When Chen Ke informed the Hubei New Army that it was about to suppress the "Anqing Revolution", Qiu Jin's first feeling was actually a "sense of unreality". Qiu Jin was not mentally prepared for the war, she knew that the war had begun, and on the night of the Battle of Anqing, Qiu Jin took care of the frightened female students in the girls' school. The sound of gunfire, shouts, and screams outside the school, as well as the cries and screams of the female students inside the school, all left a deep impression on Qiu Jin. In addition, the smell of gunsmoke and blood remaining in the air the next day, as well as the scars left by the war on Anqing City, all made Qiu Jin, a revolutionary party, see the war.

But until now, Qiu Jin was still only a spectator and not a participant in the war, and when she heard Chen Ke tell her that the Hubei New Army had been dispatched and a new war was about to break out, Qiu Jin's breathing couldn't help but become short. She had also discussed it with the map and the other leaders of the Liberation Society. The Hubei New Army is in the upper reaches of Anqing and will inevitably go downstream. The first to bear the brunt was Anqing, which was guarded by King Yue, not Chizhou, which was occupied by the Guangfu Society. But that's just a consideration on paper. Chizhou is not far from Anqing, and if the Hubei New Army is defeated in attacking Anqing and turns to attack Chizhou, then the Restoration Society cannot count on the support of Yue Wanghui.

"Wen Qing, where did you get this news from?" Qiu Jin asked nervously.

Chen Ke thought for a moment before answering this question, "This is the information that our intelligence agency in Hubei has obtained. However, we don't know exactly when it will be. It is estimated that the Hubei New Army will also be dispatched within a month at the latest. ”

It's not that Chen Ke deliberately sells Guanzi, but he really doesn't know. Chen Ke believes that the purpose of the intelligence system is to collect basic information in various places, such as the price of food, the level of supply, the list of local governments, the location, quantity, and equipment of the garrison. In the age of industrialization, the intelligence system was more about the enemy's infrastructure and a detailed understanding of the people's situation. As for the so-called "classified information", the proportion is not so large. As the intensity and intensity of the war continued to rise, and the composition of the whole society became more intimate. The new intelligence system is an inevitable trend. Moreover, Chen Ke now does not have the time and connections to "penetrate the enemy's interior", he can only form a simple intelligence system.

Of course, Chen Ke couldn't even tell Qiu Jinming that the purpose of this intelligence system was not even for war, but for the economy. The base economy is an industrialized mode of organization, that is, the products produced in the base area are for "trading." "Wuhan and Wuhu along the Yangtze River are treaty ports, and Chen Ke's purpose in establishing an intelligence system is to effectively sell goods in these areas and make a profit.

Qiu Jin obviously didn't realize the many information hidden in Chen Ke's answer, and was completely immersed in her imagination space at this time.

"Within a month?" Qiu Jin first subconsciously beat her legs with her fists, then stood up again and walked around Chen Ke's office. When she looked up, she saw China in Chen Ke's office, and she hurriedly rushed over to study the map.

Qiu Jin's watch made Chen Ke very disappointed, can this kind of performance be called "temporary cramming"? If that's the case, what Qiu Jin has to do next will make Chen Ke very difficult.

Sure enough, Qiu Jin studied the map, her expression became more and more excited, she turned her head violently, her eyes staring at Chen Ke, "Wen Qing, you have to help us!" ”

Hearing this, Chen Ke couldn't help but lower his head. He thought to himself, this is not borrowing money, Sister Qiu. You must want me to help you defend Chizhou, and then let me help you make the revolution a success. Why should I help you? If I have this ability, why should I let Chizhou out in the first place.

Thinking of this, Chen Ke felt that he had to really dispel Qiu Jin's unrealistic illusions. He raised his head and looked into Qiu Jin's expectant eyes. "Do you have any plans for Mr. Qiu?"

