The order of battle for the second attack on Anqing included the division headquarters of the 104th Division, two regiments, and the division artillery regiment. Half a year ago, everyone had traveled by land from Anqing back to Fengtai County, and this march chose the same route as last time. The long marching column threaded through the foothills of the Dabie Mountains. The summer scenery was very beautiful; the blue sky, white clouds, mountain forests, and cool breezes made everything feel very pleasant.

However, the grassroots cadres of the Fourth Regiment had no mind to look at the scenery. The Fourth Regiment was a new unit, and soldiers who had enlisted no more than two months ago were everywhere. Compared with the veteran units, the basic military training of these new comrades was very inadequate. "Lift your legs when walking! Don't drag your feet, lift your legs!" The grassroots cadres had to correct the basic marching movements of the comrades.

Long-distance raids placed the greatest emphasis on scientific marching: how to most effectively allocate stamina, and how to adopt the most effective movements. This was all science. When Chen Ke was in the 21st century, he enjoyed hiking and had specifically asked for advice from many experts, especially military experts. The PLA in history was known as "Iron Soles." This wasn't to say those revolutionary predecessors were genetically modified humans, but rather that they had accumulated tremendous marching knowledge through long-term military struggles. This knowledge derived from practice was unreservedly passed on to the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army of 1907.

Lifting the legs to walk seemed very tiring, but in reality, most of the movement was borne by the muscles, and the wear and tear on the joints was precisely much less than walking by dragging the legs. When dragging the legs, most of the shock was borne by the joints. Incorrect marching posture over a long time was not only inefficient and easily fatiguing, but more importantly, it was very harmful to the body. There was a very famous saying in the 21st century: "Attitude determines everything." Chen Ke naturally put this saying to use. Doing anything required a progressive attitude. Marching using the strength of the thighs made the posture look full of vitality. Chen Ke felt this was perhaps a manifestation of an "upward attitude."

As the Regiment Commander, Mao Taiping could not personally go up to criticize the soldiers. The army emphasized not "skipping levels" the most. This "skipping levels" didn't just mean subordinates couldn't skip levels to report; superiors normally also couldn't "skip levels" to command subordinate units. So regarding the command of the low and mid-level officers, Mao Taiping merely watched and listened; he himself didn't say a word about the soldiers' performance.

Not making a sound didn't mean he had no thoughts. Mao Taiping was also observing his own troops. Which soldiers had better mastered military knowledge and skills? One couldn't grasp the actual situation of this stuff just by listening to reports, and watching drills wasn't necessarily useful either. As the saying goes, "The layman watches the scene, the expert watches the method." The so-called "method" was precisely most truly reflected in this seemingly boring marching.

After looking at many units, Mao Taiping finally gave up on the idea of selecting special talents from the ranks. No matter how he looked at it, the level of the veteran units far exceeded that of the new units. The marching movements of the veteran units were always the most standard, and their marching attitude was also the most correct. Chen Ke had repeatedly emphasized in the military academy, "A genius's first cry will absolutely not be a good poem." If training was insufficient, everything was in vain.

The gap between the veteran units and new units within the Fourth Regiment was obvious. The First Regiment marching together with them was entirely a veteran unit. Most of them had participated in the previous Battle of Anqing, so in the performance of basic military skills, the First Regiment was a cut above. When quite a few soldiers of the Fourth Regiment were already gasping for breath from exhaustion, the soldiers of the First Regiment still had plenty of energy to spare while marching.

"After this Battle of Anqing ends, we must definitely increase training in the regiment." Looking at the two units with drastically different performances, Mao Taiping made up his mind.

Comparison spells death for people, just as comparison spells the trash heap for goods. While Mao Taiping was full of self-reflection, there was another group of people in the column setting out for Anqing who were even less adept at marching than the soldiers of the Fourth Regiment. They were the guide unit sent by the Yue Wang Hui. As soon as the Battle of Hefei ended, the "liaison officers" of the Yue Wang Hui in the People's Party troops immediately brought the news of the total annihilation of the Hubei New Army back to the Yue Wang Hui. Those who had remained until now were all backbone members of the Yue Wang Hui. They couldn't believe the People's Party had wiped out the Hubei New Army in just two days. And clever fellows like Chang Hengfang had already thought that the People's Party's next target would be Anqing. They immediately sent people to recommend themselves to Chen Ke, requesting to act as guides.

