"The first battle was a great victory." When the news of victory reached Fengtai County, all civil administration cadres remaining in the old base area immediately fell into an excited mood. The combat power of the Beiyang Army was undoubtedly feared by the People's Party. As the leader among the Manchu Qing New Armies, the Beiyang Army was actually the representative image of the Manchu Qing. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army won every battle and indeed accumulated a reputation for being brave and skillful in battle. However, "foreign monks can chant scriptures better" (outsiders are better) was also a traditional Chinese view. Before this battle, the civil administration cadres in the base area naturally had no confidence in their hearts. The news of victory was transmitted back to the base area: more than 1,100 Beiyang troops were completely annihilated in one day. The cadres all felt the big stone in their hearts was completely put down. This joyful atmosphere was soon transmitted to Chen Ke through various channels.

Chen Ke didn't go to the front line to command like in the previous few wars but stayed in the base area. His reason for doing so was simple: war always had to be handed over to these military cadres to complete. If Chen Ke commanded personally every time, it would be very unfavorable for the growth of military cadres. Moreover, with Chen Ke sitting in the base area, even if the front line encountered trouble, Chen Ke going to the front line at that time could at least play a role in boosting morale. If Chen Ke were at the front line and the troops still suffered setbacks, the psychological impact on the base area would be huge.

However, everything has its pros and cons. The matter of He Ying's pregnancy was known to everyone among the base area cadres. After all, the base area had only been around for two years; even the cadres didn't have steel-like confidence in victory. Some cadres with insufficient psychological endurance actually questioned secretly in private whether Chen Ke "cared too much about his wife." Such bastard words were of course immediately criticized severely by other cadres. Chen Ke originally didn't expect that someone among the cadres would actually say such rumors and gossip. After he knew, it really made him depressed for a while. Fortunately, the first battle was a great victory; Chen Ke felt those timid cadres could at least stop for a while.

After He Ying became pregnant, although Chen Ke couldn't accompany her often, he would go home for dinner whenever possible. After receiving the news of victory, Chen Ke naturally went home for dinner with perfect assurance. The Chen Ke couple didn't talk much. After entering the door, Chen Ke started to make a fire without saying a word. The Fengtai County base area had begun large-scale use of honeycomb briquettes, reducing the difficulty of cooking a lot. He Ying washed vegetables and rice. The guards ate relatively on time and had already eaten at this time. With the cleverness of the guards, they naturally wouldn't intervene too much in Chen Ke's private life; guarding the door well was enough.

Just as the couple finished cooking and picked up their chopsticks, the guard came in to report that Yan Fu and Feng Xu came to visit. Chen Ke couldn't quite guess what exactly these two people wanted. Official business could be done at the office. As for private matters, the base area now really had a bit of the ancient style: "Going out from his door, entering the public gate; going out from the public gate, returning to his home, no private affairs." There wasn't much private interaction between each other. Adhering to the etiquette of hospitality, Chen Ke invited the two in.

Neither of them was an ordinary person. They originally thought the meal would be ready when Chen Ke returned home, so they roughly estimated the time to come. Unexpectedly, they arrived right when Chen Ke was eating. Chen Ke invited the two to eat some together, and they didn't decline. He Ying brought bowls and chopsticks, and the four began to eat without saying a word.

Yan Fu had a slightly more impatient temper. After eating a few mouthfuls, he suddenly asked: "Chairman Chen, you stir-fried this dish, right?"

If someone else asked this, Chen Ke would think this person very likely inquired about his private affairs. But Yan Fu never did such things as inquiring about privacy. Chen Ke couldn't help asking: "How did Minister Yan taste it?"

"The stir-frying technique doesn't look like it came from a woman's hand. The pot was too hot when this piece of green vegetable was put in." Yan Fu stuffed that vegetable leaf scorched black by the hot pot into his mouth while speaking.

"I'm just at this level; Minister Yan, just make do with it," Chen Ke laughed.

Hearing Chen Ke grinningly admit to cooking in the kitchen himself, Feng Xu's face couldn't help changing. In this Late Qing era, men originally didn't manage domestic affairs, let alone cook. This was Feng Xu's first time at Chen Ke's home. Except for being clean and tidy, the furniture was simple, and the dishes were just at the normal level of the cafeteria in the base area. His chopsticks couldn't help pausing for a moment.

"Brother Feng, eat quickly. We can talk business after eating," Yan Fu said immediately.

The crowd ate the meal clean. Chen Ke cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks habitually, took them to the kitchen, and washed them clean with a clatter. He Ying wiped the table and swept the floor. She also poured plain water for the two visitors. After Chen Ke came back, He Ying took the clothes out to wash.

