After entering September, there was no summer heat in Xuzhou even during the day. Duan Qirui naturally didn't know that the average temperature a hundred years later was a bit higher than in 1907, while Duan Qirui's biggest opponent now, Chen Ke, was privately satisfied with this temperature. In any case, it was impossible for Duan Qirui to have such a concept as annual average temperature.

Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen sat facing each other in the official hall. The temperature inside the room was lower than outside, but even so, Duan Qirui didn't feel cool; he only felt his palms were always somewhat clammy. A notice was placed in front of the two; this was the notice posted by the People's Party in Beijing city. The stimulation brought to Duan Qirui by this arrogant practice was far less impactful than the content of the notice: the People's Party annihilated the Thirty-first Regiment of the Hubei New Army. Such a big event, Duan Qirui actually saw it from the People's Party notice sent over by the Ministry of Army. Such an absurd thing made Duan Qirui very depressed.

"This matter shouldn't be a false statement made by Chen Ke." Wang Shizhen was much calmer than Duan Qirui, at least his speech looked no different from usual.

Duan Qirui respected Wang Shizhen very much. Actually, not just Duan Qirui, but the vast majority of Beiyang officers were convinced by Wang Shizhen. Although anxious in his heart, Duan Qirui still waited silently for Wang Shizhen to finish speaking, because Wang Shizhen never spoke lightly.

Sure enough, Wang Shizhen didn't let Duan Qirui wait in vain. He stood up and pointed to the map, saying: "The Thirty-first Regiment should be finished; the Hubei New Army can no longer be counted on. The notice also said the People's Party advanced troops to Huangpi Pass; these words are probably a feint, just to make the Hubei New Army dare not move. Not only the Hubei New Army, but if the People's Party sends a thousand or so people now to feign an attack on Wuhu, the Jiangnan New Army will have to return to Jiangnan immediately. The original three-pronged siege had many flaws; the Ministry of Army thought to make Chen Ke attend to one thing and lose another. But after the Hubei New Army route retreated in defeat, it became a situation where only our route is confronting the People's Party head-on. We can't count on others anymore."

What Wang Shizhen said was simple strategic situation. Duan Qirui knew Wang Shizhen's meaning wasn't to talk about strategy; what Wang Shizhen wanted to emphasize was the last sentence: "We can't count on others anymore."

"Old brother, do you think we can't win against Chen Ke?" Duan Qirui asked.

Wang Shizhen didn't answer directly. He continued: "I've carefully watched these battles fought by Chen Ke. He never fights head-on; it's either surprise attacks or setting up ambushes for encirclement. As long as Chen Ke makes a move, he will definitely wipe out a government army completely. The government army only sends out one or two routes each time, but every time they think perfectly beforehand: if they can do this and that, they can put Chen Ke in a desperate situation. But Chen Ke annihilates the government army at the key points where the government army has to fight, making the government army's situation collapse completely instead. Advancing separately to attack together will only give Chen Ke the opportunity to defeat them one by one."

Duan Qirui nodded slightly. Although a rare complaining flavor appeared in Wang Shizhen's words, Duan Qirui agreed quite a bit. Actually, this military plan of a three-pronged joint attack on Chen Ke wasn't bad. Only after the separate advance and joint attack failed completely now did Duan Qirui figure out how to fight. In terms of paper work, it should have been Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen's troops engaging Chen Ke head-on first, suppressing Chen Ke completely so he was powerless to divide his forces, and then the Hubei New Army and Jiangnan would attack from two other sides. Theoretically, Chen Ke definitely couldn't withstand such a situation. But in this troop dispatch, the three parties had no coordination at all, and it could even be said that each had ulterior motives and performed perfunctorily. As a result, after the weakest Hubei New Army was annihilated, the situation transformed in a direction favorable to Chen Ke. Chen Ke not only didn't have to worry about Hubei, but the troops in Anqing still had spare energy to make the Jiangnan New Army unable to move.

Thinking of this, Duan Qirui had to sigh: "Old brother, we really can only rely on our own Beiyang people."

