Since the beginning of the campaign to suppress the "rebel party" in Western Zhejiang, Beiyang Army commander Zhou Fengshan had mixed feelings. As a soldier, Zhou Fengshan knew what he had to do. The battles the Beiyang Army fought most were suppressing unruly people and rebel parties. As an officer from the old Beiyang clique, Zhou Fengshan had no psychological pressure about exterminating the "rebel party" in Western Zhejiang. However, the current Third Army in Zhejiang, and even the Thirtieth Army newly built with the Third Army's transferred personnel as the backbone, had fought against the People's Party. Zhou Fengshan had also been captured. Every time he recalled the battle in Dingyuan, he felt like he had a nightmare. The recent complete annihilation of Duan Zhigui's troops in Henan, and even the complete annihilation of the Japanese Kumamoto Division, made Zhou Fengshan understand that the People's Party's combat effectiveness showed no signs of decline.

Intelligence showed that the Western Zhejiang rebel party had a close relationship with the People's Party. If the People's Party intervened on a large scale during the suppression process, Zhou Fengshan himself would not be willing to suffer this defeat for nothing. Intelligence indicated that a People's Party force of several thousand people had already begun to assemble at the border of Western Zhejiang. So Zhou Fengshan invested huge efforts in scouting work. The reconnaissance network covered the border between the People's Party and the Western Zhejiang Branch as much as possible. If there were signs of People's Party military action, Zhou Fengshan decided to prioritize self-preservation.

"Lord Zhou, that rebel party unit has started harassing our army again." The staff officer in charge of reconnaissance came over with a worried look on his face and said.

Zhou Fengshan glared fiercely at his subordinate and did not speak for a while. This was already the third day. A small unit of more than four hundred people stuck to the Beiyang Army extremely stubbornly, attacking the Beiyang Army whenever there was a chance. Each battle did not last long. These rebel party troops always took advantage of weak points to enter, and would retreat immediately regardless of whether they succeeded or not after a single strike. And they would absolutely not come out in full force; there was always an attack, cover, and rear guard. Each time, they caused at most three to five casualties to the Beiyang Army, and at most twenty to thirty casualties.

For the Beiyang Army's troops of tens of thousands, these casualties really didn't count for much. But suffering fifteen or sixteen attacks a day, and the target of each attack was different, this made the Beiyang Army feel a bit jittery, seeing enemies in every bush and tree. Precisely because the casualties were small, every Beiyang soldier instead didn't want such bad luck to fall on their own heads. The Beiyang Army had also set up ambushes and annihilated a small number of rebel party troops. From the captives' mouths, they knew that the leader was a female bandit named Ji Ye. This news made the Beiyang Army angry enough; a woman not honestly staying at home holding children, what kind of bandit was she playing at?

Of course, the Beiyang Army also forgot a fact. In this bandit suppression order, it was clearly stipulated that as long as they were rebel party members, regardless of gender, they would be killed without pardon. Even if this "female bandit chief" honestly stayed at home holding children, she couldn't possibly be spared.

"Why don't we send a few troops to pursue this bandit army relentlessly and completely scatter them?" A staff officer suggested.

"No." Zhou Fengshan refused. In the engagement with the People's Party, the former Third Division had once done this. The result was that the pursuing troops fell into an encirclement and were defeated one by one by the People's Party. Although he hadn't "dealt with" the People's Party for a few years, such familiar tactics still made Zhou Fengshan recall past events.

Thinking of this, Zhou Fengshan ordered: "Urge the troops in various places, order them to hurry up and exterminate the rebel parties in the localities with the militia. As long as the rebel parties in the localities are exterminated, the Western Zhejiang rebel party remnant hanging in Changxing County seat, their destruction is just around the corner. Other troops must defend strictly and monitor the rebel party in Changxing. Once they make a strange move, we will immediately send troops. As for those flies around, if they attack, just beat them back. In the current situation, they won't last long."

Although the staff officers and officers were not satisfied with this order, no one dared to disobey military orders. Things turned out as Zhou Fengshan expected. The troops led by Ji Ye only attacked slightly. Encountering the situation where the Beiyang Army was waiting in full battle array, they proactively chose to retreat. Moreover, after this retreat, Ji Ye's unit did not continue to launch attacks. The day passed quietly like this.

It wasn't that Ji Ye didn't want to continue harassing, but that the troops' physical strength was already completely exhausted. In fact, today's attack had also exhausted the last bit of strength. Before setting out, the selected comrades all looked bad, even sleepy-eyed, looking like they could fall asleep while walking. Guerrilla warfare consumed a considerable amount of physical strength. They had to walk longer roads and make more complete pre-battle preparations. Even if Changxing was the old nest of the Western Zhejiang Branch and everyone was familiar with the roads to the point they couldn't be more familiar, they could only avoid excessive consumption of physical strength. The roads that had to be walked couldn't be one step less.

Ji Ye led the team personally, but her own brain was buzzing, and her attention couldn't concentrate at all. Just after firing a few shots, she found that the soldiers of the unit all looked exhausted. Ji Ye immediately ordered a retreat. If the Beiyang Army sent troops to chase at this time, this unit would probably be in grave danger.

Using four and a half hours to walk the road that could usually be finished in three hours, the attack unit finally returned to the temporary camp. Except for the sentries, the temporary camp was silent. Everyone was sleeping. The troops that had set out also fell down there and fell asleep upon returning to the camp. Ji Ye fished out wind medicated oil and poured a few drops fiercely into her nostrils, relying on the strong stimulation to slightly curb the sleepiness.

"Is there any news from the sub-branch?" Ji Ye asked the staff officer who stayed behind.