Reasonably speaking, these people were the elites picked from the remaining three hundred or so members of the Yue Wang Hui. As a result, the guides took only half a day to get dumped from the front of the main force to the very tail of the column. It wasn't that these people didn't try hard; in the beginning, they were also high-spirited. But in order to maintain marching speed, the Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army rested at fixed times. The people from the Yue Wang Hui could still hold on for the first few hours, but by the afternoon, their legs felt as if filled with lead as they walked, and they couldn't move them anymore. Watching squad after squad of Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army soldiers overtake them, their small team unknowingly went from the head of the marching column to the end. The more anxious they were, the slower they walked. At the very beginning, they had secretly laughed at the People's Party for resting too much, but later they discovered that no matter how much they rested, they couldn't recover.

Shi Dekuan counted as someone who could walk very well among them. The reason he was left at the very end was because he had to maintain team unity with his Yue Wang Hui companions. With such a long column, one could be separated if not careful. Seeing that his companions really couldn't walk anymore, Shi Dekuan hurriedly grabbed a People's Party soldier walking on the outside of the column. This soldier's shoulder insignia was Second Lieutenant; he should be a platoon leader. Shi Dekuan asked, "Comrade, when do we rest?"

"Another twenty *li*," the platoon leader said. Looking at the swaying and crooked team behind Shi Dekuan, the platoon leader couldn't help but advise, "You guys should support each other a bit too. Those with strength should help others more. Otherwise, everyone will get left behind." Just after saying these few sentences, the platoon leader found that he had already fallen from the front of his platoon to the back. He hurriedly said, "Support each other, that's right." After speaking, this platoon leader broke into a trot and rushed back to the lead position of his own unit.

Shi Dekuan agreed very much with this platoon leader's words, yet he didn't dare say this to the group of Yue Wang Hui comrades behind him. In the Yue Wang Hui with only three hundred or so people left today, there were more officers than soldiers. He, a "monitor," was far from being able to issue orders to his own comrades. Shi Dekuan's gaze couldn't help but fall on Chen Duxiu, the highest commander of this guide mission.

Chen Duxiu was also panting heavily, but his spirit was better than the other comrades. Hearing the platoon leader's words, Chen Duxiu hurriedly said, "Let's everyone support each other." The Yue Wang Hui crowd all felt these words were good, and they gathered together and extended their hands to each other. Then they started staring awkwardly at each other. Who supported whom was a very realistic problem. A very strange thing appeared here: those who wanted to go support others were mostly carrying more personal luggage and looked more exhausted. While those waiting for people to support them were mostly walking empty-handed and looked in not bad spirits.

If it were before, the Yue Wang Hui themselves wouldn't have paid too much attention to this practice. But when marching together with the People's Party, everyone in the People's Party carried a marching pack. Those not carrying packs were all officers with rank, and these officers ran back and forth in the column, busy like frolicking dogs. They obviously didn't need people to support them. Chen Duxiu had walked such a long way, and his complexion was originally very rosy. Seeing his own comrades behave like this, his face instantly turned from rosy to purple-red. Not long after, Chen Duxiu's whole body suddenly went limp, as if he was about to collapse. The Yue Wang Hui people immediately went up to support Chen Duxiu to sit down.

Chen Duxiu rested for quite a while before catching his breath. He raised his head, his gaze first stern, but soon the sternness turned into sorrow. The Yue Wang Hui crowd had all participated in the march; they knew exactly what Chen Duxiu's attitude meant. Quite a few people lowered their heads in shame.

"Comrades, the People's Party is revolution, we are also revolution. Why can't we compare to the People's Party? Everyone knows now, right?" Chen Duxiu's voice was trembling when he spoke. Shi Dekuan even suspected that Chen Duxiu might just cry next. Anyway, every time he compared the People's Party with the Yue Wang Hui, Shi Dekuan always wanted to cry from depression. Chen Duxiu wasn't as fragile as Shi Dekuan thought. If not for Chen Duxiu himself being immersed in the emotion of shame, he would want to fly into a rage right now. Shi Dekuan looked at the other cadres again: Bo Wenwei, Chang Hengfang, Xiong Chengji. These people likewise had faces like dead ashes, a look of disheartened despair.

