While Duan Qirui was scolding his subordinates furiously, Wang Shizhen frowned and raised his binoculars to observe the forest ahead. The forest wasn't dense, just some ordinary woods. Through the binoculars, he could vaguely see some shadowy things deep in the forest, but couldn't see the figures of enemy soldiers. If he hadn't seen the fierce exchange of fire just now with his own eyes, Wang Shizhen wouldn't even dare to believe that a huge number of enemy troops were hidden in the forest.

At this time, Duan Qirui had finished scolding his subordinates. He turned his head and said to Wang Shizhen: "Old brother, it seems whether we can annihilate the chaotic party depends on this battle."

"Eh? How so?" Wang Shizhen didn't quite understand.

Duan Qirui pointed in the direction of the forest and said loudly: "Look, the chaotic parties in this forest are completely different from those ordinary chaotic parties. We beat them like this, yet they actually didn't retreat at all. These people must be the elite of the chaotic party. As long as we destroy these people, the remaining chaotic parties are nothing to worry about."

In this era, any army had to have elites. That is, after feeding them full with silver, then intimidating them with cruel military law. Finally, a batch of "tiger and wolf troops" was selected. At critical moments, this batch of people had to brave the rain of bullets and rush forward. "Those who advance are heavily rewarded; those who retreat are beheaded." The reason Beiyang could become the leader among the New Armies was that Yuan Shikai could rake in money and feed the Beiyang Army full. Since Duan Qirui understood the army this way, he determined that he was facing the elite troops of the People's Party.

Wang Shizhen agreed with Duan Qirui's view. Every time they suppressed bandits, after the Beiyang Army's volley fire array opened fire fiercely, the enemy soldiers collapsed immediately. Not only did the People's Party troops in the forest not collapse, but they could also resist tenaciously. It would be strange if this wasn't the elite.

"Old brother, we will surround this forest and attack from three sides. We should be able to win," Duan Qirui said.

"Move the artillery team over first and bombard with cannons," Wang Shizhen added. Beiyang originally just wanted to cut firewood, but didn't expect it to develop into such a battle. Up to now, the Beiyang artillery hadn't moved out yet.

If Pu Guanshui knew that his former superiors in the Beiyang Army thought so highly of him, he might be very moved. The Fourth Regiment belonged to the relatively weak new troops in the 104th Division. It was only because Pu Guanshui requested battle that they got a series of opportunities. The tasks and stationing positions of the Second and Third Regiments were to completely surround the Beiyang Army; they were participating in the battle temporarily now. Moreover, Chen Ke was now at the Fourth Regiment headquarters with Division Political Commissar He Zudao. If Pu Guanshui didn't fight well, this face would really be lost big time.

Chen Ke didn't really want to command by skipping levels. As the Chairman of the Military Commission and Chairman of the Party, he convened a joint wartime meeting of the Fourth Regiment.

"I am not clear now whether our Fourth Regiment can inflict heavy damage on the Beiyang Army. I want to ask everyone, are you willing to try?" The expression on Chen Ke's face when speaking wasn't relaxed at all.

Hearing this, the comrades below became excited one by one. The Fourth Regiment was also a full-strength unit; one regiment had more than four thousand people. The Beiyang Army opposite now had a little over fifteen thousand. Fighting one against four; just thinking about it made the hair on the comrades' backs stand up.

"The Second and Third Regiments are rushing over under the leadership of Division Commander Hua. After they arrive, the Beiyang Army will definitely withdraw back into the city. Everyone doesn't need to worry too much that we won't be able to pull back if we fully deploy." Chen Ke gave everyone a reassurance pill first. "According to the news from the courier, we only need to fight for another four hours."

"Chairman Chen, how do you plan to let us fight?" Fourth Regiment Political Commissar Zeng Hongqing asked.

"We fight how we trained. Looking at it now, it's flanking tactics. Since we are at a disadvantage in numbers, our efficiency in projecting lethality must be higher." Chen Ke said calmly.