Yan Fu ignored Feng Xu's complicated eyes after seeing these things. He said straightforwardly: "Chairman Chen, I came this time to recommend Mr. Feng to come out and work. If this kind of thing is discussed at the office meeting, it involves too much. I thought it would be more appropriate to talk privately."

Yan Fu was right. If discussed at the office meeting, this would be an issue of using old Manchu Qing personnel. The high-level cadres of the People's Party more or less knew one thing: once the Second Counter-Encirclement ended, a large-scale purge action was extremely likely to be carried out. Leaving aside others, just regarding the handling of Anhui Governor En Ming—once the People's Party expanded the controlled area to Huoshan, where En Ming once massacred the people opposing foreign religions—Chen Ke would send En Ming to Huoshan for public execution. If waiting until then, it would be absolutely impossible for Feng Xu to get appointed.

"Mr. Feng worked excellently in the editing of the *Xinhua Dictionary*; it is truly a great contribution." Chen Ke laughed. He didn't dislike Feng Xu. Also a Confucian scholar, because Feng Xu had many practical work opportunities, his work achievements were much better than Shen Zengzhi. "Minister Yan, you have appointment authority yourself. If you use civil servants according to regulations, the Organization Department can't say anything either, right?"

"Civil servants require political examination. If Chairman Chen, you don't come forward, the Organization Department simply doesn't dare to let Mr. Feng take the exam," Yan Fu answered very appropriately.

Feng Xu didn't fully understand the tricks in the dialogue between the two, but Feng Xu could see that Chen Ke's expression relaxed a lot. Chen Ke didn't oppose people like Feng Xu becoming state civil servants; he just didn't want to set a precedent for leading cadres to appoint civil servants. Moreover, Chen Ke was very worried whether a great Confucian scholar like Feng Xu, who once held a high position, would be willing to take a low-level civil servant exam. The civil servant exam wasn't simple. As the threshold of the bureaucratic system, the function of the civil servant exam lay in testing "the degree of mastering cultural level." Even an organization like the People's Party couldn't let a group of complete illiterates be bureaucrats.

The reason the People's Party wanted to edit the *Xinhua Dictionary* was to promote cultural education. Based on this modern Chinese education, revolutionary ideological education would be conducted. Finally, a new government bureaucratic system with "administrative officials" as the main body would be established. For Feng Xu's cultural level, passing the exam wasn't difficult. The difficulty was that Feng Xu had to start climbing the steps of this bureaucratic system from the lowest-level clerk. For civil servants from commoner backgrounds, this was a path to a bright future. For Feng Xu, who had been the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Anhui, this was more like an insult.

Even if Yan Fu made a guarantee, Chen Ke still dared not quite believe that Feng Xu's breadth of mind actually reached the level of accepting starting from scratch. "Mr. Feng, even if you take the civil servant exam, you can only get the treatment of a junior clerk. Let me say the ugly words first: this level can be obtained by those teenage female students in school after graduation."

"Minister Yan has already told me about this matter many times," Feng Xu laughed.

"Moreover, Mr. Feng, our bureaucratic system is an administrative official system. Being a civil servant isn't being a political official. These jobs are all jobs engaged in by those petty clerks. Of course, in the base area, engaging in this work is not some lowly service. But in this system, promotion depends on work performance and attitude towards the revolutionary cause. This point is the same for every civil servant. It's not that being older or having higher learning can raise one to a higher status. Mr. Feng, as our consultant now, your treatment level is not worse than grassroots civil servants."

Hearing Chen Ke admit frankly that "treatment is not worse than grassroots civil servants," both Feng Xu and Yan Fu couldn't help showing smiles. The treatment of these cadres of the People's Party really couldn't be considered bad. In the state's distribution system, cadres could eat their fill, and food, clothing, housing, and transportation were a big step better than before the flood. As long as one didn't think about widening the distance from the life of ordinary common people, apart from hard work, there were no overly scarce problems in such a life. But the life Feng Xu once had was far richer than the current days. This comparison was really a bit nondescript.

Feng Xu said to Chen Ke seriously: "Chairman Chen, this old man has been an official in Anhui. What Chairman Chen did in Anhui, I dare not even think about. Not to mention anything else, just the matter that these more than a hundred thousand children can attend new-style schools, no second place in the world can do it. This expenditure doesn't disturb the people or increase taxes. If discussing the way of administration, it is already shocking to the world. I discussed the employment issues of children after graduation with Minister Yan, and Chairman Chen also has arrangements. I was originally a captured person. Even if I edited the *Xinhua Dictionary*, in other places, it would just be lingering on in a steadily worsening condition. Here in the base area, my name can actually be listed at the head of the compilation. If I swore to be a prisoner of Chu (prisoner loyal to the old dynasty), I would just be a person fishing for fame. This low-level civil servant is enough. Being able to truly do some things is fine."

