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"Absolutely cannot trust the Yankees!" After the negotiation with the US representative ended, Chen Ke first reported the negotiation process and results to the Politburo comrades, and then gave such a definition.

Originally, quite a few comrades had a certain appreciation for the conditions proposed by the United States. If the United States could force Britain to accept the "fait accompli" that would happen later, then the United States would be helpful to the Chinese revolution. Hearing Chen Ke's judgment full of distrust towards the United States, many comrades felt that Chen Ke was really a bit fickle.

Chen Ke didn't care at all about these strange looks. "Don't trust the Yankees because the Yankees have already started to guard against us. That's right, the Yankees want to borrow our strength now. Similarly, the Yankees are the first among all European and American countries to estimate our strength from a frontal perspective. When the United States expands its influence, they will definitely have a relatively correct judgment of us. So we resolutely cannot trust the Yankees!"

These words were Chen Ke's summary of World War I, World War II, and the countless storms and countless painful lessons from various countries after the founding of the Republic. He couldn't take those things out as examples now. So Chen Ke had no way whether the comrades understood or not. He continued: "The campaign to attack Tianjin starts now. Only after clearing the railway can we complete the Northeast campaign more smoothly. There is nothing to consider too much now. I ask one sentence now: are comrades prepared to be besieged by Britain and France after the European war ends?"

"Why only Britain and France?" Zhang Yu joked.

"Because the Central Powers have been beaten so hard that they are fundamentally powerless to use troops against us. As long as we successfully retake Korea, Japan will be crippled. As for the United States, they don't have so many interests that they must take the lead. Of course, if we fail, the United States will definitely participate in British and French military operations," Chen Ke replied calmly.

"If it's only Britain and France, we can rest assured." Zhang Yu was very confident about this.

Not only Zhang Yu, but other comrades also really didn't feel afraid. Many People's Party comrades had been to Europe and America. That long distance fit the "tyranny of distance" quite well. After the recent wars, the comrades had considerable confidence in a domestic war on the scale of over a million troops.

"Then send the order to Pu Guanshui now: Attack Tianjin!"

Pu Guanshui finally received the order on December 1. Since the Central Committee issued the order, it definitely meant the Central Committee had made all preparations. Moreover, Pu Guanshui had another feeling. He wanted to send a telegram to the Central Committee saying that Tianjin had basically been captured. But after thinking about it, he felt that doing so would be really boring. Since the Central Military Commission had already issued the order, before finally controlling Tianjin, Pu Guanshui hadn't completed the task.

Finally, Pu Guanshui sent a telegram to the Military Commission, "If the Tianjin defenders retreat south by ship, should we block them?"

The Military Commission responded, "Let them go!"

Pu Guanshui sent another somewhat trembling telegram, "Can our side encourage them to go?"

The Military Commission immediately responded, "That is excellent!"

Now Pu Guanshui was finally completely relieved. Strategically speaking, letting all Tianjin defenders retreat south by ship was actually a good thing for the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. With the cowardly appearance of the Beiyang Army, if they couldn't exert combat effectiveness locally, running all the way to Fujian and other places would be even less likely to pose any threat. Not to mention how much logistical pressure retreating to the south would create for Feng Guozhang's Beiyang Army in the south.

The only thing Pu Guanshui felt regrettable about was that at least half of the 100,000 Beiyang troops in Tianjin couldn't go south. Now these 50,000 people were engaging in labor in the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army's POW camps. The military uniforms provided to the Northeast had the contribution of these people. Spinning and weaving might not be what the Beiyang Army could do, but wearing masks to fluff cotton was something they could still do. Especially when the fruits of labor were linked to meals.

The Intelligence Division Head quickly summarized the latest situation of the Tianjin defenders. "Starting from October, more than 20,000 of the 100,000 Tianjin defenders deserted. 20,000 simply defected to us. And another part, more than 10,000 people, ran to us asking us to let them go home. The total number is nearly 60,000. We have already contacted the remaining 40,000. More than half are willing to go home. Of the remaining 10,000-plus people, more than half want to go to Shanxi. Only a small portion of officers want to go to Feng Guozhang."

"Send someone to tell them, either surrender and hand over weapons or go to Feng Guozhang. There is no third road to choose." Pu Guanshui replied. After thinking, Pu Guanshui said: "Let Comrade Li Runshi be responsible for this matter."