"We can only send troops immediately!" Wang Shizhen was concise, and Duan Qirui nodded immediately. Both were heavyweights of a region. Chen Ke's victory triggered strong dissatisfaction from the Ministry of Army; telegrams and documents urging the two to advance came one after another. Moreover, Chen Ke wantonly mocked Cixi as "Manchu Qing Bandit Gang Female Bandit Chief"; this appropriate metaphor thoroughly enraged Cixi. And Cixi's anger was genuine. For Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui, the higher the position, the less freedom of choice. Complaining about some things was useless; it was better not to mention them.

"Old brother, let's send troops immediately. I'll take the lead," Duan Qirui said firmly.

This battle must be fought. Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen were both Beiyang backbones. If the two really refused to advance on the grounds of the Hubei New Army's failure, even if the court's strict order failed, at most they would be replaced. Even replacement wasn't certain; the court would just reprimand them verbally. But if the two did this, it would only add frost to the snow for the Beiyang faction which had already suffered heavy blows. They would only give those attacking the Beiyang faction more excuses.

In addition, there was another matter the two had to consider. This troop dispatch cost a lot. It took a month for the Beiyang Third Town troops to all arrive in Xuzhou. Fortunately, Wang Shizhen was in Xuzhou; he arranged many things well, so the more than ten thousand troops of the Third Town at least had food and shelter. But the total number of their subordinates was close to twenty thousand. At least twenty thousand *jin* of grain a day; over a month, more than five hundred thousand *jin* of grain were eaten up just like that. The grain that could be collected around Xuzhou was all collected, and grain prices kept rising. Buying grain was simply a bottomless pit. As long as the court choked off the grain and pay, Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen could only watch their troops starve. If fighting a war turned into a troop mutiny—leaving aside other generals—Wang Shizhen and Duan Qirui would absolutely not allow such a bast*rd thing to happen to them. If they didn't want this kind of thing to happen, sending troops as soon as possible became the only choice.

The post of Provincial Commander of Jiangbei held by Wang Shizhen was converted from the Governor of Jianghuai. Its predecessor was the Governor of Grain Transport, so he had the power to govern the locality and also concurrently managed grain transport affairs. Wang Shizhen had considerable authority and money and grain in his hands. But involving fighting a war, Wang Shizhen couldn't invest money from grain transport and the locality into the war for a long time either. Fortunately, the one cooperating with Wang Shizhen was Duan Qirui, a sensible person. If it were someone else, they would probably have blocked Wang Shizhen every day asking for money and grain long ago.

Having made the decision to send troops, the two Beiyang generals began to prepare. As the earliest westernized army in China, Beiyang attached great importance to the role of staff officers. Wang Shizhen actually counted as a very qualified chief of staff; he was meticulous in thought and good at observation, and formulating plans was never prone to errors. The Beiyang Third Town used to be Wang Shizhen's subordinates, and now the Staff Department had no intention of resisting at all. With Wang Shizhen sitting in the Staff Department, plans for sending troops were completed one by one.

"Zhou Yong, hurry up and harness the cart," Kong Zhang shouted to the assistant in the grain shop.

"Alright, Young Master," Zhou Yong answered while running towards the livestock shed in the back.

Kong Zhang's grain shop wasn't large in scale, just seven or eight people, but Kong Zhang had been very close to Wang Shizhen recently, so Wang Shizhen also took care of his business. Zhou Yong was twenty-three or twenty-four years old, a helper Kong Zhang newly hired a few months ago. After the flood, many Anhui disaster victims ran to Xuzhou to make a living, asking for very low wages. Zhou Yong knew how to drive a cart and was honest and willing to work. At that time, Kong Zhang had just taken over this grain shop; when hiring people, he took a fancy to Zhou Yong in the crowd at a glance. Even now, Kong Zhang didn't fully understand why the ragged Zhou Yong was so different back then. Perhaps it was Zhou Yong's fearless expression when facing strangers, or perhaps it was that magnanimous temperament on Zhou Yong. Anyway, Zhou Yong could always organize himself in good order. Before being hired by Kong Zhang, although his clothes were worn out, they were carefully patched now. Although not washed spotless, they were obviously washed on time. Old but not dirty. Moreover, Zhou Yong spoke and handled affairs very logically; knowing was knowing, not knowing was not knowing. Unlike other disaster victims who were impetuous and fearful due to bewilderment about future life, afraid others wouldn't know they were capable at all times, wanting to prove they were capable in everything. These all made Kong Zhang like him very much.

