The Cao family's secret tunnel wasn't specially built. It was inadvertently constructed while digging a cellar after buying a nearby villager's house, connecting from the courtyard to a house over thirty meters away. However, the Cao family cared about this very much. After all, with a large family and business, they had to be extra careful. So after it was accidentally dug through, the Cao family members personally completed the final work. This was a secret of the Cao family, known only to core family members.

After hearing this, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army commander quickly showed the simple map to Cao Yifeng. Based on the tunnel layout pointed out by Cao Yifeng, he also called over the platoon leader responsible for the fighting in that vicinity to ask about the situation regarding this tunnel together with Cao Yifeng. Only then did he have Cao Yifeng taken away to rest. The platoon leader responsible for the fighting over there whispered, "Battalion Commander, this tunnel is useless. Based on what he said, even if it's true, it's mainly for hiding people. Even if we send troops in for a raid, the tunnel is too narrow to deploy enough troops."

"There are plenty of ways to raid. We have a lot of experience in Anhui." The battalion commander had his own ideas about the tunnel.

"Are you planning to blow up the courtyard wall directly?" The platoon leader over there was very quick-witted.

The battalion commander agreed with the comrade's alertness. "Since the Cao family has this tunnel, the Beiyang Army will find it hard to fly away after being surrounded by us. In their desperation, they might not fail to ask about this. Who would be the people escaping from the tunnel or hiding inside? Even if they don't know, we can still make use of this tunnel."

"Then I'll go back and find this tunnel first." The platoon leader immediately grasped the main point. If they weren't even sure if the tunnel existed, there was nothing else to talk about.

Over half an hour later, the platoon leader ran over, covered in dust. "Found that tunnel. No one from the Cao family's side is using this tunnel for the time being. I don't know if they know about it."

"Whether they know or not, we'll know once we try. I will order the artillery to blow down the Cao family's courtyard wall first. If we don't make those Beiyang soldiers completely desperate, they won't resort to the final method," the battalion commander laughed.

The platoon leader also roughly understood Cao Yifeng's goal. He asked, "Battalion Commander, are you really preparing to save the Cao family members as much as possible? The way I see it, let them perish together with the Beiyang Army, wouldn't that be fine? We didn't have to save the Cao family members in the first place. If we really want to save them, it's also very difficult to do. Why cause ourselves trouble?"

These words made the other commanders around them involuntarily look up. The difference in combat difficulty between destroying the Beiyang Army and saving the hostages captured by the Beiyang Army was too great. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army never fought unprepared battles, and rescuing hostages was not a training subject. The battalion commander laughed, "The combat objective not being to save the captured people, and deliberately not caring about the life and death of those captured people, are two different things. If we deliberately don't care, how much difference is there between us and those who want to kill them?"

"Then what exactly do you plan to arrange, Battalion Commander?" The platoon leader still didn't understand this.

The battalion political commissar took over the conversation. "The Beiyang Army will definitely use those captured people to bargain with us. We will bargain with them. However, we must absolutely not let the Beiyang Army feel that using those captured people can threaten us. If the Beiyang Army isn't frantic, they won't deliberately kill these people. If this bunch of Beiyang soldiers has already gone frantic, our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army has absolutely no reason to let them off. Our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army treats prisoners of war well, but our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army will absolutely not let off anyone who harms the common people. This point must not be forgotten at any time."

"The Cao family is a local big landlord; they don't count as the people," a staff officer said. This remark clearly represented the inner voice of many comrades, and everyone's eyes carried questions.

"We have all studied 'On Contradiction', right? Primary contradiction, secondary contradiction, this must be distinguished clearly. The current primary contradiction is the contradiction between us and the Beiyang Army. Our contradiction with the Cao family becoming the primary contradiction, that will be a matter for when we implement land reform after liberating this Caojiapu. Chairman Chen has repeatedly emphasized that we cannot forcibly intensify conflicts on the grounds of preparing for a rainy day when the conflict has not yet erupted. If we deliberately let the Beiyang Army kill off the Cao family this time, there is no wall in the world that doesn't leak wind. How will the masses of Caojiapu view us after they find out? We would be despicable villains. If during the land reform the Cao family insists on taking the counter-revolutionary road and we execute them publicly, then the masses will think that we have the ability to implement the new system. Although both are killing people, the background is different, the conditions are different, and the result is also completely different. Comrades cannot generalize when dealing with matters; we must seek truth from facts," the political commissar explained to everyone.

This kind of discussion linking theory with practice was one of the daily tasks of the Party organizations at all levels. Although there were still comrades who felt that doing so was really troublesome, the People's Party organization was never afraid of trouble. Moreover, the battalion commander also supported the political commissar's view. Apart from "trouble", which could only be called a personal feeling as a reason for objection, the comrades couldn't come up with any reasonable and well-founded arguments. Finally, everyone agreed with the political commissar's view. While destroying the Beiyang Army was the main combat objective, they would avoid casualties among the Cao family members as much as possible.