The PLA, as the world's strongest light infantry, relied on infantry squad and platoon tactics. In infantry squad and platoon tactics, outflanking and side attacks were just common meals. Back then, the world's number one power, the United States, was still driven back three hundred kilometers from the Yalu River by the Volunteer Army. In the Korean War, the US military had tenacious war will and firm combat determination. Heavy artillery shaved mountains, bombs washed the ground, fighting desperately when attacking, and not dragging mud and water when retreating. The US officers and soldiers could fight bravely against temperatures of minus thirty or forty degrees; they really fought remarkably well. If their opponent weren't the Volunteer Army, but any other opponent, the US military would have won completely long ago.

Chen Ke once thought revolutionary spirit was the key to victory. Only after he engaged in revolution personally did he understand he was wrong. No matter what revolutionary spirit, if the officers and soldiers couldn't see the hope of victory at all, then everything was in vain. Only when the inevitability of victory existed could the soldiers overcome the fear of personal death. If there was no possibility of victory in the war at all, no one was a fool willing to die. To make the soldiers convinced of the inevitable victory of the battle, it had to rely on usual training. The soldiers must know the purpose of the tactical training they conducted, and where the scientific nature of these tactical trainings lay. When the cadres of the Fourth Regiment asked how to win the battle, Chen Ke could only ask everyone starting from this most basic question.

The training of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was indeed grasped very tightly; otherwise, the battle in the forest wouldn't have been withstood so easily. At the beginning, facing an enemy with superior numbers, everyone could only choose the defensive mode. Hearing Chen Ke ask this, the cadres immediately began to discuss the offensive issue. According to usual training, the method of attack naturally chose side attacks.

Offense wasn't for sending people to death. One battalion of the Fourth Regiment fought defense in the forest. How many troops should the flanking force invest exactly? How to realize the offense? Since the number was at a disadvantage, close-range shooting naturally wouldn't work. What could be chosen was to adopt the mode of front-line movement, first raid the enemy's flank, disrupting the enemy's deployment. Then invest troops to conduct hand-to-hand combat. Before this battle, the Fourth Regiment still had quite a few soldiers using cold weapons, and they had also conducted specialized drills for this combat mode. The problem was that hand-to-hand combat was very unfavorable for troops with inferior numbers.

The discussion reached this key point in less than ten minutes. With a ratio of one to four, offense became a very bad choice.

Although facing Chen Ke, and the result of the discussion was that offensive warfare was unfavorable, the comrades' faces were quite ugly. Even so, the comrades still formally proposed the final view to Chen Ke. Full-scale offense was not feasible.

Chen Ke wasn't unhappy at all. Seeking truth from facts was the People's Party's program of action; what was shameful about telling the truth? He said seriously: "If we can't fight, then we can't hold. Being beaten passively here is just losing troops for nothing; attrition warfare is meaningless. Fight if we can win, leave if we can't win. If everyone thinks the situation is like this, we can prepare to retreat now."

"Then what if we only hit one route of the Beiyang Army?" He Zudao spoke up. The Political Commissars of the People's Party were not civilian officials; in battle, Political Commissars also fought bravely on the front line. Xiong Mingyang of the Second Regiment once served concurrently as Political Commissar and Regiment Commander; this kind of concurrent situation wasn't rare in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.

He Zudao continued: "If the Beiyang Army can't take it down frontally, they will definitely adopt the tactic of outflanking from two wings. We knock out one of their wings; this troop strength is still enough. Now the battlefield width is five *li*. This requires the troops inside the forest to be able to block the superior enemy, preventing them from rescuing the friendly forces close at hand. The Beiyang Army will use cannons to bombard our positions in the forest. The comrades in the forest will have to bear the enemy's attack from three sides. This position must be arranged well."

Hearing He Zudao's plan, the Party cadres of the Fourth Regiment felt their heartbeats accelerating involuntarily. He Zudao's plan was feasible, but everyone could imagine the arduous battle to be carried out within it. Everyone's eyes turned to Chen Ke.

Chen Ke laughed: "I still say that: fight if we can win, leave if we can't win. I am not acting as an army supervisor here, forcing everyone to fight some great victory. I am here just to see how comrades fight. To see if everyone can persist in their own combat plan to the end."

