Pu Guanshui and Chai Qingguo were discussing the recent land reforms and industrial construction in Hebei when an intelligence officer handed them a telegram. The contents startled them: "Effective immediately, cease all food supplies to the Japanese barracks along the Beijing to Shanhaiguan line. If the Japanese make inquiries, tell them the price of grain is five silver yuan per jin, with a shipping fee of ten kilograms of gold."

According to the provisions of the Boxer Protocol, the Great Powers not only extorted 450 million taels of silver from the Qing government but also imposed many harsh conditions. One of these was that foreign troops could be stationed at twelve strategic points along the railway from Beijing to Shanhaiguan. At the time, they were called the "Qing China Garrison Army," but in 1912, the name was changed to the "China Garrison Army." Because these troops were stationed in North China, they were commonly known as the "North China Garrison Army," and since their headquarters were in Tianjin, they were also referred to as the "Tianjin Garrison Army."

Tianjin was still in the hands of the Beiyang remnants, but the People's Party had already surrounded all the foreign garrison sites outside of Tianjin. They hadn't just drawn white lines outside the barracks; they had also cordoned them off with ropes, with sentries patrolling day and night with wolfhounds. This directive from the Central Committee was clearly intended to drive the Japanese troops in China into a dead end.

"Are we going to beat the dogs now?!" Chai Qingguo said excitedly. He hated the Japanese to the core. During the suppression of the Jing Tingbin and Zhao Sandu uprisings by the Eight-Nation Alliance and Yuan Shikai, the Japanese had played a major role.

Pu Guanshui completely agreed with Chai Qingguo's sentiment. He had also fought the Japanese in Shandong and Qingdao. The Japanese naval guns had caused significant casualties to the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Pu Guanshui had no intention of letting that grudge go lightly. "To beat a dog, you have to consider its master. This time, we're beating the dog specifically for the master to see. We have to make sure we beat this Japanese dog thoroughly." After saying this, Pu Guanshui gave a cold laugh.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had already surrounded the various foreign garrison sites. The daily food supply provided was only 150 grams of flour per person. This supply had only lasted for two days. The Japanese garrison in China consisted of about 400 men, stationed along the railway line from Beijing to Shanhaiguan. After ten or so days of encirclement, the Japanese army's food reserves were already in a critical state. On August 25th, these Japanese troops were suddenly informed that their food supplies would be completely cut off starting that day. Telegram communication between the Japanese garrison and their legation had also been severed at this time, and the Japanese troops immediately panicked. They promptly sent representatives to the surrounding Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army units to ask what was going on.

The unit encircling these 400 Japanese soldiers was a battalion. The battalion commander was a man from Shandong who already had a deep-seated dislike for the Japanese. Upon hearing the Japanese representative's inquiry, he replied with a cold sneer, "Nothing special. We're just not giving you anything to eat. Is that so hard to understand?"

"If there's no food, what are we supposed to do?" the Japanese representative demanded.

The battalion commander felt the Japanese were being quite thick-skinned. He replied with a smile, "Don't worry. Medical science has proven that as long as you have water to drink, you won't die even if you starve for more than ten days." This was content covered in the army's physiology education classes.

Hearing the commander's nonchalant tone, the Japanese representative obviously did not share his optimism. "Is this a declaration of war against the Great Empire of Japan?"

Upon hearing this threat, the battalion commander's face immediately darkened. "If we fought our way to Japan, that would be a declaration of war. You Japanese came to China. On Chinese land, we Chinese call the shots. You'll do exactly what we tell you to do. What's with all this nonsense?"

The Japanese representative was instantly enraged. "Baka!" he couldn't help but shout.

The troops had all received some basic foreign language education; an army that doesn't understand the enemy's language has no future—this was one of the principles of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's education. Insults are always the easiest words to learn in any language. The battalion commander's eyes widened as he stood up. "What did you say to me?"

The political commissar quickly restrained the battalion commander. "No physical violence against diplomatic personnel. That's discipline."

The battalion commander hurriedly sat back down. This matter had been discussed in the Party committee meeting before receiving the Japanese representative. Knowing he couldn't actually strike the Japanese, the commander had resorted to such biting sarcasm. If he were allowed to fight, he would have already ordered his troops to wipe out these 400-odd "Japanese devils" long ago.