Li Runshi was currently responsible for the dredging work of Longxugou in the south of Beijing City. As the northern end of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, Beijing in 1915 couldn't be said to lack water. Whether it was the later diverting Luan River to Tianjin, or the even later South-to-North Water Diversion, firstly it was to solve the water shortage caused by urbanization, and secondly, there was also the reason of improving water quality.

Regarding how to use Beiyang Army POWs, this had always been a headache for the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army. Fortunately, the war in Hebei was basically over now. After holding the passages of the Taihang Mountains—the Eight Passes of Taihang—Duan Qirui, who fled to Shanxi, also didn't have the ability to counterattack in the short term. So Li Runshi suggested "freedom in exchange for labor." For Beiyang Army officers and soldiers, besides ordinary screening, labor screening should also be implemented. Li Runshi's view was: "If we release them without education, this bunch of people will very likely become a scourge locally. Will we have to exterminate them again then? The social division and social class proposed by Marx are based on people participating in social labor being members of society. A solitary primitive man, let alone having no private property, even if stark naked, can't be called a proletarian. Because he is simply not a member of society."

Pu Guanshui was deeply impressed by this evaluation because when he considered class division himself, he first skipped the question of the other party's degree of participation in social production.

Facts proved that Li Runshi was quite capable in POW camp management. In a POW camp of fifty to sixty thousand people, within just over a month, by organizing POWs to participate in social labor, he won nearly half of the POWs over to the stance of accepting the People's Party's rule. The information provided by this near half of the POWs was too rich. Not only were those officers who originally hid their identities caught, but those guys who didn't hide their officer identities but hid their past professions as bandits and robbers were also dragged out.

When the Hebei local government was established, it needed to establish prestige. Establishing prestige was not just simple intimidation of the people, but proving to the people that the People's Party had the ability to manage real local affairs. Helping the people recover blood debts was undoubtedly an important link. Bringing those bandits who once committed crimes to justice in the places where they did evil was the best way.

What surprised Pu Guanshui greatly was that Li Runshi not only caught the bandits but also raised the question of why bandits became bandits. Bandits definitely did a lot of bad things, but were these bad things done because the original purpose was to satisfy their desires for eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling, or because they were desperate and tried to resist oppression, and in the process of resistance, involuntarily did some things they had to do? Li Runshi believed it was necessary to screen this.

After listening to Li Runshi's suggestion, Pu Guanshui thought in his heart, "That bastard Zhang Yu really has an eye for talent. Why didn't I meet such a talent before? But even if I met him, I'm afraid I wouldn't have understood him."

So within just over a month, Li Runshi was promoted like a rocket, sitting in the position of Beijing Propaganda Department Head and member of the Municipal Standing Committee.

After receiving the order at the construction site, Li Runshi changed his clothes without saying a word, took a bath, and set off. He first took a train to the vicinity of Tianjin, escorted by troops to the Tianjin Garrison Command. Before Li Runshi rushed to Tianjin, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had already contacted the local defenders in Tianjin. The local defenders sent a guard unit to "escort" the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army messenger to Tianjin.

At this time, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army had already blockaded Tianjin for more than three months. Tianjin was originally a consumption city, and local grain was not enough to support its own needs. Although the army hoarded grain, according to the intelligence of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, this grain was simply not enough to support until next summer's harvest. Not to mention Yuan Shikai's death, the Beijing government's collapse, and Duan Qirui's flight west. With the Tianjin defenders losing the replenishment of grain and pay, the fact that they could persist until now without complete annihilation greatly interested Li Runshi.

The Beiyang Army troops who came to welcome them, from officers to soldiers, were all wearing military uniforms. Soldiers carried rifles. Officers wore short guns. But judging from their spirit and energy, these people were no longer soldiers, but some ordinary people wearing military uniforms. The concentration, resolution, and alertness of soldiers could not be seen at all in the Beiyang Army. They were more like treating being a soldier as a livelihood where one could get money without working. It felt quite like those people playing walk-on roles on stage.

Li Runshi didn't have any hobbies, just loved smoking cigarettes. When he almost subconsciously took out a cigarette, the eyes of these Beiyang Army officers and soldiers all fell on the cigarette and lighter in Li Runshi's hand. The lighter naturally couldn't be given to the Beiyang Army. Even a cadre of Li Runshi's level couldn't have the money to give away a dozen lighters at once.

