"People in the county seat, listen up! Put down your weapons and open the city gates. This way you can save your lives. If you resist to the end, bullets have no eyes. Everyone is in this Security Corps just to make a living, why throw your lives away for the Magistrate?" The muffled shouting came from afar. The sound didn't seem to penetrate through the walls, but rather seemed to come down from the sky. This strange sensation made the Magistrate shudder, waking him from his dazed state.

"Who is talking nonsense on the street!" the Magistrate asked tremblingly.

A yamen runner hurriedly ran out to look, and soon darted back. He answered with a face the color of earth: "My Lord, no one is shouting on the street. It's the People's Party shouting outside the city!"

This was clearly one person's voice, not tens or hundreds of people shouting. Even knowing the runner dared not lie, the Magistrate still felt disbelief. He summoned up his courage and said, "Men, prepare the carriage."

The runners could clearly see the Magistrate's legs were soft. They quickly ran out to get a carriage, supporting the Magistrate to go out and ride to the top of the county wall. The voice persuading surrender continued throughout. Shops and households were all scared into closing their doors tightly. However, quite a few people peeked out from the cracks in their doors, and terrified weeping of women could be heard from some courtyards.

The Magistrate wanted to maintain at least some dignity, only letting one runner support him when going up the wall. The Security Corps on the wall was sparse at this time. Using five hundred men to defend the entire county seat was obviously unreliable, not to mention many had already fled. Seeing the Magistrate come up the wall, the head of the Security Corps welcomed him with a pale face. The Magistrate had soft legs, but this Security Corps Commander's legs were both trembling. His lips quivered as he asked: "My Lord, what should we do?"

Ignoring the Security Corps Commander's behavior, the Magistrate held onto the battlements and looked out. Now he finally understood where such a huge sound came from. Two huge loudspeakers were set up not far outside the city, emitting huge sounds. A little further behind the loudspeakers, thousands of soldiers were waiting in full battle array. Originally, the Magistrate thought the trembling Security Corps Commander was a coward, but now he suddenly felt that facing such a massive enemy force, the fact that the Commander could tremble without fleeing already made him a brave man.

At this moment, the Magistrate heard the big loudspeaker shout: "We, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, will never harass the common people, nor will we kill indiscriminately. But you must open the city and surrender. We will wait ten more minutes. If you don't surrender, we will attack the city!"

The Magistrate shuddered all over. If these thousands of people outside attacked the city, these few hundred people simply couldn't hold it. Just as he wanted to ask the Security Corps Commander what to do, he felt his arms being held by people on his left and right. The Magistrate was angry in his heart. If he was supported by people on both sides at this time, what would he look like? Even if he was afraid, he couldn't show it in front of everyone. Just as he wanted to scold the two people, he heard the Security Corps Commander say with an extremely guilty voice: "Lord Magistrate, I am sorry. To save the brothers' lives, I can only wrong you."

As soon as the voice fell, the two holding the Magistrate's arms twisted them back and tied him up. The Magistrate glared at the Security Corps Commander. The Commander looked guilty but did not dodge his gaze. The Magistrate's first reaction was to scream and curse hysterically, but at this last moment, he maintained his self-esteem after all and didn't curse. After all, the Magistrate knew very well that in this situation, any resistance was meaningless.

"Go, tell the People's Party outside the city, we surrender!" The Security Corps Commander ordered the people around him.

That person seemed to have been waiting for this order for a long time. He rushed down the city wall like a rabbit, shouting high: "Gentlemen, don't shoot, we surrender!" and flew towards the People's Party position. The shouting was so loud that even when he was far from the city wall, the Magistrate could still hear it clearly.

When the Magistrate was brought before Pang Zi, he saw Pang Zi discussing something with a group of People's Party soldiers. Seeing this former hooligan return to Nangong County as a high official, the Magistrate sneered, "Pang Zi, you have returned."

Pang Zi certainly heard the sarcasm in these words. He laughed heartily, "I'm leaving right away, but I have to trouble you to take a trip with me."

After speaking, Pang Zi waved his hand, "Take them down!"

