The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

Wang Youhong's arrival at the front, coupled with the deterrent effect of the supervisory team, had a significant effect. The soldiers, on the verge of collapse, once again stabilised their defenses and continued to engage the PLA. This was the nature of feudal armies. If incentives, rewards, and coaxing weren't enough, they resorted to killing and intimidation. Fear was also a means of maintaining rule. Isn't legal punishment meant to instill fear and deter crime?

Wang Youhong should never, ever have run to the front lines again, and certainly not to give orders when the PLA was about to capture the position. Seeing such a big fish, how could the PLA's sharpshooters hold back? They immediately made Wang Youhong their first target.

However, Wang Youhong also knew the range of the bullet, so he was relatively far behind. However, the PLA had already brought in a heavy sniper rifle specifically for this situation. How could Wang Youhong know that a sniper rifle beyond his imagination was aimed at him at this moment?

There was a loud bang. The bullet flew over a thousand meters, suddenly blasting a large hole in Wang Youhong's abdomen. His intestines were ripped apart and spilled out onto the ground, his internal organs faintly visible. A soldier from the supervisory team standing behind Wang Youhong was hit in the thigh, his entire leg instantly severed, only a sliver of skin still attached. He let out a horrific cry.

"Uh, uh, I... Qing Dynasty, my Qing Dynasty!"

Wang Youhong collapsed on the ground but was not dead yet. He could only look at his broken stomach and make weak sounds.

At this time, all the reactionaries who noticed Wang Youhong were stunned. Where had they seen such a powerful bullet? It could actually blow a person to pieces.

At this time, the heavy sniper rifle had ejected the shell, then reloaded and fired again. This time, the gun was aimed at a battalion commander. Unfortunately, the bullet missed him, but hit a piece of wood next to it. The whole piece of wood was penetrated, and debris flew everywhere.

When the battalion commander saw this situation, he was immediately frightened. Knowing that the Red Bandits had set their sights on him, he dared not continue to resist. He immediately bent over and ran away.

At this time, the People's Liberation Army immediately blew the charge horn, and the soldiers immediately jumped up. Everyone scattered everywhere, but it did not affect everyone's fierce charge and attack.

"Grenade, throw the bomb."

As the distance got closer, the PLA's grenades finally landed on the enemy's position, and immediately, a series of explosions were heard there.

"Don't stop, keep dropping bombs."

If a problem can be solved with a bomb, it must never be solved at the cost of human lives. Dropping one more bomb at this time may save a soldier.

"Comrades, follow me!"

Party members and cadres took the lead and immediately rushed out of the bunker and attacked the enemy position. If the enemy was still able to resist at this time, and the machine guns continued to fire at the PLA, it would inevitably cause considerable losses.

Unfortunately, the moment Wang Youhong, the backbone of the team, fell to the ground, without his supervision, all of Wang Youhong’s previous promises were worthless, and the outcome of this battle was basically doomed.

The People's Liberation Army rushed into the position, and the Beiyang Army in Tianbao City surrendered one after another. Only a few Manchu bannermen resisted stubbornly and retreated to the armory of Tianbao City, making a last-ditch effort with their sabers and bombs.

It turned out to be a deputy governor sent by Zhang Xun to supervise the battle, and he even wanted to ignite the gunpowder and send the armory skyward. Fortunately, he was discovered in time by the bannermen. Most of the Manchus were sane. If the armory was really blown up, not only would everyone be killed, but it would also inevitably provoke a strong desire for revenge among the People's Liberation Army.

In fact, many people already knew about the PLA's policy towards the Manchus. However, due to the information blockade of that era, before the PLA attacked Nanjing, the Manchus in Jiangning City were still panicked and at a loss despite the propaganda of some people with ulterior motives. A gloomy and depressing atmosphere enveloped the whole city. With a heavy haze in their hearts, the sound of the exploding shells made the Manchus tremble with fear. The bannermen all remembered the tragic scene when the Taiping Rebellion broke through Jiangning City fifty years ago.

People with ulterior motives in the city privately spread stories of the massacres that had occurred after Zeng Guoquan entered Tianjing. Some, in an effort to rally the Manchus against the enemy, even distributed Zeng Guofan's aide Zhao Liewen's "Diary of Nengjing Jushi" and Tan Sitong's "The Study of Benevolence" throughout the city.

Zhao Liewen personally witnessed the brutal scene when the Hunan Army broke into the city decades ago: "The old and weak local people who could not carry loads and had no cellars to dig were all killed. Nine out of ten corpses along the street were elderly people. Children under the age of two or three were also chopped up for fun and left crawling on the road. There was not a single woman under the age of forty, and all the old people were injured. Some were stabbed more than ten times, and some were stabbed dozens of times. The cries of pain could be heard from far away. The chaos was so appalling."

Tan Sitong wrote about what he heard during his study tour in Nanjing during the Guangxu period: "Once the Hunan Army broke into the city, they killed everyone they saw and burned every house they found. All children and property were given to the Hunan Army, and Nanjing was left forever impoverished. To this day, the elders still speak of this with deep resentment."

