Mawo Town is a small town on the Yangtze River, and it is also a place for ships to moor on weekdays, and the residents never imagined that such a large fleet would suddenly come, and then groups of people in dark blue clothes rushed from all directions with knives and guns. The clothes of these people were a bit tiring to the new uniforms of the Forces nouvelles, and with the organization and muskets in their hands, the residents thought they had never seen the new army before. After all, Mawo Town is only a dozen miles away from Anqing, and the new army does not dare to carry out large-scale robbery under Anqing's nose. The people with this reasonable understanding were not too scared in the first place. Unexpectedly, these people first arrested the tax collectors and other officials in the town, and then those who looked kind and cheerful shouted in a northern Anhui accent, "We are the People's Revolutionary Army, revolution!" Let's fight Anqing and rebel! ”

As soon as the villagers heard that these people had come to rebel against Anqing, and when they saw that everyone had weapons in their hands, they were so frightened that they spread their legs and ran home. As soon as they entered the house, the villagers closed their doors. As a result, the town of Mawo soon fell into the hands of the People's Party.

Tao Chengzhang was very puzzled by the People's Party's hasty handling of it, but after thinking about it, he understood. According to Chen Ke, if the People's Party leaves after beating Anqing, then the People's Party will not bother to deal with such a small town at all. Sure enough, after the small army occupied several key points, the large army began to prepare to march to the east of Anqing City.

"Xingtai, is this the beginning of the war?" Tao Chengzhang couldn't help but ask. The Restoration Society has also staged a number of uprisings, and the scale is far from comparable to the scale of the war at hand. Either it is a battle like a few elite moths fighting a fire, or it is a relatively large number, and the connotation is completely a situation of inciting the people to "make trouble". The backbone of the Liberation Society could not even maintain basic order, and after the official army was dispatched to suppress it slightly, the people immediately cried and dispersed in a hurry. This kind of orderly march of thousands of people in front of him is a rare thing for Tao Chengzhang.

"Yes." Chen Tianhua responded simply, and then continued to walk. Seeing Chen Tianhua like this, Tao Chengzhang was inconvenient to ask again, so he simply closed his mouth and continued to march. During the march, Tao Chengzhang observed the surroundings attentively. If, according to the agreement, the People's Party will leave after fighting Anqing, then this combat experience will be an extremely rare experience for Tao Chengzhang, and this will be an experience that can be used in the revolutionary military struggle in the future.

But looking left and right, Tao Chengzhang couldn't see anything famous. Because the people around him were all exactly the same dark blue military uniforms, and they all marched with their mouths closed and buried in their heads with the same attitude. Except for the warriors with white armbands and white strips of cloth sewn on their hats, who were directing the march of the columns, no one spoke. Tao Chengzhang wore a short black coat today, which was specially prepared for the convenience of the battle, and it would be inconspicuous if it was placed in other places. But the People's Party is full of dark blue military uniforms, but such a person in black clothes is very eye-catching among the thousands of soldiers wearing dark blue military uniforms. Even Tao Chengzhang, who has no contrasting angles, can feel it.

"Looks like you'll have to customize a batch of your own military uniforms." Tao Chengzhang thought. As soon as he thought of this, his mind immediately ran to other places. Although the members of the Liberation Society are not poor, they are also wealthy in the local area. But none of these comrades were the heads of their own families, and even if they were willing to go bankrupt and join the revolution, these people could not do it. Moreover, the revolution itself also costs money, these people have to eat and drink, and they also need to travel to contact those revolutionary comrades. The number of revolutionaries in the Liberation Society was very small, and they had no military capabilities, and they had to hire people to fight the war, which was a lot of money. In recent years, just a few uprisings have spent all the borrowed money. This time, Tao Chengzhang gritted his teeth and made up his mind, so he gathered nearly 1,000 people. The first time I brought 300 people to Chizhou, I had already spent all the funds. Look at the huge fleet of the People's Party, with thousands of people in front of it, how much does it cost?

Tao Chengzhang once thought that Chen Ke was not a real revolutionary party, and he thought so after meeting Chen Ke for more than a year. At that time, Chen Kegang followed Xu Xilin to Shanghai, and immediately put aside the possibility of joining the Restoration Society, and began to do business, and the business was even very large. In order to do business, Tao Chengzhang had a hot fight with comprador people like Qi Huishen and You Gui, and hooked up with the British through these compradors. This is also one of the main reasons why Tao Chengzhang is not willing to continue to develop Chen Ke into the Restoration Society.

