The smell of blood permeated the thick gunpowder smoke. In addition to these smells that made one's hair stand on end, the air was also filled with the screams and groans of the wounded. Since the New Army's artillery didn't really achieve any combat results, the dead still maintained intact bodies. Gunshot wounds on the body only resulted in large amounts of blood loss; blood stains on clothes were still within an acceptable range. The miserable sight of many holes and depressions created by bullets on the head, or simply a large piece of the head being blown off, greatly challenged the limit of human spirit.

The New Army was still quite spirited, especially since these people had never been on the battlefield. When entering the battle, the fervent atmosphere of the battlefield swept through the entire youth of the New Army, and the feeling of death was not strong. Or rather, they didn't have time to notice the existence of death. When these people returned to the Shura field they personally participated in creating, seeing with their own eyes the lives destroyed by war, and those who were crying and gradually dying, they knew what a battlefield was and what death was.

"You guys, go see if there are any surviving brothers in that pile of people." An officer couldn't help roaring. New Army soldiers were instinctively avoiding the dead with tragic appearances, especially avoiding the death line where the most wounded and dead accumulated at the end of the battle.

Although under the urging of officers, these New Army soldiers with no battlefield medical experience had to start finding the wounded and gathering the dead together. But their pale faces, frowning brows, and fearful eyes all revealed the psychological activity of these New Army soldiers wanting to turn and flee.

To avoid the miserable sight in front of them, the New Army had to look up often. They saw the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army not far away didn't have this problem at all. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army didn't have the fear of the New Army at all. Seeing confirmed survivors, they carried them out deftly and performed battlefield first aid immediately. There were also some soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army dividing areas on the position and probing one by one. They pressed their fingers on the necks of motionless people. After a while, they called people over to help with treatment, or continued to check the next person lying prone or sideways.

Perhaps because they had seen too many bloody scenes, or perhaps because the medical knowledge and practice of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were richer. Or simply because they had seen too many seriously injured comrades-in-arms or enemies recover their health after treatment, so the soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had no fear of the tragic battlefield in their minds at all. Everyone had only one thought in their minds: seizing time can save comrades-in-arms. Not only comrades-in-arms, but the fearless fighting shown by the soldiers of the Guangfu Society was also very admired by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army as friendly forces. Their hearts were full of desire to save lives, and every comrade's movements were swift and accurate.

Fortunately, the Ninth Town of the New Army had uniform military uniforms, so the wounded and dead could be easily distinguished from the Guangfu Society. Even the few New Army members in the Guangfu Society had removed their collar badges and torn off their armbands. So it was easy to distinguish.

The New Army opposite the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was surprised to find that the People's Party didn't simply carry people away, but performed simple treatment first. Use gauze to block the wound, or tie a rope belt on the legs or arms of those wounded. Although they didn't understand the significance of the tourniquet, the New Army clearly saw the bleeding speed of the wound decrease, and they instinctively felt that those white gauze were clean and effective.

"Brother, can you give us a few pieces of your white cloth?"

"Big brother over here, this person is a brother of our battalion. Look at this blood gurgling out. Help block it."

The military doctors hesitated slightly. Although both sides agreed not to carry weapons, there were guns everywhere on the battlefield now. One should not have the intention to harm others, but one must have the intention to guard against others. Officers and soldiers gathering wounded and dead on both sides had long armed themselves with weapons on the ground. Since the New Army didn't rush onto the core position of the Guangfu Society in the end, there were few overlapping areas between the two sides on the battlefield. This work of gathering one's own casualties was generally carried out in areas tacitly approved by both sides. Once crossing this tacit line, heaven knew what would happen.

During this hesitation, the New Army also felt something was wrong. The leading New Army officer seemed to have little hostility towards the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. He bit his lip and looked guiltily towards the direction of the New Army position. When he turned his head back, there was already a determined look on his face. "Brothers of the People's Party over there, saving a life is better than building a seven-level pagoda. You can't just watch people die like this. How about this, if you are willing to save our brothers. Up to here, all guns on the ground are yours!"

The position where the officer stood was the area where the furthest dead of the Guangfu Society lay. This person was very clever; from the time he led people onto the battlefield, he stood at this position, equivalent to drawing the bottom line for the New Army side. The People's Party was unwilling to create side issues, so when collecting weapons, they had to give up a part of the area. Since this officer said so now, the New Army actually suffered very limited losses.