During this period, the entire combat preparation did not stop for a single minute. The grassroots soldiers drew maps, collected intelligence, and passed the maps and intelligence to the troops in various directions to avoid confusion and even accidental injury during the overall operation. The artillerymen also set up positions and determined the firing table parameters. As soon as the command headquarters gave the order, every combat unit could go into battle.

The comrades on the front line continued to shout propaganda when they should, and continued to observe when they should. When the hot air balloon they carried rose into the sky and observed the situation of the Cao family compound from a commanding height, the comrade who had been responsible for questioning Cao Yifeng also brought back the detailed layout drawing of the Cao family compound and the characteristics of each building.

With various pieces of intelligence, the efficiency of formulating the combat plan was much higher. Everyone agreed to use the east courtyard wall as the breakthrough point. Once the east courtyard wall was knocked down, given the layout of the Cao family compound, it would be difficult for the Beiyang Army to find cover to rely on. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army could instead most effectively display its firepower advantage. After the battalion commander took the lead in suggesting it, the comrades also agreed.

The artillery unit deployed on the east side of the Cao family had long since conducted direct aiming measurements. The parameters from destroying the courtyard wall to directly shooting into the Cao family courtyard had all been determined. Waiting only for the order, the artillerymen loaded the shells and began test firing. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's infantry support 37mm guns were relatively heavy, so when dispatched urgently, they mostly carried detachable mortars. In order to deal with various situations, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's mortars also added a direct fire function. Facing a building like a courtyard wall, solid shells similar to armor-piercing projectiles were fired first. The projectile whistled out of the barrel and slammed violently into the Cao family's east courtyard wall. Amidst flying gravel, two large pits appeared on the courtyard wall. It seemed the intelligence provided by the battalion headquarters was correct; the Cao family had been quite careful when building the courtyard wall.

However, in present-day China, there was no such thing as a courtyard wall that absolutely couldn't be penetrated by artillery shells, let alone a courtyard wall built by a country landlord. For the artillery units of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, they had far more live-fire training advantages than their PLA "predecessors". The immediate problem was simply how to knock down the courtyard wall rather than punch through it. After using solid shots to inflict heavy damage on the courtyard wall, the switched high-explosive shells whistled and slammed into the wall, causing a violent explosion. The already pitted east wall instantly collapsed a large chunk.

The artillery company commander clicked his tongue. The trajectory was too high; it only knocked down a piece from the top of the east wall, and didn't directly blow down a large section of the wall.

From the moment the shelling began, terrified shouts came from the Beiyang soldiers in the courtyard. As a large chunk of this wall collapsed, the Beiyang troops almost collectively let out desperate screams. Having escaped with their lives from that fierce firepower strike not long ago, these people had already lost their will to fight. Now that the wall they relied on as a psychological barrier was being thoroughly destroyed, these Beiyang soldiers simply didn't know how to continue fighting.

Soon, some Beiyang soldiers tried to rush out from the back door. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's defensive positions, which were already prepared, immediately blocked them with a storm of bullets. Leaving behind a new batch of dead and wounded, the Beiyang soldiers retreated screaming. Some Beiyang soldiers also tried to climb out from the north wall where fighting hadn't started yet. However, as soon as they showed their heads, they were met with fire from outside the north wall. Knowing they couldn't escape from here, the Beiyang soldiers didn't want to throw away their lives for nothing.

"Masters of the People's Party, are you going to kill us all? If you keep attacking, we'll kill the whole Cao family! Even if we die, we'll drag some people down with us!" The Beiyang soldiers inside the courtyard shouted hysterically towards the outside.

"We told you long ago, we want you to surrender! Our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army treats prisoners of war well." The attacking troops continued to shout. The commanding company commander frowned. The Beiyang Army was completely at a dead end. Was their shouting because they were really prepared to fight to the death, or just bargaining?

The doubt didn't last long before the Beiyang soldiers inside laid out their conditions. Silver dollars went from five thousand to ten thousand, and gold bars went from five to fifteen. The company commander cursed his own mistake inwardly. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army would fight to the death for victory, but that didn't mean other armies would have such enlightenment. Although the troops were always required to take the enemy seriously tactically—"Bullets don't have eyes! We can't relax at all before achieving final victory!"—at this moment, the tactical part was already over. Whether the Beiyang Army relied on weapons or courage, whatever they did could not have any impact on the outcome of the battle. At this time, blindly insisting that the Beiyang Army would fight to the death was marking the boat to find the sword. The current work was not just to delay time by shouting, but to disintegrate the enemy's final will to fight through shouting.