Feng Xu spoke seriously, and Chen Ke also answered seriously: "Being a civil servant of the People's Party isn't just about working. The concept of revolution cannot be different either. Mr. Feng said I let children go to school without increasing taxes; it seems so. Actually, it's not such a simple matter. The grain and materials the base area can produce are just this much. It won't do if I don't liberate the labor force. Women come out to work; who takes care of the children? It won't do if I don't run schools. It's not that I want to run industry; I have to let everyone live well, right?"

It wasn't a bad thing for someone like Feng Xu to join the government, but if Feng Xu propagandized some wrong concepts in the government, this wasn't acceptable to Chen Ke. The enlightened faction or revolutionaries in the late Qing had absolutely no concept of how to build an industrial country. Even the outstanding figures among them only saw superficial things. Nothing more than strong ships and sharp cannons, or factories and mines. They had absolutely no concept of the social system and supporting social systems needed to build these things. Wrong goals, wrong methods; if there could be correct results, that would be the biggest joke in the world.

Yan Fu watched Feng Xu listening very seriously to the young Chen Ke talking about some basic social concepts, and he was also very emotional in his heart. Back then, he felt Chen Ke could point out many problems and sort out China's cultural characteristics, which was already quite appreciative of Chen Ke. Seeing Chen Ke could settle the people and build an army, he felt Chen Ke was a talent. But the more he worked with Chen Ke, the more Yan Fu discovered his thoughts were actually wrong. The reason Chen Ke was different was not what he could do, but that Chen Ke's view of the world was different to begin with. Speaking extremely, even if it was "exploitation," Chen Ke knew how to exploit better than others. The Manchu Qing government and the common people had a "zero-sum relationship"; if the government took more, the common people naturally took less. Chen Ke adopted the method of developing more productive forces. Even if Chen Ke took away ninety percent of the extra things produced, the common people could also get one percent more. What's more, what Chen Ke took away wasn't used up by himself or the People's Party but continued to be used to develop productive forces.

Taken from the people, used for the people. This saying had been shouted for thousands of years. Yan Fu saw with his own eyes that the base area actually turned this into reality. Yan Fu wasn't surprised at all by Feng Xu's request to join the base area civil servant system.

Such a smart person as Feng Xu, who also had local administrative experience, naturally understood what Chen Ke said very clearly. The base area's economic policy of "distorting supply and demand" wasn't strange at all in theory. There were quite a few people who did this in Chinese history. The problem was what to do next after doing this, how to develop; Chinese history had never solved this. Once encountering people's livelihood problems, any radical change ended up with no result. Before meeting Chen Ke, Feng Xu could only rely on historical experience to be an official, trying to solve problems in traditional ways. Only with Chen Ke was there a big government truly promoting the development of local people on a large scale.

Looking from history, this kind of person and practice of Chen Ke was destined to be a flash in the pan. If not for participating in editing the *Xinhua Dictionary*, Feng Xu wouldn't be willing to wade into this muddy water either. "Leave a name for ten thousand ages in a scroll of book," let alone a dictionary that was the foundation of national culture. After finishing editing the *Xinhua Dictionary*, Feng Xu had clearly figured out one thing: if he really wanted the name "Feng Xu" marked on this dictionary to go down in Qing history, then only Chen Ke seizing the world would do. So after learning the news that the People's Party severely damaged the Beiyang Army, Feng Xu urged Yan Fu to help him get an introduction.

After listening to some programmatic issues briefly introduced by Chen Ke, Feng Xu answered: "Since I joined as a civil servant, I naturally won't act on my own."

Chen Ke didn't pick and choose at this time either. Since Feng Xu said so, Chen Ke turned to Yan Fu and said: "Political examination needs someone to guarantee. Mr. Yan, you can guarantee for Mr. Feng. You go through the procedures for the application document and guarantee document first. According to the current regulations of the base area, you will get a reply within fourteen working days. If passed, naturally there is no problem. If not passed, you can request arbitration. At that time, I will have the opportunity to intervene in this matter."

Hearing this, Yan Fu nodded. He was relatively clear about the process of this bureaucratic system. Compared with the internal organization of the People's Party, the systems of government departments in various aspects were more imperfect, and system operation was even less experienced. The Party Committee could discuss problems through Party Committee meetings. But government departments couldn't, so high-level cadres of the base area had the power to specially participate in "arbitration power meetings." Originally, these powers should belong to the "NPC," but now that the "NPC" was still a decoration, cadres concurrently held this power. If a certain cadre attending the meeting could forcibly express bearing responsibility, some things could be passed in some relatively low-level administrative matters. If even if a cadre was willing to bear responsibility, these things still couldn't be passed, the arbitration meeting would adopt a voting method, and a simple majority vote could pass it.