Soon, the carts were harnessed. Going together wasn't just the cart driven by Zhou Yong, but also two other carts. Kong Zhang sat directly on Zhou Yong's cart. "Go, to the barracks."

Kong Zhang liked sitting in Zhou Yong's cart. Besides the fact that Zhou Yong never had any strange smell on him, Zhou Yong was also different from other helpers. He never tried to get close to Kong Zhang. Driving was driving; Zhou Yong didn't talk nonsense. Same as usual, Zhou Yong shook the reins, waved the whip, and shouted "Giddyup." After the mule cart started, Zhou Yong, whose driving level was originally just so-so, had improved a lot after working in Kong Zhang's grain shop for a few months. The mule cart went fast and steady. After the cart ran normally, Zhou Yong didn't say another word.

"Zhou Yong, let me ask you something," Kong Zhang spoke first this time. "I want to raise your wages."

"Thank you, Young Master," Zhou Yong answered without looking sideways. Although there was some happiness in his tone, there wasn't the ecstatic feeling others had after encountering such a good thing.

"Zhou Yong, are you preparing to return to your hometown in Anhui?" Kong Zhang couldn't help asking.

"Who doesn't want to go home," Zhou Yong answered calmly.

Kong Zhang heard that Zhou Yong meant he was preparing to go home. He was a bit unhappy. "Zhou Yong, your wages aren't high now, at most enough for your own food and drink. Look, you haven't even bought a set of new clothes in the few months you've been with me. Going home now, you have to bring some more money back to your family, right?"

"What you said is true, but a letter was brought from my hometown in Anhui saying that land has been distributed at home, and life is passable. It's just that there's suddenly going to be a war again, so I didn't leave. At any rate, waiting to see the result after this war is fought. Sigh." After finishing, Zhou Yong sighed.

"What do you mean by this?" Hearing Zhou Yong speak honestly, Kong Zhang immediately became interested.

"Young Master, if the Government Army wins, I will go home immediately. After this military disaster, it won't do if no one supports the family. If the Government Army doesn't win, I can instead earn a bit more money in Xuzhou before going back. So I appreciate Young Master's kindness. You raising my wages is naturally wanting me to work here for a while longer, but I can't even decide my own staying or leaving. If the Government Army wins, I have to leave immediately, which would trouble you instead. So regarding this wage raise, I can't let down Young Master's kindness," Zhou Yong answered calmly.

Hearing this, Kong Zhang didn't know what to say for a moment. Zhou Yong spoke honest words, but Kong Zhang really didn't expect there to be such a reasonable person as Zhou Yong in these years. Kong Zhang felt moved in his heart. He patted Zhou Yong's shoulder. "Zhou Yong, you told me this truth; I can't let your good intentions fall flat like this. How about this? We will still raise the wages, but not that much. I will also ask around for news more recently, and will send you to the barracks to deliver grain more often. You also pay attention to ask for news yourself. The Government Army has set the date for sending troops; it's just a matter of three or four days. Once there is a result, I won't stop you from staying or leaving."

Hearing this, Zhou Yong also looked at Kong Zhang with emotion. He said seriously: "Then thank you very much, Young Master. You might as well start asking if there are any drivers now; don't wait until I leave to look."

"Drivers?" Kong Zhang smiled bitterly. "Now the Government Army is looking for drivers everywhere for grain transport manpower before sending troops. Looking for people will have to wait until this battle is over no matter what. By the way, you also be careful; follow me closely. Don't transport a trip of grain only to be conscripted."

The people at the gate knew Kong Zhang. Seeing him come, they didn't check the vehicles at all and let them into the camp gate. Inside the Beiyang Army camp, it was already bustling with activity at this time. Everyone looked nervous and dashed around madly. Officers had huge tempers; seeing anyone slightly displeasing to the eye, they scolded loudly. Seeing the scene of people shouting and horses neighing, Zhou Yong confirmed that the news Kong Zhang said about the Beiyang Army moving out soon was indeed correct. Because he had learned Putonghua in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, Zhou Yong could quite understand what the Beiyang Army was arguing about. Actually, it was nothing more than those marching preparation issues. In the Beiyang Army, the higher-ranking officers were actually more agitated. Zhou Yong saw a senior officer with Regiment Commander shoulder insignia cursing loudly because his horse wasn't fed well. This style made Zhou Yong very disgusted in his heart. If the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were sending troops, these tasks would have been completed by the grassroots commanders below long ago. How big a blunder would have to occur to make a Battalion Commander commanding a thousand people burn with rage? The system in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was complete, or at least constantly perfecting various systems. Battalion Commanders, Political Commissars, and Soldier Committees would have rectified these matters through meetings time and again on normal days; where would it be the turn to fly into a rage before sending troops?

