In the second half of the night, the troops who had been guarding the city in the middle of the night with staring eyes finally looked forward to the replacement person, and the party who guarded the first half of the night had already been sleepy, and they were worried for half a night, someone came to take over, and everyone hurried down the city wall to go back to the barracks to rest. It was the beginning of April, and the night was still very cold, and no one noticed that most of the members of the party who went to the north were wearing thick clothes.

Diao Dezhang's face is still a depressed look, since the Hubei New Army called, he has always been like this. After going to the city, Diao Dezhang first ordered his subordinates to find their positions behind the battlements, and then began to patrol. It took a while for the city to calm down. In the night, there were only a dozen torches left at the head of Anqing City, showing some vitality.

Zhou Xingchen had more than 40 people under his command, while Diao Dezhang had more than 200 people under him. These 300 men occupied most of the city walls, and the city was dark, but no one dared to light more torches. This is no longer the era of bows and arrows, the party has already seen the range of rifles, and the rifles that can kill people from so far away are really terrifying. If the city is as lit as the storyteller says, it is just a target for himself.

Zhou Xingchen secretly came to Diao Dezhang's side, he saw that there was no one left and right, and then he lowered his voice and said, "Brother Diao, I want you to do me a favor." ”

Looking at Zhou Xingchen's sneaky appearance, Diao Dezhang frowned, "What's the matter?" ”

Zhou Xingchen leaned into Diao Dezhang's ear and said, "Brother Diao, when you take your brothers out of the city in a while, Wanwang will take our brothers with you." ”

Diao Dezhang pushed away Zhou Xingchen, who was close to his ear, and then grabbed the clothes on Zhou Xingchen's chest and dragged him in front of him, and said in a deliberately low voice: "What nonsense are you talking about? ”

Zhou Xingchen's voice was full of weakness and shame, "Brother Diao, our brother doesn't want to die. This Anqing City is a place of death. Now that the Hubei New Army has not besieged the city, we still have a way to go. Brother Diao, if you don't want to leave, what are you letting your brothers wear so thick? Aren't those clothes stuffed with the bounty of these days? ”

Diao Dezhang never expected Zhou Xingchen's vision to be so sharp, he had actually made up his mind to leave Anqing City. However, since the new army of Hubei arrived outside the city, the defenders of the city gate are all descendants of Yue Wanghui, and it is impossible to get out of the city justifiably, so he asked to guard the city in the second half of the night. Even so, Diao Dezhang did not dare to tell all his brothers about his plan, he only told a hundred people who were more reliable. The remaining more than 100 people, he was going to let him wait until he left the city, and then let the remaining henchmen persuade them to leave. was suddenly told by Zhou Xingchen, and Diao Dezhang was shocked and angry.

Although the neck collar was grabbed by Diao Dezhang in his hand, Zhou Xingchen already knew that he definitely didn't look at Diao Dezhang, and he leaned on Diao Dezhang's ear and said: "Big brother, our brothers don't talk to each other." If we want to go, let's go now, it's too late. ”

The sad look on Diao Dezhang's face had already flown out of the clouds at this time, and he gritted his teeth slightly and pushed away Zhou Xingchen who was lying in his ear again. The voice also became calm and firm. "Zhou Xingchen, I will go down first with some of my brothers, and you will follow me. Then let's go to the sky. But in my words, if you compete with us, don't say I'm not welcome. ”

Zhou Xingchen nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes." Brother Diao, brother, I just think you are an understanding person, so I want to follow you. I will never rob Brother Diao, what you say, Big Brother, is what you say. ”

Soon after, several ropes were quietly lowered from the city. Diao Dezhang first lined up his henchmen to go to the city to explore the way, because the Anhui Revolutionary Army was not prepared to go out of the city to fight, and there was no outpost under the city. The only thing to worry about is whether the Hubei New Army has an ambush outside. Diao Dezhang kept his mouth shut, standing in the darkness at the head of the city, staring at the darkness outside the city. And Zhou Xingchen couldn't help but walk back and forth. I don't know how long it took, but I heard a few birds chirping outside. After a few more sounds.

