Mobile warfare is the PLA's special skill. On this earth, ever since this great army established this set of tactics, until the beginning of the 21st century, no army of any other country had shown a trend of surpassing the PLA in this field.

The core of mobile warfare is "mobility," or more bluntly, moving military strength to the position where it can exert maximum effectiveness, and starting combat in the most effective mode. This was originally common sense that military commanders could understand. But exerting common sense to the limit using a mode conforming to its laws is the greatest achievement of the people's army founded by Grandpa Mao in the military field.

Chen Ke had never been a soldier; before time travel, he was a guy who read books without seeking deep understanding but only seeking excitement. For offensive warfare, there were some battle examples to draw lessons from. For defensive warfare, he only knew the bloody battle of Shangganling. "Oil-adding tactics" (piecemeal reinforcement) and "reverse slope fortifications" could only exert their power when facing enemies with powerful firepower. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army always emphasized offense, so skirmish lines and communication trenches were the limit of Chen Ke's subjective speculation.

Hei Dao Ren didn't know that in this Nanjing rear-guard defensive battle, the troops made a spontaneous breakthrough in the practice of mobile warfare for the first time. To defend against enemies from multiple directions, the troops set up three positions. There were communication trenches connecting each position. Wang Youhong of the Qing army chose three directions for three attacks, all ending dismally with heavy casualties.

If it were another Qing army commander, he would have been dispirited and stopped attacking long ago. But Wang Youhong wasn't such a person. Since unilateral attacks didn't work, Wang Youhong organized the Qing army to launch attacks from three directions simultaneously.

Watching the ant-like Qing army pressing over darkly from three directions, the atmosphere in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army command post was tense to the extreme for a moment. The weakness of insufficient troops was completely exposed when the enemy implemented heavy troop assaults from multiple aspects.

It wasn't Hei Dao Ren who stepped forward to offer suggestions; couriers, similar to scouts, were the elite within the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. They saw much and ran much. After the commander's order reached the front line, the first-line troops encountering serious problems definitely couldn't drag the high-level commander to the front line, so most would complain to the courier. How to accurately report the problems seen to the superior required considerable standards. As the saying goes, "The prime minister's doorkeeper is a seventh-rank official"; the importance of reporting news had never been ignored in China.

Courier Qian Wenchhu, like most couriers, had received training in the junior military academy. at this critical moment, Qian Wenchhu boldly proposed the idea of "positional movement." Hei Dao Ren originally thought Qian Wenchhu's suggestion was to distribute troops evenly, and the mobile force would implement oil-adding tactics as a "fire brigade." The troops would rely on shooting levels exceeding the Qing army to wear down the Qing army. This was also Hei Dao Ren's initial idea.

Letting comrades finish speaking before evaluating was the rule of the People's Party. Even if he felt somewhat disapproving in his heart, Hei Dao Ren and other commanders still gave Qian Wenchhu the chance to speak. And the suggestion proposed by Qian Wenchhu greatly exceeded the commanders' imagination.

Qian Wenchhu believed that distributing troops evenly meant the minimization of efficiency. He boldly proposed using firepower strikes and containment to create intervals in the three enemy attacks. Except for leaving a small number of containment troops on the position, the main force would fully utilize this time difference to conduct "positional movement," ensuring the effect of maximum firepower strikes on the enemy in the main combat direction. That is, defeating them one by one based on the "defense system."

This topic was a bit big, or rather too big. The defensive tactics research and training of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were far from reaching this depth. When Qian Wenchhu just started speaking, some commanders simply didn't understand what was going on. When a few of the sharpest commanders understood, this bold idea immediately made the command post active.

"How to make a time difference appear in the Qing army's attack?" Someone immediately pointed out this most critical question.

"Combining terrain and enemy mobility, use the advantage of rifles and shooting to contain the slowest moving enemy. For troops with medium mobility, send small units forward to block and delay their movement. Let the enemy troops rushing fastest advance freely. Concentrate firepower first to strike the fastest moving enemy troops, defeating them in one fell swoop. Then choose one of the other two troops to strike." Qian Wenchhu took out the result of his final consideration.

After saying these, Qian Wenchhu saluted Hei Dao Ren. "Commissar Hei, I request to personally participate in the troops moving forward to block the enemy with the second fastest movement speed."