There were injured people everywhere on the battlefield, knowing it concerned their own life and death. The wounded of the New Army didn't care whether those people in blue clothes were enemies, nor did they care who inflicted their injuries. They all wanted to receive treatment. For a time, cries for help rang out on the position.

In the case of being able to save, the benevolence of a healer is an instinct. Providing treatment to the locality was also a common meal for the troops of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. After discussing slightly, the military doctors began to treat the wounded soldiers carried over by the New Army. Bandaging, and even simple probing, extracting bullets, suturing wounds; the military doctors' techniques were extremely proficient. The New Army wounded knew their own affairs; the New Army lacked military doctors, and wounded soldiers injured a few days ago hadn't received treatment yet. Now although it was People's Party military doctors performing treatment, everyone was already in pain to death; no matter how painful it was, it couldn't be more miserable. Surprisingly, not a single person resisted treatment.

The New Army was awed by the prestige of the People's Party, and seeing these people's proficient techniques, they also let New Army officers and soldiers help during treatment. As for the treatment methods and treatment content used, they were also completely within the scope of understanding. Everyone originally worried that the People's Party military doctors would play dirty tricks, but later psychologically it vaguely turned into a kind of trust.

When both sides finished gathering the dead and wounded, the sun was also leaning west. Wang Youhong didn't expect the People's Party military doctors to be willing to treat the New Army. Even if the People's Party was buying people's hearts, Wang Youhong knew he absolutely couldn't delve into this matter. Seeing the troops had absolutely no will to fight after the big battle, he also ordered the troops to retreat slightly and set up camp.

Both sides finished gathering weapons within the tacit dividing line, and the battle of this day finally came to a complete end.

These days, the military doctors of the People's Party treated the injured with all their strength. Minor injury cases were bandaged, and serious injury cases underwent surgery. Except for the wounded who were completely immobile, Tao Chengzhang specifically sent people to escort the Guangfu Society members who couldn't continue fighting back to Hangzhou. There weren't many wounded left in the military hospital. With this fierce battle today, the number of wounded rose sharply. Although they had to send troops to guard key points, patrol, and be ready for combat at any time. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, putting full effort into treating the wounded, was really unable to send too many people.

The troops of the Guangfu Society bringing up the rear, plus the rescued wounded, totaled more than a thousand. If it were normal days, they would definitely not obey the command of the People's Party. Fortunately, Xu Xilin didn't lose his clarity before falling into a coma from serious injuries. He called the leaders of various Guangfu Society units remaining here and asked them to obey the command of the People's Party completely. The Guangfu Society from top to bottom, having walked a circle before the gates of hell, knew the necessity of working together; no one opposed. The remaining more than two hundred uninjured or lightly injured troops of the Guangfu Society were divided into squads of ten, each squad led by two People's Party comrades. The People's Party sent an equal number of troops, and the entire mixed group stabilized the position.

The tightly closed operating room in the People's Party military medical camp was bright all night. Portable hand-cranked generators were cranked all night. Plus the power supply of lead-acid batteries, surgeries in the shadowless operating room barely made by the People's Party using electric lights and large mirrors were performed one after another.

Hei Dao Ren didn't know whether to feel proud of the People's Party's achievements or feel distressed for so many wounded. He returned to sit in the command post after patrolling the camp. Mental excitement and physical fatigue simultaneously invaded the body and mind of this Japanese revolutionary youth. Perhaps in such a time of mental and physical exhaustion, people are prone to think of the past. Hei Dao Ren suddenly thought of his motherland Japan. Two years ago, Hei Dao Ren, who completely despaired of Japanese domestic politics, resolutely went to China to pursue the revolutionary path and defected to the People's Party highly recommended by Chen Tianhua.

Two years passed in a blink of an eye. Hei Dao Ren was shocked to find that every time he recalled Japan, this motherland that once made him heartbroken seemed to be getting farther and farther away from him. Compared with the intense and vivid days now, the past life was like a gradually yellowing photo. Hei Dao Ren once hoped to return to Japan with brand new revolutionary concepts and revolutionary paths. After he participated in the Chinese revolution launched by the People's Party, what he saw and experienced every day. Especially the cause created together as true "equal comrades" for the first time captured Hei Dao Ren's body and mind more and more.