Every once in a while, a routine "arbitration meeting" would be held. Chen Ke undoubtedly possessed the greatest influence. Of course, if this power was exercised in the arbitration meeting, it meant paying a huge political price. Even among the high-level cadres of the People's Party, no one was willing to do this easily.

Feng Xu didn't know the operation mode of these internal systems. He only knew that the People's Party established the base area for less than two years. Chen Ke's words clearly showed that the People's Party government system could actually be built to a system where a responsible person could be found for anything. This really couldn't help but surprise outsiders like Feng Xu.

After Yan Fu and Feng Xu left, Chen Ke heaved a sigh of relief. As the possessor of the greatest power within the Party, he must bear the greatest responsibility. The cadres above took the blame; a lot of time it was taken like this. And regarding taking the blame, rather than taking it secretly, it was better to take it openly like this. Fairness, justice, and openness were certainly great restrictions on those in power, but also great protection for those in power. Rather than letting black materials accumulate and be released at a critical moment, it was better to define it through this kind of arbitration meeting. The arbitration meeting was definitely imperfect, but it could be accepted by all parties. Thinking of this, Chen Ke couldn't help shaking his head; let's hope this doesn't go down the evil path of the American Congress.

Since he was home, Chen Ke was also willing to think about some things quietly. Throwing the matter of Feng Xu to the back of his mind, Chen Ke began to consider strategic issues. What reaction would the Beiyang Army have after suffering such a heavy blow? This was a matter many people in the base area cared about, but Chen Ke felt this matter wasn't anything particularly remarkable. As an emerging regime, the problem Chen Ke faced was "cannot afford to lose." He originally didn't think of this matter; the stronger the strength in his hands, the more clearly Chen Ke saw this fact.

Precisely because Chen Ke involved such a base area in the revolution, any failure would trigger completely unpredictable internal turmoil. Many emerging regimes were actually like this; seemingly victorious all the way, one failure and they were completely finished. Chen Ke originally just copied what he learned from his historical knowledge. Only now did he understand how lucky he was. Take the first Battle of Anqing for example; Chen Ke theoretically didn't have the ability to defend Anqing, so he let the Yue Wang Hui control Anqing. If Chen Ke hadn't been able to make a prompt decision, but forcibly occupied Anqing beyond his ability, the base area would probably have perished long ago.

At that time, the gap in strength between the enemy and us was large, and the comrades were also clear about it. So Chen Ke's view easily received the comrades' support. After the victory of the Second Counter-Encirclement, Chen Ke might not necessarily be able to persuade the comrades so easily to give up the territory within easy reach.

Moreover, politics is very interesting; sometimes propping up a few scapegoats is also necessary. The Yue Wang Hui acted as the first scapegoat. After the Second Counter-Encirclement, a new scapegoat must be set up. If the Manchu Qing only had the People's Party as an enemy, then they would fight to the death. If there were several enemies, and other enemies seemed easier to defeat, the Manchu Qing would tackle the easy ones first and the difficult ones later, leaving development time for the People's Party. The Guangfu Society was undoubtedly such a new scapegoat. Chen Ke had no ill feeling towards the Guangfu Society and had enough respect for these pioneers of the revolution, but when it was time to let the Guangfu Society die, Chen Ke didn't have the slightest unease either. The only question was to what extent to discuss this matter within the People's Party.

In propaganda to Party members, it was naturally impossible to speak out strategic issues so openly. The truth could only be told "in part." Of course, the truth had to be told in the Politburo, but looking at it now, even in the Politburo, there were unqualified revolutionaries. This made Chen Ke feel very scratching his head (troubled). Yuwen Badu naturally didn't need mentioning; he could be completely excluded. Hua Xiongmao was as ruthless as winter when facing enemies, but facing his own relatives, could Hua Xiongmao watch helplessly and do this behind their backs? If Hua Xiongmao didn't have a bit of compassion for relatives, Chen Ke would be afraid instead. But would this compassion make Hua Xiongmao make some "clever" moves? For example, not explaining directly, but helping in a roundabout way. This practice was absolutely not allowed. Thinking of these, Chen Ke sighed long.

A cup of plain water was placed in front of Chen Ke. Raising his head, Chen Ke saw his wife He Ying sitting beside him somewhat restlessly. "What's wrong?" Chen Ke asked.