The Manchus were terrified that if the PLA broke into the city, the Taiping Rebellion's massacre would be repeated, or it would be revenge for the Taiping Rebellion. Therefore, the PLA put a lot of effort into promoting the Forward Party's policy: regardless of whether they were Han or Manchu, as long as they lived peacefully, they would be treated equally and would not be killed!

Zhang Yinghao also personally issued instructions: "Maintain discipline, treat prisoners of war well, and do not kill Manchus! Point all guns and contradictions at the invaders."

Therefore, faced with the threat of death together with the reactionary officers and soldiers who stubbornly resisted, and under the powerful political offensive of the People's Liberation Army of "treating prisoners of war well and not killing Manchus", not many of these stubborn elements who resisted stubbornly were willing to die together, and they soon handed in the white flag to express their surrender to the attacking troops.

On Purple Mountain, party flags and military flags were slowly raised. As the news spread, earth-shaking cheers erupted on battlefields everywhere.

After the PLA captured Tianbao City, they immediately dismantled more than a dozen mountain cannons, transported them up the mountain by human labor, and reassembled them at Tianbao City. From the commanding heights of Purple Mountain, the cannons' range was already capable of covering every enemy position in Nanjing.

Furthermore, with the consolidation of the Tianbao City position, the Ming Dynasty Xiaoling Mausoleum, where Zhu Yuanzhang rests, also came under the complete control of the People's Liberation Army. Since the days of Zheng Chenggong and Hong Xiuquan, the opportunity to pay homage to the Xiaoling Mausoleum and denounce the unfilial behavior of the descendants of Yan and Huang had finally returned to the hands of the Han people, and to the people.

During the liberation of Nanjing, fierce battles took place at Yuhuatai, Fuguishan, Taipingmen, Chaoyangmen and other places. However, in Tianbaocheng, Xiaolingwei and other places, the People's Liberation Army gained absolute advantage.

Zhang Xun could only gather all the fresh troops in the city here, and sent his trusted general to lead the supervision team, holding a ghost-head broadsword, to the front line. He said with a stern face: "Anyone who dares to retreat will die at the hands of the Red Bandits or the supervision team."

After the PLA occupied the commanding heights and learned that the PLA was on its way to attack Shanghai, the foreign powers knew that Nanjing was no longer tenable. They immediately arranged to meet with Zhang Xun, and when Zhang Xun arrived, they immediately detained him.

After dispatching their blocking forces to halt the PLA, the foreign commanders immediately followed the example of the Allied commanders who, after the Allied occupation of Beijing a few years earlier, had issued a "three-day special authorization for open looting" and directed their troops to openly plunder. Faced with heavy casualties and the brutality of the battle, upon learning of the retreat, the predatory nature of the foreign thugs, already well-intentioned, quickly emerged, and they began burning, killing, and looting, bringing devastation to Nanjing.

The gentlemanly demeanor and chivalry that the foreign devils had pretended to have in the past suddenly vanished into thin air. In small groups, armed with guns and knives, they broke into the house, looting it, rummaging through the boxes and cabinets, stealing all the gold, silver and jewelry, and even burning the house down after the robbery.

Not content with this, the foreigners also lusted after beautiful women, forcing them to rape young, attractive women, even underage girls. Children had their heads split open, while women were stripped naked and brutally murdered, often raped first. The foreigners also looted the people's vehicles, horses, clothing, and even their loose change. Fearing a surprise attack from the people, the foreigners shot anyone they could find. Families with dozens of people were dragged out and lined up for execution. The brutal French bandits used machine guns to corner a group of residents in a dead end, then fired relentlessly for over ten minutes, killing all the innocent residents. Corpses littered the ground, discarded items blocked the road, and people and horses trampled over the corpses.

The foreign devils raped and plundered women, committing all manner of evil. In the devastated Nanjing, countless men and women were massacred by the Allied forces. Unable to bear the humiliation, residents committed suicide by jumping into wells, rivers, hanging, self-immolation, and even taking poison. Armed thugs broke into people's homes, seeking to snatch away any decent women they saw. These women, powerless and usually seldom seen outside their homes, had no choice but to endure the violence, unable to cry. The thugs embraced the women, who could only cover their faces, scream, grimace, and, of course, force a smile, ultimately submitting to silence.

All the women of the Liu family, including the head of the family's wives, concubines, daughters, and daughters-in-law, were wantonly insulted by the Allied soldiers. The worst victim was gang-raped by dozens of men. Unable to bear the humiliation, the man burned down his house and then committed suicide by taking opium. Several teenage girls, to save their chastity and their lives, jumped into a cesspool, smearing their clothes and faces with feces to escape.

The people in the church also began to celebrate. With the support of the foreign army, these people were extremely arrogant and their bestial natures were unleashed. They came out together, slaughtering and humiliating other people, taking advantage of the opportunity to help the tigers and looting property.