Zhou Xingchen guessed that this was a code, and he came to Diao Dezhang's side with a happy face. Before he could speak, he heard Diao Dezhang shout in a low voice: "Shut up for me." Zhou Xingchen obediently closed his mouth as if he was choked by the throat.

A few more people went down to the city, and then there was no movement. I don't know how long it took for the bird to call from the city. Diao Dezhang was relieved at this time, and he hurriedly commanded his cronies to go down to the city.

"Brother Diao, what should I do?" Watching the people go down the city one by one along the rope, Zhou Xingchen was anxious.

Diao Dezhang looked at Zhou Xingchen coldly, his tone was full of disdain, "What's the panic?" Now you hurry up and take your men here, and go down to the city. After saying that, Diao Dezhang had already jumped onto the city wall, grabbed a rope and began to slide down.

"Diao ......" Zhou Xingchen was about to ask again, but he couldn't see Diao Dezhang from Cheng's head, he patted his thigh and turned his head to greet his subordinates.

If Lu Zhengping, who was in Chizhou at this time, saw Diao Dezhang's approach, he would most likely not be able to help but praise him. This kind of decisiveness and prudence are indeed necessary qualities when directing a retreat.

It was only half an hour before and after, and the party at the head of Beicheng City had all left the city, and then left Anqing City under the leadership of the pathfinder who had set off in advance.

After Zhou Xingchen's feet stepped on the land outside Anqing City, he immediately felt extremely relaxed in his heart. Finally free! finally got rid of the dead place of Anqing. No more daunting by the explosion of shells and gunfire. After walking a short distance, Zhou Xingchen grabbed his brother and stopped in place. This move was extremely eye-catching in the flow of people trying their best to leave Anqing City, and so many dozens of people stopped moving, which also blocked the way of the people behind them.

"Why don't you leave?" Walking ahead, Diao Dezhang hurried back and asked in a low voice.

Zhou Xingchen took out a money bag without smiling, "Brother Diao, you have helped me a lot this time." This little meaning is just a little bit of my brother's heart. Let's leave it at that. Qingshan does not change the green water, next time Brother Diao has any instructions, I will definitely saddle the horse before and after the saddle. ”

"Are you stupid? The Hubei New Army is just outside, we have already explored the way, you should follow us quickly. Diao Dezhang said in a low voice.

Seeing that his brothers had been brought together, Zhou Xingchen not only did not look like he was intimidated in the slightest, but even his voice became louder, "That's not necessary, Brother Diao." I just followed Brother Diao down to the city, brother, I am very affectionate. Let's say goodbye without saying goodbye, and the movement is not small, but I'm afraid that King Yue will already know, brother, I will come to the eldest brother's palace, and the people of King Yue will chase after us, and we will block it. ”

The place where Zhou Xingchen and the others were located was not too far from the city gate, Diao Dezhang looked at the city gate, and then looked at Zhou Xingchen and his subordinates, who had been completely gathered. Diao Dezhang smiled: "Then it's troublesome Brother Zhou." We'll see you later. With that, he disappeared into the night with his men.

After walking out for a while, Diao Dezhang suddenly asked those henchmen to stop, and the others continued to walk forward, and he quietly turned back with this group of people. But from a distance, I saw that Zhou Xingchen and others were still together, and they had no intention of moving at all. The two groups of people stood quietly across the night, until there was a glimmer of light in the sky, Diao Dezhang knew that he could no longer hide, so he was unwilling to lead his cronies to withdraw quietly.

The sky was a little brighter, Zhou Xingchen looked around, saw that there was really no one around, and sent a few brothers to explore the way in front, and then began to retreat.

"What? The North City is empty now? Chang Hengfang's voice was full of doubts and shock.

