The Guangfu Society didn't discriminate much against women, the main reason being the existence of Qiu Jin. Many new Guangfu Society members experienced a great sense of unfamiliarity; when a woman discussed state affairs and planned uprisings together with men, this was something not easy to get used to no matter what. To overcome the idea that women lacked insight, male comrades had to go through a lot of psychological discomfort.

During the days after the Hangzhou campaign ended when Qiu Jin temporarily didn't appear due to injury, the comrades who had gotten used to Qiu Jin's presence felt a bit unaccustomed. In any case, as long as Qiu Jin was present, the men seemed less presumptuous in language and action. Compared to being mocked by male comrades, being mocked by female comrades was undoubtedly very terrifying. And with the existence of female cadres in the organization, men would also instinctively maintain some demeanor and enterprising attitude. When Qiu Jin was absent, a meeting of purely a group of males was always subtly different from before.

In the People's Party base area, gender equality and women's liberation were one of the most basic political propagandas. It could be said with certainty that among the various revolutions, the People's Party undoubtedly had the largest proportion of women. Because he had long been accustomed to the existence of women, Xu Shuisheng wasn't as sensitive as other Guangfu Society cadres. Hearing a woman speaking loudly with Xu Xilin, Xu Shuisheng's first feeling was surprise, as the content of this conversation was quite sensitive.

Although Qiu Jin hadn't fully recovered yet, she had a tenacious personality. As long as she was allowed to come out to work, it was impossible for her to lie back in the sickbed. Qiu Jin's original job was commanding the Dare-to-Die Corps. Now that Xu Xilin had taken charge of the Dare-to-Die Corps, Qiu Jin naturally wanted to help Xu Xilin more and hold the line. After coming out to work, Qiu Jin quickly discovered a problem. She couldn't help but run to question Xu Xilin, "Dispatching troops to Nanjing this time, what if the foreigners send troops?"

The British had designated the Yangtze River basin as their sphere of influence, and British warships had the right of free navigation on the Yangtze River. This was clear proof of the Manchu Qing forfeiting sovereignty and humiliating the nation, and also something that made revolutionaries feel heartache. Driving the foreigners out of China was not just the idea of common people like the Boxers; most revolutionaries also had such ideas.

Ideas were ideas, but once war really unfolded, who the foreigners would stand with was a consideration that couldn't be avoided. Nanjing was a trading port city. Although there were no concessions, British warships always had to pass through Nanjing. Qiu Jin was very worried about this. Qiu Jin hadn't participated in meetings during her injury. After her "comeback," she found that when comrades in the Guangfu Society mentioned this issue, most people asked hadn't considered this problem, and the rest pretended to be deaf and dumb, talking about other things. Having no choice, Qiu Jin could only run to find Xu Xilin to force an answer.

Like other comrades, Xu Xilin also adopted an attitude of pretending to be deaf and dumb regarding the foreigner issue. Qiu Jin couldn't help quoting Chen Ke's words. "Bosun, pretending not to see won't work. Wen Qing has said many times, we have to face reality."

Xu Xilin naturally could hear the meaning in Qiu Jin's words. He knew even more clearly that if he couldn't give Qiu Jin an explanation, it would be impossible to get away easily today. Xu Xilin finally said seriously, "Xuanqing, if the foreigners send troops, what do you say we should do?"

"What to do? Fight them!" Qiu Jin answered cleanly and neatly.

"How to fight? If the foreigners fight land battles with us, we fight them. If the foreigners fight water battles with us? How do we fight?" Xu Xilin's question was very direct.

Qiu Jin didn't answer immediately. She frowned and sized up Xu Xilin. Until she looked so much that Xu Xilin avoided Qiu Jin's gaze, Qiu Jin continued to ask, "Fighting land battles, can we win?"

The question touched on the key point Xu Xilin hadn't dared to face directly all along, and he fell silent again. This wasn't just a problem Xu Xilin dared not face directly; comrades who could think of this problem all felt it was extremely thorny. No one was willing to provoke trouble for no reason, especially the big trouble of the British. Facing the British, whether the Guangfu Society could win, the comrades were not clear. Many comrades from local areas simply had no concept of the British strength.

Looking at the aggressive Qiu Jin, Xu Xilin finally said, "Xuanqing, look, Wen Qing occupied Anqing, and the British likewise had no reaction. If we attack Nanjing, the British shouldn't interfere."

"Then..." Qiu Jin wanted to say something more. But she was interrupted by Xu Xilin. "Xuanqing, whether we can conquer Nanjing by attacking with full force now is still between two possibilities. If we consider the British in again, do we still want to fight this battle?"

This was the true thought of the people of insight within the Guangfu Society. The New Army plus the Green Standard Army in Nanjing city had at least twelve or thirteen thousand men. The Guangfu Society had a bit over ten thousand troops on hand. The troop strength was at a disadvantage. If they considered the foreigners in at this time, the Guangfu Society simply had no way to formulate a response strategy. So the Guangfu Society ignored this from top to bottom; this was also something that couldn't be helped.

Qiu Jin understood Xu Xilin's meaning, but she still couldn't let it go. "Bosun, this Nanjing campaign is definitely not easy to fight. If we can't conquer it, absolutely don't force it. Even if we don't occupy Nanjing, we can still hold Zhejiang."

