting and slaughtering Han people indiscriminately.

For soldiers and civilian officials who did not understand the scale of the revolutionary party in Wuchang, the arrest of 32 people and the execution of 3 people created a large-scale and retaliatory terror. Whether you were guilty or innocent, you were equally threatened. The mood in Wuchang on October 10 was a mixture of fear and sympathy (sympathy for the young people sacrificed under the Manchu suppression).