The shelling of Anqing's Yingjiang Temple by the Hubei Navy continued the next morning. While the navy shelled, Hubei New Army infantry finally appeared west of Anqing city. The Yue Wang Society cadres, who had originally vowed to "kill all" the New Army soldiers, were clearly divided into two factions.

Hearing that the Hubei New Army's land forces had joined the battle, a secret society leader asked with a look of nervousness and fear, "Can we beat the Hubei New Army?"

"What's so great about the Hubei New Army? Once they get under the city walls, we'll shoot them all down!" Others were bold and eager to try. These secret society members had never participated in combat and had no understanding of war. Surveying from the high city walls of Anqing always gave them a heroic mindset.

Unlike the secret societies, the regular troops of the Anqing Revolutionary Army, established with the New Army as the core, had war experience and knew that these city walls meant nothing. The commanders of these regular troops frowned and said nothing, clearly having their own worries.

"We have four or five thousand people, guns and cannons, and Anqing city. How could we not hold Anqing city? If the People's Party hadn't taken away so much equipment, we would have rushed out and killed all the Hubei guys." Some Yue Wang Society cadres continued to spread clichés. These words still received support from quite a few people.

"Exactly, what is there to be afraid of. We should go out of the city now to meet the Hubei New Army and see what they are capable of." Some secret society leaders even requested to attack proactively.

Seeing the attitude of these secret societies, Chen Duxiu couldn't help but feel the urge to fight a decisive battle with the Hubei New Army in Anqing. After nearly two months of "sit-ins" in Anqing, the enemy finally attacked. What the Yue Wang Society faced now was a test of the revolution! Although he was forced to admit "failure" to Lu Zhengping of the People's Party a few hours ago, that admission wavered and was even about to vanish after seeing the room full of "revolutionary comrades." Chen Duxiu felt that he had only admitted "failure" in a shaken state because he was in a bad mood at the time. Actually thinking about it, the Yue Wang Society had four or five thousand people. Even if the New Army had over ten thousand people, in a siege battle, the attacker having a two-to-one advantage wasn't really a big advantage. Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the New Army might not be as strong as the People's Party. Chen Duxiu began to list various reasons why it was possible to defeat the Hubei New Army in his heart.

Just as Chen Duxiu began to fall into the fantasy of "revolutionary success" again, Qiu Jin was introducing Lu Zhengping and He Jinwu to Tao Chengzhang, who had come to welcome them at the gate of Chizhou city.

Last night, after Lu Zhengping finished explaining his views to Chen Duxiu, he bid farewell to Chen Duxiu. This had been told to Chen Duxiu beforehand. The Hubei New Army had blockaded the river surface, so it wasn't easy to cross the river during the day. Therefore, Lu Zhengping and the others had to get up in the middle of the night to set off downstream from Anqing and then find an opportunity to cross the river. Chen Duxiu admired Lu Zhengping deeply at the time, so he simply had someone take Lu Zhengping to the water gate of Anqing to pick a boat. Lu Zhengping wasn't polite either; he went to wake up Qiu Jin with He Jinwu, then picked a small boat at the Anqing water gate. They set off under the cover of night. Both Lu Zhengping and He Jinwu came from the Water Detachment and had excellent boat-driving skills. They had also followed the fleet transporting steel and sailed on the Yangtze River during the Anqing Campaign. Although it was just a small boat, they traveled extremely fast and arrived in Chizhou in the morning.

Hearing Qiu Jin's introduction, Tao Chengzhang knew that Chen Ke had not been able to provide reinforcements. He didn't care too much about this matter. Chen Ke was far away in Fengyang Prefecture; it would be strange if he could provide a large number of troops. Hearing Qiu Jin talk about the hardships of the journey, Tao Chengzhang knew profoundly from his own experience what energy and willpower long-distance travel required. Looking at Lu Zhengping and He Jinwu in front of him, although they were travel-stained, they didn't look exhausted at all. His evaluation of these two people became extremely high in his heart.

After the group entered the city, they found Chizhou was similar to Anqing, but at least there were a few shops operating. The ground was also far less dirty and messy than Anqing. In the morning, people sweeping the streets could actually be seen. Although judging from their attire, they were still the people responsible for cleaning in Chizhou city before. But compared to the total failure of Anqing, Chizhou was still much better.