Thinking of this, the company commander ordered the communications officer to inform the battalion commander of the Beiyang Army's movements and suggest the artillery pause firing. On the other hand, he let the comrades who were shouting start to continue persuading them to surrender.

Just as the persuasion was ongoing, the comrades of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army lying in ambush inside the tunnel heard movement at the Cao family's tunnel entrance. Soon the cover of the tunnel was lifted, and someone started to grope their way in. This tunnel passed through several abandoned cellars. The soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were lying in ambush inside the cellars. The one scouting the way was definitely a small soldier. The comrades hid in the dark and let them pass first. Sure enough, the people behind couldn't keep their cool. Someone was heard saying anxiously, "Brother Hu, let's go quickly. If we don't go, it'll be too late."

After saying this and getting no response, the person who spoke just now continued to persuade, "Brother Hu, at least let's go in and hide first."

Just at this moment, the Beiyang soldier scouting the path also returned from the front. "Battalion Commander, there's no one in the tunnel, and there doesn't seem to be anyone at the exit either."

That "Brother Hu" was silent for a moment first, but with the sound of shelling and the sound of walls collapsing, his endurance obviously reached its limit. "Go, bring that old thing from the Hu family, let's withdraw quickly."

A small group of people filed into the tunnel, and then the entrance to the Hu family's tunnel was closed again. A pleading voice sounded, "Commander Hu, I'll give you however much money you want, I just beg you to leave me my life. You can't kill me!"

"Shut your fucking mouth! I brought my brothers to your door, and as a result, now my brothers are all going to be lost here. Are you a spy for the People's Party, specifically setting up this ambush to deal with us? Speak honestly. If you're not honest, I'll shoot you right now!"

"I'm absolutely not a spy for the People's Party, I... I also don't know how they just came!" The pleading voice said with anxiety and fear.

"Brother Hu, this guy looks unreliable. Let's just kill him and go out ourselves," the person who previously urged to enter the tunnel said.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" The pleading voice turned into a scream, followed by the muffled sound of someone's mouth being covered.

"Speak loudly again and I'll shoot you immediately!" Battalion Commander Hu shouted in a low voice. "If you want to live, lead the way honestly. If there's any more trouble, I'll shoot you first! Do you hear me!"

Although his mouth was covered, the one who had been begging for mercy squeezed out a sound of agreement through the fingers.

The soldiers waited quietly until all these people entered the ambush circle, then they suddenly turned on their flashlights. Under the sudden stimulation of the light beams, the group of people trying to flee were all dazzled. They subconsciously covered the light with their hands. By the time they got slightly used to the flashlight beams, they were already completely surrounded. Regardless of how fierce they were with their mouths just now, not a single one of this group put up a desperate resistance in this situation. Under the order of "Hands up," they all obediently raised their hands.

The matter of Battalion Commander Hu abandoning his brothers to flee for his own life was not discovered by these abandoned Beiyang soldiers. It wasn't until Battalion Commander Hu and his cronies were pushed in front of the Cao family courtyard, bound with ropes and looking dusty and dirty, that the Beiyang soldiers understood their situation. Even the battalion commander had been caught after secretly escaping; these Beiyang small soldiers completely lost the will to resist. After shouting one more time, they followed the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's order, raised their hands high, and walked out of the Cao family courtyard to surrender.

In this chaotic time, the Cao family luckily escaped the fate of being massacred. No one was killed. Except for some women who suffered groping and molestation, the Beiyang soldiers really didn't go so far as to do anything further.

However, the Beiyang Army and the captured tax collectors had absolutely no intention of letting the Cao family escape this calamity. Whether it was Battalion Commander Hu or the tax collectors, they didn't beg for mercy first, but directly started exposing the Cao family's collusion with the government officials and their attempt to kill the common people who were preparing to defect to the People's Party.

The comrades in the battalion were originally depressed because the battalion political commissar and the battalion commander advocated saving the lives of the Cao family members as much as possible. Just to put pressure on the Beiyang Army, a lot of shells were used. If these shells were used to bombard the inside of the Cao family courtyard, the Beiyang Army would probably have suffered over half casualties, and another charge would have completely solved these Beiyang soldiers. But after the Cao family's evil deeds were exposed, these comrades who had participated in land reform all thought of what kind of anger the Cao family's evil deeds would arouse in Caojiapu. And how much trouble this anger would reduce for the People's Party's work in Caojiapu.

These comrades looked at the battalion political commissar and the battalion commander with admiration. Many people had already decided in their hearts that once they had free time, they would ask the battalion political commissar and the battalion commander to explain "On Contradiction" properly again.