"What? Are you sure it was the New Army and not the Patrol Battalion?" Tao Chengzhang shouted almost roaring. Veins popped up on his forehead, and his expression looked quite ferocious.

The change in the situation was truly beyond Tao Chengzhang's expectations. Although Zhang Xun slaughtered revolutionaries heavily in the New Army, Xu Xilin always believed the New Army was still willing to revolutionize. He never imagined that the first opponent encountered in attacking Nanjing city would actually be the New Army, not the River Defense Battalion responsible for defense work.

"It was indeed the New Army." The vanguard troops who fled back also had faces full of inexplicable grief and indignation. Before dispatching troops this time, the Guangfu Society always believed the New Army would defect to the revolution. Suffering a fierce blow from the New Army was also greatly beyond these people's expectations.

Tao Chengzhang calmed himself. Even after getting confirmation, he still couldn't believe this fact. "How exactly did you start fighting with the New Army?" Tao Chengzhang pursued.

"This..." The vanguard troops who fled back immediately hemmed and hawed a bit. However, there were also quick-witted ones among them, who immediately defended, "We saw the New Army setting up checkpoints on the road, so we went up to ask them to join the revolution. As a result, these people opened fire on us indiscriminately."

"Right, those people in the New Army are simply Manchu Qing people. They agreed to defect to the revolution, but their words didn't count at all."

"Commander Tao, the New Army deceived us."

Listening to these people criticizing the "betrayal" of the New Army all at once, Tao Chengzhang suddenly felt an impulse. He clenched his fists tightly to stop himself from rushing up and giving this group of vanguards a round of slaps.

The group fighting as the vanguard for the Guangfu Society were not the Guangfu Army, but secret societies from various places. Tao Chengzhang had issued an order that anyone who dared to take the lead would be heavily rewarded. This stimulated the local secret societies; there were always people who considered themselves brave and battle-wise. These people took the lead and walked in front. Presumably, they thought the New Army was the insider, and as long as they raised the banner of the Guangfu Society, the New Army would defect cheerfully. When the facts didn't develop as they thought, these people pushed all their resentment onto the New Army.

"Where are those New Army soldiers now? Which battalion's banner were they flying?" Tao Chengzhang asked. Regardless of who the New Army opening fire on the opposite side was, since the other side dared to make a move, the matter definitely wouldn't end well.

"This... everyone retreated fast, didn't see." The vanguard troops who fled back spoke very implicitly.

Tao Chengzhang felt he couldn't ask any further. It wasn't that he was worried he couldn't ask anything out of these vanguard troops, but Tao Chengzhang didn't know what he would say if he asked further.

"Commander Tao, you must avenge us. Those New Army soldiers struck too ruthlessly." These people didn't feel Tao Chengzhang's mood at all, but kept clamoring for revenge.

"I know. You go down first. Those injured hurry to the medical camp to treat injuries." Tao Chengzhang could still suppress his emotions. And mentioning the medical camp, this leader of the Guangfu Society felt much better in his heart. The People's Party didn't break their promise; the medical team caught up before the main force of the Guangfu Society arrived at Nanjing.

Having finally sent these people down, Tao Chengzhang immediately called the cadres responsible for liaising with the New Army. They were all officers from the New Army; before the war, they were asked to go and contact the New Army.

"Duke Tao, Zhang Xun has blockaded the roads now. It is really difficult for us to make contact. And the Patrol Battalions guarding various places arrest anyone without a queue as soon as they see them. We have already lost several comrades." The liaison cadre kept complaining. Most of the Ninth Division New Army had cut their queues, especially the progressive officers inclined towards the revolutionary party. Usually, this was their pride, but now it became their fatal wound.

"Is there not a bit of news?" Tao Chengzhang also felt the situation was quite thorny. In this Nanjing campaign, the Guangfu Society believed that even if the New Army wouldn't rise up immediately, they would at least stay neutral. But Zhang Xun guarded the various passes extremely strictly, and not a bit of news leaked out.

While they were talking, several common people suddenly barged in from outside. These people were sweating profusely and panting heavily, which startled Tao Chengzhang and the others. Looking closely, they were the comrades sent out to contact the New Army. Ignoring whether these people's actions were rude, Tao Chengzhang and the others asked quickly, "Did you make contact?"

After panting for a while, these people recovered their breath slightly. They answered anxiously, "Duke Tao, something big has happened. The New Army Commander Lord Xu Shaozhen was forced to take a regiment of troops to Wuhu, saying they were needed to defend Wuhu and guard against the People's Party attacking Nanjing from both sides. The other troops have all fallen into Zhang Xun's hands. Moreover, we risked death to sneak into the military camp, but heard comrades in the New Army say a rumor is spreading inside the New Army now. It says we are attacking Nanjing because we have no money, and because we are afraid of the foreigners and dare not attack Shanghai, so we come to attack Nanjing."

Hearing this news, Tao Chengzhang couldn't help widening his eyes. Before he could ask, the returning comrades continued, "Quite a few people in the New Army believed this. They all said on what basis do Zhejiang people come to rob Jiangsu people's money. Some also said that if the Guangfu Society can conquer Shanghai and then come to attack Nanjing, only then will they be willing to surrender. Otherwise, please let our Guangfu Society go back to Zhejiang first."

Tao Chengzhang wasn't angry at these localist words. He had seen so many people; Tao Chengzhang had heard words even more magical than this. "Which unit exactly fought with us?" This was what Tao Chengzhang cared about most.

