Late at night in winter, fog gradually rose on the Huai River, and the originally clear vision gradually became blurred. A string of bright signal lights hung on every ship of the Water Detachment. Under the shroud of fog, they originally looked like a string of beautiful colored pearls, but as the fog became thicker and thicker, the lights nearby gradually became hazy, and some lights in the distance had already disappeared into the fog.

Zhang Yu stood quietly at the bow of his command ship, gazing at the lights. If it were daytime now, what he could see would be a shocking fleet. The main fleet was composed of a full 120 large ships, including captured official ships. When such a large fleet marched in good order on the Huai River, perhaps only Yan Fu alone could maintain his usual calm, and perhaps Chen Ke could also be counted as a person who was not surprised. Except for these two people, including Zhang Yu, the commander of the Water Detachment, all cadres and soldiers participating in this operation felt a shock. It was no exaggeration to say that such a huge fleet had never appeared on the Huai River in a hundred years.

The fleet stretched out of sight, even with telescopes. Every ship was full of personnel and materials, and the waterline was pressed extremely low. This war exhausted the military strength and material reserves of the base area. As a member of the Military Commission, Zhang Yu knew very well that everything in front of him was all the strength of the base area capable of long-distance marching and fighting. Not only these 3,500 soldiers, but materials enough for the troops to operate outside for a month and a half included 200,000 jin of grain. Various weapons and ammunition and siege equipment filled the fleet. Even sufficient grain could not be completely transported with the ships.

Zhang Yu knew very clearly that regardless of whether the Battle of Anqing could be won, within the following half year, unless the People's Revolutionary Army obtained other channels of grain supply, relying only on its own reserves, the Revolutionary Army troops could only fight in Fengyang Prefecture and surrounding areas.

Among the 3,500 soldiers, 3,000 were prepared to engage in combat. 1,500 soldiers had various rifles. The remaining soldiers were only equipped with spears and broadswords. There were also 500 non-combat personnel including boatmen and civilian staff. In a critical moment, they could also engage in combat. But no one hoped to see such a situation. If this group of people also engaged in combat, regardless of whether the battle could be won in the end, it meant that the People's Party's expedition had exhausted all its elites.

Zhang Yu withdrew his gaze from looking into the distance. Night navigation is a very dangerous thing: unclear vision, unknowable water route changes, and various other problems that might be encountered suddenly in practice. Even if the Water Detachment had sufficient marching experience, without the many naval knowledge and skills taught to everyone by Yan Fu, the principal of the Beiyang Naval Academy, night navigation of such a large fleet would be impossible. Now Yan Fu was on night duty; he commanded the logistics and pathfinding team located at the very front of the fleet, designating speed and routes for the subsequent fleet. Yan Fu was already 53 years old this year. Such an old man who should reasonably be over half a hundred years old had physical strength and perseverance that even Zhang Yu had to marvel at, commanding all night on the hardest lead fleet.

On the twelfth ship behind Zhang Yu, the command headquarters of this Anqing campaign was carried. Several founders of the People's Revolutionary Army were all on that ship. Chen Ke, Hua Xiongmao, He Zudao, Chai Qingguo, etc., all personally participated in this campaign. Even Shang Yuan, Chen Tianhua, and a batch of non-military party members volunteered to participate in the battle. For the Battle of Anqing, troops capable of fighting came out in full strength. The river wind was very cold; Zhang Yu touched the tightly buttoned collar hook, having no more ways to resist the cold air. But he didn't want to go back to the cabin to escape the cold either. He originally thought that for the Battle of Anqing, at most Hua Xiongmao and He Zudao would lead the team, but he never expected Chen Ke to lead the team personally. And so many party members also volunteered to fight.

When the critical moment comes, it will be my turn to lead the team to charge up, right? Such a thought popped up in Zhang Yu's mind. What surprised Zhang Yu himself was that he had not the slightest fear of such a result. Of course, there was no excitement either. This thought concerning his own life and death was quickly thrown to the back of his mind. Zhang Yu even closed his eyes and began to constantly recall the tactics determined at the military meeting in his mind. The cold wind scraped on the military uniform; the cold air penetrating through the seams of the cloth made Zhang Yu feel waves of coldness. But thinking about tactics in his mind, Zhang Yu gradually couldn't even feel the cold. Not knowing how much time passed, until the signal light passed a new instruction and the sailors moved the rudder causing the hull to shake—only then was Zhang Yu's train of thought interrupted.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Yu asked subconsciously.

"Almost at Hongze Lake; the waterway conditions have changed a bit," the signalman answered immediately. While speaking, the signalman couldn't help rubbing his hands. The river surface in winter was really too cold, and with Zhang Yu standing at the bow, the signalman dared not go back to the cabin to escape the cold. Now the troop uniforms were not thick, and there was no equipment like gloves; standing for so long froze the signalman badly.

Zhang Yu wanted to see the movements of other ships, but the fog was too thick; except for a few ships in front and behind, nothing could be seen clearly. He didn't waste time either; he chose straightforwardly to go back to the cabin to sleep for a while. Zhang Yu was responsible for the fleet operation during the day.