Looking at the comrades traveling with him, Li Runshi realized why there was a carton of cigarettes in the supplies applied for before departure. A person like Li Runshi naturally wouldn't groundlessly accuse others of embezzling and using power for personal gain before investigation and confirmation. Watching those Beiyang Army officers and soldiers looking eagerly at the cigarettes, some people's Adam's apples moving up and down constantly, he hurriedly offered a cigarette to everyone, and finally handed the remaining small half pack of cigarettes to the leading officer. Now, after lighting up the cigarettes, all Beiyang Army officers and soldiers immediately had spirit, and their attitude became exceptionally enthusiastic.

The group continued to walk inside. Li Runshi had seen the battle lines, trenches, sandbags, and barbed wire of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army troops besieging Tianjin. But this was the first time Li Runshi saw the inside of the besieged Tianjin city. The Beiyang Army opposite had also built defensive positions. Compared with the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, it was the difference between brick-and-tile houses and adobe houses. Not only the difference in material and mode, but the different builders' understanding of war and even their attitude towards work could be clearly distinguished. The Beiyang Army's defense system was not only unreasonable but also became tattered after just over three months due to lack of maintenance. What was more magical was that many places that should have been sealed dead were simply left with gaps because some soldiers felt it was inconvenient to walk.

The group was just about to enter the urban area when they heard a thunderous muffled sound from the distance. Soon violent vibrations came from the ground, and a moment later, a violent explosion sound was heard. Army people were all too familiar with this sound; this was the sound of shelling. And this shelling was obviously from large-caliber artillery. The Beiyang Army soldiers who came to welcome Li Runshi were originally listless, and now they didn't immediately become full of hostility either. The leading officer looked at Li Runshi with panic in his eyes. "Sir, is your People's Party attacking? You should have said so earlier!"

Li Runshi hurriedly replied: "If we were really going to send troops, we would definitely have told everyone. This wasn't done by us. Listening to the sound, why does it seem to come from the seaside?"

After Li Runshi's persuasion and comfort, the Beiyang soldiers responsible for the welcome finally calmed down. The officer couldn't help but say: "Could it be that the foreigners are preparing to attack us?"

"What's going on?" Li Runshi asked hurriedly.

The officer first threw away the cigarette butt, then tremblingly lit another one for himself, took a puff, and then said: "I also heard that recently the foreigners have been asking us to sell our lives for them. Our boss refused all along. Listening to other brothers, the boss said, relying on foreigners is unreliable. The bosses of the People's Party said, treat captives well, but absolutely never spare traitors."

Li Runshi certainly knew about this matter. Pu Guanshui had explicitly sent messages to the Tianjin defenders and also dropped leaflets on Tianjin. He explicitly told the Tianjin defenders that if it was a civil war, everyone served their own master. This couldn't be said to be right or wrong. So captives were treated well. If the Tianjin defenders defected to foreigners and became Hanjian (traitors to China), then there was only a dead end.

Pu Guanshui was not a nameless person in the Beiyang Army back then. If he hadn't left the Beiyang Army, he would be more than qualified to be a corps commander now. After joining the People's Party, Pu Guanshui, as a Beiyang traitor general, was a bad example frequently mentioned and scolded and ridiculed in ordinary times. His popularity was instead much higher than when he was in Beiyang. With such a notorious big shot speaking out that he would absolutely not spare "traitors," the Beiyang Army really believed that Pu Guanshui would definitely go on a killing spree against traitors.

"Comrade Runshi, how about we retreat first. It's too dangerous here." The accompanying comrade said.

Li Runshi thought for a while and said resolutely: "Don't retreat. Since foreigners are attacking, I believe the Beiyang Army also needs our help. We are all Chinese; we can't leave them behind."

Pu Guanshui got the news that foreign troops attempted to attack Tianjin two hours later. The first country that popped into Pu Guanshui's mind was Japan. From a purely military perspective, Japan's choice was also correct. As long as they could occupy Tianjin, even if just controlling Tianjin, the Japanese army could threaten the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, making the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army unable to reinforce the Northeast in a general way.

As for politics, with Japan's attitude being so tough, other countries might instead join this muddy water. Anyway, regarding dealing with the People's Party, these countries had a consensus.

The Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army naturally couldn't stand here watching the Japanese army occupy Tianjin. Pu Guanshui immediately ordered the troops to march towards Tianjin. They had to seize control of Tianjin no matter what.

Two hours after this order was sent out, just a moment before the troops besieging Tianjin were preparing to attack, news suddenly came back. Under Comrade Li Runshi's persuasion, the Beiyang defenders in Tianjin agreed to give up Tianjin "conditionally." This news really exceeded Pu Guanshui's expectations.