It was a junior officer of the new army who replied, and he said a little anxiously, "Commander Chang, the people in Beicheng don't know when they will all leave." I don't know if he was captured by the Hubei New Army. ”

"I'm ......" Hearing this, Chang Hengfang couldn't wait to go up and slap this little officer twice. This is obviously the party fleeing privately, how could this little officer think that it was the Hubei New Army who went to the city in the middle of the night to arrest people? If the Hubei New Army can do it to this point, why should they retreat, it is easier to kill them directly from Beicheng, and they can seize Anqing immediately.

But at this time, it was not the time to reprimand his own people, Chang Hengfang shouted: "Now the troops defending the city have all gone to the city?" ”

"Yes. Commander Xu Yingxin has already taken his brothers to Beicheng. ”

Chang Hengfang roared: "You tell Commander Xu now that no one is allowed to enter or leave the city gate. If there is still a party that wants to go to the city, drive me down immediately. Go now"

After the officer left quickly, Chang Hengfang felt that he was full of depression and had nowhere to vent, he suddenly grabbed a chair beside him, lifted the chair high, and then slammed it on the table with all his might. Chang Hengfang used all his strength, as if what was in front of him was not a table but Diao Dezhang's head. The hardwood chair slammed against the table, first with a loud thud, then with a series of clattering thuds. A large hole was smashed into the tabletop, and three of the four legs of the chair were broken. Chang Hengfang was still not angry, he waved the broken chair and continued to smash it on the table.

Seeing Chang Hengfang so angry, the orderly soldiers outside hurriedly rushed in and grabbed Chang Hengfang's arm, "Commander Chang, you don't have to be like this." It doesn't have to be this way. ”

Chang Hengfang smashed a few more times under the obstruction of the orderly, and then he gasped and threw down the loose chair. "These treacherous bastards. I can't spare them. Chang Hengfang roared. But he knew that this was impossible, and it would not be long before the new offensive of the Hubei New Army would begin, and it would already be difficult to deal with the attack of the Hubei New Army, where would there be troops to chase after the Hui Dang who had escaped from the city? And what if you just catch up? Persuade them to come back? Or just kill Diao Dezhang and them?

As if to prove Chang Hengfang's judgment, there was a sudden sound of cannons outside, which was not from the south of the city, but from the west of the city. The Hubei New Army began its official siege battle.

Among the many new armies of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the first place was naturally the Beiyang New Army. However, the Hubei New Army also has many advantages of its own, such as the arsenal in Hubei that can make its own guns and ammunition. Moreover, when Zhang Zhidong formed the Hubei New Army, he paid great attention to education, and most of the generals of the New Army came from modern military academies, and their cultural quality was relatively high compared with that of soldiers. In the early days of Zhang Zhidong's formation of the Hubei New Army, it was clearly stipulated that "only those under the age of 20 who can read and write will be allowed to earn income." He also listed "half of the soldiers entering the camp must be literate" as the first article of the "Essentials of Military Training in Hubei." At the same time, Zhang Zhidong also attaches great importance to the education of soldiers after entering the camp. Zhang Zhidong set up large and small "lecture halls" and "newspaper reading rooms" in all banners and battalions of the New Army, and this was undoubtedly conducive to improving the cultural quality of the soldiers. In particular, Zhang Zhidong was ingenious in setting up a special primary school for the Hubei Army, and selected those who were "fluent in literature and science" among the soldiers, so that they would "come to the hall during the day to pay attention to their subjects, and return to the camp at night", and "graduate and enter the camp more often", so as to "imply universal education in military training." Therefore, in the Hejian Autumn Exercise in 1905, the Beiyang New Army "won with courage", and the Hubei New Army "won with knowledge".

Able to build its own armaments and possess a relatively high level of cultural attainment, the level of the artillery unit with the most technical content in the Hubei New Army is outstanding among the new armies. As soon as Li Yuanhong gave the order, the artillery units that had been prepared began to bombard the western city wall of Anqing. After several rounds of test firing, the artillery of the Hubei New Army constantly adjusted to shoot Zhu Yuan. Cannonballs began to land accurately on the city.

