When Qiu Jin asked, "How many comrades are actually in the Restoration Society? How many comrades and common people in Western Zhejiang are following us right now? Which is more important?", Xu Xilin was stunned. He truly hadn't considered this question. Over the past few days, Xu Xilin had been burning with anxiety, thinking more about how to defeat the Beiyang Army invading Western Zhejiang and how to correct the "erroneous line" of the Restoration Society headquarters. Therefore, Xu Xilin was considering how short-handed his subordinates were and how to turn the overall war situation in a direction favorable to Western Zhejiang. The perspective Qiu Jin mentioned—prioritizing the interests of the Western Zhejiang Branch above all else—had simply never entered Xu Xilin's scope of thought.

"What do you mean, Jianhu?" Xu Xilin asked.

"If the People's Party can aid us and help us hold Western Zhejiang, that would be best. If not, we will withdraw everyone we can to the People's Party's territory," Qiu Jin answered with extreme decisiveness. "Bosun, we are no longer members of the Restoration Society. Even if we still consider ourselves part of the Western Zhejiang Branch of the Restoration Society, the headquarters no longer recognizes us as such. Since that's the case, we must also think about a way out for these comrades who have followed us."

"It's just... it's just that even if we withdraw, the Beiyang Army has us surrounded on all sides. We might not necessarily be able to break out." Xu Xilin hesitated. The current crisis was another reason why Xu Xilin found it difficult to make up his mind.

When the Beiyang Army came to attack Changxing three days ago, the Western Zhejiang Branch was still quite panicked despite having received intelligence beforehand. The county magistrate took the lead in going up the city wall to command the battle. Outside the city, the Beiyang Army advanced in dense formation while firing, while the defending troops of Changxing lay prone on the battlements, firing continuously. The exchange of fire lasted less than twenty minutes before the county magistrate commanding the battle was hit in the head by a bullet and killed in action. The commander of the County Security Battalion took over command. By this time, the Beiyang Army had already attacked to the base of the city wall. "Grenades! Throw the grenades!" the Security Battalion commander shouted at the top of his lungs amidst the dense gunfire. "Don't forget to pull the cord!"

In terms of military training, these raw recruits of Changxing County were far inferior to the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army of the People's Party. However, they had recently gained relatively ample experience in suppressing bandits in the mountainous areas, and the unit commanders paid great attention to detail in every battle. Huddling behind the city wall, pulling the grenade fuse rings with trembling fingers, and then throwing them down from the battlements—everyone still possessed these basic skills. After a series of booming explosions and the screams and cries of the Beiyang Army soldiers, the rain of bullets from below the city wall suddenly began to decrease.

"Fire!" the Security Battalion commander shouted, taking the lead by raising his rifle and lying prone at a crenel on the city wall to begin shooting. Below the city wall was the Beiyang Army, which had begun to fall into chaos. after firing several shots in succession, the commander shouted loudly, "I killed one! Comrades, keep it up!"

In reality, the density of the Beiyang troops below the city was extremely high; firing a shot at random would likely hit someone. Whether they were killed or wounded, no one knew. However, this shout did inspire morale. Other comrades who followed suit and began shooting also shouted, "I killed one!" "I killed one too!"

Hearing these shouts, the soldiers who had once been suppressed by the dense rain of bullets gradually gained some courage, and more and more people began attempting to get up and shoot. War is a process of trading blows; as long as the fire density is sufficient, casualties can be inflicted on the enemy. The Changxing defenders committed more and more firing points to the battle, and they continued to throw grenades at the Beiyang troops below the city. The two sides engaged in a shootout between the top and bottom of the city wall.

The more enemies one kills in war, the bolder one becomes; this is basically the same for all men. Defensive warfare relying on city walls offers a great advantage. When light machine gun firing points also began spewing fierce flames at the Beiyang Army, the three hundred or so Beiyang soldiers below the city who were still capable of fighting finally couldn't hold on any longer after several officers were cut down. Seeing their comrades falling one by one all around them, and clearly seeing the dark muzzles of the enemy spewing flames, heaven knew if the next shot would hit them. Some Beiyang soldiers could not withstand such pressure of death and began to retreat screaming. The entire Beiyang force, its morale damaged, subsequently retreated like a flock of sheep.

The battlefield is such an extremely realistic place. After experiencing the battlefield, everyone can understand that what they have to face is death—not the death in fantasies, but real, ruthless death. The Beiyang Army committed a serious error in their war deployment. Their pre-battle deployment was an encirclement on four sides; the commander originally thought he could intimidate the troops inside Changxing County seat so they wouldn't dare to engage. Another mistake was that because they had artillery support when the battle started, they only launched an attack from the south. If they had attacked from all four sides, the troops in Changxing County seat, lacking experience, would likely have been conquered by the Beiyang Army in one go.

But the Beiyang Army hadn't expected the defenders of Changxing County seat to actually withstand the first wave. When they organized an attack again, the commander of the County Security Battalion had already readjusted the deployment. The troops who performed well in the battle at the south of the city were distributed to the other three sides, using them as the core to build a defensive system.