"Wenqing, I heard there is someone named Sun Yongsheng in the Beiyang Army coming this time?" He Ying's words were very implicit.

"There is indeed such a person," Chen Ke answered.

"This person..." He Ying didn't know how to continue. Choosing words, He Ying said slowly: "We can definitely win, right?"

"The Beiyang Army is dead for sure," Chen Ke answered his wife's question decisively.

"That's good." He Ying finally said nothing more.

Chen Ke also wanted to pretend not to hear this, but the one speaking was his wife after all. In this world, He Ying was Chen Ke's closest person. Although Chen Ke didn't want to hear his wife curse Sun Yongsheng, if He Ying really cursed Sun Yongsheng loudly, Chen Ke would also sincerely feel happy. But He Ying finally said nothing. Chen Ke always couldn't help suspecting He Ying would worry that if Sun Yongsheng died in battle, He Ying would find it hard to face her aunt He Qian. And Chen Ke knew this thought was simply certain.

In such an era, the state was not an object the people could rely on. In Chen Ke's era, no matter how you cursed the state, the state system at least provided sufficient social services. Moreover, although the great achievements created by New China weren't enjoyed by the people to the last penny, the bulk was enjoyed by the people to the greatest extent. Most importantly, from the perspective of political correctness, the view that the people should enjoy all the fruits created by their own labor was established. By the time Chen Ke traveled through time, at least no one dared to completely overturn this theory.

In the era of 1907, there was basically no such saying. The winner is king; the winner takes all. Actually, in a sense, the People's Party was also practicing the concepts of this era. The hundreds of fortified villages in the base area all had history of decades or even hundreds of years. For the people to survive, under the leadership of the People's Party, all fortified villages were breached. Those insufferably arrogant masters of the fortified villages and their families, as long as they weren't beaten to death on the spot, were all locked up. The fate of these thousands of people was to be executed collectively after the Second Counter-Encirclement.

When they died, they weren't even "martyrs of the old era." The People's Internal Affairs Committee had long been collecting evidence of their crimes of oppressing the common people and bullying the countryside. Plus some other people being watched, in this Great Purge, at least ten thousand people would die. When they died, they would be sinners. The authority executing them wasn't Chen Ke; it was the people demanding their execution. Chen Ke hadn't known ten thousand people in his era. Now he formulated a strategy, and it decided ten thousand lives. If adding the predictable destruction of Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen, just in the year 1907, Chen Ke could kill at least forty thousand people without doing it himself. Nationwide, the people dying because of Chen Ke were estimated to exceed one hundred thousand.

These people all had their own relatives and friends. Everyone was connected to several times or even a dozen times the social relations. The Party members of the People's Party wouldn't be completely uninvolved with these people either. Historically, before the Party reached Shaanxi on the Long March, an official in charge of purges was airdropped to the Northern Shaanxi Base Area. With only the identity of a purge cadre, he could lock up Liu Zhidan and others. No matter how much the Northern Shaanxi Red Army didn't understand, there was no mutiny at all. This was the Party's discipline. Relying on this steel-like discipline, the Party completed unprecedented great achievements.

When Chen Ke was young, he also thought the purges in the Jiangxi Soviet Area back then were too brutal. Thinking about it now, if there were no purges, how could discipline be established? From this angle, those killed in purges might not necessarily be "bad people"; those killed were people within the Party who couldn't obey discipline and couldn't unconditionally adhere to the Party's command. "A good dog protects three neighbors; a good fellow protects three villages." Who doesn't have their own plans? Who doesn't have their own relatives and friends?

Thinking over and over, Chen Ke suddenly felt his murderous aura was a bit too strong. Thinking of the butcher's knife for Party organization problems, this thinking leap was a bit too big. However, this was also a troublesome logical problem. With tens of thousands of old Red Army soldiers with firm will who had experienced purges and the Long March, future purges and rectifications could be done without killing.

Finding his thoughts finally disturbed by subjective assumptions, Chen Ke expelled all these things from his mind. Talk about such things when really encountered. The current problem was to hurry and think of a way to let the Guangfu Society jump out actively. Whether Hua Xiongmao could achieve the principles Party members should abide by was also a test for Hua Xiongmao. If Hua Xiongmao couldn't hold on, then educate him first. If Hua Xiongmao couldn't be educated, then remove him from office. Such things could only be taken one step at a time.

Thinking this through, Chen Ke felt those small thoughts of his wife He Ying didn't count as anything at all. A tiny Sun Yongsheng; if he was killed on the battlefield, that was his fate. If he wasn't killed but captured, then just handle him as a captive. Chen Ke could only do this much.