The initial idea of the Anqing Revolutionary Army was to focus on relying on the city wall for defense, and Li Yuanhong knew the basic idea of this idea. He held up his binoculars and looked at the city, only to see that after each shell that landed on the city exploded, there were sacks, sand, and shattered human limbs flying in the air, and even the whole person was blown up in midair. Li Yuanhong put down the binoculars with satisfaction, now the people in the city should be the elite of the chaotic party, such a round of shelling will definitely be able to cause heavy casualties to the chaotic party.

"Lord Co-ordinator, are we going to attack the city?" The staff officers also saw the appearance of the city, and they asked happily one by one.

Li Yuanhong waved his hand, "What's the hurry?" Wait for the naval army to defeat the fort of Yingjiang Temple. ”

"Now with one go, we will definitely be able to take the city wall." The staff officers admonished.

Li Yuanhong sneered, "The rebels only have the city wall as their backing, and they will definitely not give up." We are attacking the city now, but it will only make the loss of troops. Don't worry, after a little more fighting, let's stop and let the rebels have time to enter the city. When they stabilize the position of the city, we will bombard it again. Isn't this better than hard work? ”

"Collaboration with Lady Takami." The staff officers hurriedly began to pat their horses and whiskers.

"You hurry up and contact the naval army, and ask them to be sure to lay down the artillery position of Yingjiang Temple today. Without artillery positions, I see what the rebels will do to defend this Anqing. After Li Yuanhong finished speaking, he sat firmly on the marching chair. Although he is the co-commander of the 21st Association of the Hubei New Army, Li Yuanhong is not from the Army Academy. He is a graduate of the Beiyang Naval Academy and a student of Yan Fu. Li Yuanhong participated in the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, and after the war, he took refuge in Zhang Zhidong and got the weapon, so he rose all the way in the Hubei New Army. From the heart, Li Yuanhong has a higher degree of trust in the water army. As long as the naval army takes the artillery position of Yingjiang Temple, and then captures the water gate of Anqing. Under the attack from both sides in the south and west, Li Yuanhong firmly believed that the Anqing rebels would not last long.

The staff officers were a little puzzled, "My lord, it is good to attack from both sides, but the Yingjiang Temple fort guarded by the rebels is still resisting stubbornly. ”

Li Yuanhong was born in the naval academy and participated in the First Sino-Japanese Naval Battle, and there is one thing that his attention and sensitivity are far greater than those of other people in the Hubei New Army, "Even if the rebels can hold the position of Yingjiang Temple, they don't have so many shells. At best, this afternoon, they will have no shells available. When the time comes, the warships of the navy will shoot closely, and no matter how stubborn the rebels are, they will always be unable to stop the shells. ”

"Takami, Takami!" The staff officers were again touted.

This time, Li Yuanhong no longer bothered with the staff officers, he steadily picked up the teacup and began to sip.

Everything was not much different from what Li Yuanhong expected. The defenders at the head of the city were the core troops of Yue Wanghui, and this intensive artillery bombardment caused heavy casualties to the defenders at the head of the city. Seeing this posture of the Hubei New Army, the Anqing Revolutionary Army was worried that the Hubei New Army was preparing to take advantage of the situation to seize the Xicheng City Wall. So he had to hurriedly send additional troops to the city wall, and the number of casualties exceeded more than 300 in a matter of time. The officers of the troops ordered reinforcements again, and the people below them had already disobeyed.

When these news reached the headquarters of the Yue Wang Association in the Yamen of the Anhui Governor's Office, Chang Hengfang, who was pleading with Chen Duxiu and Bai Wenwei, shouted angrily at the communication soldiers: "First the party fled, but now is it the turn of the new army?" ”

"Commander Chang, you can't say that." Bai Wenwei immediately stopped Chang Hengfang's gaffe. At this time, everyone can only help each other in the same boat, and Chang Hengfang's words are obviously intensifying the contradictions.