The contingent of thousands of people now appearing in front of Tao Chengzhang can undoubtedly prove that Chen Ke is a revolutionary party. Tao Chengzhang also saw Qi Huishen, the eldest young master of the Qi family, appear in the team wearing a dark blue military uniform, and Miss You Wu, who was once very famous on the beach in Shanghai, disappeared without a trace with Chen Ke a year ago, and there are many rumors that You Wei eloped with Chen Ke and them. I want to come to You Gou has also joined the People's Party and officially become a member of the revolutionary party. Chen Ke was able to develop party members by doing business, making money and revolutionizing at the same time. Thinking about the embarrassment of the revolutionary comrades of the Liberation Society, Tao Chengzhang suddenly wanted to grab Chen Ke now, and carefully ask how Chen Ke ran the revolution!

Chen Ke didn't know what Tao Chengzhang was thinking, and he even forgot that Tao Chengzhang was in his team. An hour ago, Chen Ke could already see the outline of Anqing City, the thin line on the horizon looked very low, and the big banner on the city wall looked as slender as a toothpick. With the march, Anqing City became clearer and clearer, Chen Ke's eyesight was very good, and he could even vaguely see the small black dots shaking at the head of the city. The spearhead of the reconnaissance unit had already been dispatched, and the sky was getting dark, and the war could begin at any moment.

Since he had never received formal military training, Chen Ke naturally could not be good at making battle plans, especially making a military plan for an expedition thousands of miles away. Just before the battle was about to start, Chen Ke looked up at An Qingcheng from time to time, and an extreme unconfidence suddenly appeared in his heart. He had a feeling that perhaps his plan might be a major setback.

So far, the campaign of the expedition to Anqing has been completely planned, and nothing has gone wrong in every step. It can even be said that the course of the war is proceeding exactly according to plan. But isn't this the case with countless big jokes in military history? It started smoothly, and when it came time to decide the final fate, because of a factor that was overlooked, the battle situation immediately became jaw-dropping. Maybe I'm repeating the mistakes that left a joke in history, right?

Thinking of this, Chen Ke felt that he couldn't breathe, his legs were as heavy as if they had been dropped into a lead block, and he almost couldn't take a step. The guards beside Chen Ke keenly noticed this, and he hurriedly whispered with concern: "Chairman Chen, can you eat something?" You haven't eaten anything since yesterday. ”

Eating? Chen Ke didn't understand what the word meant at first. After figuring out the meaning of the word, Chen Ke couldn't remember how to eat. He had long forgotten the last time he had actually eaten, probably before entering Sanhe from Hongze Lake. Since then, Chen Ke's whole person has entered a state of tension. When information came in, Chen Ke concentrated on processing the information and studied the battle plan with his comrades. When no news came, Chen Ke combed out the battle plan in his mind over and over again, so that the operation could fully conform to the common sense of military science that he knew. In such a tense and busy state, Chen Ke had no idea if he had eaten.

When his mind finally connected to the nerve of "eating", Chen Ke suddenly felt a pang of discomfort in his stomach, and he immediately covered his mouth tightly and lowered the sound of retching to a minimum. Chen Ke is the commander of the whole army, and if he suddenly bends down and retches, the officers and men of the whole army will know about it, what will they think and think?

Despite his physical discomfort, Chen Ke's brain immediately instinctively remembered a piece of common sense. I was tired and collapsed. Prostration leads to a weakening of physical and mental abilities, and one of the mental manifestations is the appearance of looking ahead and doubting oneself. It seems that the old saying that appears many times in "Journey to the West", "the emperor is not bad for hungry soldiers" not only has political significance, but also more practical common sense.

However, Chen Ke only let his thoughts drift for a moment, and then forcibly intercepted the thoughts that were about to diverge. The battle was about to begin, and Chen Ke had gradually regained his senses, and he was sure that he was not qualified to put his mind on those meaningless things. This matter also affected everyone's mood too much, and Chen Kemai took a step and strode to keep up with the speed of the march. Battles will break out at any time, and the curtain will officially open to determine the future fate of Anhui. Chen Ke raised his head again, and the outline of Anqing City in the twilight was already quite clear.

Far ahead, gunshots rang out!

The whole unit was as if people had applied the immobilization method, and everyone was stunned. Then another shot, another shot. Everyone was accustomed to hearing the sound of gunfire. It can probably be judged that it is near the east gate of Anqing City.