Hei Dao Ren had gradually forgotten that he was a Japanese named "Kuroshima Jinichiro." He didn't think he was a Chinese named "Hei Dao Ren" either. Now there existed only a People's Party member Hei Dao Ren. A Hei Dao Ren who worked for the welfare of the people and created tomorrow together with other revolutionary comrades. Even if these people were Chinese, even if the objects of treatment were People's Party comrades, or the Guangfu Society as a friendly force of the People's Party, or captured Qing troops. But essentially, all the work Hei Dao Ren did was saving lives. Even if he picked up weapons to fight war, Hei Dao Ren still didn't think he was a slaughterer. This feeling was indescribably different from being a Japanese or a Chinese. As a savior, a revolutionary, there was something beyond country or camp.

This unspeakable thing made Hei Dao Ren both confused and fascinated.

However, the situation didn't allow Hei Dao Ren, a revolutionary, to have too much time to face his personal problems. Not long after resting, the courier excitedly led two youths in plain clothes rushing into the command post where Hei Dao Ren was. Seeing Hei Dao Ren, the courier immediately shouted: "Commissar Hei, comrades from the support troops have arrived!"

It was absolutely impossible for the People's Party to leave any troop outside and ignore them. Before the medical team set off, the base area organized a battalion of reinforcement troops. In the battle a few days ago, Hei Dao Ren and other commanders agreed that the Guangfu Society couldn't win. The reinforcement troops began to move closer to the battlefield. But Hei Dao Ren didn't expect to contact the reinforcement troops so quickly.

"How far are the troops from here?" Hei Dao Ren immediately stood up and asked.

"Commissar Hei, the troops are still a day's journey from here." The liaison officer of the support troops answered while saluting.

If it were just the medical team and the guard team, Hei Dao Ren was absolutely confident in easily throwing off the New Army opposite and retreating safely back to the base area. But now there were still thousands of Guangfu Society wounded on the position. Making Hei Dao Ren make up his mind to abandon them and retreat alone was a very difficult thing.

Liaison officers were all capable comrades. He didn't rush here just to bring good news to Hei Dao Ren. The liaison officer asked seriously: "Commissar Hei, we have sent people to report the current situation to the support troops. I wonder if Commissar Hei plans to send these Guangfu Society wounded back to Zhejiang, or let them act on their own. Or should we take them back to our base area?"

Most of the Guangfu Society personnel left here were injured, and weapons and ammunition were almost exhausted. Letting them return to Zhejiang on their own was no different from letting them die. If the New Army chased from behind, these people were doomed.

Sending them back to Zhejiang was also very inadvisable. The base area was short of troops now. The battalion of support troops was called support, but actually also served as the advance troops for defending the base area. If the Jiangnan New Army was obsessed and launched an attack on the base area, this troop must serve as the first line of defense. Transferring a whole battalion of thousands of troops to go thousands of *li* to Zhejiang was really a big joke.

Since neither of the first two was very advisable, the remaining relatively rational choice was only to take the Guangfu Society wounded back to the base area. But Hei Dao Ren was just a regiment-level political commissar now; he couldn't completely decide on such a major event. But the situation in front of him was that including the Guangfu Society wounded, fully counted seventeen or eighteen hundred people were facing Nanjing with tens of thousands of troops. And this troop was the rear guard. If the Qing army in Nanjing made up their mind to pursue the fleeing Guangfu Society, they must break through Hei Dao Ren's unit close at hand.

Hei Dao Ren suddenly remembered his "savior's realization" not long ago. To be a savior, one can only stand at the forefront of difficulties at all times, letting oneself bear the wind and rain of harsh reality. Only in this way can the people behind suffer less hardship.

Seeing Hei Dao Ren pondering silently, the liaison officer asked tentatively: "Commissar Hei, what plan do you have?"

Hei Dao Ren asked: "What does Commissar Xu think?"

"Commissar Xu definitely wants to bring the whole battalion here. The Party Committee's idea is to definitely bring the medical team safely back to the base area." The courier said very simply.

Hei Dao Ren's rank was one level higher than the battalion political commissar of the reinforcement troops. In terms of command, the battalion political commissar couldn't command Regiment Political Commissar Hei Dao Ren. Moreover, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army would absolutely not let the precious medical team encounter any accidents.

"Then wait until everyone arrives, and we will hold a Party Committee meeting to decide this matter." Hei Dao Ren was unwilling to make a decision so early. If it concerned the lives of thousands of people, even if the other party was the Guangfu Society, even if the Guangfu Society left the People's Party friendly troops behind without hesitation. Hei Dao Ren still couldn't issue the order to abandon these people completely.

After arranging for the courier to go down, Hei Dao Ren decided to sleep for a while no matter what. No matter which choice was adopted, enough energy was needed to act. If he didn't rest now, when it was time to act, he absolutely wouldn't do well.