However, the house leak happened to be rainy, and not long after, Xiong Chengji, the commander of the artillery position of Yingjiang Temple, also came to report that there were few shells in Yingjiang Temple. I hope Chang Hengfang can send someone to help defend the fort. The Yingjiang Temple Fort has been the psychological pillar of the Anqing Revolutionary Army for two days, and when they heard the rumbling cannons, everyone felt that they were fighting the enemy with powerful artillery. Because Xiong Chengji commanded well, in the mess, everyone didn't pay attention to the problem of cannonballs at all, if there was a shortage of people, everyone could still transfer troops, but there was no place for such things as cannonballs. After receiving Xiong Chengji's news, everyone looked at each other one by one, and they didn't know what to say. Without artillery, do you shoot at the enemy's artillery with your rifle? God knows how many shells the Hubei Yankees have and how long they can fight.

In this silence, Chang Hengfang roared angrily, "Let's go out of the city and fight with these Hubei Yankees!" ”

"Hengfang, don't be impatient." Bai Wenwei hurriedly persuaded.

Chang Hengfang also let go at this time, his eyes widened angrily, and he shouted at Bai Wenwei: "Don't be impatient, what? How did the BJP win? They want guns without guns, guns without guns. Isn't it just a close fight? Let the Hubei Yankees continue to fight like this, we will simply wait for death. It's all dead anyway, it's better to fight to the death. ”

"What's the use of you fighting to the death? Now the only people who can be brought out are a thousand people. Can you win the Hubei New Army? Bai Wenwei also got angry, "You guys are fighting to the death, who will guard this Anqing?" ”

Regarding Bai Wenwei's words, Chang Hengfang immediately pushed back, "Anqing is the pit dug by the People's Party for us." The People's Party knew that it couldn't hold Anqing, so it simply pushed us out. The Manchu Qing Dynasty came to fight our Yue Wang Hui with all their might, and the People's Party was watching the joke behind. If you want me to say, this Anqing shouldn't be wanted at all, and the People's Party loves to give it to whomever it wants. Isn't there still a Restoration Society? We don't need to be strong. ”

"The People's Party was not prepared to want Anqing from the beginning, and I must occupy it." Seeing that the comrades were almost losing their minds, Chen Duxiu finally spoke, and the comrades couldn't help but shudder when they heard this, although Chen Duxiu's words were true, but no one admitted it. And Chen Duxiu didn't want everyone to reflect, he knew that if he didn't make up his mind, but sat back and watched the situation develop naturally, the final result would be a meaningless ruin. "I think as long as I occupy Anqing, it will be a sudden change in the situation. Now that I look, I couldn't have been more wrong. If the Manchus could not be completely defeated, there was no point in occupying one or two cities. That's just for everyone to die in vain. You participated in the revolution for the sake of its success, not for the Manchus to frighten the comrades of other revolutionary parties with our heads. We withdrew to Hefei, which had just been fought by the People's Party. ”

Chen Duxiu's words shocked everyone, they never imagined that Chen Duxiu would be able to make such a decision. "Dashuai, can the People's Party tolerate us?" Bai Wenwei hurriedly persuaded.

"There's nothing to be accommodated. We rose up to make a revolution in order to overthrow the Manchu Qing Dynasty and establish a new China. The so-called intolerable is just that we want to swallow the People's Party, or the People's Party wants to swallow us. Such partisanship is not interesting. Ladies and gentlemen, what is the purpose of our Yue Wang Association? ”

After listening to Chen Duxiu's question, the cadres of the Yue Wang Association refused to answer one by one.

Chen Duxiu did not continue to persecute everyone, he said calmly: "The purpose of our Yue Wang Association is that Gaiyue Wumu will resist Liaojin until death, and we must follow his will and try my best to fill it." If the People's Party is also aiming for this purpose, what if we are at the mercy of the People's Party? ”

"Dashuai, we are in danger now, and the People's Party has no intention of rescuing us at all." Chang Hengfang is still unrelenting.