After chasing the troublesome Japanese representative out of the camp, the battalion commander ordered his troops to step up patrols from then on. Any Japanese provocation was to be met with gunfire first and questions later. To the commander's surprise, after that one outburst, the Japanese troops actually stayed quietly in their barracks, cowering inside. This made the commander even more nervous. In the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, if things got too quiet, it usually meant something big was about to happen.

By September 1st, the Japanese troops were still motionless in their barracks, which made the commander even more uneasy. He quickly sent a report to the newly formed Hebei Military Region in Beijing and requested instructions on what to do next.

Also on September 1st, a meeting was being held in the Legation Quarter. The ministers of the Entente powers gathered at the British Legation to discuss their next move. These ministers were feeling quite dejected. In the past, if a situation like this arose—or even before it reached this point—if any Chinese government dared to take action against foreigners, the British fleet would have arrived to demonstrate force. Now, the British Yangtze fleet was blocked at the gates of the People's Party in Wuhan, helpless against the People's Party's naval mines. They could neither attack nor leave. Before the legations were blocked, the British minister had already received news: the People's Party had been conducting naval mine attack exercises in multiple sections of the Yangtze River. If the British fleet left Wuhan, they would be unable to return. Thus, if only to maintain their presence, the British Yangtze fleet could not retreat.

Meanwhile, the German commerce raiders were currently causing havoc in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, which was a massive headache for the British. More importantly, the Beiyang Army, which Britain had spent huge sums of money to support, had vanished into thin air in such a short time. Britain's massive investments had gone down the drain. As the ministers who had supported this policy, their future in Britain was destined to be bleak.

Amidst this gloom, the Japanese minister managed to maintain some vitality. Seeing the British and French ministers so dispirited, the Japanese minister offered his suggestion: "Our Japanese fleet can shell Chinese coastal cities to deal a heavy blow to the People's Party!"

The British minister truly lacked the energy to mock such a foolish proposal. The People's Party's actions now seemed extremely cunning. They never exposed their strength in areas where the enemy held an advantage, such as the coastal regions. With the People's Party's strength, it wasn't impossible for them to seize Shanghai. However, up until now, they had consistently ignored Shanghai, the largest trade and tax-revenue city in China. The British fleet could attack Shanghai at any time, but once they entered the Yangtze, even the most powerful warships were at a loss against naval mines.

So far, the only way to strike at the People's Party was to dispatch land forces for an offensive. Thinking of this, the British minister's gaze toward the Japanese minister held an even greater sense of disdain. Japan had the most to say on this matter. The annihilation of the Kyushu Division had proven everything. The British minister now understood the combat effectiveness of the Beiyang Army against the People's Party. But this didn't give him a higher opinion of Japan. Even now, the British minister saw nothing in the Japanese army that inspired hope when facing the People's Party as an enemy.

The French minister remained silent. The European theater was primarily unfolding in France. News from France indicated that in the spring of 1915, the Anglo-French forces had taken advantage of the main German forces being concentrated on the Eastern Front to launch two offensives in Champagne and Artois. However, because they used old tactics and lacked strong fire support, they were successfully repelled by the Germans, suffering heavy casualties instead. In April of that year, the Germans counterattacked and used poison gas for the first time, causing even greater losses for both sides. As a result, on the Western Front in 1915, the Anglo-French forces suffered a million casualties, while the Germans lost 610,000, yet the war remained in a stalemate.

Such a horrific situation was something France had never imagined before the war. Now, with France under total mobilization, its own manpower was insufficient. How could it have the strength to suppress a Chinese revolution from ten thousand miles away?

The Russian minister also remained silent. Russia's strategy toward China was to avoid getting involved with Britain and France as much as possible, instead taking the opportunity of China's decline to seize what they could. Currently, the Eastern Front where Russia was located had gradually become the focus of the European war, and Russia was struggling to organize its army for a counteroffensive. Since the People's Party had demonstrated such strength, heavily damaging Japan and crushing the Beiyang forces on its own, the Russians hoped the People's Party would just stop at Hebei. If such a military force reached the Sino-Russian border, it would be an absolute disaster for Russia. The Russians were never ones to stick their necks out at a time like this.

As for countries like the Netherlands and Belgium, they were essentially irrelevant. Whether they spoke or not made no difference. Thus, they wisely kept their mouths shut.