Sun Yongsheng's days were not easy. Having more than seventy percent of the cavalry troops killed by machine gun positions, Sun Yongsheng managed to escape with his life. If he hadn't also lost a battle, Duan Qirui would almost have killed Sun Yongsheng on the spot. The Beiyang Army couldn't travel overnight, so they had to camp on the spot. The terrifying night descended on Duan Qirui's head.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army brought "harass the enemy when they camp" to the limit. In cold gun and cold cannon activities, the People's Party even used specialized harassment rocket launchers. Rocket launchers were mainly a design concept issue. If this thing wanted to achieve battlefield precision, with the strength of the base area, it would naturally be extremely difficult. But if just wanting the rockets to explode within a large area of the enemy's camp, it was much easier. Even the lethality of the explosive part didn't need to be too sufficient; the key was to be loud enough.

Things dragging long tail flames flew into the camping area over a distance of several *li*, and then exploded with a bang. This was a lot of gunpowder. The People's Party didn't have so much gunpowder to waste like this. So Duan Qirui's troops only took five shots all night. As a result, the Beiyang Army stayed awake all night.

Finally enduring until dawn, the cavalry began to search the main road with fear and trepidation, only to find their communication lines hadn't been cut off at all; the main road was unobstructed. Duan Qirui couldn't let the Beiyang Army sleep during the day and then be harassed at night. He could only order people to contact Wang Shizhen on one hand, and order the troops to continue marching on the other, at least entering Huaiyuan county town. Relying on the city wall, harassing enemies wouldn't succeed easily.

The main force of Beiyang began to advance amidst private complaints. When they finally arrived in Huaiyuan County with difficulty, they found Huaiyuan county town had become a true empty city. This was thanks to Sun Yongsheng. After killing his way into Huaiyuan County yesterday, Sun Yongsheng "investigated chaotic parties and interrogated traitors" in the county town according to tradition. Those who could stay in the county town were no traitors; they were all people supporting the Manchu Qing. After this action by Sun Yongsheng, these people also completely despaired of the government army. Plus the People's Party killed six hundred Beiyang cavalry and returned some property that was obviously robbed to the residents in the county. Under the persuasion of the People's Party, all people in the county assessed the situation and made the decision to flee collectively. So the stove pits in quite a few houses were still warm, but not a single resident could be seen.

Occupying such an empty city, Duan Qirui felt extremely depressed. But an empty city at least had enough houses to live in, so the Beiyang Army smashed open all the doors and found places to live. Having not slept for two days and one night, the Beiyang Army was really exhausted.

The People's Party didn't care about the contact between the Beiyang armies. Wang Shizhen received Duan Qirui's notice very smoothly. As a senior Beiyang soldier, Wang Shizhen understood Duan Qirui had encountered great trouble. Wang Shizhen's choices were few. Either he waited for Duan Qirui to withdraw to Suzhou and then return to Xuzhou together. This practice was equivalent to declaring the end of their military careers. Or stay put, watching Duan Qirui be destroyed. Wang Shizhen couldn't do such a thing either. The remaining choice was for Wang Shizhen to personally lead troops south, join forces with Duan Qirui, and then thrust straight into Fengtai County with superior forces. With a thousand dissatisfactions in his heart, Wang Shizhen still sent troops.

The People's Party didn't harass Wang Shizhen. Plus Wang Shizhen's excellent staff ability, the time he spent escorting grain and fodder to arrive in Huaiyuan County was two days shorter than Duan Qirui's marching time. When Wang Shizhen entered Huaiyuan county town, he was immediately startled by everything he saw. The morale of the Beiyang Army was low, and the number of wounded soldiers greatly exceeded Wang Shizhen's imagination.

Duan Qirui didn't dare tell Wang Shizhen the truth; he didn't sit and wait for Wang Shizhen's support. On the second day of entering Huaiyuan county town, Duan Qirui sent out his scouts. These scouts ran directly into the Reconnaissance Battalion of the People's Party. Scouts taking the main road fell into ambushes; at least corpses could be found. Those taking small paths never returned; alive no person seen, dead no corpse seen.

In the meantime, Duan Qirui also launched several searches in units of a hundred people. There were no people in Huaiyuan county town, but there should be people in the countryside at least. Once the search team disappeared from the field of vision of the city wall, after a long time, a few blood-covered wounded soldiers would come back supporting each other. The others had all been wiped out. Asking about the combat process, those scared-witless wounded soldiers all said dark masses of enemies suddenly besieged them; everyone fought a bloody battle and repelled the enemy army before running back. This ghost talk couldn't fool Duan Qirui. If it were really so, why were these people all empty-handed? Where did their guns go?

