The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army launched a massive attack, eliminating isolated small units of the Beiyang Army everywhere and clearing out Beiyang's grassroots organizations. When the news reached the Beiyang side, it naturally became "The People's Party is unleashing soldiers to plunder Hebei." Since the People's Party had once disguised themselves as bandits to carry out such an action against the Manchu Qing, Yuan Shikai was not too surprised. However, he immediately summoned the Beiyang generals and demanded an advance in troop deployment.

"President, preparations are not yet fully complete. Deploying troops immediately is a bit hasty." The Beiyang generals were somewhat puzzled by Yuan Shikai's urgent idea.

Yuan Shikai threw a cold sentence at this group of guys who couldn't see the situation clearly, "If we don't deploy troops, what will we eat?"

"President, isn't there no problem with the military provisions for each army?" Cao Kun foolishly spoke the truth.

Such a politically clueless answer made Yuan Shikai too lazy to even reply. Wang Shizhen answered, "Scouts in the army have gone to various places to investigate. The People's Party is not only looting everywhere, but they have also taken away all the local officials and tax collectors. Without tax collectors, I'm afraid the agricultural tax cannot be collected."

This was what truly gave Yuan Shikai a headache. It was the crucial time for tax collection. If the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army were really just looting, it would be fine. But the news brought back by the scouts showed that the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's looting actions were few, but they had effectively captured all the Beiyang tax collectors and local Baozhangs. Even if the People's Party sent out ten thousand men to loot, they couldn't carry away much grain on their backs and horses. Without these tax collectors and Baozhangs, Beiyang's tax collection simply could not proceed. This could be said to be pulling the firewood from under the cauldron. It was exactly the time when grain was just harvested, and the common people's grain was still drying. Once it was stored away in a few days, Beiyang could forget about collecting any grain through taxes this year. So Yuan Shikai ordered the Beiyang armies to move out quickly this time, the purpose was also to force the People's Party back as soon as possible and stop them from continuing to wreak havoc in Hebei.

After hearing Wang Shizhen's words, the generals all fell silent. Obviously, the expressions on some of their faces showed disapproval. Yuan Shikai knew what these people didn't say out loud, "If tax collectors can't collect grain, the Beiyang Army can just requisition grain themselves." And this was exactly what Yuan Shikai was trying his best to avoid. He knew the atmosphere of the Beiyang Army too well. When military discipline was strict and provisions were sufficient, the Beiyang Army might be able to refrain from looting the common people. But if the Beiyang Army was sent down to collect grain like this, it was destined to trigger large-scale looting of the Hebei region. Hebei was Zhili, the nest of Beiyang. To start looting in his own nest, Yuan Shikai himself couldn't make such a resolve.

Duan Qirui was responsible for this marching plan. Since Yuan Shikai had said so, he took out the final decisive battle plan that was basically completed. For Beiyang and the People's Party to fight with millions of troops concentrated in such an area of Hebei and Shandong, clever little tricks were useless. So the plan was a very standard large-scale corps operation plan. The Beiyang forces were divided into two major groups to fight in Hebei and Shandong.

Considering that a considerable part of the People's Party's troops had not been committed to Hebei, in the initial plan, the troops in Hebei would launch an attack on the People's Party entrenched in the Handan and Xingtai line with the posture of an encirclement and annihilation battle.

The Shandong side would divide its forces into two routes. One route would firmly defend Jinan, and the other route would head straight for Qingdao. At the same time, the Beiyang Fleet would cooperate with this route of the Beiyang Army at sea to besiege Qingdao. Once Qingdao was conquered, this route of the Beiyang Army would go south along the railway built by the People's Party, heading straight for Lianyungang, to open up communication with the southern Beiyang Army as soon as possible.

The plan was quite desirable. The Beiyang Army had no experience in large-scale wars, and their war concepts were very traditional, with occupying strategic points as the core concept. This plan fit the Beiyang Army's war concepts quite well and was quickly passed.

On July 4, 1915, the reconnaissance aircraft unit of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army observed an anomaly on the horizon in the sky 40 kilometers north of Xingtai. There were not many things that could cause an anomaly on the horizon. The experienced reconnaissance pilots roughly determined that the main force of the Beiyang Army was coming this way. The fuel carried by the plane did not leave them much loiter time for observation, so the pilots immediately made a decisive choice to return.