The Magistrate originally thought Pang Zi would make a speech full of satisfaction, or even publicly insult him. Unexpectedly, Pang Zi acted as if nothing had happened, doing what he was supposed to do. This steady demeanor was beyond the Magistrate's expectation, but this attitude also gave rise to an annoyance of being despised in the Magistrate.

Similar to when horse bandits ravaged Hebei a few years ago, after Pang Zi and the others annihilated the Beiyang Army stationed in Linqing County, Linqing Wharf became an important transport wharf again. But this time, the People's Party's small steamships no longer transported looted money and goods. The captives of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were loaded onto ships at Linqing Wharf and transported south by water to the concentration camps in the People's Party base areas.

Under the condition that transport capacity and time were fixed, to solve the contradiction between limited transport capacity and the huge number of people, the only way was to increase transport density. The iron cages installed on the long barges towed behind the small steamships were stuffed with people. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army didn't care about background at all, just stuffing people in according to region. So the Nangong County Magistrate, yamen runners, Nangong County Security Corps Commander, and Security Corps members met again. Not only these people, but also the local councilors of Nangong County who hadn't run to Beijing, local tax collectors, and baozhangs also met with the gentlemen in the county.

The People's Party arrested people so thoroughly that these guys who became prisoners had not expected it. The awkwardness of the initial reunion was soon replaced by fear of the future. The runner really couldn't hold back and asked the Security Corps Commander first: "Lord Jing, where do you think they will send us?"

The Security Corps Commander originally thought that by opening the city and surrendering, he would at least be released. He didn't expect to be stuffed into a cage too, and even less expected the People's Party to take him to another place. He couldn't answer for a moment.

Instead, the county councilor said with a crying tone: "I'm afraid they are going to take us to be beheaded, right?"

As soon as this was said, everyone in the cage was frightened enough. Some timid ones already had tears in their eyes and were trembling all over.

"If they wanted to behead us, why go to such great lengths to transport us to another place? Wouldn't it be easier to kill us on the spot and dig a pit to bury us?" The Magistrate was not so nervous, and he spoke slowly.

"Then are they going to kidnap us for ransom?" The councilor didn't feel relieved by the Magistrate's explanation.

"Kidnapping you has ransom, but what ransom is there for kidnapping me and these brothers?" The Security Corps Commander said, unwilling to show weakness. This made sense. There were about a hundred people stuffed in the iron cage. More than half were Security Corps members, all from poor backgrounds, from whom no ransom could be extorted.

"Then what is the use of catching us?" The councilor was even more flustered. Wanting neither life nor money, what exactly did the People's Party want to do by catching so many people? The unknown fear was even more unbearable.

Not only the councilor, but all the arrested people couldn't understand this. The crowd began to discuss in low voices. Before long, someone complained in a low voice, "This Beiyang Army acts high and mighty on normal days, but now they are nowhere to be seen. What do these people eat?"

"The Beiyang Army near the county was defeated by the People's Party. I saw many captives waiting to board ships at the wharf," said someone who had seen the captured Beiyang troops.

Hearing that the Beiyang Army was also wiped out, some Security Corps members couldn't help but make noise, "F*ck, Beiyang cowards! I won't trust them anymore. Anyway, I'm a pauper with no land at home. Doesn't the People's Party distribute land? I won't lose anything if my family gets land distributed. I'll go join the People's Party!"

These indignant words startled the Magistrate, councilor, landlords, and others. However, the other Security Corps members, who were also from poor backgrounds, couldn't help laughing heartily after hearing this, "You go join them, but will they want you?"

The one who spoke felt embarrassed seeing his brothers around him mocking him, and shouted loudly, "Pang Zi joined the People's Party, and the People's Party wanted him. Why wouldn't the People's Party want me if I joined? If according to what the county said, the People's Party just wants to distribute land, even if I can't fight, can't I just honestly farm at home? Back then, I had a relative who joined that collective farm organized by Pang Zi, where a Mr. Chen Tianhua was in charge. Their life was pretty good. If the Beiyang hadn't attacked, my relative would have made a fortune selling salted duck eggs long ago. If farming doesn't work, can I raise ducks?"