"Run forward!" All the commanders shouted the same voice. With the order, the rumbling sound that would only form when thousands of people ran together became louder and louder, and soon became the loudest sound in the east of Anqing City.

Most of the victors of the war were the ones who were best able to grasp the war into the city. At least until now, the Qing army in Anqing had no expectations for war. Until the gunshots were remembered, many Qing soldiers still didn't know what was happening. From the evening, the Qing army at the head of the city saw the brigade of the People's Revolutionary Army in the distance. But they didn't feel threatened, because the team was too orderly. Since the Battle of the Heavenly Kingdom, Anqing has not experienced war for nearly half a century. Not even a civil uprising has taken place.

Small-scale civil rebels would never dare to attack Anqing, so that large and orderly army appeared on the horizon, and the soldiers at the head of Anqing City guessed that it was the troops of the imperial court. But why did the troops of the imperial court come to Anqing? Whose subordinates is this troop marching from east to west? The soldiers and officers at the head of the city were also confused. They even discussed for more than half an hour, and they didn't even think to report to their superiors. It wasn't until one of the battalion officers in charge of patrolling the city passed by that the problem continued. The battalion officer ordered a troop of ponies to be sent out of town to meet the group, and asked them which new army they were.

Then there was an exchange of fire, then the ponies were wiped out, and then the battalion officer knew the hostility of the opposing force. The gates were immediately closed, and the news was reported to the authorities. The most comical thing in the initial exchange of fire was that the reason why the battalion officer on duty in Anqing New Army carried out the correct order was 108,000 miles away from the correct one. The reason he did this was not that he had clearly recognized that the opposing force was his enemy. Instead, they thought that the opposite force was very likely to have something wrong with the new army in the city, and the imperial court sent troops to arrest some officials of the new army. Out of the instinct of a "military attaché" and not a soldier, this battalion officer gave the "correct" order. In his opinion, these people should not be allowed to rush in and arrest people under any circumstances.

Night fell, and in the sight of the battalion officer, the people under Anqing City had become more and more distinguishable, and they didn't know how long it was, when suddenly a burst of fire broke out from under the wall, followed by bright gunshots. Bullets struck patches of brick chips on the battlements of the city walls. Several of the soldiers who were guarding the battlement let out a scream and fell to the ground. Everyone at the head of the city subconsciously lay on the city wall. Some of the soldiers who were hit were not killed immediately, and their screams were particularly poignant in the night.

Enming was alarmed by the sound of firecrackers, and the Spring Festival was coming soon. The sound of firecrackers is not unusual, but this "firecracker sound" is particularly strange. Enming didn't pay much attention to it, and after a while, his own soldiers hurriedly came to report that a strange army had appeared outside the city, numbering more than a thousand. Enming was puzzled by this, he did not get the document at all, saying that such an army should pass through Anqing by land. Where did this army come from?

"My lord, I'm afraid that this is the rebellious army that Liu Shicheng said last time." The soldier said anxiously.

"Nonsense! Thousands, can they emerge from the ground? The spies had been released a few days ago, and I hadn't heard of any people gathering to make trouble around. Enming couldn't help but scold.

Theoretically speaking, Enming's judgment deduced according to the common sense of this era is correct. If it were a revolutionary party of this era, it would never have quietly formed a contingent of thousands of people and suddenly appeared near Anqing City. If they had this strength, these revolutionary parties would not have been able to remain unknown in the vicinity of Anqing.

Enming's own soldiers also felt that they might be too nervous and wanted to make meritorious contributions too much. He even reflected on whether he should be more restrained. Since the abolition of the imperial examination, the promotion of domestic servants has been much easier. When the old imperial examination existed, Enming could not create any good opportunities for domestic slaves. But now that the imperial examination has been abolished and the new school system has not yet been established, this is the best opportunity to use the power in your hands to install your own people at will. After this village, there is no such shop, and Enming's personal soldiers also want to use the opportunity of the new deal to earn themselves an official position. After all, he is a person from Prince Qing's mansion, and for this domestic slave who is proficient in officialdom, he firmly believes that even if it is an inconspicuous small official position, he can make a name for himself.