At dawn the next day, the military doctors who had been busy all night finally completed basic treatment. The camp in the early morning was filled with a smell of blood and disinfectant water. The troops guarding all night changed shifts one after another. Early morning was the most dangerous time. In the military textbooks of the People's Party, early morning and afternoon were considered good times for surprise attacks, especially the early morning when the sky just brightened. The night watch was already extremely tired, and the relieving troops hadn't entered the state yet. It was exactly the time when mistakes were most likely to occur.

The Qing army seemed to have exhausted their energy in yesterday's battle and had no plan to attack at all. As the sun rose, the camp centered on the hospital fortifications gradually had some lively feeling. The soldiers of the Guangfu Society didn't speak either. After dawn, they presented two states: a part of people completely obeyed the command of the People's Party. The other part gathered again, whispering to each other.

Hei Dao Ren got up to patrol the camp and saw the blank faces of the Guangfu Society soldiers. Those soldiers who were fearless of death yesterday now became like wooden figures one by one. While suspecting whether these people had suffered too much stimulation, he saw several Guangfu Society leaders leaning over.

"Mr. Hei, we are leaving." The leaders spoke very straightforwardly. Since the rear guard troops had temporarily guarded the rear route, and the Qing army showed no sign of continuing to attack, they believed their responsibility had arrived and there was no reason to continue staying here.

"Then what do you plan to do with your injured Guangfu Society comrades?" Even knowing these defectors wouldn't be willing to take people away, Hei Dao Ren couldn't help stimulating them a bit.

"Some brothers with minor injuries are willing to go with us; we'll take them. As for those other people, we can only rely on you brothers of the People's Party." The leaders answered very crisply. "Mr. Hei, we remember your life-saving grace."

Hei Dao Ren really didn't know how to answer. Looking at the nervous appearance of the leaders, Hei Dao Ren thought these people were worried that taking the wounded would slow them down. While hesitating, he heard the leaders continue: "Mr. Hei, we have to leave now. If we leave late, I'm afraid the Qing army will attack up."

Only then did Hei Dao Ren understand that the nervousness on the leaders' faces wasn't because they felt embarrassed, but because they were unwilling to fight anymore. Having completely despaired of these people in his heart, Hei Dao Ren was unwilling to say meaningless ugly words anymore. "You take the lightly wounded and go."

The Guangfu Society people left in a hurry. They didn't care at all how the People's Party and those Guangfu Society members unwilling to leave viewed them. Saying they took the lightly wounded, actually, they took those wounded who only needed slight bandaging. They didn't take a single one of those with inconvenient movement.

The Qing army seemed to know what happened in the People's Party camp; the sound of bugles rang out from afar. Hei Dao Ren hurriedly led the troops to the high ground. The Qing army sent troops. Looking from afar, the ant-like Qing army troops lined up in not very neat units began to form rows on the opposite side of the valley again. Under the command of officers, the formation of artillery, machine gunners, and front-row infantry became neater and neater. What annoyed Hei Dao Ren was that two observation balloons even rose on the New Army position. The balloons rose higher and higher, soon exceeding the hilltop high ground in altitude. The entire position of the People's Party was completely exposed within the field of vision of the observation balloons.

This was the last chance to retreat. Hei Dao Ren's face was gloomy. He said to the courier: "Convene a Party Committee meeting!"

Major decisions in the troops had to pass through the Party Committee; the more urgent the matter, the more so. At the Party Committee meeting, Hei Dao Ren briefly told the comrades the situation faced. After finishing, Hei Dao Ren added an introduction: "Comrades, we didn't have any casualties before because the Guangfu Society was fighting. For our great victory yesterday, if there hadn't been Guangfu Society comrades holding out at the very front line, we couldn't have done it easily either. Now if we start a war, all casualties will be borne by ourselves."

The Party Committee meeting wasn't going through the motions. Immediately a comrade stood up and said: "It's no longer a question of bringing up the rear. According to the intelligence brought back by the scouts we sent, the Guangfu Society is at least fifty *li* away now. Even if we are not here now, the Qing army can't catch up with the Guangfu Society. Our problem now is how to treat the Guangfu Society wounded."

Comrades nodded one after another; this was the key to everything.

"If we take them with us now, how many people can we take?"

"Can't take many. The medical team is exhausted now, and we still have quite a few pieces of equipment to transport. Taking the equipment ourselves is already the limit. Key metal parts inside the equipment are dismantled and taken away; other wooden parts are left behind. We are already so tired ourselves; in this situation, we can't walk fast either."