"That's true. I also had a relative who participated in the collective farm. If I could raise ducks, that wouldn't be bad." Other corps members immediately agreed.

Listening to these people shouting, the Magistrate's face became uglier and uglier. He couldn't help shouting: "You are trying to be rebel bandits. The People's Party is a bunch of bandits. Following them won't bring any good results!"

Roared at by the Magistrate, including the corps member who shouted first, many people dared not make a sound anymore. However, one who hadn't spoken originally couldn't help sneering, "Bandits? In the eyes of the People's Party, you are the bandit, right? If you weren't a bandit, why are you locked in this cage? We have no grudges with the People's Party in the past or present. If we hadn't followed Beiyang, followed you, how would we be here accompanying you to the execution ground? You still have the face to scold us! Go cool off somewhere!"

The Magistrate had never been rebuked to his face by someone of such low status. His face instantly turned as purple as an eggplant. He pointed at the corps member who spoke and shouted, "You! You have such gall!"

The corps member was stunned at first, but soon was no longer afraid. He also pointed at the Magistrate and shouted: "What? You want to fight me? Fine, let's go one-on-one?"

The runner beside the Magistrate instinctively wanted to stand up for the Magistrate, but other corps members had already come up behind that corps member, staring at the Magistrate and others like tigers watching prey. The runner saw that the other side had many people, and why should he stand up for the Magistrate at this time? Not to mention that life and death were uncertain now, if he angered that group of people opposite, a solid beating right now would be inevitable. Not to mention that according to the news received currently, the Beiyang Army was not a match for the People's Party either. The Magistrate had no hope of regaining his position. Thinking of this, the runner quickly lowered his head and hid to the side, exposing the Magistrate alone in front of the corps members.

Finding himself facing a group of wolf-like corps members alone, the Magistrate suddenly realized he had nothing to rely on. In terms of force, he was not a match for the strong men opposite. In terms of power, now there was no difference in status between him and the strong corps members opposite.

While he was regretting, the corps member had already come up and grabbed the Magistrate. The corps member said viciously: "What the f*ck did you just say?"

"You are audacious!" The Magistrate shouted with a trembling voice. As soon as the shout fell, the corps member in front of him punched the Magistrate in the face. Before the Magistrate could fall, the corps member dragged him over, pinned him to the ground, and kicked him. After a few kicks, his ferocity rose, and he kicked harder and harder, shouting through gritted teeth while kicking: "I'll beat you to death, you dog magistrate! I'll beat... beat you to death, you dog magistrate!"

Other rich people were frightened enough seeing the Magistrate being beaten at first, but seeing the other party actually intended to kill, they couldn't care about fear and rushed up to save the Magistrate. Other corps members saw the rich people rushing up and were afraid their own man would suffer, so some bold ones also went up to block them. After a few shoves, a fight broke out. A moment later, the entire iron cage had turned into a brawl.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army soldiers responsible for guarding quickly hit the iron cage with batons and gun butts, "No fighting, no fighting!"

But since the fight had already started, the past hatred uncontrollably ignited everyone's nature. Especially those corps members, who had been bullied by these rich people quite a lot in normal times. Even if they hadn't been bullied directly, seeing the arrogant appearance of those high and mighty guys in the past, they naturally had anger in their hearts. Now that they finally found a chance to make a move, how could they easily let it go? They grabbed those people with money and status and beat them freely, completely ignoring the sound of hitting the iron cage.

Seeing that the situation could not be controlled, the soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army dared not rashly enter the iron cage at this time. However, the commander had received training. He quickly asked the comrades to splash water into the cage with buckets. Suddenly splashed with cold water all over their heads and bodies, many people had to wipe the water off their faces and eyelids. At this time, the soldiers quickly shouted, "If you fight again, we will splash boiling water inside!" Finally, order was deterred.

Making everyone inside the cage squat against the iron cage, the guard soldiers pointed their guns at these people before opening the cage to go in and clean up the situation. The injured were carried out, and the people who started the fight were also pulled out and tied up. The Magistrate who was beaten first had passed out. Seeing his pale face and difficult breathing, he looked like he was in critical condition. This frightened the soldiers responsible for guarding. Calling for doctors, transferring the wounded and the perpetrators. It took quite a toss to initially stabilize the situation.