Qiu Jin didn't know what Chen Ke was thinking, she said loudly according to her most instinctive thoughts now: "Wen Qing, you have to send troops to help me." ”

Sure enough, Chen Ke sighed in his heart, and he asked, "Mr. Qiu, how many troops do you think will be able to win this battle?" ”

Qiu Jin didn't hear the firm refusal in Chen Ke's words, and after listening to Chen Ke's inquiry, she even thought that Chen Ke's words meant to agree to borrow troops. Qiu Jin's face showed excitement at that time, "I want five thousand people." No, seven thousand. As long as there are 7,000 people, we can not only repel the new army in Hubei, but we can even attack Wuhu. ”

Hearing this, Chen Ke only felt that he had said the wrong thing, and he shouldn't have let Qiu Jin have illusions at all. If you are a BJP cadre, you can immediately tell that this is a firm refusal when you hear your words. I am used to talking to my comrades, and I have always respected Qiu Jin, so I didn't make it clear when my heart softened. Since the first mistake has been made, the second mistake must not be made. Chen Ke hardened his heart and said calmly: "Mr. Qiu, I can't take out a single soldier now. Don't mention the matter of borrowing soldiers. ”

"What?" Qiu Jin never expected Chen Ke to answer like this. Her eyes immediately widened, and her eyes were full of shock.

After uttering the words of complete refusal, Chen Ke was relieved, and he continued: "Our base area itself is still extremely short of troops, and there are no troops to support you at all. Therefore, I want Mr. Qiu to leave for Chizhou now, and tell Mr. Tao Chengzhang and Mr. Xu Xilin that since you are so short of troops that you want to borrow troops from us hundreds of miles away, then simply don't fight head-on with the Hubei New Army, and immediately lead your troops to loot Chizhou City and then withdraw to Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If you withdraw too late, the little strength you have worked so hard to gather will be wasted. ”

Qiu Jin was annoyed by Chen Ke's words, she had seen the huge power of the People's Party in the base these days, tens of thousands of troops and millions of obedient people. This is the revolution that Qiu Jin dreams of. After the seizure of Chizhou, the Liberation Society also began to try its own revolutionary rule in Chizhou City. Tao Chengzhang, Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin were busy all day. The situation faced by the crowd is simply described as "the gentry do not buy it, and the people do not obey." ”

Although the Liberation Society also organizes lectures and invites leading figures to talk. Tell them that a new revolutionary government has been established. After the overthrow of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the people of Chizhou were able to live a better life. But the gentry and the common people responded to the efforts of the Liberation Society in the form of "fleeing". Despite the fact that the Liberation Society has set up a key card, people try to escape from Chizhou City every day. By the time Qiu Jin left for Fengtai County, the remaining population in Chizhou City was less than seventy percent of the original population. There are probably two types of people who stay in Chizhou City, one is those who have a big family and cannot escape, and the other is those who have nothing and do not need to escape.

During the discussion within the Liberation Council, there was a "consensus" that a larger army could not be organized without a population, that a larger army could not be organized for effective management and defense, and that without effective management and defense, it would be impossible to prevent the exodus of the population. It's a vicious circle. One of the reasons why Tao Chengzhang sent Qiu Jin to Fengtai County was to get the manpower support of the People's Party, or at least to guide the People's Party on how to organize its own base areas.

Chen Ke's current advice is in line with the Guangfu Society's perception of the current situation in Chizhou. There is only one thing that is different, all the efforts of the Liberation Society are to keep Chizhou. Chen Ke's suggestion was to abandon Chizhou completely. Regarding Chen Ke's suggestion, Qiu Jin almost scolded: "We will never give up Chizhou!" ”

"Mr. Qiu, do you want to defeat the Manchus? Do you really want to bring down the Manchus? Chen Ke asked.

"What are you talking about, of course our revolution is going to overthrow the Manchus." Qiu Jin's voice became sharper.

"Then let me ask you, do you think you were completely wiped out by the Manchus in Chizhou? Or leave Chizhou and make the Manchus feel like a fish in their throats? Since the Restoration Society once occupied Chizhou, this name alone can make the Manchus feel terrified, as long as you are alive, you have not been caught by the Manchus. And they could not sleep at night. Comparing these two, which is the real blow to the Manchus? And after such a long period of rectification, your team is not a little stronger than before, and with such a group of cores, there are more places that can be attacked. You can't fight big cities, can you fight small counties? The Manchus are beaten by you today, and tomorrow by you. When the GI moves, the consumption is extremely high. If nothing else, the military spending on the road alone could bankrupt the Manchus. ”

Qiu Jin really didn't expect Chen Ke to put forward such a strange point, and he couldn't think of a rebuttal for a while.

"Mr. Qiu, as long as the Manchu Qing Dynasty conquers Anqing and Chizhou, they will definitely attack our base areas. Have you decided to leave now to report the news? Or are you going to stay in our base area and fight the Manchus with us? You're going to give me a result today, so I can make sure if I send someone to send you back. ”

"Wen Qing, are you worried about the Manchu Qing Dynasty attacking Fengtai County?" After listening to Chen Ke's words, Qiu Jin thought of this.