Militia among the workers were also incorporated into the order of battle. Moreover, following a city defense deployment copied from the People's Party, the troops organized the masses to take refuge in open areas and turned workers and citizens into medical teams to extinguish fires within the city and carry the wounded. Compared to the mobilization and organizational capacity of the People's Party, this was of course extremely inefficient. However, having organization is better than having no organization. After everyone was incorporated into an organizational system, faced with powerful external pressure, the first reaction of human beings was to follow the group.

Taking cover is almost human nature. Hiding behind the city walls, casualties in the Western Zhejiang Branch dropped sharply. And with those cadres who had war experience taking the lead in shooting, the soldiers' will to fight was roused again. The shooting skills of both sides could be said to be six of one and half a dozen of the other; the Beiyang Army had a faster rate of fire, while the Western Zhejiang Branch had better cover. Added to this, it got dark not long after the second wave of attacks began, so the Beiyang Army had to stop the attack.

The Beiyang Third Army this time was born out of the Beiyang Third Division. Duan Qirui still had some skills, and the overall quality of the troops was relatively high. Especially in internal matters, the Third Army inherited the style of the old Beiyang army. That night, they first arrested the officers and soldiers who had fled during the battle during the day, and then promised the soldiers that after breaking the city, they would be allowed to loot at will. Just as dawn broke the next day, the Beiyang Army had already reassembled.

Brigade Commander Zhou Fengshan shouted loudly to the Beiyang troops, "Those who advance will be rewarded, those who retreat will be killed! This is the military discipline of my Beiyang. There aren't many people left inside this Changxing city, but the goods inside are piled up like mountains. After breaking the city, these things will all belong to you guys; I won't take a single coin."

To rectify military discipline and boost morale, Zhou Fengshan ordered all officers and soldiers who had fled to be publicly executed by firing squad in front of the formation. The Beiyang Army immediately launched an encirclement attack on all four sides. However, the attack had to be halted not long after it began. The rear of the Beiyang troops on the north and east sides was completely cut off; troops of the Western Zhejiang Branch, appearing suddenly from who knows where, began to attack fiercely from behind. The attacking troops were forces consolidated by Ji Ye and other regions. Everyone lacked war experience; although the method of attempting a sneak attack was good, the timing was completely wrong. Ji Ye and the others began their sneak attack just as the gunshots of the battle rang out. In reality, the Beiyang Army's formation had not yet deployed at this time, and the troops were still in a stage where they could be mobilized at any time. Moreover, the Beiyang Army could be considered cautious, having placed alert troops in the rear. After all, the Beiyang Army had just killed deserters, so their morale was not bad. Even though the alert troops encountered an attack, they were not routed in one blow by this group of suddenly appearing Western Zhejiang Branch troops. Zhou Fengshan immediately mobilized fresh troops, and soon they discovered that the number of these two newly appearing forces both exceeded a thousand. Because he didn't know the actual situation inside the city, and with enemies besieging from the rear, Zhou Fengshan had to withdraw the troops that were fully encircling the city and switch to a standoff with the Western Zhejiang Branch in Changxing County seat.

The Western Zhejiang troops who came to assist did not linger in battle either; they quickly withdrew into Changxing County seat and began a standoff with the Beiyang Army. In the following few days, the battle did not break out fiercely. The Western Zhejiang Branch began to rapidly gather its teams back to Changxing County. These teams ranged from as few as a dozen people to as many as over a hundred. They continued to gather towards Changxing County in this manner. The Beiyang Army had been startled once, and with scouts discovering the movements of so many enemies, they had to act cautiously. Zhou Fengshan retreated his troops more than ten li to prevent being sneak-attacked again.

Zhou Fengshan didn't know the actual situation, but it was impossible for Xu Xilin not to know. Even though people kept coming, the total troop strength inside Changxing County seat did not exceed four thousand. Moreover, Anji County and Deqing County had both been seized by the Beiyang forces. Changxing was isolated and weak; perhaps it could still hold out. It was just that such simple holding out would ultimately be a dead end.

Qiu Jin no longer discussed with Xu Xilin whether they could withdraw or not. She said calmly, "If we go to plead with Wenqing, what we want is for him to save these remaining few thousand people of our Western Zhejiang Branch, to save the lives of these hundred thousand common people of our Western Zhejiang. For the lives of so many people, we will do whatever Wenqing wants us to do. Even if Wenqing wants our lives, we will happily offer up our heads. Bosun, if you are unwilling to plead with Wenqing, then you might as well make up your mind to fight to the death against the Beiyang Army openly and aboveboard. Bosun, you are the Political Commissar of our Western Zhejiang Branch; you make the decision on the major matters determining our direction. If you cannot make the decision, the committee members who could make it here alive have all arrived; we can hold a meeting to vote."

Seeing that Qiu Jin had already spoken so clearly, and seeing the expectant looks in the eyes of these comrades around him one by one, Xu Xilin already knew what the comrades meant. No one wanted to die. As long as they had the People's Party's assistance, everyone could save their lives even if they lost Western Zhejiang and withdrew to Anhui. At this moment, exactly what choice to make was already very clear.

"Then send someone to make contact again. We request the People's Party's full assistance. As long as they can save everyone, we will obey however they arrange things." Xu Xilin finally made up his mind.