According to incomplete statistics, the Japanese army was the most brutal in the looting of Nanjing, seizing at least one million taels of silver and countless antiques, calligraphy, and paintings. The French army seized at least 100 taels of silver, and the armies of other nations each gained something. At least 60 treasures were looted from the city, a loss of unimaginable value. The foreign invaders massacred tens of thousands of impoverished Chinese civilians, and the wealth and treasures accumulated over decades in the unliberated areas of Nanjing were completely plundered.

The atrocities committed by the foreign invaders ignited immense anger among the PLA soldiers. Frontline troops immediately abandoned the fight against the Beiyang Army, leaving only a few troops to hold off the enemy while the rest of the soldiers launched an all-out attack on the foreign powers. Snipers, heavy sniper rifles, and flamethrowers no longer had any important targets, no longer had any scruples, and all who saw them were foreign invaders were to be shot and killed, their entire horde condemned to hell.

Zhang Yinghao was furious when he heard the news. He slammed the table and immediately sent a telegram to the Yangtze River Bureau: "Tooth for a tooth, blood for blood. No prisoners shall be taken from the foreign soldiers following behind. All foreign thugs who participated in the looting must be wiped out!"

When Zhang Yinghao's telegram reached the ears of the soldiers on the front line, it turned into eight words: No prisoners, wipe out all foreign soldiers.

Chapter 1: Update!

When the Son of Heaven is angry, millions of people will be killed and blood will flow for thousands of miles. Although Zhang Yinghao is not the "Son of Heaven", which emperor in ancient times could compare with Zhang Yinghao's power at that time? For a gentle man like Zhang Yinghao to issue such a kill order for the first time shows how much Zhang Yinghao hates these thugs. He really wants to kill all the thugs to relieve his hatred.

Zhang Yinghao was also filled with helplessness at this moment. Such things were unavoidable during a war when the enemy invaded the country. In his previous life, someone had actually said that war should keep women away. When the country was weak and engaged in a brutal homeland defense war, this statement was simply a joke. It was a sign of men being incompetent and begging for mercy from the enemy.

The fact is just the opposite. Women are often the most vulnerable on the battlefield. Therefore, in order to realize the saying that war keeps women away, it is necessary to keep war out of the country. Only in this way can women be truly kept away from war. This is what Zhang Yinghao has been working hard to do.

The political commissars mobilized the soldiers, saying, "Imperialism invaded us and is now committing inhumane atrocities in Nanjing. The bodies of our fallen compatriots are still lying in the wilderness, uncollected. Comrades, do you know what those thugs did to the women? Gang rape is not enough. They also stabbed their genitals with bayonets and cut off their breasts. Are these practices humanly imaginable? Now, corpses are strewn across many parts of Nanjing, blood flowing like rivers, left to be devoured by wild dogs. Broken bones and shredded flesh are everywhere! During the Spring and Autumn Period, Gongyang asked, 'Can a vengeance of nine generations be avenged?' Confucius replied, 'Restore the kingly way, honor the king and repel the barbarians. A vengeance of ten generations can be avenged!'"

Faced with the national hatred and family feuds we face today, and the atrocities committed by the enemy, we can still seek revenge even a hundred years from now, let alone now. Comrades, do you want to seek revenge?

"Revenge, revenge."

"Okay, comrades. To ensure victory in this battle, to protect the lives and property of the people, to rescue more civilians, and to completely eliminate this group of thugs, the Military Commission demands that all attacking troops only attack and not retreat. Engage in a desperate struggle with the enemy. It's either the enemy's death or ours. Kill one to protect your capital, kill two to profit. Unleash the maximum effectiveness of your weapons, inflict massive casualties on the enemy. Fight until you survive, and do not retreat alive. The Chairman orders: no surrenders will be accepted, no prisoners will be taken, and all will be annihilated! Slay the imperialist powers until they never dare invade our country again. Depart!"

With everyone united in purpose, the soldiers received orders from Zhang Yinghao and completely let go of their hands and feet to rescue more civilians. They rushed and fought fiercely. Many passionate soldiers ignored their own casualties and without waiting for artillery, they just hugged the explosives and died together with the thugs of the foreign powers.

The workers of the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau had previously armed themselves to defend the factory. Now, having heard of the atrocities committed by the imperialist powers in Nanjing, they were all red-eyed and eager to fight, ready to fight to the death against the imperialist thugs. However, the political commissar still said to them: "What we need most to destroy the enemy now is weapons, bullets and shells. Although they can be transported from Wuhan via the Yangtze River, it is still too far. The best way for the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau to take revenge is not to fight to the death, but to produce more bullets and shells for the People's Liberation Army, and to produce more explosive packs, blasting tubes and other weapons. Don't let our soldiers fight the enemy with bare hands..."

After much persuasion, the workers were finally calmed down and they all threw themselves into the work of producing weapons. In order to produce more ammunition to kill the enemy, their efficiency was several times higher than usual, making a huge contribution to the victory of this battle.

The soldiers were now moving rapidly through the streets and alleys. The main force was attacking head-on, while the smaller groups were hunched over against the walls and advancing rapidly. Suddenly, they saw a group of thugs looting ahead. The soldiers, holding their rifles with bayonets, suddenly rushed out from the corner of the wall, stabbing the thugs with their black bayonets, giving them no chance to breathe. They quickly pulled out their bayonets and stabbed them again, killing them all.