"The Manchus won't let you go, can they let us go?" Chen Ke smiled, "We're going to have a meeting soon, I don't have to talk about it so much, Mr. Qiu, you think about it." ”

After sending Qiu Jin almost forcibly out, the comrades of the Military Commission next door, who had been waiting impatiently, saw Chen Ke walk into the conference room, and Chai Qingguo immediately asked: "Chairman Chen, how long do you think the Anqing gang can last?" ”

Chen Ke said with a smile: "If we keep Anqing, it is not how long it will last, but how long the Manchu Qing Dynasty can last." If it was Anqing's gang, I don't know. This has to be asked Comrade Pu Guanshui, who is familiar with the New Army. ”

Chai Qingguo didn't care about Anqing's affairs at all, and he then asked, "Then how do we deal with the siege of the Manchus?" ”

Chen Ke said with a smile: "Qingguo, you can recite the sixteen-character recipe for me." ”

"When the enemy advances, I retreat, when the enemy is stationed, I disturb, when the enemy retreats, I chase, and when the enemy is tired, I fight." This is the basic tutorial of the military school, and Chai Qingguo recited it fluently. Then he continued, "Chairman Chen, this is all common sense. Can you beat the Manchus with this? ”

Not only Chai Qingguo, but other comrades of the Military Commission also stared at Chen Ke. You don't have Chen Ke's knowledge based on history, and the ability to integrate theory with practice is still insufficient. Although he won a complete victory in Anqing, everyone felt that they could defeat the Manchu army. However, Chen Ke has stressed many times before that the strength of the Qing army in field battles may not be lower than that of the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army, and when he thought that tens of thousands of Qing troops were about to encircle and suppress the base areas on a large scale, none of the comrades of the Central Military Commission could maintain a calm mind.

Looking at the anxious looks of his comrades, Chen Ke felt that it was time to explain to everyone some of the issues that he had not made clear at that time.

"Comrades, this meeting will be a top-secret one. Since it's a top-secret meeting, I think everyone should know about the confidentiality charter. ”

Hearing Chen Ke say this, the comrades of the Central Military Commission all showed excited expressions on their faces. For so long, the Military Commission has only made such a request once, that is, in the campaign against Anqing. Since Chen Ke once again mentioned this issue of secrecy, it means that Chen Ke already has a comprehensive plan. For Chen Ke's strategic planning ability, everyone is very confident.

Seeing that everyone had already determined the secrecy of this military meeting, Chen Ke continued: "The primary purpose of launching the Anqing Campaign at that time was to gain our own strategic initiative. The Manchu government was an extremely evil and filthy one. They have a great characteristic, that is, they are keen to beat the contradictions between provinces. They wanted each province to see its neighboring provinces as enemies. The purpose of this was to disunite the people, so that they would not form a joint force against the Manchu government. ”

The comrades had all heard Chen Ke talk about this matter, and now that Chen Ke mentioned this matter again, many comrades already had a vague sense of what Chen Ke was going to say. At least Hua Xiongmao, Chai Qingguo, Yan Fu, and Zhang Yu have already shown a look of understanding.

"Now the Anhui New Army no longer exists. The Manchu garrisons around the base area had also been swept away. The Manchus could only have sent troops from other provinces. That is to say, before these troops from other provinces hit our base areas, the first thing to do is the local people in Anhui. As the saying goes, bandits are like combs, soldiers are like grates, and officials are like shavings. Coupled with the contradictions between the provinces deliberately made by the Manchus, how do you think the Manchu bandits from other provinces will harm the local people in Anhui along the way? ”

Everyone already had this vague feeling, but now when they hear Chen Ke say this, they all have a feeling of sudden realization. But Pu Guanshui couldn't help but object, "I have been in the Beiyang New Army, and the treatment in Beiyang is very good." Military discipline is also okay. If the Beiyang New Army comes, I don't think it will be such a scourge to the people. ”

Regarding Pu Guanshui's worries, Chen Ke smiled, "The Beiyang New Army may not be too harmful to the people of Anhui, the question is how much does the Beiyang New Army get for a single dispatch?" Were the Manchus rich? How much of the Beiyang New Army can he use to fight all the way from Hebei and Shandong to our base area? There are definitely not too many of them. We can deal with the small-scale Beiyang New Army. The new army in other places did not have the financial resources of Beiyang Zhili, and they would inevitably be captured in Anhui. Do you think what I said makes sense? ”

Hearing this, the comrades, including Pu Guanshui, nodded in agreement.