As the Political Commissar, Zeng Hongqing spoke first: "We were originally to stop the Beiyang Army from cutting firewood, but the battle developed to this stage. Even if we retreat now, the Beiyang Army still can't cut much firewood. This combat objective has been achieved. I think we should choose to retreat. Bury landmines in the forest before retreating, enough to stop the Beiyang Army from cutting firewood on a large scale. Moreover, once the Second and Third Regiments arrive nearby, the Beiyang Army indeed has no way to continue cutting firewood."

Pu Guanshui didn't agree with this view. "Even if the Second and Third Regiments rush over, we didn't make a concerted attack combat plan beforehand. We cannot coordinate combat effectively. If we persist in the forest for a while, it will be somewhat helpful for subsequent combat."

Zeng Hongqing shook his head. "If we want to hold the forest, we can only follow the tactic Political Commissar He just mentioned. The troops have never trained to besiege a point to strike reinforcements across this width of five *li* braving enemy artillery fire. We cannot take this risk."

Hearing this reason, Pu Guanshui couldn't say anything either. He knew time was tight, so he said decisively: "Retreat."

War had broken away from control since the first shot was fired. Wanting to advance and retreat freely on the battlefield wasn't such an easy thing either. This was also thanks to the People's Party emphasizing training; before the troops were put into battle, the retreat plan was also formulated accordingly. According to the predetermined retreat route, the troops in the forest withdrew from the position quietly. The main force was also retreating at the same time.

At this time, the Beiyang cavalry had long begun reconnaissance in groups of twenty or thirty. The retreat of the main force was quickly seen by them. Although these cavalry dared not approach to harass, reporting news was always possible. Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen frowned upon learning the news of the People's Party troops retreating.

"Commander Duan, Provincial Commander Wang. Let's hurry and chase up." Hearing this news, the officer beside them immediately beamed with joy. In the past, when facing peasant rebel armies, the rebel army starting to retreat meant they couldn't hold on. The Beiyang Army chasing up never failed to have a great victory. The Beiyang Army was beaten miserably in the People's Party's ambush a few days ago. Now there was finally an opportunity to hold their heads high.

"Old brother, what do you think?" Duan Qirui certainly hoped to catch up and fight a winning battle. But he had suffered so many losses after all, so he dared not act rashly. Moreover, past peasant rebel armies retreated and scattered after the frontal combat collapsed. The People's Party didn't fall behind at all in the forest. This retreat was an active retreat. It was hard to say if there were any ambushes inside.

Facing the opportunity for combat, Wang Shizhen was more decisive than Duan Qirui. "Morale can be drummed up but not leaked. If we don't chase a bit now, the blow to morale will be excessive. Let's not chase too urgently; just be careful there are no ambushes. We select three thousand elites to chase a bit."

As soon as the main force of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army broke away from the front line, they quickly completed the formation of the marching column. The movement speed increased immediately. The base area had its own cavalry originally. Relying on cavalry to expel the Beiyang cavalry squads, the march wasn't disturbed at all. And intelligence was transmitted back equally quickly.

"The Beiyang Army sent three thousand people to chase over?" Chen Ke marched with big strides while listening to the report.

Several main cadres of the Fourth Regiment and Pu Guanshui, who was commanding the Fourth Regiment now, were beside Chen Ke. Hearing this news, the eyes of several cadres lit up. Four thousand people fighting fifteen thousand people was indeed unrealistic, but four thousand people fighting three thousand people wasn't a very difficult thing. The Beiyang Army was unfamiliar with the place in the wilderness; wasn't this walking right into the trap?

Chen Ke turned his head to look at the Reconnaissance Battalion Commander beside him. "Can you make the Beiyang Army blind?"

"That bit of Beiyang cavalry is nothing." The Reconnaissance Battalion Commander grinned.

This was a standard PLA-style mobile annihilation battle. The cavalry dispatched by the Beiyang Army on the left flank suffered an ambush because they chased too far ahead. Just as they passed a small slope, they were suddenly attacked by superior cavalry. This Beiyang cavalry squad was completely annihilated immediately. The Beiyang Army didn't feel the danger in it, only slowing down slightly.