Upon landing, the pilots immediately reported the situation and requested to take off again.

"Don't even think about it, the plane needs maintenance. If you don't care about your life, our unit still cares," the group commander rejected the pilot's request without a second thought.

"Then I'll switch to another plane for reconnaissance!" The pilot had seen marching columns of thousands or even tens of thousands, but the movement on the horizon was really unusual. Just seeing that sign gave one a feeling of wanting to see it clearly.

"Pilot sorties have discipline, this must be done according to regulations." The group commander was completely unaccommodating. Too many comrades in the Air Force had sacrificed themselves due to mechanical failures. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army simply could not afford such losses just for a closer look.

"Don't worry, I'll take a good look for you," the pilot next in the rotation laughed. "Besides, the enemy can't run that fast. Thirty or forty li, their main force will have to walk for a day no matter what. You'll be able to see them tomorrow regardless."

Joking aside, the pilot for the second round had already become serious before pulling the control stick. Every time they went up into the sky, it was a fight for their lives. This was a fact clearly stated by countless records, training, and accidents witnessed with their own eyes. After accurately piloting the plane into the air, it first circled the airfield once. Only after the ground observed that the plane was flying normally was the pilot allowed to conduct a cruise reconnaissance towards the north of Xingtai.

In the present time without radar and radio navigation, all flights relied on marking ground flight targets to judge the plane's position. Woods, roads, rivers, and landmark buildings easily observed from the air were all base points for the pilots' judgment. Most of the energy in the air was used to make these judgments. Plus observing the situation on the ground, no matter what jokes there were before takeoff, once in the sky, there were absolutely no jokes in the pilot's mind.

Flying north along the railway line for more than thirty kilometers didn't take too long. It was mid-morning, and the summer sun was shining brightly. The pilot's pupils contracted under his flight goggles, not because the sun was dazzling, but because he saw several long green dragons appearing on the distant horizon. Even from a high altitude of more than four hundred meters looking down, the pilot still couldn't see the end of these few long green dragons.

The small dots running back and forth at the very front were definitely the vanguard cavalry. These horse teams ran back and forth, and the rolling dust raised on the ground could even be seen clearly from the air. As for the movement of that large group of men and horses rolling forward, the pilot had no intention of continuing to observe. After taking a few aerial photos, the pilot immediately returned to report. When the 12th Army of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was stationed near Xingtai, they had already greatly destroyed the Beijing-Hankou Railway. The rails were naturally dismantled, and the roadbed was dug up for nearly a kilometer. The purpose was to prevent the Beiyang main force from arriving in Xingtai smoothly by train. But the facts before eyes showed one thing: the Beiyang Army had come anyway.

Chai Qingguo knew the news of the Beiyang Army going south. As a field army, the 18th Army had already relieved the 12th Engineer Army. The 12th Army had not been idle. They spent more than ten days building a solid defense system on the main communication lines between Xingtai and Handan. This defense system, with a depth of more than 10 kilometers from north to south and east to west, could even be called a defense line. The grain harvested from the vicinity was also stored inside the defense line, enough for the 100,000 men of the 18th Army to eat for two months. Water sources, grain, and ammunition were not lacking inside the defense line. With the Beiyang Army's current capabilities, it was impossible to bypass this defense position. If they wanted to save the troops in Handan, they had to break through this defense system.

Less than fifty kilometers away was the 15th Army in Linzhang County. This was a mobile unit, and the whole unit was ready to circle around with the Beiyang Army. Further south, on the border of Henan and Hebei, was the 12th Army. Their task was to block the possibility of the Beiyang Army going south with all its strength.

Confirming that all troops were in place, Chai Qingguo ordered: "Once the Beiyang Army enters the attack range, the Air Force will begin to carry out routine bombing on the Beiyang Army."