"There are also quite a few weapons of the Guangfu Society and the New Army. If we take these things, I'm afraid we can't outrun the Qing army."

"I observed; the troops dispatched by the Qing army this time are not the group from yesterday. The physical strength of this group won't be bad."

Everyone gathered various situations together. Same as previous meetings, Hei Dao Ren found that comrades' observation and understanding of the war situation were no less than his own. This was the meaning of the Party meeting. If comrades couldn't pool this intelligence together, it would be absolutely impossible to have a comprehensive understanding. Even less possible to let everyone reach the most scientific decision.

"Commissar Hei, if we can't retreat, let's fight them."

"Yeah, reinforcement troops arrive today. No matter what, we can hold out until that time."

"The Qing army's tactic is simply a tactic of sending people to die. I don't think they can come up with a tactic different from yesterday today."

"The key is that we don't have enough troops; outflanking is too dangerous. Even if we disrupt the enemy's formation, the frontal troops are not enough to launch a charge to solve the enemy."

"Except for positional warfare, there is no other way; we can only fight shooting against shooting."

"Having a machine gun would be good. Even if not, having shells for the cannons would be good."

Although democratic centralism was very efficient, going off-topic as soon as discussion started was also the most common problem. Hearing comrades had made up their minds, Hei Dao Ren interrupted the discussion on details. "Does everyone agree to fight?"

"Agree."

"There's no better way than fighting."

"Agree to fight!"

"Then start arranging the position."

Facing the People's Party, Wang Youhong had made up his mind. The Qing army's scouts had actually been sent far out. Last night, scouts captured a dozen Guangfu Society people. Since they were defeated and retreating, the captives of the Guangfu Society didn't have such high spirits either. Even so, Wang Youhong used both soft and hard tactics. After a good while of torture, Wang Youhong explained, "Only want news of the People's Party." Learning it wasn't betraying the Guangfu Society, only then did some Guangfu Society personnel who couldn't stand the torture tell the intelligence of the People's Party.

Learning that the opposite was only five or six hundred People's Party troops, among whom was a large group of doctors, Wang Youhong was overjoyed. Although he didn't know why the People's Party wanted to defend the hospital to the death, Wang Youhong knew very well this was his biggest opportunity. Wounded soldiers moved inconveniently; unless the People's Party left these people behind completely, otherwise they definitely couldn't leave.

The Ninth Town of the New Army indeed suffered quite a few casualties, but since the main force of the Guangfu Society fled, Nanjing gathered more than thirty thousand troops overall. There was no lack of cannons and machine guns. Wang Youhong didn't believe at all that five or six hundred People's Party people could block the rotational attacks of troops of such scale.

As soon as dawn broke, Wang Youhong began to mobilize troops, not only the New Army. Wang Youhong's backbone River Defense Army was also mobilized over. Looking at the empty hilltop opposite, Wang Youhong ordered the balloon troops to lift off.

The news was exciting. The People's Party didn't retreat. In the binoculars, some people ran far away, but their attire wasn't dark blue military uniforms. That is to say, even the remnants of the Guangfu Society abandoned the People's Party troops.

"Heavy rewards for those who advance! Beheading for those who retreat! Pass the order, those who go up the hilltop first, reward one hundred taels!" If he could annihilate five hundred People's Party people, Wang Youhong would be the commander of the Manchu Qing's greatest victory against the People's Party. Wang Youhong didn't care about rewards at all.

Stimulated by the bounty, the Qing army troops showed considerable excitement. Officers incited: "Brothers, how many things can one hundred taels buy! Eat and drink what? Everyone knows, right!"

A burst of clamor erupted immediately in the Qing army queue. This attraction was absolutely not something the Qing army could resist.

"Brothers, the money Lord Wang rewards is rewarded by Lord Wang. I promise everyone benefits from my side. If we win this time, I'll book the Yixiang Pavilion and invite the brothers who rush up to have fun!"

Troops in the late Qing were extremely addicted to eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. This call of sensory stimulation was far more powerful than loyalty to the court. The noise in the Qing army became even louder.

"What is there to fear about the People's Party!"

"In Wuhu, we beat them back. What is there to fear about them here in our Nanjing."

Accompanied by the high emotion, the first Qing army troop held the military flag high and set off towards the People's Party's position.

Same as yesterday, on the mountain ridge where the People's Party was, except for a lonely red flag, there was nothing else.