Before the People's Party seized the police stations, they held a meeting as usual to discuss the extent of violent measures that could be used against the police officers who refused to comply during the seizure operation, and whether or not to enforce "civilized law enforcement." This discussion seemed ridiculous, but it was actually about the extent to which they should struggle against the British. The police's resistance ranged from verbal to physical; how should the People's Party respond to different forms of resistance?

Hearing someone quote the saying "struggle with reason, advantage, and restraint," Chen Ke laughed out of anger. "The foreign police represent the privileges of foreigners in China. Although the foreign police haven't dared to step out of the concessions since we took control of Wuhan, and even matters within the concessions have to be discussed with us, privilege is still privilege. If we don't thoroughly smash these privileges, the people won't believe in our determination to protect China's interests! Call it overcorrection if you want, or beating a drowning dog. There is no need to be polite in this seizure of the police stations."

After saying this, Chen Ke glanced at Lin Shenhe, the Minister of Public Security. How could such a smart person like Lin Shenhe not know what Chen Ke meant? He tentatively asked, "Chairman Chen, do you want me to lead the team?"

"Comrade Lin Shenhe, isn't seizing these illegal units the job of the Public Security Department?" Chen Ke replied.

This remark caused a burst of laughter within the Central Committee of the People's Party. Given Lin Shenhe's history with the police station, he might not actually be the most suitable person to step forward. Even if the party knew that Lin Shenhe didn't volunteer for it, some people would definitely gossip behind his back.

However, Lin Shenhe's personality was definitely not one to care about such things. Or rather, precisely because of the laughter from these comrades, Lin Shenhe completely let go of his psychological burden. Since he was already being laughed at, what scruples did he have left? The meeting finally decided that the Public Security Department would take the lead in clearing out all illegal organizations in the base area, and Lin Shenhe would be the commander-in-chief of this operation.

Miyazaki Toten was a Pan-Asianist. Before joining the People's Party, he promoted the liberation of all of Asia. With Chen Ke's attitude so clearly demanding the seizure of the police stations, he was naturally full of energy. Facing those police officers who resolutely refused to disarm, Miyazaki Toten said in fluent Chinese, "As members of an illegal organization, behave yourselves. You illegal organizations should not continue to break the law. If you resist, you will be committing the crime of assaulting police. Our Wuhan public security system has the right to shoot you on the spot."

After saying this, Miyazaki Toten waved his hand to the armed police who came with him. "Load bullets! Fix bayonets!"

With a clatter of bayonets being fixed and bolts being pulled, the armed police were ready for battle. The few guys who insisted on resisting were the heads of the British police station. Being disarmed meant complete surrender, a major event, so they naturally wouldn't submit easily. But seeing the armed police ready to fight immediately, coupled with the overwhelming number of these armed police, the shining bayonets and the action of pulling the bolts just now let these people know that the People's Party was serious.

The leading police chief shouted loudly, "This is an illegal action! We are protected by treaties!"

"Illegal action? Our Wuhan Public Security Bureau is the government department here. The reason for our action this time is to abolish illegal organizations. The concession thing is a treaty signed between the British and the Manchu Qing. What does it have to do with our people's revolution? Any organization that is not registered in our base area is illegal and must be banned. If you want to protest, go protest to the Manchu Qing."

"You are provoking the British Empire!" the police chief shouted loudly.

Miyazaki Toten had attended a church school and understood English. He sneered, "I'll give you half a minute. Hand over your guns!"

Although the police chief knew that he would definitely be disarmed today, he naturally refused to surrender to the Chinese like this. While shouting "The British Empire can never accept such an action," the police chief did not actively hand over his gun.

Miyazaki Toten waited for half a minute, then waved his hand to the armed police. The soldiers rushed up without a word, raised their rifle butts, and smashed them down. The other police officers didn't expect the People's Party to be so ruthless. Just as a group of people wanted to resist, the bayonets of other soldiers were pressed against their chests. The bayonets were not just for show, they really pricked the flesh of those people. The police officers retreated in pain, and the soldiers continued to advance with their bayonets, forcing these guys into a pile.

The police chief was kicked down and beaten up. Miyazaki Toten ordered, "Beat him until he stops screaming!"

Two minutes later, the police chief finally stopped screaming. He curled up on the ground and wept. This beating made this guy, who was usually bossy, begin to fully understand that the People's Party was serious. Of course, this realization had just begun. The soldiers pulled the guy up, stripped him down to his underwear, and then stripped the other police officers of their tops, but left their hats on their heads. Then this group of people was tied up. A board was inserted into the rope on everyone's back, with the words "Illegal Organization Member" written on it. These police officers were connected by a long rope around their necks, and the front end of the long rope was tied to the back of a car. Such a team began to parade through the streets in the concession under the drive of the armed police.

It wasn't just this one team that was dragged out. The United States had received notification from the People's Party, so they didn't encounter any impact. The police stations of other foreign organizations all resisted to some extent. As long as one person resisted, all members of the police station were arrested and paraded through the streets. Seeing the long team, the foreigners on the street immediately exclaimed "God" in various voices, and then they ran away quickly. The People's Party had accepted the existence of the police stations for several years. The Chinese didn't expect the People's Party to completely fall out today. Seeing the police officers who usually looked majestic now either naked or half-naked, tied in a row by a long rope like a herd of livestock, everyone was first surprised, then someone laughed loudly first, and then waves of laughter rose from the onlookers, each wave higher than the last.