With the People's Party retaking Anqing this time, although quite a few people in the Yue Wang Hui wanted to let the Yue Wang Hui take charge of Anqing again, at any rate, these people weren't that shameless. They had been utterly defeated in Anqing last time, and none of them wanted to repeat the same mistake. Chen Duxiu, however, showed the demeanor of a leader; he actively proposed organizing a "Guide Team." If the Yue Wang Hui didn't go to Anqing this time and huddled up in Hefei, then the Yue Wang Hui would absolutely have no future. If they did nothing, the Yue Wang Hui wouldn't even have an excuse to return to Anqing.

Chen Ke very generously agreed to the Yue Wang Hui's request. The Yue Wang Hui crowd all carried weapons when setting out this time. their own plan was to perform well in battle and prove themselves. Chang Hengfang, Xiong Chengji, and others had all expressed that even if they died in Anqing this time, they couldn't lose face for the Yue Wang Hui again. In their hearts, these people actually had a kind of "the wind soughs and the water of the Yi River is cold" sentiment. Their plan was to charge at the front, not fearing even sacrifice. If they sacrificed themselves, it might instead win some grounds for the Yue Wang Hui to share power in Anqing.

The tragic and heroic mood of these people was beyond reproach, but today's march had already plainly displayed a result: the Yue Wang Hui's marching ability was too poor. According to the current situation, by the time these people from the Yue Wang Hui arrived in Anqing, the People's Party's battle would probably be over. The people of the Yue Wang Hui hadn't reached the level of shamelessness where they did nothing themselves and then demanded Anqing from the People's Party with empty words. Achieving "viewing death as a return home" was already not easy, but when the mindset of "viewing death as a return home" met the fact of "seeking death but being unable to," it was no wonder Chen Duxiu and the Yue Wang Hui senior cadres all had pale faces.

The Yue Wang Hui people didn't know what else could be said at this moment. Everyone felt that saying anything would only add more humiliation to themselves. But sitting here wasn't a solution either. The People's Party's troops didn't stop for a step; the marching speed of each unit was not much different from when they first set out. Everyone's pace was steady and brisk, and the column passed by the Yue Wang Hui "Guide Team," which had stopped in place, in an orderly manner like a winding long dragon. Every People's Party officer and soldier was fully focused on marching, not even looking at the Yue Wang Hui people by the roadside. This attitude bordering on indifference made the Yue Wang Hui crowd even more ashamed.

"Why have we ended up like this?" Chen Duxiu said a sentence. This was actually not questioning the comrades, but questioning himself.

At this point, Shi Dekuan didn't care about that much anymore. He said bluntly, "Because the People's Party has practiced. In the few days I've been with the People's Party, I asked about quite a few things. The People's Party wasn't born knowing how; they told me that everything they do is just something they practiced long ago. Any small matter that looks insignificant, they have practiced hundreds of times."

Shi Dekuan's status wasn't high. If he didn't want to bury his head in the ground from shame right now, he wouldn't have spoken so bluntly.

Chang Hengfang had always been a hardliner; he was most unwilling to bow his head to the People's Party. Hearing Shi Dekuan's words, he didn't retort sarcastically like usual, but said with a sobbing tone, "Then how does the People's Party know what should be practiced? There are so many things that can be done in the world; how come the things they practice are all useful? And everything we do is useless?"

No one took up this sentence. If an explanation had to be given, it could only be said that the People's Party's leader Chen Ke commanded well. Although this was the fact, no one was willing to refute Chen Duxiu's face to his face.

"It is I who delayed everyone," Chen Duxiu took over the conversation.

Chang Hengfang knew he had said the wrong thing. He hurriedly said, "Commander, I didn't mean that."

Chen Duxiu stood up and held the shame-faced and annoyed Chang Hengfang, "No, Hengfang, your words were correct. I also don't deserve to be called any Commander. A battalion of the People's Party has over a thousand men, and they only dare to call themselves Battalion Commander. We only have three hundred or so people, and if I call myself Commander again, that would be too unappreciative of the situation."

Chen Duxiu was a famous talent in Anhui, and everyone had always respected him. Hearing Chen Duxiu being so depressed, Chang Hengfang wished he could slap himself twice. Why did his mouth have no gate like this?