"Then let's go back to the sixteen-word formula. There is an unspoken point in the 16-character formula, which is the issue of intelligence. The Manchus' sources of intelligence were the officials who supported them, the gentry, and other forces they had bought. And the Manchus did a very poor job in this regard. When the Manchu bandits entered the base area and began to plague the people, they had already cut themselves off from the people. It was absolutely impossible for the people to stand on the side of the Manchus. Without the support of the people, the Manchu troops would be blind and deaf. And what about our BJP? Can we get the support of the people? Everyone should have a number in their hearts. So we can use the sixteen-character formula, and the Manchu troops will definitely not be able to do it. ”

Before the meeting, the comrades of the Military Commission had learned of the beginning of the Manchu military operation, and everyone was quite nervous. After listening to Chen Ke's analysis, most of the worries in the hearts of the comrades have dissipated. Yan Fu couldn't help but praise: "Listening to Wen Qing's words, sure enough, the people in the boat are all enemy countries. Hua Xiongmao and Pu Guanshui immediately nodded yes, and they agreed with Yan Fu's evaluation. These people have received a considerable degree of education and have all read the "Historical Records", and Yan Fu quoted a passage that Wu Qi said to Wei Wuhou.

Chai Qingguo has not received such a profound cultural education, originally because of some things in the past, Chai Qingguo's opinion of Chen Ke is not very good. Moreover, since the days of the insurance regiment, the treatment of the troops has also been quite difficult. But since the completion of the rush to harvest seeds, Chai Qingguo has obeyed Chen Ke a lot, especially after the Anqing Battle that Chen Ke worked hard to promote was victorious, Chai Qingguo's attitude towards Chen Ke has changed greatly, from the original attitude of just reluctant cooperation to firm support. He couldn't understand Yan Fu's words, but Chai Qingguo was still very excited, "Let's hurry up and mobilize our troops now to help the people in the base area complete the spring ploughing before the enemy attacks." ”

This is actually what Chen Ke wants to hear the most. Chai Qingguo proposed to let the army help the people complete spring plowing as soon as possible, in fact, it also implied that the troops should quickly enter the preparation period.

The people are the most pragmatic, no matter what you say, whether you really consider the interests of the people in actual actions, the people can see through it at a glance. This is also one of the reasons why Chen Ke and his comrades did not even dare to carry out too theoretical education after they arrived at the base area. Marxism is great, and the ideals of communism are also very lofty, Chen Ke has always thought so. However, if this is taken as politically infallible from the outset, this in itself is contrary to Marx's argument of relative truth.

The problem facing the base areas at present is, first of all, to develop the productive forces through the implementation of a new system, and although land reform and redistribution of land can solve the problem of "not suffering from a small number but suffering from inequality," what the people want is to be able to eat more. If we fail to improve the level of productivity and make people's lives better than before, the number of beneficiaries in the process of implementing land reform will still be very limited. The year of disaster has passed, and the pattern of forced labor extraction as it did last year is fundamentally unsustainable. In order to invest more labor, in addition to the promotion of new agricultural tools, the only way to do so was to rely on the revolutionary army to provide sufficient support.

Chen Ke has spent tremendous effort on army building, and the knowledge education that is enforced within the army is not to create an army with a "high degree of education," but to make the army itself have a stronger production capacity. Whether it is civil engineering or organizational discipline, the improvement of these capabilities of the military means a great increase in production efficiency. This is the real strength that the BJP has.

In the war that is about to unfold, without the support of the people, there will be no future for the BJP. And in order to gain the support of the people, the People's Party and the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army under the command of the People's Party must benefit the people. Some people will say that the people are short-sighted, but Chen Ke doesn't think so now. The people have suffered for thousands of years and have suffered for thousands of years. Without this short-sightedness, the people would have died long ago. Since the People's Party regards the liberation of the people as its fundamental purpose, the People's Party has the obligation to bear such toil and suffering. This kind of consciousness of daring to endure hardships is the consciousness that the BJP members should have.

"Then the Military Commission will get a good grasp of the work of helping spring ploughing. Farms, including troops, could not be slackened either. Chen Ke gave the order.