By the afternoon, the Air Force planes of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army took off carrying bombs. At this time, the Beiyang Army troops had moved forward another five kilometers or so. The entire long dragon still had no end in sight, but the whole force had completely entered the Air Force's cruising range. Identifying from high altitude that the flight direction was directly above the marching column of the Beiyang Army, the air force pilot pulled the bomb release handle. Because the plane's bomb bay opened, the airflow in the cockpit also began to show some changes. When the bombing method was initially designed, the airflow problem was not considered, so in addition to mechanical failures, a group commander sacrificed himself heroically. In the subsequent adjustment design, four more planes were lost. Finally, the bombs were almost externally mounted on the outside of the plane, relying on mechanical transmission for release. Even so, a lot of wind would still drill into the cabin through various cracks.

After pulling the handle, the plane underwent slight vibrations due to the center of gravity change from the instant reduction of 48 kilograms of weight. Just such a small vibration had cost the Air Force at least six planes and four lives. The sixth group commander of the Henan Military Region Air Force led three other pilots to specifically experiment with solutions to this problem. One of the three pilots took over the position of the seventh group commander of the Air Force.

Adjusting the flap angle according to the manual, the vibration quickly subsided. The pilot only then had the leisure to observe the result. The green long dragon composed of Beiyang Army soldiers on the ground began to twist. With the bomb explosion point as the center, the enemy fled in all directions, and the team that had condensed into a strand scattered like green gravel. This made the pilot shout excitedly. The newly arrived Beiyang Army was obviously no better at fighting than Wu Peifu's troops in Handan.

The situation of the enemy in Hebei going south in large numbers soon reached Shandong. Acting Military Region Commander Pu Guanshui breathed a sigh of relief. While the situation in the Handan area of Hebei province was in full swing, Shandong seemed calm. The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army Shandong Military Region had been holding its troops back. Inside the frontline command set up in Jining, Pu Guanshui once showed no respect for his former boss in his words, "Has Yuan Shikai turned into a turtle now?"

Pu Guanshui knew very well that such anger was meaningless. Cursing couldn't possibly kill Yuan Shikai. The strategy of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was not to fight for every city with the Beiyang Army in Hebei and Shandong. The strategic point at the junction of Hebei and Shandong was none other than Dezhou. After capturing Dezhou, one could directly attack Beijing. In terms of overall strategy, the Military Commission of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army hoped to mobilize the main forces of Beiyang in Hebei. When both sides were in a stalemate, the Shandong Military Region would send troops quickly, capture Jinan, and then seize Dezhou, thrusting straight into Beijing from Dezhou.

However, the Beiyang Army's reaction was hard to predict, so the main direction of attack was also very likely to be Hebei rather than Shandong. The two armies in Henan were waiting for Beiyang's movements. Now that the Beiyang main force had moved, the war was about to enter a more substantive stage.

"Prepare to start attacking Daming Prefecture!" Pu Guanshui said to the comrades of the military region.

"Commander, in the initial plan, the Military Commission ordered us to annihilate the enemy attacking the base area. Moreover, in the intelligence we have now obtained, the Beiyang Army wants to attack Qingdao first. Why don't we annihilate the enemy troops attacking Qingdao first?" This was a perfectly normal idea.

Pu Guanshui did not support this ordinary view. "After we knock out the enemy attacking Qingdao, what will the enemy do? Won't they still hole up in Jinan and not dare to move? At that time, we will ultimately still have to go fight them. Instead of this, we might as well take Jinan in one fell swoop while the enemy's main force is attacking Qingdao. If the Beiyang Army's reaction is not quick enough, we will directly attack Dezhou. Not only can we split the Beiyang Army in two, but we can also open the gateway to attack Beijing."

"The Beiyang Army's morale is high right now, why contend with them at this time?" There were always dissenting opinions.

"The Beiyang Army's morale is high right now, that's why they dare to send a large force to attack Qingdao. Once their morale is beaten down, these people will definitely shrink back in Jinan and not dare to move. Comrades feel that attacking Jinan now seems like hitting the Beiyang Army hard against hard, but have you considered that if we fight Jinan later, the number of enemies we face is likely to be greater than the current number of enemies? Acting now happens to be able to catch the enemy off guard in this gap after the enemy's troop deployment."

"If the enemy doesn't take Qingdao, they very likely will turn around and go south. At that time, we will be waiting at our ease, wouldn't it be easier?"

Pu Guanshui laughed: "If they can't even take Qingdao, do they dare to go south? Prepare to be attacked front and rear? Or will they set up a defense line opposite Qingdao to trap Qingdao? Even if the Beiyang Army can't fight, they should still know this bit of basic military common sense."