The PLA bayonet, designed by Zhang Yinghao, lacks a sharp blade and a single-sided blood groove. Instead, it consists of a steel rod with grooves on three sides. The blade is ridged, and the grooves provide structural support, while also allowing for bloodletting and assisting in bayonet extraction. During training, the bayonet is unsharpened; sharpening takes only a few minutes before combat. After entering the body, blood drains through the blood grooves, preventing muscle contraction from gripping the bayonet, allowing for easy extraction. This ensures rapid exsanguination and facilitates quick retraction for the next attack.

Watching the bloodied and twitching foreigners lying on the ground, the soldiers' faces remained expressionless. They were all too aware of what the foreigners had done in Nanjing. The unspeakable brutality replayed in their minds constantly. Their wailing cries made them forget death and fatigue, transforming them into true killing machines, defending their country. It's easy to imagine that these soldiers would ultimately bear the scars of war and endure various heavy psychological traumas.

At this moment, a young man suddenly ran out of the house, tears streaming down his face, and began to punch and kick the fallen foreigner. The soldiers just watched in silence for a while, and then the squad leader picked up a foreigner's rifle and handed it to the man, saying: "Take it for self-defense, and hand it over to the army after the war."

The foreign devils' scattered looting at this time was a recipe for death, and it was the perfect time to defeat them one by one. The People's Liberation Army generally did not allow local civilians to participate in combat, but Nanjing was a special case at this time. The people had a deep hatred for the foreign devils, and people's war was the fastest way to eliminate the enemy. Perhaps this would result in some civilians being killed by the foreign devils, but in this situation, in order to save more people and to eliminate the foreign devils more quickly, they could not care less.

Because of the foreign devils' brutality, the Yangtze River Bureau's original plan of surrounding the three gaps—driving the foreign devils out of the city—was completely abandoned. Instead, a major force was dispatched to bypass the front lines and directly attack Zhenjiang, intending to cut off the enemy's retreat and completely annihilate these foreign power thugs. Zhang Yinghao mobilized all nearby troops to participate, and even began to transfer troops from Sichuan and other places to participate in the subsequent liberation of Shanghai and other places. With only hundreds of thousands of troops concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta, in an era without the concept of air supremacy, which country could achieve victory in a landing operation?

Not only did the common people rise up in rebellion, but upon learning of the atrocities committed by the foreign powers, many Beiyang Army soldiers and officers also retained a sense of conscience. They immediately turned their weapons against the foreign invaders. Many of these Beiyang soldiers were native to Nanjing. How could they tolerate the brutality of the foreign powers and the massacre of their own hometown? Like the common people, they knew every street and knew where to best defeat the foreign invaders.

The real chaos erupted in Nanjing. Faced with the constant attacks, the commanders of these thugs finally realized the danger. It was as if they suddenly realized that Nanjing was no longer the capital, and that the People's Liberation Army was no more than a mob like the Boxers. They could no longer burn, kill, and loot in Nanjing as they had in Beijing. These commanders came to their senses and immediately began to gather their troops, preparing to leave Nanjing and retreat to Shanghai via warships on the Yangtze River.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Zhang Yinghao, fearing a repeat of the atrocities committed by the foreign powers in Nanjing in Shanghai and other cities along the Yangtze River, immediately ordered Comrade Shen Ruo to send a protest to the foreign diplomatic corps, telling them to send a telegram warning them not to continue committing atrocities in China and to expose their atrocities to the public, so that the people would see the true face of the foreign powers. At the same time, Zhang Yinghao ordered all comrades hiding on the south bank of the Yangtze River to take immediate action and launch an armed uprising, seizing the factories, the troops, the foreigners, and everything else they could to ensure the smooth liberation of the south bank.

In fact, there was no need for Zhang Yinghao's order. When the People's Liberation Army began to drive away the warships of the great powers, the comrades on the hidden front had already taken action, and there was a place that the Forward Party paid special attention to.

The Jiangyin Fortress, strategically located on a river only about 1500 meters wide, was nicknamed the "navigation-locking fortress." It served as both the throat of the sea and a crucial north-south transportation route, making it a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. The Qing government established the fortress in 1874, the 13th year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty. During the Westernization Movement, Zhang Zhidong, then Minister of the Northern War, further strengthened the fort's defenses and appointed a general station officer.

The Forward Party was well aware of the importance of the Jiangyin Fortress, so after the liberation of Wuhan, relying on the relationships of Zhang Zhidong and others, it planted many underground party members there. The commander of the Jiangyin Fortress's engineering battalion and the captain of the fortress's garrison were all underground members of the Forward Party. They even established party branches and developed a large number of party members. The commander of the Jiangyin Fortress's artillery battery, Shen Shanglian, graduated from the second term of the Shigong School in Japan, and could be said to be the best candidate for development by the Forward Party. Indeed, not long after the Forward Party members lurked in the Jiangyin Fortress, Shen Shanglian secretly joined the Forward Party.