After dawn, the fleet traveled for another section and arrived at a supply point. The troop movement route this time was to follow the Huai River into Hongze Lake. Then enter the Sanhe [Three Rivers], then from Sanhe enter Gaoyou Lake, pass through Yangzhou, and enter the Yangtze River water system. Then go upstream, passing Nanjing, to arrive at Wuhu. From Shouzhou to the Hongze Lake area, it was completely controlled by the People's Party. Reaching the exit of Sanhe and Hongze Lake, they would completely leave the sphere of influence of the People's Party. The People's Party had never used such a large fleet before. This Battle of Anqing was actually a genuine great expedition. When setting out, they could still take the water route; after the Battle of Anqing ended, regardless of victory or defeat, the troops would have to take the land route back to the base area. The fleet would return before the battle started.

This put heavy pressure on logistics. The troops prepared multiple supply points between the base area and Sanhe in advance, allowing the troops to consume as little of the food they carried as possible before entering Gaoyou Lake.

If the troops stayed on the ship all the time, it would consume combat effectiveness greatly. At least when eating, the troops still got off the ship as much as possible to stretch their muscles and bones.

The senior cadres of the People's Party had always eaten, lived, and worked together with the grassroots; officers and soldiers were very familiar with each other from top to bottom. Chen Ke's time at the grassroots was not short either; even if Chen Ke's title had changed from Brigade Commander Chen to Secretary Chen now, quite a few soldiers didn't understand what difference there was between these two official positions. Everyone felt it was enough to know that the beloved Brigade Commander Chen Ke was the biggest official in the base area.

So when Chen Ke queued up with comrades to get food, the soldiers were not surprised at all. Many soldiers came to Hongze Lake for the first time; looking at this strange wild land and the endless lake surface, they were all chattering.

"Brigade Commander Chen, when can we arrive at Anqing?" a soldier asked.

"Still have to wait a few days," Chen Ke said very vaguely.

"Who is bigger, Anqing or Fengyang Prefecture?" the soldier continued to ask.

Someone interrupted immediately, "Anqing is definitely bigger than Fengyang Prefecture. Didn't the commissar say so?"

Chen Ke laughed: "The commissars are right; Anqing is bigger than Fengyang Prefecture."

While queuing to get food, Chen Ke listened to the soldiers' gossip. Although he wanted to be at the grassroots more, Chen Ke really didn't have time and energy now. Whenever there was time, Chen Ke still liked to contact soldiers more. Anhui had always been known for its tough folk customs; Chen Ke originally thought he would encounter an unreasonable place like bandits. But after really arriving in Fengtai County, he found he was wrong. The so-called tough folk customs were more manifested in daring to speak and do, and talking about loyalty verbally. They didn't cooperate much with the government either. But in actual action, the characteristic of seeking quick success and instant benefits peculiar to small peasants was vividly reflected; everything had to honor benefits immediately. There was a kind of pursuit of "for the sake of loyalty," you have to take out all your property to share with brothers.

On the other hand, this atmosphere formed a firm obedience to absolute violence. The People's Party had extremely strict discipline; persuasion and education were persuasion and education, but persuasion and education didn't mean letting things drift. If it was a problem caused by living habits, then persuasion, education, criticism, and self-criticism could be used. For malicious violations of military discipline, the troops were never tolerant. Those who should be locked up were locked up; those who should be killed were killed.

The rations and treatment promised by the People's Party and the troops were always strictly honored. Discipline was also repeatedly emphasized. Under such circumstances, not many problems were encountered in the troops. The Party led everyone to seek survival and life; if there were still people opposing, it would be too strange.

So mentioning fighting, the troop political work system had quite a headache during this mobilization. How exactly to state the strategic significance of fighting Anqing in words everyone could understand? Quite a few soldiers hadn't even heard the name Anqing, let alone having any geographical concept of the Yangtze River. As for the strategic significance of fighting Anqing, the impact on China, the impact on the revolution—the soldiers had no concept at all. Let alone soldiers, many senior cadres felt this campaign was really too dangerous. If not for Chen Ke's absolute prestige and sufficient analysis, everyone couldn't imagine going thousands of miles away to fight Anqing either.

Since it was so, how to make soldiers understand the significance of fighting Anqing really made the commissars rack their brains. Various slogans that couldn't justify themselves and were very far-fetched came out one after another; even "Take Anqing, eat meat openly," such a politically incorrect statement appeared. Finally, everyone's opinion was unified into "Fight the tiger, then fight the rats."

Anqing being the ruling center of the Manchu Qing in Anhui, if even Anqing could be taken, other places were even less worth mentioning. In the pre-war mobilization, He Zudao said passionately: "People say the tiger's butt can't be touched. But Anqing is not a real tiger at all; they are just a paper tiger. regarding this paper tiger, we insist on touching it. Not only touch, we also want to beat it, beat this paper tiger to death. Once this paper tiger is beaten to death, the governments in other places are just rats. No one dares to come and bully our common people anymore."