At this time of knowing oneself but not the enemy, Pu Guanshui was also unwilling to entangle too much. He asked loudly: "Comrades, our Shandong troops have mainly fought defensive battles until now. Or fought battles to lure the enemy in deep. Defending Qingdao and annihilating the Japanese Kyushu Division was everyone's fame-making battle. But is the specialty of our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army defensive warfare? From the day our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army was built, we have been attacking non-stop! That's why we could walk step by step from Fengtai County in Anhui to here. Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army is indeed large in number, but while they are attacking Qingdao, we can send troops two or three times the size of the Jinan garrison to launch an attack. Are everyone worried that our offensive ability is not enough to break a big city like Daming Prefecture? Or are you worried that our comrades can't hold Qingdao in front of the Beiyang Army's attack?"

Scanning the comrades around, Pu Guanshui said loudly: "Whichever unit's commander thinks this battle can't be fought, no problem, I can replace him. There are definitely comrades who can fight this battle! There are definitely comrades who can command the troops to victory!"

Such harsh words thrown out, no one dared to make a sound. The comrades of the Shandong Military Region did not disbelieve that they could defeat the Beiyang Army, but comrades had never experienced a siege battle of a scale of over a hundred thousand people, and they also had no bottom in their hearts.

"Regarding this matter, shall we still ask the Military Commission for instructions?" The comrades did not completely agree with Pu Guanshui's high-pressure policy.

Just then, the communicator shouted at the door: "Report, received a telegram from the Military Commission!"

"Read it!" Pu Guanshui ordered with a dark face. Although he didn't know what the Military Commission's order was, Pu Guanshui had decided that no matter what, he would try his best to persuade the Military Commission to agree to his campaign design.

The communicator read loudly: "The current situation has changed. When Beiyang attacks in large numbers, it is suggested that the Shandong Military Region use Qingdao to attract enemy forces and take the opportunity to seize Jinan. After seizing Jinan, create opportunities for a direct attack on Dezhou. If the Beiyang Army can be divided into two parts, our army can easily annihilate a part of the enemy, which is very beneficial to the overall war situation. The Shandong Military Region should reply to this as soon as possible."

Pu Guanshui's face instantly relaxed, and other comrades nodded slowly. Since the Military Commission's attitude was already determined, there was no point in continuing to argue about whether to attack Jinan.

The Beiyang troops attacking Qingdao were mainly the First Army stationed in Jinan and the Second Army transferred from Dezhou. The total number of these two armies was as high as two hundred thousand, and the commander-in-chief was Daming Prefecture Commander Jin Yunpeng. This person was the head of Duan Qirui's "Four Guardian Warriors" and was deeply trusted by Duan Qirui.

In these days of dividing Shandong equally with the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, Jin Yunpeng was very nervous at first, but slowly got used to it.

The People's Party seized Qingdao, that was seized from the Germans. In other aspects, except for the People's Party seizing the Yimeng Mountain area, there were no special conflicts. As for the Yimeng Mountain area, to Jin Yunpeng, it wasn't anything remarkable. That place was poor to death, having neither money nor tax revenue, and was even a place where bandits ran rampant. The local mountain people were "sinister by nature and intractable". To maintain such a ghostly place would require a large amount of money and grain. If something went wrong, one would also have to bear the responsibility.

However, over the past year, Jin Yunpeng felt that giving up these areas so easily was a bit of a pity. According to what he knew, the People's Party raised silkworms with oak leaves in the Yimeng Mountain area. Foreigners now had a huge demand for silk, almost refusing no one. Although tussah silk was not quite suitable for making clothing compared to mulberry silk, Jin Yunpeng at least knew that foreigners bought this stuff to make gunpowder bags for heavy artillery. Tussah silk was stronger, and foreigners actually liked it. Just relying on this, the poor people in the Yimeng Mountain area earned quite a lot.

Receiving the order to attack Qingdao, Jin Yunpeng was quite excited. If he could seize Qingdao, or even seize Shandong, these countless sources of wealth would fall into his hands. Even knowing that the People's Party was not easy to provoke, and even harder to fight, he still decided to give it a good try.