That hateful bandit army troop marching in front did this obviously just wanting to get rid of the Beiyang Army's pursuit. Since they were targeted by the Beiyang Army, there was no reason to let the bandit army escape easily. The bandit armies that were chased relentlessly by the Beiyang Army and finally collapsed during the march were not just one or two.

"You don't say, the Beiyang Army really has a way with marching," Chen Ke said grinningly to Pu Guanshui beside him.

"They seem not to have brought dry rations." Pu Guanshui was very familiar with Beiyang and observed this situation through binoculars.

"That means they won't chase relentlessly?"

Pu Guanshui wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Anyway, they can't persist for too long."

"Then let's take them a bit farther." Chen Ke laughed.

"Dammit, this group of bandit troops is actually eating." The leading Beiyang officer put down the binoculars and cursed.

The People's Party troops slowed down their marching speed just now. The Beiyang Army thought the troops couldn't hold on. Unexpectedly, the reason the People's Party troops slowed down was actually taking out some food to eat while walking. The Beiyang pursuing troops advanced with light troops; the People's Party obviously carried very complete marching equipment, but the Beiyang Army couldn't catch up no matter what. Seeing the People's Party troops eating, the Beiyang Army officers felt empty fire rising even more.

"Sir, can we catch up?" A low-level officer beside him asked. After chasing for more than two hours, the Beiyang Army was really tired out, and had no food. They couldn't hold on a bit.

"Put in more effort; we can definitely catch up. Wait, look." The officer pointed ahead. In the direction the People's Party troops were going, there was a village. The Beiyang Army hadn't scouted much in this direction. Seeing the People's Party went towards the village, the officer immediately thought that there were people in the village, and if there were people, there was grain. Everyone could eat. Looking at it now, the People's Party had no intention of engaging in battle at all. Even if they couldn't catch up, they might as well eat first and then talk about later things.

"Continue chasing!" The officer shouted.

Two hours later, the officer lay on a patch of grass in a very comfortable posture. His hand was placed on his chest. Although the clouds in the sky looked thick, sunlight still poured down between the clouds. If not for the blood gurgling out from the wound under the officer's palm, this would be a nice afternoon nap.

The surprise attack came too suddenly. After the Beiyang Army main force approached the village with curling cooking smoke, they suddenly saw several puffs of white smoke rising in front of the village. With several *thump-thump* explosions, shells fell into the Beiyang Army's formation. Then gunshots rang out from the rear.

This was a temporary station of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army Fourth Regiment. The two companies left behind here had received notification long ago and then lay in ambush. When the Beiyang Army entered the ambush circle, they immediately launched an attack from the rear and middle section of the Beiyang Army. Two companies, four hundred people, killing their way into the Beiyang Army's ranks was naturally unrealistic, but disrupting the Beiyang Army's marching formation was more than enough.

Suffering an unexpected attack, the Beiyang Army was in chaos immediately. And the Fourth Regiment, which changed deployment after bypassing the village, let out shouts like mountains calling and seas roaring, killing their way back towards the Beiyang Army. The pursuing Beiyang Army had no accompanying artillery or machine guns at all. The Beiyang Army, who once wanted to gather the team and resist with volleys, became good targets for artillery. Shells exploded one by one in the dense crowd. The battle turned into a one-sided slaughter.

The Beiyang Army chased the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army for several hours, and their physical strength was almost exhausted. Facing such a situation, the entire troop collapsed completely. Soldiers let out meaningless shouts, dodging shells and bullets like headless flies. The soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had eaten anyway, and now took off the New Army equipment on their bodies. Their physical strength was much better than the Beiyang Army. The counterattack quickly turned into an encirclement.

Due to the judgment of the Beiyang Army's combat power being above reality, the troops of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army didn't consider persuading surrender at all. Facing the Beiyang Army like human targets opposite, bullets were fired like splashing water. The Beiyang Army didn't even have the leisure to organize a breakout; the whole troop was scattered like sheep. Their act of fleeing in all directions was mistaken for a breakout. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army soldiers threw hand grenades *whoosh-whoosh* into the chaotic ranks of the Beiyang Army running over.

