"Mr. Fan, let's not go. My legs were so weak that I couldn't walk. The tax officer said with a trembling voice. When Fang Cai directly saw the scene of Shura in front of Anji County, although he was shocked enough, there were so many people outside the county. Looking at the gloomy forest below, you can see the strange red river water when you turn your head, and there are scenes that you can imagine if you haven't seen it with your own eyes, and the tax policeman's legs are really weak and shaky.

Fan Ainong didn't speak either, just insisted on going up. This strong action seemed decisive, but Fan Ainong bit his lip tightly, and the rough breath that erupted from his nose betrayed his emotions. The tax policeman couldn't stop Fan Ainong, and the terrifying scene above also made him feel an urge to understand while being afraid, and finally the two tax policemen simply stopped talking, and followed Fan Ainong silently and continued to walk towards the mountain.

After walking seven or eight miles up the bank of the small red river, the terrain gradually flattened. In the distance, I saw a clearing in the woods on the edge of the people carrying guns, including the Beiyang Army, and some wearing other variegated clothing. When the gang saw Fan Ainong and the others, someone immediately ran over and detained them. Relying on the pass, nothing happened in the end. However, these people did not let Fan Ainong and them get closer, and an officer of the Beiyang Army with a northern accent shouted impatiently: "What's so good about the Killing Party? Hurry up and get out! ”

"Sir, our young master heard that the countryside was in chaos, so he wanted to go home to greet his family. Since it is a chaotic party, who is this chaotic party? Please advise. The tax policeman asked with a smile.

The officer looked majestic, but he was not stupid at all, seeing Fan Ainong wearing a beautiful fine spinning and silk robe, with a pocket watch chain faintly exposed on his chest, plus the official document of the governor of Zhejiang and the accompanying tax police, although the officer continued to hold Fan'er, he still patiently explained, "Can anyone in your family join the peasant association?" ”

"Nope!" The tax police hurriedly explained.

"Then someone in your family is an official in the chaotic party department in western Zhejiang?"

The head of the tax policeman shook like a rattle, "Absolutely not, my grandfather guards the land and farms, and when he comes out to be an official, he is also a young master who goes to Hangzhou to be an official." ”

"Then as long as you don't offend the other gentry, nothing will happen." The officer said coldly, "It's just that we are here to exterminate the rebel party this time." The gentry and landlords everywhere need help, and if there is anything to hide the rebellion, we will not spare it. ”

"We will definitely ask my grandfather to help with all his might." The tax cop nodded like a chicken.

Van Ainong did not participate in these discussions, and he finally saw the source of the red river. On the small rocky beach by the river, a pile of corpses was piled up, and most of these corpses were beheaded, and the rocky beach was already stained with blood, and I don't know how many people were killed. But he saw a few women dressed in variegated clothes and three ropes tied to the riverbank, and saw several men in silk clothes come out and point to them and say something. Then the man in the variegated clothes forcibly made the three women kneel, and the Beiyang Army in cyan military uniforms stepped forward and shot the three women in the back of the head at a very close distance.

In the distance, only sharp gunshots were heard, and all three of them saw a blood flower burst out of the back of the head of the woman who was shot, and her body shook like a lightning strike, and then fell limply on the rocky beach. As for what these people said, they couldn't hear it at all.

"Young master, let's hurry up. The grandfather is still waiting at home. The tax police saw that Fan Ainong's whole person was very wrong, for fear that he would say something and do something. Regardless of whether Fan Ainong himself wants to or not, they set up Fan Ainong and leave. Fan Ainong also cooperated, did not object, did not struggle, and let the tax police stand up and walk away quickly. But the tax police could feel that Fan Ainong's body was trembling. Not only Fan Ainong, but in fact, the bodies of the two tax policemen were also trembling.