It seemed the commissars indeed did their work. During the entire meal, Chen Ke didn't see any fear of war in the troops. The soldiers participating in the expedition this time had all fought battles and experienced life and death tests to a certain extent; this was certainly one reason. But regarding this attitude of the whole army, Chen Ke suspected it had something to do with "tough folk customs."

After eating, the troops conducted brief recovery training, and then boarded the ships to continue this expedition. By the afternoon of the next day at the latest, the troops would completely enter the "enemy-occupied area." At that time, the work of opening the road would depend entirely on Pu Guanshui's official ship to keep up appearances.

On February 1, 1907, the fleet arrived at the first military target, Chizhou Prefecture. The tried-and-tested drama of "New Army Vice Commander Pu's visit" was staged again without any problems. With the official-standard system plus backward communication means, the Prefect of Chizhou simply didn't know bad luck had befallen. He politely received the New Army commander. Before everyone's buttocks were warm on the stools in the official hall, the sound of shouting and killing rang out outside. The Prefect of Chizhou was full of astonishment, while Pu Guanshui pulled out his pistol to force the Lord Prefect. The battle ended in less than two hours from beginning to end. All yamen of Chizhou Prefecture were breached. Almost no officials, big or small, escaped the net.

Chen Ke didn't follow Pu Guanshui into the city. He met Tao Chengzhang again by the river, whom he hadn't seen for more than a year. The two hadn't met many times originally, so naturally there was no friendship to speak of. Even if it was a cooperative relationship, Chen Ke could only say he was using Tao Chengzhang. As for Tao Chengzhang wanting to use Chen Ke, even if Chen Ke knew it clearly, he didn't care at all.

"Mr. Tao, long time no see." Chen Ke extended his hand generously.

"Mr. Wen Qing is truly a hero." Tao Chengzhang couldn't think of any other polite words either, so he could only say while shaking hands warmly with Chen Ke.

Chen Ke didn't have time to exchange empty pleasantries with Tao Chengzhang. He asked straightforwardly: "Mr. Tao, after taking Chizhou in a while, will you stay in Chizhou, or cross the river with us?"

Tao Chengzhang had also brought three hundred people and was lurking in Chizhou. A few days ago, Tao Chengzhang got the news that the main force of the People's Party was arriving. He didn't expect the People's Party to come so fast, nor did he expect the People's Party not to anchor in Wuhu at all, but let him take people to "take over" Chizhou. The change in plan was annoying, but Chizhou was a prefecture city after all. Let alone taking a prefecture city, the Guangfuhui hadn't even taken a county town. No matter how dissatisfied he was in his heart, Tao Chengzhang still took the Guangfuhui comrades and traveled day and night to Chizhou.

He originally thought the People's Party would still ask the Guangfuhui for help, but who knew the People's Party didn't mean that at all. They went to attack Chizhou city themselves. Now that Chen Ke said this, Tao Chengzhang fell into a dilemma. In his thinking, after Chen Ke attacked Chizhou, he would definitely rest for a while. Both sides would inevitably haggle. Unexpectedly, Chen Ke meant to throw Chizhou down and leave. It was actually exactly the same as the prior agreement. Not only that, Chen Ke didn't ask Tao Chengzhang about the issue of insiders either. It was hard to say whether this attitude was magnanimous or arrogant.

Chen Ke had the qualification to be so arrogant, while Tao Chengzhang absolutely didn't have the capital to haggle with Chen Ke. Tao Chengzhang always felt loyalty was extremely important; Chen Ke could not give face, but Tao Chengzhang couldn't not stress loyalty. What's more, Chen Ke was going to attack Anqing; this Anqing Prefecture was the top priority this time. Seeing the huge fleet of the People's Party with his own eyes, there must be thousands of people at least. Tao Chengzhang only brought more than three hundred comrades. If Chen Ke turned hostile and didn't recognize people, relying on his few people, he couldn't compete with Chen Ke at all.

"Wen Qing, no need to be so anxious, right?" Tao Chengzhang advised.

Chen Ke was not moved at all. "Chizhou and Anqing are close at hand. Hitting under Anqing city a while earlier, Anqing's defense will be one point less. We can have fewer deaths. Since Mr. Tao has already brought the Guangfuhui comrades to Chizhou, what is there for me to worry about in handing Chizhou to you?"

Although these words were not wrong, Tao Chengzhang had been to Chizhou and knew that relying solely on his three hundred people was simply not enough to fully control Chizhou. Although he was full of joy before the war, feeling the revolutionary army should be invincible. When Chen Ke really threw Chizhou to Tao Chengzhang, Tao Chengzhang realized things were not like that at all. His three hundred people—let alone fully controlling the prefecture city of Chizhou Prefecture, even letting them defend against the Qing army's attack—three hundred people put on the city wall wouldn't play much role. If Chen Ke turned hostile, and three thousand people came over, three hundred people couldn't resist at all. He hurriedly advised: "Brother Wen Qing, let's talk after we take over Chizhou."