While both the master and servant were thinking about the future from their own standpoint, the new bulletin had arrived. The first notification was slow, not because someone was deliberately trying to interrupt the information. Instead, I want to inform the governor that I have to go through too many procedures and go through too many key cards. And the second one to report was a team officer, perhaps because someone had already gone in to report, and the governor's yamen had paid enough attention, or perhaps it was the strange sound of "firecrackers" that kept sounding outside the city that had effectively improved the efficiency of the governor's yamen notification system. In short, when this team officer stumbled in to report that a chaotic party was attacking Anqing City, Enming finally believed that there was indeed a chaotic party coming.

"Invite Yu Dahong, the commander of the new army." Eun Ming shouted almost tremblingly.

Almost at the same time, on the riverside about five miles west of Anqing City, a troop jumped out of the boat, and the troops did not rest at all, and immediately began to reorganize the ranks.

The People's Revolutionary Army that attacked Anqing this time had a total of 3,000 people and was organized into three teams. In addition to military hospitals and logistics units, each team is close to 900 people. Hua Xiongmao, Chai Qingguo, and Zhang Yu each led a team. Chen Ke did not leave any reserves at all. Before the war, Chen Ke had already made it clear that the command headquarters and the guard company were reserves. Which army couldn't withstand it, Chen Ke personally led the team. Truth be told, all three commanders agreed with this all-out attack, but none of the commanders of the three teams wanted to be the target of their "support". This distribution method, in a sense, is to pull out the three giants of the generals, and whoever fights well in this battle means that whoever can have a higher prestige. If Chen Ke, chairman of the Central Military Commission, is asked to personally bring the guard company to "reinforcements", then there is no need to even think about the end.

The people responsible for attacking the west of the city were Chai Qingguo and Pu Guanshui. At the meeting of the Military Commission, Chen Ke made it clear. The horse artillery battalion, especially the artillery battalion, to the west of the city had to be dealt with. The artillery battalion of the Anqing New Army did not reserve artillery shells, and the shells were all in the arsenal in the city. Once the artillery battalion entered Anqing City, the plan to attack Anqing could basically be considered a failure. The BJP troops were not trained in artillery warfare, and it was a nightmare to have an artillery battle with the enemy during a siege war. Therefore, Chai Qingguo, who acted most decisively, received this task with Pu Guanshui, who was familiar with the Anhui New Army. Because in the People's Party's troops, Chai Qingguo and Pu Guanshui are people who have seen artillery. And Chai Qingguo even experienced the taste of being bombarded by artillery.

As soon as the troops were reorganized, Chai Qingguo strode to the front of the team and shouted: "My old Chai is in charge of the military, and I won't talk about military and political affairs." If everyone dies here, their families will naturally have our people's party to live and bury them. What I want to say is that whoever wants to say that he is not afraid of death, then my old chai is the first to believe it. I have fought with Beiyang and foreign devils. I'm also telling you that I lost at that time. Thousands of brothers died around. How did my old Chai come back to life, I told everyone a long time ago that I am not afraid of death, but I don't think about death at all. In a war, the only way to not die is to destroy the enemy on the other side. Then fight and kill the enemy as you have given to you on a daily basis. ”

The impassioned and generous voice was heard far away, and the 900 soldiers could hear it clearly. Everyone has at least three or more experience breaking the fence, and they are not new recruits. Now that we are going to hit a city as big as Anqing, everyone's breathing has become rapid. And Chai Qingguo talked about death straightforwardly, which stimulated everyone's nerves.

"Our task is to destroy the horse infantry battalion of the Anhui New Army, and we must not let those cannons enter the city. The Anqing New Army is not prepared at all now, and their camp is not as strong as the landlord's old wealth. Everyone has fought so many battles, and standing still is a target for others, and they will definitely die. Everyone fights in and fights, and if you rush forward, you may die, and if you run backwards, you will definitely die. I, Lao Chai will never let the eggless deserter survive. But after we kill the enemy and make them surrender, everyone will never die. If you don't want to die, rush forward. Do you hear that? ”

"I heard you!" The fighters shouted subconsciously.

Chai Qingguo is a fierce general, and he never hides behind when he fights the fence. Of course, it must be noted that the party members and cadres of the People's Party have never hid behind the soldiers. In such an environment, it is not easy to be called a fierce general. This is not unrelated to Chai Qingguo's strict implementation of battlefield discipline.

Now that the fierce general has spoken, the troops know that this is no joke. Just looking at the high walls of Anqing City, everyone also understood what kind of hard battle they were facing.

"Now! Let's go! After Chai Qingguo roared, he took the lead towards the destination, and the horse infantry battalion of the Anhui New Army began to advance.