They have all seen the battle, and they have also seen the corpses after the war, and although the death of those people is tragic, it is not incomprehensible. When you go to war, you kill me, I kill you, those who participate in the war know, and those who do not participate in the war also know. But this kind of massacre of ordinary people makes people feel completely different. Those people were no different from ordinary people such as Fan Ainong, but they were killed mercilessly. It is not so much the horror of death as the greater shock of this massacre of ordinary people.

Finally, I couldn't see the rocky beach anymore, and the crowd of people who were killing people like crazy. A few people couldn't walk anymore, the tax police let go of Fan Ainong, leaned against a tree and let out a long breath, because his legs could no longer support it, the tax police almost slipped along the tree and sat on the ground, he kept gasping, and said in a trembling voice: "This scares me to death, what are these people going to do?" ”

Fan Ainong also sat on the ground silent, as completely unsure as the tax policeman was of what was going on. The total number of people killed in Anji County and on the rocky beach in Fangcai alone exceeded the total number of dead people Fan Ainong had seen in his life. And that's exactly what happened in the last few days. Everyone knows that the Liberation Society wants to purge the party. The expulsion of the Zhejiang West Branch was disqualified from the Restoration Society, and Fan Ainong also knew about it. But what was supposed to be a conflict of political views turned into a massacre. Fan Ainong didn't understand it at all.

"Hurry up and go to Changxing and see what happened!" Struggling to stand up, Fan Ainong said to the tax police who were traveling with him.

The two tax policemen glanced at each other, "Mr. Fan, are you really going to Changxing?" ”

"Yes." Fan Ainong replied with great firmness.

"Mr. Fan, Mr. Zhao is kind to us, and we have to repay Mr. Zhao for sending you this time. But let's talk about it in front of us, this kindness is heavy, but it can't let us die. If Mr. Fan is sent to a safe place, our brother can still do it. If we were to go on an adventure with Mr. Fan, we wouldn't be able to accompany us. ”

After listening to the words of the tax police, Fan Ainong was not angry at all, people have to think about themselves. The two tax policemen have been able to persist until now, and it is already very righteous to accompany Fan Ainong to see so many murderous scenes. "As long as you get to Changxing, you can go back. I'm not going to let the two of you risk with us. ”

When the tax police heard this, they just sighed and said no more. The three of them cleaned up a little and rushed towards the direction of Changxing County. The tax police had been to Changxing, and the three of them were ready to rest when they were still fifty or sixty miles away from the county seat. Walk for another day to reach Changxing. Not long after he sat down on the side of the road, he heard a dull sound in the distance. It seems to be spring thunder, but it doesn't look like it at all. It didn't take long to see all the smoke and dust slowly rising from the sky.

"It's someone firing a cannon!" The tax police said nervously.

Fan Ainong looked at the smoke and dust for a while, turned around and said, "Then it's bothering the two of you, just send it here." ”

Maybe it was because Fan Ainong's cheerful attitude moved the tax police, and the tax police were quite a figure, "Mr. Fan, if you walk along the road like this, you will definitely bump into the Beiyang brigade." From here, to the north, there is a small road, which is not easy to walk. But it's more secluded, let's send you to a place thirty miles away from Changxing. The rest depends on your own creation, Mr. Fan. ”

"Okay, thank you!" Fan Ainong replied.

The trail was indeed "secluded", it was a mountain path for one or two people to walk side by side, and there were no people in sight. After walking more than ten miles forward, the three of them sat down to rest. Out of nowhere, more than a dozen people in dark blue military uniforms suddenly appeared, holding up their rifles and shouting, "Hands up!" ”

The three of them had seen this kind of military uniform, but it was the military uniform of the western branch of Zhejiang. Fan Ainong hurriedly shouted: "I am Fan Ainong, a student of Mr. Xu Xilin, and I sent a letter from Hangzhou. ”

It's good that I didn't hear this, but after hearing this, the soldiers of the West Zhejiang Branch couldn't help but scold: "What kind of letter to send!" You're here to scold us. ”

Next, a few people rushed up and tied up Fan Ainong and others without saying anything, and in this matter, there was a team of people who followed behind, led by Ji Ye. Ji Ye has seen Fan Ainong, and he also knows the relationship between Fan Ainong and Xu Xilin, and he is a little polite to Fan Ainong. Searching for the letter brought by Fan Ainong, Ji Ye read it with a stern expression, his face became more and more ugly, "Zhao Hanqing still has the face to write to us?" He scolded us once, and he will blame us a second time? ”

Originally, Fan Ainong thought that as long as the letter was delivered, it could be solved, but he didn't expect the reaction of the West Zhejiang Branch to be so fierce. "Miss Ji, what do you mean by that?"