Chen Duxiu scanned the crowd, then let out a sigh of relief as if putting down a thousand-jin burden, "Everyone shouldn't think so much either. If we can't walk anymore, then let's rest first. Hengfang, take some people and distribute the luggage to everyone. Let's not want the useless luggage for now. Everyone carry guns and dry rations. Let's learn from the People's Party's way, stride out and walk. Rest when tired, and continue walking when the leg muscles relax. Even if we can't lead the way, we can't let people dump us at the very end to eat dust."

At a time like this when people's minds were wavering, if Chen Duxiu quit and started feeling sorry for himself, then this team would immediately fall apart. Instead, at this critical moment, Chen Duxiu showed the appearance of a leader.

Chang Hengfang didn't say much and immediately began to distribute luggage.

By the time the Yue Wang Hui regrouped, the main column of the People's Party had already passed, and the supply carts remaining at the rear came over. Chang Hengfang didn't want to waste things either. He packed the luggage the Yue Wang Hui crowd didn't need into several large bundles and forcefully stuffed them onto the carts. How could the commander of the logistics unit dare to let them casually stuff things onto the important supply carts? But the logistics unit commander also knew that these guys walking with them were people from the Yue Wang Hui. Then he heard Chang Hengfang say with a look of burning one's boats: "We're giving the stuff to you. If you don't want it, just throw it away."

People in the logistics department all had to deal with people. The commander knew this bunch couldn't carry these things anymore. He took out a pencil and wrote a receipt. Chang Hengfang resolutely refused the receipt, so the commander came over directly and asked, "Who is the commander of the Yue Wang Hui?"

Chen Duxiu answered hurriedly, "I am."

The commander handed the receipt to Chen Duxiu, "We can transport the luggage for you, but keep the receipt safe. After arriving in Anqing, you still have to use this receipt to get the things back. Everyone is cooperating, so please don't make it difficult for us. You must come to us to pick up the luggage after arriving in Anqing. Our Workers' and Peasants' Revolutionary Army has a system; if no one takes these extra things, I will be held responsible."

Chen Duxiu hurriedly expressed his thanks. The commander didn't say much either; after saying goodbye, he immediately returned to his own unit.

Bo Wenwei knew why Chang Hengfang was unhappy. Chang Hengfang didn't want to owe the People's Party a favor. If they didn't want the things, the Yue Wang Hui and the People's Party would be even. But if they took the receipt, this favor would be a big matter.

Watching the retreating figure of the logistics unit commander, Chen Duxiu sighed, "I have only read about troops with such strict discipline and soldiers so reasonable in books when I was studying."

Shi Dekuan had always respected Chen Duxiu very much. Hearing this, he asked, "Commander, what is special about this kind of person?"

"Dekuan, in charge of supplies is the place most prone to embezzlement. Even if the supplies are enough, those in charge of supplies usually say there aren't enough supplies. Where is there anyone afraid of having extra supplies? If he worries about being held responsible for extra things, that means the People's Party's discipline is strict to the point where orders are executed and prohibitions are obeyed. And under such strict discipline, everyone usually prefers to do one less thing than one more. Even throwing our luggage away directly would be common. Yet that person gave us a receipt; it seems he is very considerate of our difficulties. Such a person is reasonable; I really haven't seen one before. If we go by what Confucius said, this person is simply a gentleman (*junzi*)."

Shi Dekuan was young and hadn't seen many people, and most of those he associated with were those who called themselves heroes of the *jianghu*. For *jianghu* heroes, as long as they talked about "righteousness," they should act like this. Shi Dekuan didn't feel that owing the People's Party a favor was that big of a deal; on the contrary, that receipt made him feel it was a bit superfluous. That Chen Duxiu praised this People's Party commander so highly really made Shi Dekuan feel very puzzled.

But with the luggage settled, everyone also reorganized their mood. The Yue Wang Hui crowd continued the march. Along the way, everyone held a breath in their hearts. At this time, it was no longer to die heroically, but for a more realistic purpose: to be able to keep up with the People's Party's column and rush to Anqing City together. No one in the current Yue Wang Hui team wanted to let others exert effort for them anymore; each and every one of them hurried on with their whole heart and mind. With no distracting thoughts in their hearts, their footsteps seemed to become lighter. When resting at night, they followed at the end of the infantry battalion and actually hadn't fallen behind.