The group entered the Chizhou Prefecture Yamen. People were coming in and out of the Yamen, and there were not many people waiting in the hall. It seemed that the efficiency of the Restoration Society was better than that of the Yue Wang Society, and their airs were far less grand than the Yue Wang Society.

Not long after they took their seats, Xu Xilin hurried in from outside. Seeing Qiu Jin, he revealed a relieved smile, "Xuanqing, you're back!"

Qiu Jin also stood up hurriedly, "Bosun, I just arrived. Mr. Tao said you took people to check the enemy situation; you're back so soon?"

Hearing this, Xu Xilin's smile vanished instantly. He said to Tao Chengzhang, "Duke Tao, the Hubei New Army has set up checkpoints more than twenty *li* away from us. I saw they were checking very strictly, so I didn't continue forward."

"It doesn't matter. You can't speak the local Anhui dialect; going up rashly would be inappropriate instead." Tao Chengzhang didn't mind. "Since Bosun has also returned, our people are all here. Let's listen to what message Mr. Lu has brought from Wenqing."

After speaking, Tao Chengzhang looked at Lu Zhengping with piercing eyes.

Because the Restoration Society was a secret society from Zhejiang, no local Anhui secret societies came to defect. So there were not many people participating in this meeting, only seven. The crowd gathered around a square table, looking at the map Lu Zhengping took out. "Our Chairman Chen Ke suggests that the Restoration Society's best strategy against a strong enemy is to leave."

"Flee without fighting?" There was no emotion in Tao Chengzhang's voice. On the contrary, Xu Xilin looked up at Lu Zhengping after hearing this.

"Since you definitely can't win, why make meaningless sacrifices here?" Lu Zhengping said.

No one refuted, no one argued. The eyes of the Restoration Society leaders fell on Tao Chengzhang. Tao Chengzhang was silent for a while before saying, "After fighting Anqing, I finally understand that I am inferior to Wenqing in matters of fighting. For the past two months, we have only occupied this Chizhou city, and there has been no progress in mobilizing the revolution. The gentry shirk responsibility, and the common people don't believe us at all. Since Wenqing thinks we should withdraw, we might as well withdraw back to Zhejiang."

Xu Xilin hurriedly said, "Duke Tao, we have to fight at least a little bit. Returning to Zhejiang so gloomily, how can we explain to Mr. Cai Yuanpei? Moreover, Anqing is still there, and the Hubei New Army is unlikely to attack us mainly. Why should we flee first like this?"

Before Tao Chengzhang could speak, Lu Zhengping said, "Anqing cannot be held. I just came from Anqing; I can see without fighting that Anqing absolutely cannot be held."

"How long did you stay in Anqing?" Xu Xilin asked suspiciously.

"Less than a day."

"Can you know Anqing can't be held in such a short time?"

"There are no troops outside that must come to the rescue, and no city inside that must be defended. The Yue Wang Society only thinks about defending the city and has no idea of eliminating the Hubei New Army at all. Can they hold it just by blindly defending? It is no longer the days of broadswords, spears, bows, and arrows. After being equipped with new firearms like rifles and cannons, the advantage of the defending side has been greatly reduced. Not to mention that the defenders of Anqing are simply a mob."

Xu Xilin didn't know much about military affairs. Hearing Lu Zhengping say this, he was still skeptical, doubting more than believing. Tao Chengzhang took over the conversation decisively, "How long does Mr. Lu think Anqing can hold?"

"It will definitely fall within ten days."

"Why ten days?" Tao Chengzhang was puzzled by this accurate number.

"Because I don't know exactly how the combat power of the Hubei New Army is. But since it is a New Army, presumably they won't stop fighting after encountering a slight setback. Before I came this time, Chairman Chen Ke specifically counted the number of cannons and shells on the Anqing side. Once the fighting starts, Anqing's cannons can last at most five days. After five days, the shells will be used up. With the strength of that group in Anqing, they can't withstand two days of shelling on the city wall. Once the city wall is taken from them, morale will definitely be low. Failure is just a matter of one day. So I say they will definitely be defeated within ten days."

Lu Zhengping spoke with numbers, explaining the ongoing battle in Anqing in a quantified way. The people of the Restoration Society were skeptical after hearing it. Cadre Ping Zhichu, who was at the meeting, asked, "Fighting doesn't necessarily mean defending the city. If the Yue Wang Society adopts methods like night raids, they might not necessarily lose to the New Army, right?"