The staff officer who stayed behind had a look of great joy on his face, "The sub-branch said Yi Jing dispatched a liaison officer to connect with the People's Party. Now we are just waiting for news from the People's Party side. If possible, the sub-branch hopes to be able to withdraw all personnel to Anhui."

"That's great." Ji Ye said with her mouth, but in her brain, apart from a burst of relief, she didn't have the slightest feeling. She sat on the ground, leaned her head against a stone next to her, and fell into a deep sleep just like that.

At this time in Wuhan, a thousand miles away, the Central Committee of the People's Party had already received the request letter from the Western Zhejiang Branch. Minister of Defense Hua Xiongmao asked anxiously: "Chairman Chen, should we agree to the Western Zhejiang Branch's request?"

"Agree, dispatch troops immediately to the Western Zhejiang Branch to meet and support their withdrawal." Chen Ke answered very crisply.

Lu Huitian couldn't help asking: "Chairman Chen, why don't we send troops in advance to stop the Restoration Society's massacre this time?"

Chen Ke was silent for a moment before answering: "If I told everyone before that the reactionaries would spare no effort in counter-attacking and settling scores, surely no one would believe it. Because everyone saw that the former landlords and gentry in the base areas were very submissive. It was said in 'On Practice' that if you want to accumulate rational knowledge, you must have perceptual practice. In our base areas, those landlords and gentry who were reactionary to the core have already been eliminated, and we have thoroughly implemented land reform and received the support of the People's Party. The remaining bunch of former landlords and gentry, when the situation has not undergone a fundamental change, they recognized that their own lives were a higher priority than being forced to accept the reality of land reform. That's why we have the current situation where the former landlords and gentry seem relatively cooperative. And the situation in Western Zhejiang is a clear proof, proving how cruelly these old landlords and gentry will treat the revolutionary forces if possible. After seeing it with their own eyes, everyone will not harbor any illusions about them."

The comrades in the Central Committee had already seen relatively detailed information. The "revolutionary degree" of the Restoration Society's Western Zhejiang Branch was vastly different from that of the People's Party, and it could even be said to be fundamentally different. This kind of "moderate" reform couldn't even be called land reform; at most, it implemented adjustments to the old social order. And this kind of adjustment triggered such intense class hatred. The educational significance of this matter was extraordinary.

Hua Xiongmao couldn't help asking: "Chairman Chen, are we just receiving the Western Zhejiang Branch into our base area?"

"Yes. Beiyang is almost unable to hold back. I don't think it's necessary to provoke them excessively. I actually hope to wait until after the summer harvest to start the war?" Chen Ke answered.

"Why? These executioners' hands are stained with the people's blood, are we just going to let them continue to be at large?" Hua Xiongmao was very puzzled by Chen Ke's opinion.

"Beiyang is almost unable to hold on. Now for every day of delay, Beiyang will be a little closer to destruction. At this time, we must wait." Chen Ke led the current situation to a larger topic.

"If Beiyang can control Zhejiang better, won't the strength of their flank be enhanced?" Lu Huitian asked. Chen Ke's statement was inevitably a bit too jumpy.

"This can be discussed later. Right now we must hurry up and summarize the situation in Zhejiang. We must let the comrades understand to what extent the reactionaries can be cruel before the war." Chen Ke didn't want to discuss this issue more. He continued: "Like other revolutionaries of this era, Xu Xilin subconsciously feels that revolution is to achieve a certain great goal, and everyone who follows him should dedicate themselves to this great goal. The gaze of revolutionaries of this era looks upwards, and rarely looks below. Even if they look, it is mostly to blame subordinates for ineffective work..."

"...Considering the problem from the angle of this kind of thinking, the comrades and common people of the Western Zhejiang Branch are subordinates in Xu Xilin's heart. In the immediate moment of crisis, it should be these people considering how to complete Xu Xilin's ideas, rather than Xu Xilin considering these people's interests more. But Xu Xilin now knows that this may not be the correct idea. At least in the eyes of the People's Party that the Western Zhejiang Branch learns from and imitates, this idea is completely wrong..."

"...Power should come from above, strength should come from above. This is Xu Xilin's view, and also the concept accepted by the vast majority of revolutionaries in this era. So Xu Xilin is unwilling to give up the Restoration Society. Even if the current situation is already so critical, Xu Xilin still insists that he is a member of the Restoration Society, and even insists on the idea of avenging Tao Chengzhang. Even if he is completely disappointed in Cai Yuanpei, Xu Xilin is still not disappointed in the Restoration Society..."

"This is the mistake Xu Xilin committed, and our People's Party cannot commit the same mistake. In this world, there are those who betray class interests, but there is no class that betrays interests. And where exactly should our People's Party's class stance stand? Does the power of the current revolution come from the People's Party or from the people? This is the issue I have repeatedly emphasized. I hope comrades can take this Western Zhejiang Branch as an example and discuss it in depth. Thoroughly recognize the situation we have to face. Any unrealistic illusions will bring us huge losses. Who are our enemies, who are our friends? This is the primary question of the revolution!"

......

After the meeting adjourned, other comrades left with heavy expressions. Hua Xiongmao stayed behind. Chen Ke looked at Hua Xiongmao silently. Hua Xiongmao didn't speak immediately. After a while, he opened his mouth and said: "Wen Qing, I hear your meaning, the situation in Zhejiang will continue to deteriorate?"

Chen Ke nodded, "That's right, it will deteriorate to a situation unimaginable to people. It will deteriorate to the point where our comrades will completely wipe their eyes clean!"

Hearing these resolute and decisive words, Hua Xiongmao actually didn't know what he should say anymore.