"What? Already started fighting?" The comrades who went to contact were greatly surprised. After listening to other comrades' explanations, these comrades thought for a while, "It should be the Thirty-sixth Regiment. Their officers were taken away by Zhang Xun. When we went, we didn't see their people."

"Good, it's good to know who it is. No matter what they say, we must conquer Nanjing city this time!" Tao Chengzhang said loudly.

"Duke Tao, how do we fight?" Comrades of New Army origin still couldn't accept the Guangfu Society fighting the New Army head-on for a moment.

"Whoever blocks in front of us, we fight them." Tao Chengzhang answered very crisply.

Tao Chengzhang was not a person who dragged things out. Having determined the fighting method, he immediately began to organize the attack. The Nanjing area is long from north to south and narrow from east to west, oriented directly north-south; the straight-line distance from north to south is 150 kilometers, the width from east to west in the middle is 50-70 kilometers, and the width from east to west at the north and south ends is about 30 kilometers. The south is a geomorphic complex composed of low mountains, hillocks, river valley plains, lakeside plains, and riparian lands. The Guangfu Society took the route along the river this time. If they took the mountain passes in the south, the Guangfu Society, lacking artillery, would find it difficult to implement a breakthrough. Although the water system in the riparian area was crisscrossed, it was a plain after all. Fighting enemies there, the Guangfu Society's troop strength could be fully utilized.

Since the attack was decided, the main force of the Guangfu Society began to march. Soon, the road along the river was occupied by a large number of the Restoration Army. At this time, news of the war had long spread around Nanjing. There were no pedestrians on the road at all, which reduced the effort of checking suspicious characters.

Lieutenant Colonel Remington Churchill was the captain of the British Far East Fleet's HMS *Hind*. Roughly the same as other captains, Remington's official position was bought. The system of selling official posts in the tradition of the Royal Navy had a long history; not only the Navy, but the Army units were also the same. As long as one was willing to give money, after getting the official position, one could act as the commander of various units. In this colonial era, don't look down on these official positions. Through wars and various interventions, officers could make a big fortune through various means and spoils of war. The money for buying the official post could easily be earned back. As for war, in front of the invincible British, were there any real enemies? Moreover, as long as the deputy captain and the first officer were capable soldiers, it was fine. As a captain, as a commander, what was needed more was diplomatic skills and a business mind.

Recently, the situation in the Yangtze River basin changed quickly, and the British Far East Fleet had to strengthen its patrols on the Yangtze River. China's Yangtze River basin was the British sphere of influence; on this point, the British would absolutely not be sloppy in the slightest. However, before Lieutenant Colonel Remington set off, the headquarters also had instructions not to intervene in China's civil war for the time being. The Fleet Commander's instruction was very clear: "Recently, the Qing government's attitude towards Britain is very tough. In this period, wait until the Manchu Qing government can't deal with the rebels, and they will automatically beg at the door of the British Empire."

Lieutenant Colonel Remington agreed with this instruction very much. But he also had his own views.

After receiving the order to carry out the patrol mission, Lieutenant Colonel Remington showed a style different from the past. He rarely stayed in his comfortable captain's cabin but often appeared at the command post. He would even appear on the lookout post, holding a telescope to observe both sides of the Yangtze River.

When the long team of the Guangfu Society appeared on the riverbank road, Lieutenant Colonel Remington was observing them through the telescope. Soon, Lieutenant Colonel Remington returned to his post. He issued an order to the deputy captain very relaxed. "Open fire on those people!"

"What?" The deputy captain wondered if he heard wrong. Leaving aside that this was the first time Lieutenant Colonel Remington issued a combat order, this order was really quite unexpected.

"What did you say?" The deputy captain asked.

"Open fire on those yellow monkeys, did you hear clearly?" Lieutenant Colonel Remington replied.

"Why?" The deputy captain asked almost subconsciously.

"Why? Because I am the captain." Lieutenant Colonel Remington gave a clear answer.

"But they haven't issued any provocation to us." The deputy captain was still puzzled. The headquarters didn't want to participate in China's civil war now. Although the deputy captain had long seen those armed forces walking on the riverbank, except for looking at the warship curiously like others, they didn't have the slightest hostile behavior.

"I don't like the look of them, so I fire a few shots at them. Do you think there's a problem? Does the British Empire need a reason to fire on Chinese people? Mr. Deputy Captain, are you joking with me?" Lieutenant Colonel Remington asked in surprise.

Although he had doubts in his heart, Lieutenant Colonel Remington's explanation wasn't wrong. In Asia, the British Empire could fire on whoever it wanted to fire on. The only thing the deputy captain worried about was that it was hard to explain to the headquarters. The headquarters naturally couldn't know about the warship firing on its own, but the replenishment of shells would be hard to hide.

But Lieutenant Colonel Remington's demeanor clearly showed that he was determined to fire. As a deputy captain, discussion with the captain was only possible on major issues concerning life and death, and firing on Chinese people obviously wasn't work within this category. Lieutenant Colonel Remington Churchill came from a big background and had deep backing. The deputy captain felt there was no need for him to disobey his order.

Feeling puzzled on one hand, the deputy captain began to issue instructions on the other. Soon, the various gun positions on the destroyer began to adjust rapidly. After another moment, the main gun on the HMS *Hind* spewed out flames. The shell whistled and flew towards the marching column of the Guangfu Society.