The geographical location of Jiangyin Fortress is very important. First of all, it controls the Yangtze River shipping route and has a checkpoint set up at Huangtian Port. The defenders of Jiangyin Fortress have always used this checkpoint as the center to smuggle goods and obtain property; secondly, the area around Jiangyin Fortress is rich in reeds, and it also controls the mining rights of surrounding mines, owns hundreds of acres of fertile farmland, and several cotton mills; in addition, it is also close to Shanghai, which is conducive to purchasing supplies.

The comrades of Jiangyin Fortress used the money they obtained to purchase cannons and strengthened the defense of the fort. At this time, the fortress had 12 105mm cannons and 12 105mm howitzers, equipped with 35 57mm anti-tank guns, 16 36mm machine guns, and two 25mm machine guns, with a total of more than 6 officers and soldiers.

Cannons stationed on the fort's summit could strike the ports and the river north of the Yangtze River. Anti-tank guns on the mountainside could engage targets on the river, and machine guns above and below could engage landing ships. Armies were stationed on the east, west, and south sides, making it a fortress of steel and impregnable. For the Liberated Areas, capturing the Jiangyin Fortress was crucial, as its liberation would ensure peace along the inland section of the Yangtze River.

The great powers were well aware of the importance of the Jiangyin Fortress. To prevent their retreat from being cut off, they pressured Yuan Shikai by sending foreign supervisors to attempt to enter the fort. The officers and soldiers within the fortress, fearing the fort's coordinates would be exposed, naturally refused to allow the foreigners to enter. For this reason, the great powers left warships to "guard" the Jiangyin Fortress. Without orders, the comrades within the fortress could only remain in hiding, allowing the great powers' warships and troop transports to pass freely through Jiangyin.

At this time, the comrades in the Jiangyin Fortress received orders from Zhang Yinghao. Knowing of the atrocities committed by the foreign devils in Nanjing, how could they hold back any longer? Shen Shanglian immediately convened a meeting to discuss the details of the operation. Finally, he said: "Check the clocks. It is now 2:20. We must act at 4:00. It is best to control all the loyal officials of the Qing Dynasty and the Beiyang reactionaries without firing a single shot. Armed uprising, control the Yangtze River waterway. If the uprising is not exposed, we can wait until night to send out elite troops for a surprise attack. It is best to seize the warships of the foreign powers. We must cooperate with the attacking army to completely eliminate the thugs in Nanjing and restore justice to the people."

"Yes!"

Just as the comrades in the Jiangyin Fortress were preparing to revolt and seize the fortress, the foreign devils finally began to prepare to withdraw from Nanjing. At this time, the foreign devils no longer had the high spirits and madness they had when they first looted. Some were just panicked and saw enemies everywhere. Unfortunately, their sins were so serious that how could they escape without paying with their lives?

When the foreign devils left the city, the airships appeared in the sky. The airship troops could not fly too low, and there were residents in the city, so they did not bomb the enemy troops in Nanjing. However, since the foreign devils had left the city, they naturally had to take good care of them.

In response to the atrocities committed by the foreign invaders, Zhang Yinghao specifically approved the use of white phosphorus bombs on the airships. He even tested the "lazy dog ​​bomb" against the foreign invaders. This bomb was very cost-effective because it required no explosives and relied solely on its own kinetic energy to kill. Zhang Yinghao's goal was to make the foreign invaders feel like hell.

At this time, the airship had considerable experience in dropping bombs. Looking at the fleeing foreigners, the airship immediately calculated the impact point based on wind speed and other factors, then adjusted the position of the airship and dropped a bomb at the foreigners.

Seeing the bomb dropped, the foreign troops' ranks instantly fell into disarray, and they began to flee the impact point. With a loud bang, the impact point instantly erupted in a burst of white light, followed by poisonous white smoke that spread out in all directions.

Seeing the impact point, the airship immediately adjusted its position and dropped all its bombs while flying. Other airships followed and began to drop bombs on the mob.

If one bomb hits, all the thugs may be able to escape in time, but when the bombs keep falling, where can the people below hide?

A barrage of white phosphorus bombs rained down from the sky like scattered flowers, creating a scene reminiscent of hellfire and a poignant beauty. White phosphorus is difficult to remove from the skin, and its extremely high burning temperature can burn bones. The fatal burns inflict intense physical and mental pain on the victims. Many foreign soldiers, stained by white phosphorus flames, immediately rolled to the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames. However, no matter how they rolled, the burning flames refused to extinguish and instead formed more flames. Those who tried to extinguish the flames themselves, instead of extinguishing them, were themselves burned. The foreign soldiers could only utter shrill cries, their cries deafening and horrific, clearly inflicting heavy casualties on the foreign soldiers.

At the same time, the burning of white phosphorus can also produce smoke that is extremely irritating to the eyes and nose. In addition to causing huge damage to the enemy by burns, it can also cause great psychological trauma to other enemies.

