Qiu Jin was full of resentment when he left the base, Chen Ke's ruthlessness, and Hua Xiongmao's betrayal of the family made Qiu Jin extremely annoyed. Therefore, she ignored the two People's Party comrades who accompanied her back to Chizhou. But only one day later, Qiu Jin lost this spirit.

Qiu Jin, who has a strong personality, was still very strong when she walked at first because she was holding back the fire in her belly. But after only half a day, she felt that her physical strength was a little unable to keep up. The two comrades of the People's Party's reconnaissance unit carried all their luggage, and Qiu Jin was empty-handed, but Qiu Jin still couldn't keep up with the pace of these two.

This road is a very traditional road, from Fengtai County to the south through Hefei, Luzhou, to Anqing, and then from Anqing across the Yangtze River to Chizhou. When he arrived in Hefei on the third day, looking at the red sickle and hammerhead flag fluttering at the head of the city, Qiu Jin didn't even feel dissatisfied. For Tao Chengzhang, the leader of the Restoration Society, who once walked hundreds of miles every day, Qiu Jin always admired it from the bottom of his heart. When she herself walked more than 100 miles a day, the great consumption of physical strength even deprived Qiu Jin of her ability to think. It no longer matters what revolution or betrayal, what Qiu Jin needs is rest. She wanted to be able to fall asleep right away.

On the fourth day, two comrades hired a mule in Hefei for Qiu Jin to ride, and they themselves were still on foot. Even so, these two comrades of the People's Party's reconnaissance unit were still able to maintain the speed of marching more than 100 miles a day. Qiu Jin noticed that whenever the two of them took a break, they would take out pencils and paper and write down a lot of things. Because Qiu Jin was very unkind to these two people at first, except for the normal route arrangement, everyone didn't speak at all. Qiu Jin was also embarrassed to ask them what they had written.

The rest time is very short, and it stands to reason that being able to ride an animal itself can save a lot of physical energy, but there is no such concept for long-distance travel. Sitting on the back of a swaying mule for more than ten hours a day is also a great drain on physical strength. What's more, the exhaustion accumulated from the first three days of walking has not fully recovered. Qiu Jin didn't care about the scenery on the side of the road for a long time, she just hoped that she could get to Chizhou as soon as possible and then get a good night's sleep. I don't have to go through the toil of the road again.

On the afternoon of the sixth day, the team finally arrived near Anqing. Two People's Party comrades took turns leading the mules, while Qiu Jin dozed off on the marching mules. Half-asleep and half-awake, a dull sound in the distance made her feel very hypnotic. It was very much like the thunder in the sky on a summer afternoon in Shaoxing, and then there was a heavy rain, and on such a day, it was very pleasant to take a nap. This wonderful feeling was interrupted by two comrades. "Mr. Qiu, Mr. Qiu." They woke Qiu Jin out of her half-sleep.

"Huh?" Qiu Jin didn't know what was going on, and opened her eyes in a daze.

"Mr. Qiu, there is a war going on in Anqing. Do we take a detour? Investigator He Jinwu asked.

"War? How do you know that Anqing is at war? "Qiu Jin and the investigators have been walking together, there is no reason for the investigators to know that Anqing is fighting, but Qiu Jin doesn't know.

"It's the sound of a cannon." Investigator He Jinwu explained.

"Huh?" Qiu Jin listened attentively, and it turned out that the sound of thunder in the afternoon was the sound of cannons in her semi-sleepy state. Has the Hubei New Army begun to attack Anqing? Qiu Jin's spirits perked up, and she flew out of the clouds when she was sleepy.

"Mr. Qiu, are we going to bypass Anqing City?" Investigator He Jinwu asked.

"No, let's go to Anqing first. What has Anqing become? ”

On the artillery position of Yingjiang Temple outside the east gate of Anqing, Xiong Chengji was directing the artillery of the Anqing Revolutionary Army to fire fiercely at the ships of the New Army's naval division on the river. Since yesterday's fight, Xiong Chengji has been directing operations on the front line of artillery. There were 12 gunboats on the river, four of which belonged to the naval division of the Anhui New Army, and the other eight belonged to the naval division of the Hubei New Army. They had been trying to destroy the artillery positions of the Anqing Revolutionary Army at Yingjiang Temple with artillery, and then broke through to the Anqing wharf. Xiong Chengji's combat mission was to block the naval ships of the new army.