Duan Qirui once sent a regiment of troops to set an ambush, wanting to lure out the People's Party chaotic bandits. The chaotic bandits didn't take the bait at all. No one could be seen from this regiment during the day. At night, the chaotic bandits suddenly attacked the drowsy Beiyang Army fiercely. Under the fierce counterattack of the Beiyang Army, they rushed into the minefield preset by the chaotic party. Bounding mines sprayed into mid-air by gunpowder exploded ruthlessly, killing and wounding the Beiyang Army in a large circular range. The chaotic bandits were nowhere to be seen. Having lost nearly two hundred people, this regiment returned to Huaiyuan county town dejectedly. From then on, the Third Town dared not attack in units of a regiment anymore. Daring not to attack in units of a regiment, and unable to attack with the whole army, Duan Qirui trapped in an empty city actually looked like he was at the end of his rope.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army didn't cut off the communication line of the Beiyang Army this time at all; this counted as a kind of psychological warfare. If communication was really cut off, it would make the Beiyang Army make up its mind to fight instead. If the communication line could be unimpeded, the Beiyang Army wouldn't easily jump over the wall in desperation. Living in the city would greatly consume the combat will of the troops. The sense of security given by the city wall was a subtle thing. The People's Party now still needed to use the city wall to wear down the psychology of the Beiyang Army.

"Chairman Chen, I think we can fight the Beiyang Army head-on." At the Military Commission meeting, Second Regiment Political Commissar Xiong Mingyang said.

Chen Ke rushed to the front line on the same day Wang Shizhen entered Huaiyuan county town. He brought two pieces of news. First was that Zhang Yu succeeded in the surprise attack on Wuhu; the Jiangnan New Army had hurriedly crossed the Yangtze River and returned to Jiangnan. Zhang Yu didn't linger in battle either; he just moved the silver taels of the government office and withdrew from Wuhu. Now he had safely withdrawn to Tongling. The second news was that the First Regiment had begun to move north, heading straight for Xuzhou. If no problems arose, Xuzhou with empty troops couldn't resist the attack of the First Regiment at all.

Stimulated by these two pieces of news, the combat consciousness of the front-line troops was also ignited. First was Xiong Mingyang, then Pu Guanshui and others also expressed that under the attack of three regiments, the Beiyang Army inside Huaiyuan county town would absolutely be unable to withstand a single blow.

"Comrades, it's not that we can't fight like this. Fighting like this, we suffer losses," Chen Ke laughed.

Everyone laughed along. Because troop strength was superior and there was no gap in weapons, the casualties of the People's Party's guerrilla warfare were very small. Having killed and wounded six or seven hundred people of Duan Qirui's troops, the casualties of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were less than fifty. Most of the casualties were injured by stray bullets. If fighting head-on, the number of casualties would increase substantially.

"But our troops stay in the wild; everyone's physical consumption is quite large." Hua Xiongmao proposed a very valuable view. The People's Party's field combat advantage didn't fall from the sky. Every day the troops camped in the wild and had to tense their attention to prepare for combat at any time. Although hygiene was very noted and no large-scale disease broke out, the consumption of physical strength was extremely obvious.

"It's okay now. If it rains, we simply can't live in the wild," Pu Guanshui followed. The clouds in the sky had thickened these days; sudden rain wasn't a baseless imagination. Autumn rain lingers; once it starts raining, who knows how long it will take to stop.

"This isn't too worrying, right? Anyway, I suspect we'll have a battle to fight in these few days," Chen Ke continued to encourage everyone.

"Could it be around the issue of firewood?" Pu Guanshui asked. The front-line troops weren't idle either; everyone also constantly discussed places where battles might break out. The Beiyang Army had sent small units to prepare to cut firewood several times, all of which were wiped out by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Everyone had been considering whether to focus on setting ambushes in the direction of the forest. When persuading the common people to leave Huaiyuan County, the troops specifically checked the quantity of firewood in the city. This quantity wasn't enough to support for too long.

"Comrades are prepared very sufficiently." Chen Ke was very satisfied. Actually, fighting a war was absolutely not simple blade against blade, gun against gun. Horses could eat raw food, but unless forced to the last resort, humans always had to eat cooked food. This point made no difference to the People's Party and the Beiyang Army. The People's Party in the wild could easily obtain fuel instead. The Beiyang Army in the city was much more embarrassed. Not to mention the weather was getting cold now, and the demand for firewood was also constantly increasing.