In the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, it was impossible to get promoted by only proposing theoretical suggestions without practical participation. Unless it was a figure like Chen Ke who could propose a theoretical system as a whole, the possibility of those wanting to rely on sudden whims to get achievements was completely blocked. This was an open standard. Chen Ke knew his own bad roots deeply; he loved to play small tricks back then, always trying to let some "whimsical idea" of his be a blind cat meeting a dead mouse, luckily establishing great merit, and then lie on the credit book without worrying about food and clothing for a lifetime. In the revolutionary process, Chen Ke understood that this bad idea was one of the culprits why he could never achieve success before. This attitude was in the same strain as those pedantic scholars of the Donglin Academy in the late Ming Dynasty: "Talk about mind and nature with hands in sleeves when nothing happens; make excuses that the water is too cold when danger approaches."

Advocating empty talk and radical speech was a common failing in the late Qing. Chen Ke didn't want this bad behavior to ruin the revolutionary cause, so he made specialized policy adjustments specifically for this situation.

In the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, everyone had the opportunity to speak, and various suggestions would also be summarized and submitted through institutional channels. But if one wanted to establish achievements, one must practice personally and charge at the first line personally. Qian Wenchhu knew this rule, so when proposing suggestions, he spoke frankly. Once the suggestion was made, he actively requested to participate in combat on the most dangerous battle line.

This set of "positional movement" ideas received praise. Because time was limited, the whole plan wasn't complete enough. But theoretically, it conformed to the essence of mobile warfare: "Move military strength to the position where it can exert maximum effectiveness, and start combat in the most effective mode."

The biggest problem commanders faced was that there was no corresponding training for this set of tactics at all. From the command system to communication characteristics, arrangements were lacking. The victories of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army up to now were basically victories of training; comrades brought training into play and obtained victory. Take the first Battle of Anqing for example; to train climbing city walls, before setting off from the base area, they even built a training ground identical to the Anqing city wall. Even fighting in places never visited before, commanders only needed fine-tuning, without needing temporary major improvisation. Qian Wenchhu's suggestion greatly violated the habits of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army.

"Let's vote!" Hei Dao Ren had to get the comrades' choice in a short time.

The First Company Commander came back from the front line to participate in the discussion. He raised his hand to request to speak. After being allowed, the First Company Commander stood up. "I'll say two sentences, just two sentences. I support Comrade Qian Wenchhu's suggestion; at worst, it will just turn into average oil-adding (piecemeal reinforcement)."

After speaking, the First Company Commander sat down.

The commanders looked at each other and soon began to vote. The voting result was unanimous approval to adopt Qian Wenchhu's operational suggestion.

Combat deployment unfolded immediately. Hei Dao Ren recalled the education received in the military academy, but with a multitude of loose ends, there was no way to straighten out a train of thought. He couldn't help recalling a paragraph Chen Ke said in the temporary short-term training class for intermediate commanders: "As a soldier, a commander, the most precious quality is spiritual firmness. War—especially larger-scale wars in the future—after material and technical conditions are determined, the highest requirement for commanders is spiritual firmness. Victory never has only one fixed tactic. But when you choose a tactic, you must execute this tactic to the end. Adjusting according to circumstances is not wavering, nor changing original intention after encountering setbacks, but bringing out the essence of tactics according to the current situation. Comrades please be sure to keep this in mind."

The subsequent battle was indeed as Chen Ke had described. Judging which route of enemy would be the fastest rushing enemy; the command post made a mistake in this choice. The New Army certainly had its own weaknesses: backward tactics, rigid and conservative. But combat will couldn't be seen under this appearance. When the enemy judged by the command post as the slowest suddenly accelerated and launched a fierce attack on the extremely weak battle line of the People's Party, the command post immediately fell into panic.

Only a flash of surprise passed over Hei Dao Ren's face, and he immediately ordered: "Reserve team come up to hold. Mobilize troops to participate in the battle immediately."

This was a cruel battle. That Qing army with the most combat will turned a blind eye to the situation where comrades beside them were constantly knocked down. Sporadic firepower constantly killing and wounding actually had no effect of delaying their attack. This group once approached a distance of less than ten meters from the defense line, exchanging fire with the frontal troops of two squads of the People's Party. Even when a platoon of reserve troops of the People's Party was thrown into battle, they didn't retreat. After the People's Party used grenades, it only temporarily curbed the Qing army's fierce attack. Because the difference in military strength between the two sides was too large, the defense line was once precarious. In the exchange of fire between sixty-some people and six hundred-plus people, every person lost by the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army meant a loss of 2% firepower density. Losing six people meant losing 10% firepower density.