The shells blew up a splash on the river, each of which was very close to the gunboats of the New Army, but they could not always hit the other side. Xiong Chengji stood in the bunker of the fort, his body standing straight, holding a telescope and looking at the new fleet on the river. Beside him, almost everyone was clinging to the fort's cover, or bending as far as possible to expose themselves as little as possible. Because of the mist from the artillery battle and the steam of the ships, the view on the river was poor. The new gunboats seen through the binoculars were small and unclear, not to mention the gunners in charge of firing at the artillery positions. They simply did not see the movement of the new ships. Moreover, the commander of the new flotilla was also very smart, and the twelve gunboats lined up as much as possible and fired at the artillery positions of Yingjiangsi at the farthest distance. Each of the gunboats was quite well commanded, they took turns firing, and shells fell almost every moment on the artillery positions of the Forces nouvelles. Although the artillery of the Anqing Revolutionary Army was about the same, the gunboats moved back and forth, but the artillery position of Yingjiangsi could not be moved. By now, under the attack of the new flotilla, the artillery of the revolutionary army had destroyed four cannons, killed more than fifty people and wounded hundred. Artillery positions have reached a precarious situation.

Seeing the gunboats of the New Army moving at an irregular speed on the river, because it was impossible to accurately determine the speed and position of the ships, and the shells could not effectively hit the enemy, the deputy commander of the artillery scolded: "Damn, it's all because the People's Party took so many people and so many guns." Otherwise, we would have sunk these eight lambs into the river. ”

Seriously, Xiong Chengji did not agree with the views of the deputy commander of the artillery. After this day's artillery battle, Xiong Chengji found that the Anhui New Army and the Hubei New Army deserved to be both new armies. Until now, both sides had a common trait, and that was their refusal to fight in close combat. The strategy of the Hubei New Army is obvious, that is, it must first destroy the artillery position of Yingjiang Temple. Xiong Chengji can probably also figure out that the new army is preparing to rely on the gunboats of the naval division to cover the siege. For this reason alone, Xiong Chengji felt that neither the Anhui New Army nor the Hubei New Army could compare to the People's Party's army.

The BJP's army fought in a different way than the Forces nouvelles, and the BJP did not use long-range firing at all, although they also had some strange mortars that could fire powerful shells. However, the People's Party does not engage in any "infantry and artillery coordinated operations" at all. Their artillery was designed solely to support infantry in close combat. The Anqing Revolutionary Army also had some "post-war summarization", because after the war, many officers and soldiers of the Anhui New Army switched to the Yue Wanghui. When they mentioned the Anqing campaign launched by the People's Party, they all had a look of fear on their faces. In the darkness of the night, either the BJP troops were not visible at all, only the disturbing firing that harassed the Forces nouvelles and made them uneasy. Or the People's Party troops who suddenly appeared next to them, these soldiers in dark blue military uniforms, shooting at close range while attacking the officers and soldiers of the Anhui New Army with powerful bombs in their hands. As long as you confront the People's Party, you will immediately be a sea of corpses and blood.

Xiong Chengji also witnessed the People's Party's attack on Xicheng, and as soon as the order was given, the troops launched the attack in an extremely skillful manner. Needless to say, the Anhui New Army, Xiong Chengji himself admitted that even the self-proclaimed revolutionary Anqing Revolutionary Army would definitely not perform better than the Anqing New Army when it encountered an attack by the People's Party. It is also for this reason that now the Anqing Revolutionary Army, in order to prevent the Hubei New Army from adopting the same tactics, has put heavy troops on the defense of the city wall to guard against the surprise attack of the Hubei New Army. But it turned out that the Hubei New Army was not a People's Party army, and they still used the most common tactics of the New Army. "Use firepower to strike the enemy at the farthest safe distance."

Not long after the deputy commander of the artillery ended his scolding, Xiong Chengji breathed a sigh of relief. The fleet of the New Army began to turn its bow, avoiding the range of the Anqing Revolutionary Army and heading towards the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. For a day, the fleet of the new army has been in this pattern. Shelling, replenishment of shells, continuation of shelling. Since there is an arsenal in Hubei, there is no problem with the supply of shells. But Anqing did not have this condition, and after only one day of fighting, the shells began to seem insufficient. If it weren't for the fact that the People's Party had taken away a few artillery pieces and had been damaged by the Hubei New Army, if the artillery had been complete now, according to the firing frequency of the past day, I am afraid that the shells would have run out.