The battle to liberate Nanjing ended with the escape of the foreign powers' thugs. This was the first time that the People's Liberation Army attacked a large city that was strongly fortified by the enemy. The combat experience gained would be of great significance to subsequent wars.

The People's Liberation Army was well prepared and well-deployed in the liberation of Nanjing. In just three days and two nights, the army liberated Nanjing in one fell swoop and won the victory in this urban assault.

Previously, Zhang Zhidong cooperated in the capture of Wuhan. This time, when the People's Liberation Army captured Nanjing, they learned how to fight tough battles, attack large cities, and how to cooperate in attacking fortresses, carry out tunnel operations, and pass through enemy trenches.

The liberation of Nanjing had extraordinary strategic significance. This battle pioneered the attack on the enemy's heavily fortified cities, boosted the morale of the troops, liberated large tracts of territory, and greatly enhanced the PLA's manpower and logistical support capabilities.

During the battle, the soldiers and commanders created many new experiences. For example, when the army's artillery ammunition was insufficient, they adopted the tactic of concentrating mortar firepower. They also used the tactic of organizing artillery groups under unified command many times, launching unexpected and fierce artillery bombardments on the enemy, causing huge casualties.

Facing the fleeing enemy, the airships stopped after two rounds of bombing, then bombarded the foreign warships and troop transports. The infantry pressed on, using flexible mortars to deal with the remaining foreign thugs. The various units quickly moved in, surrounding the remaining thugs and then shooting them all, avenging the suffering of the Nanjing people.

Chapter 752: More!

Zhang Yinghao breathed a sigh of relief after learning the foreign invaders had been driven out of Nanjing. Having experienced a catastrophe, Zhang Yinghao believed the future would be better. He was also confident that this was the last catastrophe for Nanjing, and that no imperialist army would ever reach the city again. With this lesson in mind, and through the tireless education and propaganda in textbooks, the Chinese people should be wary of the foreign powers.

This operation allowed the PLA to fully understand the combat effectiveness of the armies of the great powers and broke all superstitions. The PLA also improved its troops' offensive capabilities by summing up experience, which can reduce casualties in future battles. Secondly, the PLA found out the shortcomings, improved the weak links in the offensive, and carried out targeted training, which is conducive to further enhancing the troops' offensive capabilities. Thirdly, it can popularize successful experiences, improve the combat effectiveness of the entire army in offensive, and make full preparations for the liberation and defense of other major cities.

The battle to liberate Nanjing was not over yet. Because of the burning, looting, and plundering by the foreign powers, Zhang Yinghao was actually most concerned and worried about Shanghai. If the foreign powers really burned, looted, or even bombarded Shanghai, not only would Shanghai be reduced to ruins, but the people of Shanghai would also suffer heavy losses. What should be done? This is a question.

Shanghai was not a military fortress, nor a strategic location easily defended but difficult to attack. Instead, it was an international commercial city. Its concessions were not under the jurisdiction of the Beiyang government and were guarded by the military and police forces of the foreign powers, with warships watching closely.

Although Shanghai was now quite depressed, it still had numerous factories, such as the Jiangnan Arsenal, and numerous banks. Although a run on banks was secretly launched in the liberated areas, the vast majority of the money remained in Shanghai, making it the wealthiest place in China. Shanghai was very important to Zhang Yinghao, with its vast number of industrial workers, including those on the Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, surpassing the rest of the country.

But Shanghai is actually not that important. The situation of a mixed population of Chinese and foreigners, standing on the coast, and adjacent to the concessions, destined Shanghai to be at the forefront of conflicts in the future, facing the threat of the great powers at all times, and easily becoming a testicle in the hands of the great powers, because it is too vulnerable to interference or even attack by the great powers. And the strength of the People's Liberation Army, at least for a period of time, cannot completely withstand the naval guns of the great powers and achieve the strategic goals they want to achieve. Therefore, even if Shanghai is liberated this time, Zhang Yinghao will never make large-scale investments and construction in Shanghai before solving the security problem. Book friends collection qun775111838

After the Beiyang government overthrew the Qing dynasty, Yuan Shikai was unwilling to relinquish Shanghai, a lucrative territory, and immediately dispatched Li Chun to Shanghai to take charge. Upon his arrival, Li Chun installed numerous trusted supervisors in factories like the Jiangnan Arsenal. Most of these individuals lacked management skills and technical backgrounds, and were known for their embezzlement, secretly smuggling military supplies from the Arsenal and selling them on the black market.

To alleviate the cash shortage for Yuan Shikai's Beiyang government, other officials dispatched to Shanghai took over factories like the Jiangnan Arsenal. Not only did they halve their already low salaries, but they also installed supervisors within the bureaus, many of whom were embezzling military supplies and draining the bureau's assets. General Manager Zhang Shiheng also turned a blind eye, and it's unclear whether he was involved. The embezzlement was less of a concern than the workers' apparent lack of control. The real issue was their apparent lack of knowledge of military production management and technology, which fueled widespread resentment among the workers.