As if to confirm the Revolutionary Army's idea, that night, large troops of the Beiyang Army sneaked out of the city, preparing to enter the forest area. They were attacked by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army lying in ambush long ago. However, the Beiyang Army didn't retreat this time but stubbornly launched a night battle with the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. The number of Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army soldiers in ambush wasn't large; after a fierce exchange of fire, they had to retreat finally. The troops suddenly suffered more than thirty casualties. Chen Ke said nothing further and directly ordered harassment rocket launchers to move out. After three rockets flew into Huaiyuan county town, the Beiyang Army finally didn't continue to attack on a large scale.

Although they made a fuss all night, during the day, large numbers of Beiyang Army wood-cutting troops moved out. Reaching this point, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army knew Beiyang lacked firewood now; how could they let this opportunity go? A cruel positional battle unfolded in the forest.

"Old brother's judgment was indeed correct." Duan Qirui could finally engage the People's Party on a large scale head-on. He even felt somewhat excited at this moment.

Wang Shizhen smiled bitterly in his heart. From the intelligence provided by Duan Qirui, Wang Shizhen roughly understood the People's Party's combat. But that the People's Party could carry out harassment tactics to this degree, Wang Shizhen was also somewhat surprised. The People's Party's method was a bit too ruthless. The firewood in the city was already exhausted; now that Wang Shizhen's more than six thousand people arrived, there was simply no firewood to use. Wang Shizhen was actually just guessing roughly out of habit; he didn't expect to actually guess right.

"Brother, since it is so, let's have a good contest with this group of chaotic bandits," Wang Shizhen said.

The cruelty of the war far exceeded Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen's imagination. The one meeting the Beiyang Army was the Fourth Regiment. This was the youngest unit in the 104th Division and also the unit with the most average equipment. If it weren't for Duan Qirui losing more than a thousand people before and after, the Fourth Regiment couldn't even manage one rifle per person. Even so, the Beiyang Army still didn't gain the slightest upper hand.

Directly at the very front was the First Battalion. In yesterday's night battle, although the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army encountered the problem of small numbers, and the military plan originally required "run immediately if the situation is bad," this was also the first battle where the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was beaten away in so long. Battalion Commander Chen Guansheng never expected this "honor" to fall on his battalion's head. He resolutely demanded to take the lead in the daytime battle.

It was actually not easy to dig works in the forest. Chen Guansheng personally went to the front carrying a shovel, urging the troops to dig works. Chen Ke was afraid the First Battalion would see red (get too aggressive); he specifically required the troops to emphasize combat discipline. Absolutely cannot open fire until the enemy approaches to a certain degree. The Beiyang Army inherited many combat methods of the Huai Army, that is, knowing how to fire volleys and shoot in waves. Even in line-infantry battles, they might not necessarily fall behind. The People's Party didn't have so many bullets to consume. So they emphasized "every bullet wipes out an enemy" extra. To achieve this effect, they had to let the enemy get close to fight. So the position was inside the forest. It wasn't easy to organize formations in the forest. It was unfavorable for the Beiyang Army to exert its advantages.

So after Beiyang poured a round of bullets into the forest first, they began to attack. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army adopted infantry squad and platoon tactics. The equipment of Chen Ke's troops wasn't much worse than that troop which crossed the Yalu River valiantly and spiritedly. The troops had no machine guns, but hand grenades were sufficient. After the Beiyang Army killed their way into the forest, they suffered a fierce blow at close range. Immediately, men and horses turned over, and a patch fell.

What surprised the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was that even so, there were still Beiyang troops daring to brave the rain of bullets, straightening their bodies to start charging. This attitude of "winning by courage" bluffed the soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. "Throw grenades!" Squad and platoon leaders shouted loudly while taking the lead to set an example. After a burst of rumbling explosions, those "heroic" Beiyang soldiers fell. Next, the Beiyang soldiers behind no longer had the courage just now; they turned around and actually ran away just like that. The forest provided cover impartially to both sides; a large part of the bullets chased by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army in the forest were intercepted by the forest. The Beiyang Army managed to escape.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, whose position was almost breached by Beiyang, began to re-formulate specific tactics according to what was taught in the military academy. Squad leaders said to soldiers: "See that? If the Beiyang Army rushes to that pine tree, start throwing grenades."

"You guys use them sparingly; the grenade supply isn't that much." Platoon leaders said to squad leaders while patrolling the position, ordering people to collect enemy guns.

"Platoon leader, hurry up and dig trenches and foxholes; be careful of enemy shelling." The courier sent by the company commander instructed the platoon leader.

"Second Company center withdraw ten meters for me; this way we can organize firepower more effectively. Stronger compatibility." Battalion Commander Chen Guansheng ran to the front line personally and ordered after seeing the distribution of enemy dead bodies and wounded soldiers.

"You bunch of trash." Duan Qirui pointed at the commander responsible for the first wave of attack and cursed loudly.