"The flotilla of the Hubei New Army retreated." Xiong Chengji put down the binoculars and said to the deputy commander of the artillery.

After the deputy commander of the artillery scolded the People's Party, he was preparing to scold the Restoration Party with him. Hearing Xiong Chengji's words, he couldn't stop scolding. He quickly straightened up and raised his binoculars to look at the river. Seeing the retreating fleet of the new army, the deputy commander excitedly shouted: "Comrades, comrades! I've repelled the Hokkien fleet. ”

This shout, which should have been a great morale booster, is now answered by very few people. The flotilla of the Hubei New Army was repulsed every time, and it would not be long before it would make a comeback. After the excitement of the first few "repulsion of the enemy", the artillerymen completely turned a blind eye to such encouragement.

The soldiers of the Anhui Revolutionary Army, who had been bent over their waists to avoid the shells of the new army's gunboats as much as possible during the battle, finally tried to straighten their waists at this time. Xiong Chengji didn't say anything, but the deputy commander kept following Xiong Chengji, although he was close to the wall of the bunker, but the deputy commander was standing after all, he scolded: "Are you so afraid of death?" Hurry up and clean up. The Hokkien flotilla had fled. ”

The soldiers began to clear their positions under the reprimand of the lieutenant commander, because everyone was becoming more and more hidden, and this round of attacks did not produce the dead or wounded. People don't think there's anything to clean up. They straightened up and looked at the lieutenant commander with a strange look.

"Get out of the way. I found some soil and filled in the holes in the ground. The lieutenant has already begun to roar.

The soldiers of the revolutionary army heard the roar of the deputy commander, and then began to work in a disorderly manner. However, due to the lack of organization and management, the people who do the work are also in a hurry and do not grasp the essentials at all. This immediately provoked an even stronger anger from the lieutenant, who jumped over and gave orders to the soldiers. But from beginning to end, the deputy commander did not do a single practical thing with his own hands.

The finishing work was carried out extremely slowly, and several craters had not been filled for half a day. But I saw the signal soldiers coming, "Commander Xiong, have you repelled the attack of the Hubei New Army?" ”

"Yes, they went back to replenish the shells." Xiong Chengji is telling the truth.

This answer made the signal soldier's face look ugly, "Then when will they come back?" ”

Xiong Chengji looked at his pocket watch, "Probably won't come again today, right?" ”

The signal soldier's face immediately returned to his brilliance, "Then I'll go back and report to Chen Dashuai." With that, the communications soldier immediately turned around and ran.

Chen Duxiu, Bai Wenwei and other senior cadres of the Yue Wang Society held a meeting in the yamen of the former governor of Anhui. It's not so much about having a meeting as it is about waiting for news. Since the Hubei New Army called, everyone has been sitting in the yamen and giving orders. The rumbling sound of artillery tormented everyone's nerves, and in addition to sending "heavy troops" to defend the city wall, everyone kept sending signal troops to the artillery position of Yingjiang Temple on the front line of the battle, and "grasped" the latest situation at all times. But what to do after grasping the situation, everyone can only grasp it first.

Fortunately, Xiong Chengji of Yingjiang Temple performed well, and he withstood it for more than a day, so that the Hubei New Army could not attack Anqing City. Every time I hear the news that "the new army in Hubei has been defeated", there will always be a burst of activity in the yamen of the governor of Anhui. Everyone either stroked their chests and sighed, or they boasted and laughed at the vulnerability of the Hubei New Army. This kind of drama has been staged many times, but everyone is not bored at all.

Hearing the news that Xiong Chengji had "repulsed" the Hubei New Army, there was another burst of celebration in the Yamen of the Governor of Anqing. Regarding Xiong Chengji's report on the judgment that "the Hubei New Army will not come again today". It makes this excitement even more intense. However, Chen Duxiu was still sober, and he asked: "It's going to be dark soon, and we have to guard against a sneak attack by the Qing army while it's dark." ”

"Don't worry, Chen Dashuai. I have set it up at the head of the city. The mistakes of the past will never be repeated. Bai Wenwei said loudly.