Every grenade took away several lives, making the dense Beiyang Army formation in the smoke sparse. Subsequent shooting knocked down the remaining people one by one. The Beiyang Army had rich experience fighting rebel armies in various places. They had treated failed rebel armies bloodily. When they were surrounded and faced the fate of complete destruction, these people couldn't think of surrendering. They had massacred surrenderers on a large scale, so they instinctively feared surrendering. Despite facing the situation of destruction, the Beiyang Army let themselves be slaughtered, but not a single person uttered a voice of surrender.

By the time Chen Ke discovered something was wrong and ordered the troops to start shouting surrender slogans, this battle, which could only be called a massacre, was already nearing its end. The ground was full of dead and wounded; there were few people who could stand on the spot.

It was also the first time Chen Ke truly adopted mobile warfare. Facing victory, he naturally had great joy and excitement in his heart. But the Shura field (carnage) before his eyes froze the smile on Chen Ke's face. As if to vent the uncomfortable feeling in his chest, Chen Ke sighed long. He said to Pu Guanshui beside him: "If the Beiyang Army hadn't chased so urgently, I'm afraid they wouldn't have lost so miserably."

Pu Guanshui's face also looked extremely ugly. He also didn't expect that just a simple returning horse spear (counterattack) could easily annihilate three thousand Beiyang troops. Chen Ke was right; if the Beiyang Army hadn't chased so urgently, they definitely wouldn't have suffered such tragic destruction. But the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army soldiers were also humans. They also experienced a march of the same distance as the Beiyang Army, and immediately engaged in battle after marching. Shelling and surprise attacks only disrupted the Beiyang Army's formation. What truly annihilated the Beiyang Army was the Fourth Regiment soldiers who turned back to kill.

Senior officers might still have some pity or sadness, but the soldiers who invested great energy and willpower and did their best in fierce combat didn't have such emotions at all. "Victory!" "Victory!" The soldiers raised the weapons in their hands and cheered loudly.

"Long live Chairman Chen!" Unknown who shouted this slogan first. Immediately, other soldiers shouted in unison, "Long live Chairman Chen!" "Long live Chairman Chen!"

This was a shout from the heart. Chen Ke, who marched with them and fought with them today, was the person who saved everyone from the death line, the person who created this army and led this army from one victory to another.

Before, although the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army also won a few battles, those were indeed battles carefully ambushed and meticulously prepared. And those battles were also taught by Chairman Chen on how to fight to win. Now this hearty and dripping great victory, this great victory that thoroughly trampled the Beiyang Army, which was once high above in everyone's eyes, underfoot, thoroughly stimulated the excitement and admiration of the soldiers.

"Long live Chairman Chen!" This slogan aptly shouted out the heartfelt wishes of the soldiers.

"Chairman Chen!" A cadre from the Intelligence Section walked over with a sweating courier. He shouted while walking: "Chairman Chen, Division Commander Hua commanded the Second and Third Regiments to arrive at Huaiyuan county town. Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen retreated back into the city. We can surround them."

After annihilating these three thousand Beiyang troops, the People's Party's three regiments had twelve thousand people. The Beiyang Army in the city also only had a little over twelve thousand left. Moreover, Wang Shizhen himself was from Beiyang, but the subordinates he commanded as Provincial Commander of Jiangbei were not Beiyang Army. The Beiyang Army under Duan Qirui was now less than six thousand. Before the war, the People's Party even prepared to open the main road and let the Beiyang Army thrust into Fengtai County. Unexpectedly, after really starting the fight, the Beiyang Army only entered Huaiyuan County and reached their dead end.

Fighting to this extent, the most elite First Regiment of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army hadn't even participated in the battle. The First Regiment was rushing towards Xuzhou, the starting point of the Beiyang Army in Jiangsu. Although Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen hadn't been finally annihilated yet, the complete victory of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was already a visible result. This couldn't help but make the Intelligence Section cadre beam with joy.

"After cleaning the battlefield, start the encirclement," Chen Ke said calmly.