In just ten minutes of fighting, the personnel loss of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army exceeded several times the sum of all losses before this battle. The five-round Hanyang-made was only five rounds; reloading after bullets were finished took longer. The number of grenades wasn't infinite either. Qian Wenchhu's blocking troops had to cross the battle line and launch a blocking battle suddenly; to enhance firepower, Hei Dao Ren let them take away most of the grenades. In the moment when firepower weakened, the Qing army launched a fierce charge. At this critical moment, the commanders and fighters of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army picked up the big swords and long spears beside them and launched a counter-charge.

Hand-to-hand combat lasted another five minutes; the casualties of the sixty-man troop exceeded seventy percent. Blood bought time; the main force rushing over gave the enemy a heavy blow. Less than ten percent of the more than six hundred Qing troops could retreat to the starting position unscathed.

Even so, when the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was fighting fiercely with the second route of Qing army, people from the Guangfu Society suddenly ran to report that an enemy force of more than three hundred people attacked from behind. Hei Dao Ren looked askance at the Guangfu Society people. "Do you have guns in your hands? Do you have bullets? Do you have big swords and long spears? If they come, you fight them! We can't send out a single reinforcement now."

The Second Company Commander was also furious at this time. His words were even more stimulating and aggressive. "Your Guangfu Society main force has already left us all behind. If you want to leave your own wounded behind and run, no problem, help yourselves!"

Words like knives turned the faces of the Guangfu Society members into the color of pig liver. That person roared, turned, and left. Before long, fierce gunshots and shouts of killing came from behind the position.

Hei Dao Ren forced himself to observe the battlefield coldly, maneuvering troops to fight. The plan originally to play time difference ended with a cruel combat mode extremely similar to oil-adding. The defensive battle finally turned into an offensive battle. The blocking troop where Qian Wenchhu was located firmly held one route of Qing army. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army launched an attack on another route of Qing army actively. Almost annihilated it in the attack. Then the troops sandwiched the third route of Qing army from two routes. The whole battle ended only with the complete defeat of the Qing army.

"Books are hated to be few when needed!" After the battle ended, Hei Dao Ren said almost in a state of collapse in the command post. His Chinese level was insufficient; actually, what he wanted to say was that he still underestimated war too much. Actually, if he could have studied tactics more before the war, Qian Wenchhu's suggestion might not necessarily have failed to be realized better.

And a crueler reality pressed up immediately. Post-war statistics were quickly fed back to the command post. In this battle, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army sacrificed thirty-three comrades, and seventy-eight were injured. Among them, twenty-eight were seriously injured. Among the sacrificed comrades was Qian Wenchhu's name. And according to preliminary estimates, the Qing army lost more than two thousand people this day.

With four hundred troops, facing an enemy totaling thirty times their own number, facing the crazy group attack of enemies nearly five times their own, achieving such a battle result counted as a genuine great victory. But the four-hundred-man combat troop lost 25% of its strength; the pressure to maintain this battle line was unprecedentedly great.

The dilemma Hei Dao Ren faced was difficult, but in the heart of Commander Wang Youhong opposite, it wasn't huge pressure, but a thorough despair. He finally knew why the People's Party could annihilate the Beiyang New Army. He finally knew why the People's Party, with merely hundreds of people, facing tens of thousands of Qing troops, dared to arrogantly plant a lonely red flag on the mountain ridge. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army opposite were simply not human. The performance of the Jiangnan New Army and River Defense Army was already extremely outstanding. Wang Youhong was also a member of the guard accompanying Cixi on her "Western Hunt" (flight to Xi'an) back then; he had seen the Beiyang New Army. Even if the Jiangnan Qing army faced an equal number of Beiyang New Army today, they wouldn't encounter such a tragic failure.

The gap between the two sides exceeded Wang Youhong's imagination. Throughout the entire battle, Wang Youhong couldn't even see the figures of the People's Party troops. Even when the battle was in full swing, and the Qing army rushed towards the People's Party like moths to a flame under the stimulation of excess rewards, and then were beaten down in patches. In Wang Youhong's binoculars, he could still only see a small part of the figures of the People's Party troops. The People's Party appeared and disappeared mysteriously; their presence was everywhere on the entire battle line. Wang Youhong couldn't imagine how a troop of several hundred people managed to defend such a long mountain ridge.