Zhang Shiheng, the general manager of the Jiangnan Arsenal, quickly discovered the rising costs of the bureau's armaments production, which he attributed to several factors: first, almost all raw materials were imported; second, salaries were excessively high; third, there was excessive requisitioning of materials and kickbacks; and fourth, an excessively large staff. Besides the increasing number of foreign consultants, many Chinese officials and staff members were employed through connections and simply received salaries. In the early 1870s, there were only 40 officials, but the number had more than doubled in less than a decade. However, he had no solution.

Zhang Yinghao's primary concern lay with the skilled workers in the factory and the Jiangnan Arsenal's Compilation Office. This government-run institution, founded by the Westernization Movement, translated 160 books between 1868 and 1907. These, primarily on military science and technology, also covered geography, economics, politics, and history. These were Zhang Yinghao's true treasures. If the foreign powers bombarded Shanghai, this treasure could be destroyed.

When news of the atrocities committed by the foreign powers in Nanjing reached Shanghai, it immediately caused panic among the citizens. Everyone was worried that the foreign powers' troops would go on a rampage in Shanghai and imitate the atrocities committed in Nanjing, burning, killing, and looting. After receiving Zhang Yinghao's order, the Shanghai General Labor Union immediately took action. Chen Yilong, Liu Sifu and other union members immediately convened a meeting to discuss the action. Regarding Shanghai, Zhang Yinghao did not require these comrades to revolt, but only hoped that they would arm themselves to protect the factories and their own personal safety. After all, as long as the workers controlled the Jiangnan Arsenal, they would not be short of guns and ammunition.

After President Chen Yifei described the atrocities committed by the foreign powers in Nanjing, he continued, “In order to prevent the foreign powers from sending troops into the manufacturing bureau, blowing up our factories and destroying our jobs, we must arm ourselves to defend our factories…”

Liu Sifu continued, "This time, the purpose of the Liberation Zone's advance is to drive the foreign powers' warships out of the Yangtze River and liberate Shanghai. Imagine those officials cutting our already low salaries in half, leaving us unable to even afford a month's worth of firewood, rice, oil, and salt. Are they forcing us to die? We workers are not insensible machines, nor dumb oxen and horses. How can we work well if we can't even support our parents and wives? If we don't overthrow the brutal rule of the Beiyang government, how can we support our families and how can we continue to survive? If we don't explode in silence, we will die in silence. If we don't rise up to resist, we will surely die. However, if we defend the factory and revolt, we may die, but Shanghai will eventually be liberated, and our families will surely live a good life... Please everyone, please vote immediately: do you want to participate in the general mobilization, do you want to arm yourself to defend the factory, do you want to revolt? Do you want to support liberation?"

The manufacturing workers who attended the meeting were all members of the Progressive Party, or people close to the Progressive Party. The managers and supervisors installed by the officials naturally would not appear at the meeting. When Liu Sifu asked everyone to vote by raising their hands, everyone raised their hands in approval.

What is the Jiangnan Arsenal now? It is one of the largest and most technologically advanced industrial facilities in China. At the time, the Jiangnan Arsenal housed a gun factory, a cannon factory, a bullet factory, a shell factory, a steel mill, a gunpowder factory, a bronze and iron foundry, and a machinery factory, housing over 900 machine tools, over 500 furnaces and cranes, over 20 steam engines of various sizes, and over 3,700 employees. The Jiangnan Arsenal also boasted a vast inventory of guns, artillery, and ammunition, along with a large workforce expert in munitions. By coordinating with the patrols and organizing themselves, they could instantly become a force to be reckoned with.

Chen Yifei saw the result and nodded, saying, "After we get back, I'll lead the troops to take down the front door, and Sifu will lead the troops to take down the back door. Then, we'll immediately control all the poisonous insects and beasts in the manufacturing bureau that are sucking our blood. Then, Sifu will lead the team, with the workers' pickets and party members as the backbone, to reorganize the team, distribute weapons, and be ready to arm and protect the factory at any time..."

When the working class formed unions to fight the bourgeoisie, what did they fear most? Not the capitalists, but the appearance of scabs. When everyone finally united and used a strike to try to improve their wages, these scabs would persuade the workers to work, or even go to work themselves, instantly disintegrating the strike. Without pickets specifically designed to deal with scabs, a strike would be difficult to win. Scabs are often even more despicable than the exploitative capitalists.

Because of the brutality of the Shanghai struggle, Zhang Yinghao early on instructed Shanghai's trade unions to establish armed pickets to eliminate internal scabs. This work, in unliberated areas, was as crucial as combating the reactionaries. Ultimately, capitalists wanted to profit from the workers, and their struggles with them were inherently weak. Every extra minute of strike time meant the capitalists lost a minute's pay for each worker. It would have been better for the capitalists to quickly agree to the workers' demands for higher wages and improved working conditions, and resume work as soon as possible to minimize losses. After all, nothing is more costly than being unable to resume work.