However, according to the specialized training for intelligence work, Zhou Yong just looked curiously once and turned his gaze away. This wasn't just acting; Zhou Yong was really looking at these things with a humble learning attitude.

"May I ask if Provincial Commander Wang is in?" Kong Zhang asked the quartermaster with a smile.

"Mr. Kong, Provincial Commander Wang is in," the quartermaster also laughed. "You go in to see Provincial Commander Wang."

"This isn't appropriate, right?" Kong Zhang said hurriedly. "Provincial Commander Wang is very busy now; I can't disturb him."

"Provincial Commander Wang instructed that for someone doing large-scale grain business like Mr. Kong, he must meet personally. Mr. Kong, please enter," the quartermaster explained.

Kong Zhang instructed the other few drivers to watch the vehicles and let Zhou Yong follow him into the central army tent.

Wang Shizhen wasn't afraid of tediousness in doing things. Logistics and forage were of great importance in this troop dispatch. He was afraid the people below would mess things up, so for anyone selling more than three hundred *shi* of grain, he received them personally. After the personal guard reported, Wang Shizhen ordered someone to bring Kong Zhang in.

"Provincial Commander Wang, this student pays respects here." Kong Zhang stepped forward and bowed.

Wang Shizhen nodded and waved for Kong Zhang to sit down. After thanking him, Kong Zhang sat on the seat beside him. Zhou Yong naturally stood behind Kong Zhang.

"This is..." Wang Shizhen looked at Zhou Yong and asked.

"This is my personal helper; many things in the shop are handled by him," Kong Zhang answered.

Wang Shizhen sized up Zhou Yong carefully before turning his gaze back to Kong Zhang. "Kong Zhang, is the grain ready?"

Kong Zhang bowed slightly. "Provincial Commander Wang, the agreed grain is all ready. But grain after that cannot be guaranteed. Buying too much grain here recently, the grain that can be collected nearby has all been collected. To prepare more, we have to go to farther places. Your business is urgent, Provincial Commander Wang; my father asked me to explain it to you. Within one month, three hundred *shi* can still be raised. More cannot be guaranteed."

Wang Shizhen looked at Kong Zhang with slightly narrowed eyes. Kong Zhang's family was a big household in Xuzhou, known as Kong Ten Thousand Mu. Kong Zhang was the fourth son of the current family head. Originally, he had no share when dividing the family property. The old man let Kong Zhang choose a livelihood himself. Kong Zhang ran to England to study, but learned electricity generation. Kong Zhang thought he had mastered the latest technology and wanted to display his skills. To show what he learned, he even got a hand-cranked generator when he came back. Seeing electric sparks crackling between two metal balls, and listening to Kong Zhang's explanation of electricity, a phrase involuntarily surfaced in the minds of the relatives and friends who came to see the novelty—"Thunderstruck" (*Tian Da Lei Pi*). Old Master Kong only knew after seeing this "trick of pretending to be a ghost" that this son spent thousands of taels of silver to learn such a currently useless "daddy-pit" profession. The old man was so angry; he got sick from anger that night. He didn't give Kong Zhang a good face for many days in a row.

Kong Zhang once ran to Shanghai wanting to work in a power plant. He thought that as a student who studied in England, he should be taken seriously by the British at any rate. As a result, the British looked down on him completely, only giving him a position as an ordinary technician. Kong Zhang worked for a while and felt really depressed, so he ran home. When he returned home, the old man didn't have the heart to let his son be an idler, so he gave him a grain shop business.