Chen Duxiu is a very good literati, and he heard that Bai Wenwei's use of the phrase "repeating the mistakes of the past" was obviously wrong. Bai Wenwei was referring to the People's Party's night attack on Anqing, when King Yue was not the one defending the city. But at this time, Chen Duxiu naturally doesn't care about such trivial things. The current Anqing Revolutionary Army has almost a kind of frightened bird-like vigilance against night attacks, and everyone even specially arranges rest during the day and guards all night at night.

"Then Bai Wenwei will be in charge of this matter." Chen Duxiu replied, "In addition, did the local branches send people to Anqing?" ”

After listening to Chen Duxiu's inquiry, Bai Wenwei's face changed color and was a little difficult to look at. After occupying Anqing, King Yue began to recruit manpower from the "local branches". It's not that there are no new Gao Cailie who brought people to "enter the city", and there are actually quite a lot of these people. But the purpose of these people is not to make a revolution, but to "be officials, share money, and distribute grain." There is some money and food in Anqing City, but a large part of it was taken away by the People's Party, and the rest of the money and food is not small, but where is it enough for these party members whose eyes are green. At the beginning, Bai Wenwei and the others felt that they could respond to every call, so they were very generous, but now there is no imaginary situation, but the money and food in the treasury are being consumed rapidly. Bai Wenwei had to reduce his spending, and some party leaders had recently left Anqing with their subordinates.

"Not yet. They'll come, though. Bai Wenwei said stiffly.

Chen Duxiu is a smart person, and he can see Bai Wenwei's embarrassment. Chen Duxiu was very clear about the embarrassing situation he was facing, he frowned, and suddenly said: "A few days ago, Comrade Shi Dekuan brought back the news of Chen Ke, chairman of the People's Party, and is willing to fully cooperate with our Yue Wang Association. Moreover, Comrade Shi Dekuan has also seen it in the territory of the People's Party, which now has a huge territory and a large number of troops and numbers. I think we should work with the BJP. What do you think? ”

This is said very beautifully, but the people of Yue Wanghui all understand what Chen Duxiu did not say explicitly. This "comprehensive cooperation" means borrowing troops from the BJP. No one supports it, and no one opposes it. The People's Party acted extremely strangely, and after they seized Anqing, they immediately retreated on a large scale according to the agreement, and did not stop at all. Even if a lot of things were removed, in all fairness, compared to the Hui Party under Yue Wanghui, the degree of self-restraint of the People's Party was really good.

The people of Yue Wanghui were deeply impressed by the elite troops of the People's Party, and if they could get the support of such an army, Anqing would definitely be able to defend it. The problem is that, judging from the current situation of the People's Party, they had no intention of occupying Anqing before the war. Since Anqing is not attractive to the People's Party, and the distance between the two parties is so far away. Even if the BJP cooperated, it would not have been able to really send troops.

Just then, the communications corps ran in. Seeing the communication soldiers, the cadres of the Yue Wang Association felt stunned. Could it be that something is wrong?

"Greetings, commanders. At the north gate, Mr. Qiu Jinnu of the Restoration Society asked to see him. ”

The news of the communication corps surprised everyone. Qiu Jin and Shi Dekuan arrived at the base area together, and everyone knows it. This also explains why Qiu Jin appeared at the North Gate. But at this time, how did Qiu Jin think of visiting Yue Wanghui?

"How many people did Mr. Qiu Jin bring?" Bai Wenwei asked.

"Mr. Qiu Jin only brought two people." Accurate information was provided by the communications corps.

Everyone looked at each other, and Chen Duxiu said, "Dekuan, you go to greet Mr. Qiu Jin." ”

"Yes!" Shi Dekuan stood up and went with the signal soldiers.

"Do you think Qiu Jin didn't borrow soldiers from the People's Party?" Bai Wenwei was the first to ask.

"It's hard to say. But looking at it now, she was afraid that she hadn't borrowed it. If he borrowed soldiers, why did Qiu Jin come to us? The answer to the question was Liu Daying, a former officer of the New Army. He is also a cadre of the Lao Yue Wang Association.

"I wish they could borrow it." Chen Duxiu expressed his hopes.