Similarly, workers possess a certain degree of weakness. After all, every worker has a family to support, and within the collective working class, there are inevitably wavering elements. These wavering elements may be secretly bribed by the capitalists, leading the charge to resume work or spreading rumors favorable to the capitalists within the strike group. Claims like "harmony brings wealth," "no fussing is better for everyone," and "if you don't do it, someone else will" are simply empty talk. These scabs, who desperately undermine the unity of the strike, must be sanctioned by armed workers' pickets. Otherwise, without the armed sanctions of the workers' pickets, any struggle will quickly disintegrate under the capitalists' wavering and indecisiveness.

Liu Sifu interjected, "Everyone knows that the Jiangnan Arsenal is currently one of China's largest arsenals. Therefore, the great powers will certainly want to destroy the machinery within the factory, denying it to China and increasing China's strength. Therefore, the more secretive this operation is, the better, and the later it is discovered, the better..."

Chen Yifei immediately said, "The Huangpu River is accessible to warships of the great powers, and we're right next to it. Therefore, we need to produce 800-pound Armstrong-type all-steel breech-loading guns to defend against these warships... After I resolve the issue with the Manufacturing Bureau, I will immediately discuss the defense of Shanghai with Li Shuping and his Shanghai Merchants Group. We share a common interest in defending Shanghai... This is essential for a united front."

The Shanghai Merchants' Association was a politically motivated, armed group led by Shanghai's industrial and commercial capitalists in the late Qing Dynasty. In 1905, the Shanghai business community established the Shanghai Society Sports Department, the Commercial Gymnastics Association, the Amateur Merchants' Association, the Commercial Tutorial Association, and the Scholars and Merchants' Gymnastics Association, advocating that "to strengthen the nation, one must first strengthen the race." These five associations now form the Nanshi Merchants' Association, chaired by Li Pingshu and under the command of the Shanghai City and Inner and Outer Engineering Bureau. Its mission is to "support national power" and "protect local security," while also emphasizing "providing support for commercial warfare." If Shanghai were robbed, these individuals would be stranded.

After agreeing on the action plan and details, Chen Yifei and Liu Sifu immediately led the workers to the front and back gates of the manufacturing bureau. The soldiers guarding the gates were completely unprepared, and the patrol comrades used their guns to force the guards to take down the front and back gates of the manufacturing bureau with ease. This was nothing like the previous life, where the various departments were not unified and only the death squads could be relied upon to capture the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.

In reality, the reason Chen Yifei and his men had taken the front and back gates so easily was because Shanghai had been repeatedly shocked and, by then, somewhat numb. The PLA uprising in Sichuan had alarmed Shanghai, and the PLA's subsequent march out of Sichuan to liberate Hubei had also alarmed Shanghai. This time, the expulsion of the foreign warships had Shanghai on the alert. Shanghai's governor, Liu Yanyi, and the Shanghai magistrate, Li Chaoqiong, sent separate letters to the International Settlement and the French Concession, requesting the dispatch of detectives to search for revolutionaries at the steamship docks. Liu Yanyi also posted a notice reassuring the public, urging them to behave themselves and not believe rumors.

With so many shocks, how could the soldiers on guard maintain sufficient vigilance? The third time, after crying wolf too often, people become numb. Besides, Chen Yifei and his men had breached the fortress from the inside, so how could they not break through?

After arranging people to guard the front and back doors and serve as sentries, other comrades immediately went to the warehouse to distribute weapons. Every worker held a rifle produced by the manufacturing bureau, with sharp knives in their hearts and murderous intent. The workers who had suffered from exploitation and oppression raised their guns angrily, feeling that they were in control of their own destiny and venting their dissatisfaction with the world.

Liu Sifu stood on the platform and shouted: "The Jiangnan Arsenal is a workers' arsenal, not a Beiyang arsenal! We want liberation, equal pay for equal work, and overtime pay! Down with the cannibalistic supervisor and manager. The General Labor Union will now have full authority to manage the arsenal..."

After arranging matters for the Manufacturing Bureau, Chen Yifei immediately led his men to Li Pingshu's home in Zhenjili, Baike Road. Meanwhile, Yu Qiaqing, Li Zhengwu, Ye Huijun, Zhu Baosan, and others were already in a meeting. Regardless of whether these compradors and capitalists favored the Progressive Party and the People's Liberation Army, faced with the unspeakable crisis brought on by the great powers, they were forced to make a choice.

Shanghai is so small and everyone knows each other, so when Chen Yifei saw them, he said directly: "President Li, I believe you are also aware of the burning, killing and looting by the foreign powers in Nanjing. I don't think your Chamber of Commerce would want such a thing to happen in Shanghai, right?"

Li Shuping was actually very familiar with the Forward Party and was one of the individuals the party approached for development. Starting in 1893, he served as magistrate of Lingfeng, Xinning, and Suixi, Guangdong. During his tenure in Suixi, he organized militia to repel a French invasion, but was subsequently dismissed from his post. In 1903, he was summoned to serve under Zhang Zhidong, and later served as Chief Inspector and Supervisor of the Hubei Military Academy. In 1903, Li Pingshu was transferred to the position of Supervisor of the Jiangnan Arsenal, and concurrently served as General Manager of the Bank of China, Director of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, and Director of the Jiangsu Railway Company.