By evening, when the whole regiment held a meeting, the ships where group brawls occurred were not just one or two. The reason for the occurrence was without exception conflict between the old upper class and the lower class. And in ten cases, nine times the upper class was beaten badly by the lower class. The few exceptions were ships transporting the Beiyang Army, where officers and their diehards had a larger proportion on the ship, so they gained the upper hand.

Before the transport, everyone hadn't thought so specifically. They really hadn't expected the contradictions accumulated by class oppression in the past to erupt in such a fierce way at this time.

"What should we do? If they continue to fight like this, people will really die." The regiment commander responsible for the escort was a bit panicked. This fleet transported more than 20,000 captives, and the total number of escorts was only 3,000. According to the current appearance, if hundreds of people died on the way, the commander would have no way to account to the military region.

"Shall we screen them again?" The commander couldn't help asking the political commissar.

The political commissar also had no other way. He could understand the reason for the outbreak of class contradictions, but he could only analyze the reasons. Seeing the lower class step the upper class under their feet with violence in actual action, the political commissar was also seeing it with his own eyes for the first time.

Regarding the commander's suggestion, the political commissar said hesitantly: "We don't have time to screen again. Now time is tight and tasks are heavy, we really can't delay this time."

The commander was also helpless. Although he could command the military operations of more than 5,000 people in the whole regiment, that was based on the iron discipline of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Facing a group of strangers who were captives, the commander was also powerless. He thought for a while and said: "Political Commissar, isn't the magic weapon of our Party and army mobilizing the masses and relying on the masses? You are the Political Commissar, hurry up and think of a way according to this line of thought!"

The political commissar listened to this with his mouth agape. Mobilizing the masses is the magic weapon of our Party and army, this is correct. But that is mobilizing the masses in the base areas. How to mobilize these captured masses is still a new topic. let alone studied it, he hadn't even heard it proposed. But right now, they couldn't let these people continue to fight. The political commissar had to take out paper and drew four circles according to principal contradictions and secondary contradictions, who are enemies and who are friends. Naturally, he couldn't let the commander escape to rest. The main cadres in the regiment began to try to analyze the situation on the ship.

Ships where brawls occurred were punished by not being given food. After dawn, screening was implemented on all transport ships. Among those who didn't participate in the brawl yesterday, those from poor backgrounds and lower-class ordinary people were taken out of the ships. They were taken to the command ship for a talk.

The regiment commander responsible for the transport fleet guaranteed these people that if they were willing to help maintain order, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army transport ships would arrive at the destination in two days, and then these people would be released, and even given travel expenses and wages for maintaining order for these two days. The wages were not low, one silver dollar per person per day. But if these people couldn't effectively assist in maintaining order and put an end to brawling incidents, wages would be deducted.

For the wage of one silver dollar a day, these people of various commoner backgrounds naturally liked it. But they all asked the same question coincidently: they were insignificant small characters and simply couldn't suppress the situation.

"You don't need to be afraid of not being able to suppress the situation. As long as you see a conflict about to arise, point out the people who are about to cause trouble and shout their names loudly. We will naturally deal with those people." The commander also spoke practically.

In the end, most of the selected people signed up, and those who first proposed that they might not be able to do this job were hired with priority. A person knowing what they can't do is the symbol of reliability.

With the assistance of these masses, more than a hundred fights were stopped with great difficulty in the next day or so. Including more than two hundred injured and eighteen seriously injured including the Nangong County Magistrate, all captives on the ships were delivered alive to the concentration camp in the south. Of course, those assistants also received travel expenses and salaries, without deduction or difficulty. These people were told that they had been released and could go home.

The commander didn't want to do this job anymore. The comrades couldn't rest well all the way. Even fighting wasn't this tired. Unfortunately, he received an order. Given that the Beiyang Army's movement speed was not fast, the fleet responsible for escorting would temporarily continue the escort work.

After listening to the order, the commander thought to himself, *It would really be better to just fight quickly.*