In response to the general understanding among the cadres of the Yue Wang Society, Chen Duxiu asked: "Then we occupy Anqing, when the spring breeze is proud, why do we care about the People's Party?" Our King Yue will occupy Anqing, and what has he done for the local people in Anqing? What benefits did the people get from our revolution? Did the people eat a grain of rice from us? Or did it cost us a penny? Just the money we spend on Diao Dezhang and Zhou Xingchen can benefit how many people? But did we do it? Now that we are defending the city, can we see the people in the streets? Comrades, we must always be morally responsible. Since we can't build China and save the people, then we don't let the revolutionary comrades follow us to death in vain. ”

Chen Duxiu's courage at this time overwhelmed the cadres of the Yue Wang Society who were in despair. Especially when Chen Duxiu mentioned morality, the cadres felt speechless. One of the foundations of the Yuewanghui is "morality". Like other "revolutionary parties" of this era, Yue Wanghui had neither a comprehensive revolutionary concept nor a specific revolutionary method. They felt the misery of China, and then directed all their grievances at the Manchu government. However, this passion for justice can only be maintained in reality by relying on the "morality" and "righteousness" of the Chinese tradition. The party is undoubtedly unreliable, and Chen Duxiu personally criticized the "morality" of the Yue Wanghui itself. For these revolutionaries, there is nothing more important than this negation.

Seeing that everyone was silent, Chen Duxiu continued: "Everyone complained that the People's Party was complaining about the wrong person, and it was I, the handsome, who was impatient to take Anqing into his hands. If the comrades think that I am still a handsome, then listen to my orders, and now we will withdraw to Hefei. As long as we can keep our backbone, King Yue will definitely make a comeback one day. ”

In fact, the cadres all know that if they don't withdraw now, it will be too late to withdraw when the infantry of the Hubei New Army is dispatched. And now they can only defect to the BJP. But in the past month or so, because of the occupation of Anqing, King Yue will develop an arrogant mentality, everyone thinks that no matter how powerful the People's Party is, King Yue will say a word, and the People's Party will still obediently hand over Anqing City. Although everyone knew that it was wrong to think so, the people of the Yue Wang Society had formed this concept in their hearts. At this time, he was driven out of Anqing by the Hubei New Army and defected to the People's Party in disgrace, and everyone's psychology was unacceptable.

Chen Duxiu didn't care so much, he began to give orders, "If no one has any opinions, let's start retreating now." Hengfang, you let the comrades on all positions withdraw. Commander Bai, now take someone to the treasury and bring all the gold and silver. Dekuan, you can bring as much grain as you can in the granary. It's enough for us to eat all the way to Hefei. As for the party, tell them to disperse. If you want to go, let them go, and if you are willing to go with us, make it clear to them that there is no food for us this time. ”

"What about the cannon and machine guns?" Chang Hengfang asked angrily.

"Just leave it to the Hubei New Army and let them rob it. If we don't have these things for them to grab, I'm afraid that the new army won't let us go so easily. ”

The crowd stood still, trying to raise objections. But in the face of a future that is doomed to ruin if you stay in the city, no one can come up with a better way. After a long while, Chang Hengfang replied angrily: "I'll go and gather the troops now." After saying that, he went out in a rage.

"Handsome ......" Bai Wenwei wanted to step forward and continue to persuade a few words.

"Commander Bai, whether we can retreat in Anqing is still a matter of two things, if we are caught up by the Hubei New Army on the road, it will be a bloody battle. Bring the money well, if we can get to Hefei, this is the capital that our King Yue will revive. ”

Hearing that Chen Duxiu did not give up the revolution, Bai Wenwei finally relieved himself. "Marshal, I will definitely be able to guard our military resources well on the road."

"Dekuan, you can go too." Chen Duxiu said to Shi Dekuan, who was standing in place.

"Handsome ......"

"Go now, Dekuan, if there is no food, will we be bandits along the way to steal food?" Chen Duxiu said without question.

"Yes." Shi Dekuan obeyed Chen Duxiu's instructions.