The onlookers pointed at these guys who were stripped to the waist but still wearing hats. The Chinese police officers in the team were recognized even more. "That's XXX's son! Usually he is XXXX." The family backgrounds of these guys were exposed cleanly.

The Chinese police officers heard children in the crowd asking, "Why are these people tied up?"

And the adults next to the children laughed and said, "Because they are bad people. Bad people get tied up like this. You can't be this kind of bad person when you grow up. If you dare to learn to be bad like these people, you will also be tied up and paraded through the streets. I'll break your legs then!"

These police officers were originally prominent figures on the street. Now hearing these criticisms, they only felt that their status had plummeted, and they couldn't accept this fact in their hearts. But what they thought in their hearts was no longer important. The forward pulling force from the noose around their necks was real, and this force forced them to continue walking forward under the gaze of everyone. If there were a crack in the ground now, this group of people would want to crawl into it.

After a parade, the People's Party sent these people to the detention center for "hooliganism" in the public security regulations.

The People's Party's parade was a naked statement. Comrades thought that the British would choose to retaliate immediately, but the result was not so. Under the siege of "mines," the British fleet did not open fire to demonstrate. Not only on the first day, but in the following days, the People's Party seized all police stations and required all foreigners in the concessions to apply for residence permits at designated places within three days in accordance with the regulations of the People's Party. All requirements were submitted in the form of official letters. The official letters clearly stated that if these foreigners could not apply on time, they would be arrested as illegal immigrants.

The British Consulate in Wuhan did not have the power to decide whether to start a war. Ordering the British Yangtze Fleet to shell Wuhan required an order from the British Legation. As far as the British Consulate in Wuhan itself was concerned, they did not want a battle to break out now. They had consulted with the commander of the British Yangtze Fleet, and the fleet commander stated that he had no reason to engage in an artillery battle at the moment.

The People's Party's "mine exercise" was really annoying. Although fake mines could not cause substantial damage to warships, fake mines proved one thing: the People's Party had the ability to conduct mine warfare against the British fleet. If real mines were mixed in with a number of fake mines, how should the British fleet respond? In the mine warfare that began a few days ago, the British fleet had discovered that it did not have the ability to completely destroy or avoid the People's Party's mine groups unless the British fleet temporarily withdrew further away.

However, such a decision was impossible to implement. The purpose of the Yangtze Fleet was to protect British interests and defend British expatriates and merchants. It was okay to retreat after a round of shelling, but how would the People's Party deal with the British remaining in Wuhan next? They had already expressed their attitude to Britain through the police station incident. Based on the British understanding of Chen Ke, Chen Ke never went too far in doing things. If he hadn't made up his mind and had enough backup plans, Chen Ke would not have shown any real hostile attitude.

In such a situation, the British Consulate in Wuhan had already passed the news to the British Legation in Beijing as quickly as possible via warships. After the People's Party cut off the telegraph network between North and South China, it took at least two days for the information to reach Beijing. It was impossible for the British Legation to make a decision immediately. Even if they felt humiliated, the British Consulate in Wuhan and the British fleet could only remain silent for the time being.

On June 10, the British Legation had received letters from the Wuhan Consulate and the Commander of the British Yangtze Fleet. But the British Legation couldn't come up with a solution at all. At this time, Beiyang had begun a military confrontation with the People's Party. Even if the British didn't have much confidence in the Beiyang government, they at least knew that Beiyang had an army of one million. In the imagination of the British Minister and Sir Humphrey, the Beiyang Army could at least fight.

However, the actions of this army of one million puzzled the British side. There were some British observers in the Beiyang Army, who actually acted as advisors. Previously, the advisors of the Beiyang Army were mostly German officers. During the war, German officers could not continue their advisory roles openly. As Beiyang's current financier, Britain naturally took on this role.

The news received by these British observers was that the People's Party had implemented an intelligence blockade in Hebei and Shandong, so the Beiyang Army in Hebei dared not launch an attack. On the contrary, small units of the People's Party began to harass the Beiyang Army comprehensively.

Due to the advantage of aerial reconnaissance, the reconnaissance troops of the People's Party first completely suppressed the reconnaissance troops of the Beiyang Army in the battles starting from the end of May. After June 10, small units of the People's Party took the initiative to attack and began to strike at the peripheral strongholds of the Beiyang Army. The Beiyang Army was unprepared for the sharp and fast attacks of the People's Party. When they learned that their peripheral strongholds had been attacked and sent large troops to relieve them, the People's Party troops had already retreated. What was left to the Beiyang Army was only the corpses all over the ground in the strongholds.

Perhaps the Beiyang Army felt that it was too shameful to be seen clearly by the British in its ugly state. After such attacks occurred more than a dozen times, Beiyang simply refused the British observers to participate in any meetings of the headquarters. The British were both angry and amused by this. Did these people in Beiyang think that the British believed that the Beiyang Army could beat the People's Party in small-scale battles?

The telegraph network in Hebei had not been cut off. Facing Beiyang's performance, the British Legation's biggest feeling was that Beiyang was untrustworthy. Regarding such a situation, the British Legation discussed it several times, and the result was that everyone leaned towards "maintaining the status quo."