Xu Xilin just nodded. Actually, according to his intention, there was no need to attack Nanjing at all. Just then, a knock on the door was heard. Xu Xilin felt relieved of a heavy burden. Explaining many things to Qiu Jin was really a heavy burden. He let Xu Shuisheng in, and the content of the discussion naturally turned to the training and preparation of the Dare-to-Die Corps.

After reporting the situation of the Dare-to-Die Corps, Xu Shuisheng asked, "Mr. Xu, when do we set off?"

"In these two days, our Dare-to-Die Corps will set off first." Xu Xilin answered crisply.

Things developed as Xu Xilin said; the various units of the Guangfu Society set off very quickly. The first to move out was naturally the Dare-to-Die Corps; they bore the responsibility of the vanguard. Following closely was the Guangfu Army under the Guangfu Society banner.

At the same time the Guangfu Society Dare-to-Die Corps set off, Tao Chengzhang had already notified the heroes from various paths that starting from that day, the Guangfu Society would no longer provide food to the heroes of various paths. Those unwilling to go attack Nanjing could scatter on their own; Tao Chengzhang would absolutely not force them. But if the heroes of various paths thought Hangzhou was empty and started to act wildly, the troops of the Guangfu Society staying behind in Hangzhou would absolutely not talk about any feelings anymore.

Those who originally planned to attack Nanjing naturally didn't need to be told; they followed the main force and started going north. As for those teams in a wait-and-see state, seeing Qiu Jin patrolling with the Guangfu Army every day, they dared not make any unusual moves. They originally gathered here at the Guangfu Society with the intention of collecting guns, money, and grain. Tao Chengzhang's policy was in place and cut off their thoughts very well. The Guangfu Society cut off the food supply, and staying in Hangzhou buying food on their own was meaningless. Most teams chose to go north with the main force, and a small number chose to return directly to their hometowns.

Four days after the Dare-to-Die Corps moved out, Qiu Jin went to report, "Duke Tao, inside Hangzhou city, besides our own troops, there aren't many other revolutionary comrades left."

Tao Chengzhang just gave a hum but didn't answer.

"Duke Tao, why don't you take me to attack Nanjing together this time?" Qiu Jin still wanted to return to the front line.

"Xuanqing, I will lead troops north today or tomorrow. If you go with me, who will Hangzhou be handed over to?" Tao Chengzhang resolutely disagreed. Hangzhou was the foundation of the Guangfu Society; Tao Chengzhang was absolutely not at ease letting others guard Hangzhou.

Without waiting for Qiu Jin to say anything more, Tao Chengzhang ordered, "Xuanqing, you drive away all those remaining who still want to sponge food and drink now. No need to be polite to them at all."

Seeing Qiu Jin leave with the order, Tao Chengzhang felt relieved. Now Tao Chengzhang didn't want to discuss the matter of dispatching troops with anyone anymore. Even knowing that this dispatching of troops had big problems and many unthorough places, Tao Chengzhang was still unwilling to discuss. Before dispatching troops, everyone was used to considering how much strength they had in their hands, and the Guangfu Society was the same from top to bottom. Talking about tens of thousands of troops and the achievement of easily sweeping through Zhejiang, comrades all felt attacking Nanjing wasn't a big problem.

However, as the troops set off one by one, and Hangzhou city, which was once full of manpower, became emptier and emptier, Tao Chengzhang actually had panic in his heart. Consideration of the enemy entered his train of thought more and more. The number of defenders in Nanjing, and the stubborn action of wantonly slaughtering revolutionaries shown by the enemy, all proved that this battle was definitely not something that could be solved so easily. The more one considers one's own advantages, naturally the more confident one is. The more one considers the enemy's true strength, the more one loses confidence. Tao Chengzhang knew this kind of thing very well, but what Tao Chengzhang didn't know before was that no matter how much he wanted to encourage himself or calm himself down, in reality, he simply couldn't do it.

When imagining out of thin air, the wish to succeed naturally occupied the vast majority of the train of thought. When really about to face the enemy, the emotion of panic naturally occupied the majority of thinking again. This was simply not led by Tao Chengzhang's own will; it just happened so realistically. To cheer himself up, Tao Chengzhang had to use the situation when Chen Ke first attacked Anqing to give himself confidence. At that time, the Guangfu Society felt the People's Party attacking Anqing was completely unreliable, but facts proved, didn't the People's Party break Anqing in one stroke just the same? At that time, the People's Party only had over three thousand people. Now the Guangfu Society has over ten thousand people; on what basis can Chen Ke do it, but I can't?

Thinking of this, Tao Chengzhang asked, "Is there still no news from Chen Beping and the others?"

Chen Beping had been gone for several days to contact the People's Party to provide a medical team. According to previous experience, news from the People's Party liaison personnel should have been received by now. The significance of the medical team was already very clear to the Guangfu Society from top to bottom. Without the treatment of the medical team, everyone felt very uncertain in their hearts. Tao Chengzhang stayed in Hangzhou partly because he had to hold the fort; otherwise, those sponging food and drink might not be willing to leave. On the other hand, he also wanted to confirm the movement of the medical team personally; otherwise, the panic in his heart couldn't be driven away no matter what.

"Duke Tao, still no news."

Tao Chengzhang originally wanted to say wait a bit longer, but felt doing so was inevitably too cowardly. He gritted his teeth, stood up and said, "Forget it, let's prepare to set off. We leave today."