Regarding such an erroneous view that could already be considered "very common sense," Lu Zhengping felt that the Restoration Society's level was indeed much higher than that of the Yue Wang Society. He explained, "Definitely not. The New Army has much more various drills than the Yue Wang Society. Novices fighting experts will absolutely have no chance of winning. This is not a single combat where chaotic punches kill the old master. This is a large-scale battle of thousands or tens of thousands of people. Without strict training, victory is impossible."

Ping Zhichu was still skeptical of Lu Zhengping's words. He looked at Tao Chengzhang and saw Tao Chengzhang nodding slightly, obviously agreeing with Lu Zhengping's attitude. It was no longer convenient for Ping Zhichu to say more.

"Then how to retreat? Does Mr. Lu have any advice?"

"The route of retreat, the speed of retreat, and contingency plans for emergencies." Lu Zhengping said without hesitation. He pointed to the map, "How long do you prepare to retreat to where? This depends on how much material you can bring. This determines the speed of retreat..."

Lu Zhengping talked for half an hour before finishing the basic essentials of retreat. In fact, when Chen Ke taught this knowledge in the military academy, he used moving house as an example. At that time, Chen Ke used relaxed and happy words, and the students often couldn't help but roar with laughter. But since Lu Zhengping had fought so many battles, he couldn't help but mix in his own military experiences. It was the first time the Restoration Society people heard someone explain "military operations" relatively systematically. Even a seemingly simple retreat had so many tricks in it. Everyone was dumbfounded listening. In their view, retreat was fleeing in defeat. But they never expected that even fleeing had so much knowledge in it.

Tao Chengzhang was the first to recover. His eyes widened, and he said fervently, "Mr. Lu, can you stay in our Restoration Society? I want you to command this retreat."

Lu Zhengping didn't expect Tao Chengzhang to react so intensely. The People's Party's military operations were all formulated by staff officers, and Lu Zhengping was not a staff officer. He hurriedly declined, "I am also just talking on paper. I have never commanded a retreat operation myself."

Tao Chengzhang didn't care about Lu Zhengping's explanation at all. He said firmly, "Mr. Lu hasn't commanded a retreat, and we haven't commanded a retreat either. At least Mr. Lu has learned how to retreat. Did Wenqing send Mr. Lu here just to go through the motions?"

When Chen Ke sent Lu Zhengping, he only asked Lu Zhengping to act according to the circumstances and give the Restoration Society as much help as possible. Chen Ke actually thought the Restoration Society would very likely choose to stick to Chizhou. Unexpectedly, the Restoration Society could choose to retreat so decisively, which was beyond Lu Zhengping's expectations. He exchanged a glance with He Jinwu, who frowned slightly. After pondering for a while, He Jinwu asked, "We cannot retreat to Zhejiang with you."

"No need to go back to Zhejiang." Tao Chengzhang said, pointing to the map. "Just crossing Wuhu is enough. From Chizhou to Wuhu, there are many Manchu Qing garrisons along the way. As long as we pass Wuhu, we have comrades to meet us."

This was the truth. One of the reasons Tao Chengzhang could make up his mind to retreat so quickly was that the Qing army had cut off the connection between Zhejiang and Chizhou, making it difficult for supporting comrades from Zhejiang to reach Chizhou. He knew the Restoration Society was isolated and weak in Chizhou, so he made up his mind to retreat.

Hearing this, He Jinwu couldn't find a reason to oppose anymore. Before he and Lu Zhengping came, Chen Ke's instructions were that if the Restoration Society and the Yue Wang Society had no intention of cooperating at all, then the two could return directly to the base area. If these two revolutionary parties were genuinely willing to cooperate, especially if the Restoration Society was willing to cooperate, then give as much help as possible. Of course, the premise was that Lu Zhengping and He Jinwu couldn't get themselves killed. Looking at it now, the Restoration Society's intention to cooperate was extremely firm, and the two were only responsible for retreat matters, so it didn't violate Chen Ke's orders.

"Political Commissar Lu..." He Jinwu hinted.

Lu Zhengping nodded. "Then we will temporarily help everyone as assistants. If you feel we are not doing well, just say it directly. We will absolutely not delay your affairs."

Tao Chengzhang hurriedly responded, "What are you saying, Mr. Lu? Since we asked Mr. Lu to command, we will absolutely not disobey Mr. Lu's orders."