The Japanese minister belonged to the Army faction. Now that the Navy faction was in power, the Army faction was having a hard time. If the various ministers in China could be convinced to make demands of Japan, the Army faction's influence would greatly increase. Furthermore, the Japanese minister had an even more beautiful scheme. If Japan could dispatch troops to China with the support of various nations, once the European war ended, the Entente powers would strongly support Japan. At that time, Japan could truly bite off a few pieces of China. For instance, the entirety of Manchuria and Mongolia, and perhaps even a large stake in Hebei and Shandong.

Seeing that the ministers of the Entente powers remained silent, the Japanese minister spoke up loudly, "Gentlemen, the People's Party is now violating international treaties and committing illegal acts against us. We should be able to intervene in Chinese affairs according to the treaties. Our current number of troops in China is not small, and we have Tianjin as a base. The People's Party has just captured Beijing and is not yet firmly established. We should be able to engage in effective combat."

"So, should we have the German garrison in China lead the charge and find a German to be the commander?" The French minister had long been annoyed by the Japanese minister's agitation. Hearing him incite the various foreign garrisons to join the fight, he couldn't help but mock him.

Whether they were from the Entente or the Central Powers, the People's Party treated all foreign garrisons the same, surrounding them all without distinction. Surprisingly, the German garrison had shown the least resistance. Even though Yuan Shikai's Beiyang government had promised to join the Entente after eliminating the People's Party, he hadn't pushed Germany to the brink. Since they had lost their territory in Qingdao, the German garrison was concentrated in Beijing. Even after the start of World War I, the legations and garrisons of the Entente and the Central Powers had not engaged in any direct confrontation. The core of the Eight-Nation Alliance was still intact.

The Japanese minister could naturally hear the mockery in the French minister's words, and his face immediately flushed red. However, he knew very well that if their master, Britain, had to choose favorites now, France would certainly rank above Japan. So, even after being insulted, the Japanese minister could only swallow his anger.

The meeting on September 1st produced no effective results. The Entente ministers all agreed that the People's Party's lawless behavior had to be stopped immediately. However, as for how to stop it and who would lead the effort, there was no discussion at all.

However, the report submitted by the battalion commander surrounding the Japanese garrison to the Hebei Military Region headquarters received a reply that same day: the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army would restore telegram communication between the Japanese garrison and the Japanese legation. Furthermore, the Japanese garrison had to be informed clearly and unmistakably.

Thus, on September 2nd, when the Entente ministers continued their meeting, the Japanese minister began to furiously denounce the People's Party and firmly stated that, in order to reach a consensus within the Entente, the Entente had an obligation to jointly declare war on the People's Party.

The British and French ministers were naturally aware that the price of grain in the Beijing city controlled by the People's Party was four or five times higher than in the Legation Quarter. They knew even better that the People's Party was doing this intentionally. Even so, the ministers were not moved by the Japanese minister's description of the Japanese garrison's starvation. The People's Party's tough stance was clearly "beating the dog for the master to see." If they truly wanted to eliminate the foreign garrisons, the People's Party wouldn't need to go to such trouble. With only 400 Japanese troops, the People's Party could wipe them out in a matter of minutes. Both the British and French ministers felt that the People's Party's actions had a deeper meaning, but the exact direction of that meaning required discussion. At this moment, the Japanese minister's histrionics were simply an eyesore.

Diplomatic meetings always had breaks. After enduring nearly an hour of the Japanese minister's raving, the Dutch minister proposed a recess. The British and French ministers naturally agreed. Then, the two of them entered a private room to discuss the matter.

The British minister tightly closed the door to the small meeting room before saying, "If the People's Party were willing to join the Entente..."

The French minister did not show much surprise. Even when the Yuan Shikai government had agreed to join the Entente, it had also demanded the full recovery of China's sovereignty. And Britain had not refused. The People's Party's current attitude toward the foreign garrisons was extremely tough, but toughness was just an outward appearance. In essence, the People's Party's actions could be described as "maintaining the status quo."

These matters had already been discussed many times within the French legation. France had discovered that if they stopped trying to dismember and partition China and instead interacted with China normally, the People's Party might even be easier to deal with than the Beiyang government. At least in terms of commercial exchange, the People's Party was a more reliable and wealthier partner than the Beiyang.

"You mean the People's Party is using Japan to force us to take a stand?" the French minister asked the British minister.