The officers beside Wang Youhong held their breath. In these few days, Wang Youhong showed strong fighting will and vitality, and could even be said to have shown command ability of considerable standard. Although they lost the battle, these officers asked themselves honestly; there were no mistakes in Wang Youhong's command and arrangement. Perhaps the only mistake was that Wang Youhong shouldn't have launched an attack on the People's Party at all. Thinking of this, the officers were even more cautious, afraid Wang Youhong would use them as punching bags.

Just at this moment, new bad news came. Wang Youhong dispatched a cavalry unit to implement outflanking from afar, and now the scattered cavalry troops returned in disastrous defeat. The defeated soldiers brought back news: a huge People's Party troop was rushing to the battlefield, at least several thousand people. Hearing this news, the faces of all officers became extremely ugly.

"Gather the troops; we are not fighting anymore." Wang Youhong's voice was very calm.

"Commander Wang, retreat?" An officer asked tremblingly.

"No, camp right here. I will send people to carry back our brothers; hurry up and prepare for treatment." Wang Youhong's firm and clear words surprised the officers.

Seeing the officers' timidity, Wang Youhong sneered: "What is there to be afraid of? Just these few thousand People's Party members can't take our Jiangning city. We'll just guard here and see what tricks the People's Party can play."

The envoy sent by Wang Youhong was very respectful to Hei Dao Ren. After saluting properly, the envoy said: "This Lord, my Commander Wang wants to ask Lord, do you want to continue fighting with us?"

"Does Commander Wang still want to fight?" Hei Dao Ren sneered.

The envoy's attitude was neither humble nor arrogant. "If gentlemen want to attack Jiangning, Commander Wang will absolutely not wait for death with tied hands. However, Commander Wang feels gentlemen of the People's Party have already fulfilled benevolence and righteousness towards the Guangfu Society. The one who provoked the war was the Guangfu Society, and the one who left gentlemen to flee for their lives was also the Guangfu Society. What meaning is there for our two sides to fight to the death like this?"

"Then what is Commander Wang's meaning?" Hei Dao Ren laughed.

"If gentlemen want to withdraw back to Anhui, Commander Wang will absolutely not block." The envoy offered the price.

"Then you send people to transport your wounded and dead back. But guns cannot be taken away." Hei Dao Ren also offered his price.

The envoy pondered for a moment, but made a very marvelous request. "The matter of guns is not difficult. It's just that yesterday we saw your army's military doctors have miraculous medical skills. Quite a few officers in my army are heavily injured. If your army is willing to send military doctors to treat injuries. Commander Wang guarantees not to detain your army's doctors. Regardless of the treatment result, we will send your army's military doctors back to Anhui in three days. And we will definitely offer a thank-you gift."

"Treating injuries is fine; you send the people here to us for treatment." Hei Dao Ren gave a response without even thinking.

The ceasefire agreement between the two sides was formally reached.

Starting the next day, the converging main force of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army took the Guangfu Society wounded and withdrew towards Anhui. On the fourth day, after the military medical unit finished preliminary treatment for more than four hundred officers of various ranks of the Nanjing Qing army, they took a "thank-you gift" of twenty thousand silver dollars and withdrew towards Anhui. Wang Youhong immediately led troops to kill towards Zhejiang. After the troops stopped at the border of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, a joint memorial by Liangjiang Governor-General Rui Fang, Jiangnan Provincial Commander Zhang Xun, and Wang Youhong was sent to Beijing.

Defeating the Guangfu Society, repelling the People's Party, advancing troops to Zhejiang. The war report from Nanjing really made Cixi overjoyed. Although knowing there must be hidden facts untold in this, which memorial of Manchu Qing officials Cixi had met didn't have "hidden facts"? People reporting to Cixi from Nanjing were not only Rui Fang, Zhang Xun, and Wang Youhong. Although other reports had different evaluations, the fact that the Guangfu Society was beaten away and the People's Party withdrew actively was correct. Even if Wang Youhong stopping at the Zhejiang border was completely bluffing, Cixi was still very satisfied.

The government army in Shanghai had already attacked Hangzhou at this time. If Hangzhou could be retaken. The rebellion of the once influential Guangfu Society chaotic parties would be curbed. This was the first good news the Manchu Qing court received in more than a year.

Cixi issued commendations to the Jiangnan Qing army, especially promoting Zhang Xun to Governor of Zhejiang and promoting Wang Youhong to Jiangnan Provincial Commander. This news immediately shook the court and the public.

Examples of being promoted to governor by military merit were still things from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom era. At that time, half of the governors in the world were Han people. Quite a few people realized that this might be a strong signal. Facing the rising rebellions of revolutionary parties, the era of rewarding military merit first might have started again.