Ji Ye rushed up and grabbed Fan Ainong's neck, "Zhao Hanqing first asked us not to stimulate the general association and the Beiyang Army, and do anything loose on the outside and tight on the inside." As a result, the Beiyang Army rushed into western Zhejiang and began to kill people, isn't this scolding us? What else is he saying in his letter, telling us to guard against evil. Are these people still bad? It's all in! What do you mean by sending this letter? ”

Fan Ainong can fully understand Ji Ye's attitude, no one expected that Zhexi would be killed to such an extent, and he no longer explained, "I want to see Mr. Xu!" ”

"What do you see? Mr. Xu is leading his brothers to fight against the Beiyang Army, so I don't have time to see you! Ji Ye sneered.

The Beiyang Army, which attacked the county seat of Changxing, met with stubborn resistance from the internal team of the Changxing County Party Committee of the Western Zhejiang Branch of the Guangfu Society. At first, the Beiyang Army asked to enter the city, but was stopped outside the city by the Zhejiang West Branch, and both sides confronted each other with rifles with bayonets. The order received by the Beiyang Army was to eliminate resistance immediately, and the order was given to the order, so that the Beiyang Army knew that a single shot would cause casualties, and these people did not have the courage to face death. As a last resort, the Beiyang Army retreated first, mobilized artillery and began to launch a formal offensive.

Such a transfer gave the Zhejiang West Branch of Changxing County time to prepare, and the planned raid turned into an extremely formal battle. Since artillery shells cost money, the officers of the Beiyang Army naturally refused to spend too much money. A few symbolic shots were fired at Anji, and the shells did not hit the head of the city, but exploded in the city of Anji. As soon as the shelling of this demonstration ended, the soldiers of the Beiyang Army in blue uniforms began to shoot with rifles under the command of the officer, while attacking the city wall relying on the county seat of Changxing. This is the infantry method of Beiyang, and it is also a popular method of war in Europe, and it was also an extremely common method of war even in the early days of World War I. The competition is the density of firepower, the ability of both sides to withstand casualties, and the competition is who collapses later in this war.

Anji's defenders naturally fell far behind in terms of numbers, and the county party committee and the security forces, plus the militia team composed of workers from various factories, were no more than 700 people. The number of real military men is not even two hundred. The Beiyang Army outside the city mobilized a brigade of troops, with a total of 8,000 troops, and the first wave of the Beiyang Army attacking south of the city mobilized more than 500 people.

The retreat of the Beiyang Army before the war gave Changxing County some time to prepare. It's not just about the tactical set-up, it's also about the psychological preparation.

The peace talks with Beiyang had been denied, and a considerable number of cadres of the western Zhejiang branch had fought against the Beiyang Army. A few years ago, when Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin insisted on establishing a branch in western Zhejiang, some of the wounded who recovered after the Battle of Nanjing did not choose to follow Xu Xilin, but some of the soldiers who were captured and released in the Battle of Hangzhou followed Qiu Jin to western Zhejiang. They knew the brutality of the Beiyang Army in treating prisoners, and they would never live under the snort of the Beiyang Army.

The magistrate of Changxing County personally led the team to direct the battle, and everyone hid on the city wall and began to try shooting. One bullet was fired at the head of the city, and three or five bullets flew from the opposite side, sending stone chips flying all over the wall. Seven or eight soldiers leaned out one after another were hit, and the soldiers who were cowering behind the city wall did not dare to move.