Wang Shizhen knew Kong Zhang had a nickname in this Xuzhou city, called "Thunderstruck." Wang Shizhen knew a lot about new technologies; actually, he quite agreed with the electricity industry Kong Zhang engaged in. But China's industry was poor to begin with, and Xuzhou didn't even have a power plant, so Kong Zhang's learning was wasted. Wang Shizhen had thought that if he could exterminate Chen Ke, he would find a way to raise funds to build a power plant. Kong Zhang would have full utility value. So Wang Shizhen had been walking quite close to Kong Zhang during this period.

However, at this moment, Wang Shizhen didn't have any positive thoughts because of cherishing talent. Kong Zhang's old dad "Kong Ten Thousand Mu" was really an old fox. He sold one thousand *shi* of grain to Wang Shizhen this time, but made it clear he didn't want to sell more. Now the Beiyang Army had almost bought up all the grain in Xuzhou. After a while, grain prices would definitely skyrocket, and the grain hoarded by the Kong family could make a big profit. But the Kong Zhang in front of him was the son of Xuzhou's "Kong Ten Thousand Mu" after all, and the Kong family also had a *Jinshi* in the current dynasty, so it wasn't good to offend them.

Although Kong Zhang carried the reputation of "Thunderstruck," he wasn't rigid. Wang Shizhen used both coercion and inducement, but Kong Zhang spoke exactly the same from beginning to end: collecting grain was difficult, really having the will but lacking the strength. Wang Shizhen knew he really had no time to deal with Kong Zhang now, so after agreeing on when the three hundred *shi* of grain would be delivered, he let Kong Zhang go.

Having achieved his goal, Kong Zhang didn't lack any etiquette when leaving leisurely. Wang Shizhen looked at Kong Zhang's back but couldn't help casting his gaze on Zhou Yong. Wang Shizhen clearly felt Zhou Yong was really different from the masses. Zhou Yong was really too relaxed; that was the expression only people with a well-thought-out plan would have. As Kong Zhang's helper, having such performance was really too abnormal. What made Wang Shizhen particularly concerned was that when Zhou Yong left with Kong Zhang, his demeanor and movements were a bit too appropriate. This showed Zhou Yong completely understood the content of the conversation between Kong Zhang and himself. If Zhou Yong was Kong Zhang's shopkeeper, that attitude of being unmoved by the conversation content wasn't normal either. This demeanor made Wang Shizhen couldn't help thinking of a person, that person was Chen Ke. When Chen Ke met Yuan Shikai back then, he also had quite this feeling. That was an attitude of not being subordinate to anyone; that was an attitude of having a very strong backbone. Wang Shizhen thought Chen Ke was too arrogant at the time; later he understood Chen Ke couldn't even be called arrogant. That was simply the attitude one would have only if they didn't treat Yuan Shikai as their own person.

Unexpectedly seeing such a person again today, Wang Shizhen felt very unhappy in his heart.

Kong Zhang didn't have the insight accumulated by Wang Shizhen's experience. The reason he pulled Zhou Yong to see Wang Shizhen was to let Zhou Yong know there was a future in following him. Zhou Yong worked seriously, and also could read, understanding addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division arithmetic. Plus driving was also not bad; it would be a pity not to keep such a person.

After going out the door, Zhou Yong still drove as usual, not saying an extra word. Kong Zhang finally understood that Zhou Yong was determined to return to his hometown in Anhui.

Returning to the grain shop, Zhou Yong had nothing else to do. Waiting until before lunch at noon, he secretly took out a pencil and wrote a note. After eating, he went out towards the City God Temple. Not far after walking, he saw a beggar sunning himself against the wall, with three words "Do good deeds" written in white ash in front of him.

"Beggar, go home," Zhou Yong laughed.

The beggar hurriedly said: "Reward three mantou to eat."

"Three? Not even one," Zhou Yong laughed.

"Not even one, then you ate it yourself. Do a good deed; we are all from poor backgrounds. Looking at your physique, five mantou a meal isn't the end. Rewarding half a mantou is always possible, right?"

"Scram!" Zhou Yong spat.

"Where do you want me to scram to? I want to scram home," the beggar said lazily.

"Who doesn't want to go home," Zhou Yong sighed.

Seeing Zhou Yong had feelings of homesickness, the beggar hurriedly came up to hold Zhou Yong's hand. Zhou Yong hurriedly shook off the beggar's dirty hand and walked away quickly with a look of disgust. That beggar chuckled and secretly tucked the piece of paper in Zhou Yong's palm into his bosom.

In the evening, Zhou Yong went out again. The location agreed on the note was very secluded; someone was already waiting there in the shadows. Zhou Yong identified carefully; he couldn't see the face clearly but knew it wasn't the beggar from the day. The two exchanged secret codes, and Zhou Yong told the collected intelligence to the liaison officer. The liaison officer listened carefully, not saying a word from beginning to end. When Zhou Yong finished reporting, the liaison officer only said "Understood" and got up to leave.

"Wait, comrade, I want to ask, when can I return to the troops?" Zhou Yong asked. The comrades who came to Xuzhou with him this time were all capable generals selected by the organization. Xuzhou city wasn't small either; everyone hadn't met since dispersing. Zhou Yong almost felt he was abandoned by the organization until he encountered important intelligence. He went to contact according to the contact method, and sure enough found the intelligence system was really working. And what Zhou Yong cared about most was when he could return to the troops. When selected at that time, Zhou Yong felt he could be competent for this job. After actually doing it, he felt he really didn't understand himself.

"I will report your request to the organization. Do the work well first now."

"Please be sure to report this matter to the organization. I really want to go back to fight."

"Mhm." The courier responded and left the meeting place along the shadows.

Early the next morning, in a private house outside the city, several pigeons flew over the wall, flapping their wings towards the western sky.

The report of Zhou Yong requesting to return to work in the troops was transmitted back to the base area along with the intelligence. After the intelligence officer parsed the document, he categorized the two pieces of intelligence and sent them to the departments they should be sent to respectively. It wasn't the first time the Special Service Section responsible for exterior line intelligence work received such an application. In fact, all dispatched intelligence officers submitted the same application, which made the Section Chief of the Special Service Section frown tightly.

The Operations Department was beaming with joy. Intelligence from various places indicated the movements of the Beiyang New Army, and the intelligence transmitted by Zhou Yong was especially useful. The quantity of grain collected by the Beiyang Army was simply too critical a datum. The grain price in Xuzhou could certainly reflect problems; for example, the continuously high grain price indicated someone was buying grain on a large scale. But exactly how much was bought was unknown. What could be known now was that Wang Shizhen presided over this matter. It would be better if it could be more detailed.

The Operations Department reported this idea to Chen Ke. Chen Ke answered very simply: "No need for the time being." Chen Ke always attached importance to intelligence work, but Chen Ke felt the comrades had walked into a misunderstanding regarding intelligence work recently. There were often things like "stealing secret letters" in storytelling, as if a battle was decided by those few letters or operational plans. Actually, with the execution ability of the Manchu Qing army, they simply couldn't carry out the operational plan they formulated without distortion. Even if the opponent was the Beiyang elite, Chen Ke didn't think the Beiyang Army could do these. Being overly addicted to the "accuracy" of intelligence would only cause negative effects.

Not only the Beiyang Army, but the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was also the same. Zhang Yu's victory on the southern line directly led to a big change in the initial deployment. The troops originally used for emergency on the southern front were greatly reduced. If the earliest operational plan was stolen by Beiyang, then when the fighting really started, Beiyang would find the number of Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army troops was more than in the plan. The Military Commission replaced a regiment stationed in Hefei in the original plan with a newly formed reinforced battalion. All troops of the 104th Division were used for the campaign to annihilate the Beiyang Army.

Due to the ample troop strength, the plan re-formulated by the Military Commission was bolder and more aggressive. The original plan was to attack the group located in the enemy's rear first. Now in the new plan, a regiment would be sent to attack Xuzhou. Once Xuzhou was lost, no matter how much courage and resourcefulness Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen had, they couldn't persist. In the process of their withdrawal, there were countless opportunities to utilize. If fighting according to the original plan, Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen would definitely be careful at every step, and there would be too few opportunities to take advantage of.

This bold plan was proposed by Zhang Yu. He originally volunteered to undertake this work. But Chen Ke gave him another order. Chen Ke ordered Zhang Yu to feign an attack on Wuhu after crossing the Yangtze River, letting the Jiangnan New Army return to the south of the Yangtze River. The new operational plan had a far larger operational scope than the initial plan, and the deterrence to the Manchu Qing was equally greater. Chen Ke even suspected whether the Manchu Qing could bear this failure.