On account of righting in the close neighbourhood of theSettlements and the danger of defeated troops attempting to seek refugewithin the Settlement boundaries， the Municipal Council declared astate of emergency on September 9th， and mobilized the VolunteerCorps. At the same time， naval parties were landed from the warshipsin harbour. A cordon of defence was drawn around the Settlements，and the roads leading into them were barricaded.
Taking of Sungkiang and Flight of Generals Lu and HoFor more than a month， the Chekiang army resisted the attacks ofthe numerically stronger forces of Kiangsu， which had been reinforcedby the troops of Wu Pei-fu from Honan and Hupeh and by those ofGeneral Sun Chuan fang fro Fukien. When， however， in October，Sungkiang fell into the hands of Sun Chuan-fang"s troops， the positionof the Chekiang men became critical， and Generals Lu Yung-hsiangand Ho Feng-ling， fearing treachery among their subordinates， decidedto abandon the struggle， and departed for Japan secretly， leaving theirtroops to shift for themselves.
As soon as the news of the flight of their leaders reached thesoldiers at the front， the white flag was raised， and a general retirementon Shanghai began. On October 14th the Hupeh troops reachedShanghai North Station and occupied Lunghua and the Arsenal.
General Hsu Shu-cheng Expelled from ShanghaiIn the meantime there was danger lest General Hsu-cheng， betterknown as “Little Hsu，” who had entered the Settlement， would makean attempt to reorganize the Chekiang troops. Had he succeeded， theremight have been a further struggle on the borders of the Settlementswith serious consequences both for the foreign and Chinesecommunities. This danger was averted by the prompt action taken bythe Municipal Council. General Hsu was arrested for having enteredthe Settlement contrary to an order issued by the Council on July 5th，1921. Six clays later he left Shanghai en route for Europe. The work ofthe disarmament and evacuation of the defeated Chekiang troops wasthen carried out.
Although the proclamation of a state of emergency， the landingof foreign naval forces， the barricading of thet Settlement roads， theoccupation of a section of Chinese territory for strategical purposes，the forcible disarming of Chinese troops， and the expulsion of ageneral from the Settlement， might have been regarded by the Chineseas infringements of their sovereign rights， yet no protest was madeby the people， and the Chinese Ratepayers Association expressed itsappreciation of the Council"s work for the protection of Chinese livesand property.
Refugees in ShanghaiDuring this period a pitiable and all too familiar sight wasthe great stream of refugees from the towns and villages in theneighbourhood of Shanghai flowing into the Settlements.
Rich and poor， old and young， all alike were seeking a place ofsafety from the soldiers. They came by train， by boat， by ricsha， bywheelbarrow， and on foot， bringing with them such portion of theirgoods and chattels as they could carry.
The Municipal Council erected refugee camps for those whohad no place to go to. It is estimated that the number taking refuge inShanghai was about 200，000.
Various Chinese organizations， guilds， provincial associations，Buddhist societies， and the Chambers of commerce， gave generousassistance to those who were friendless and without funds. A numberof shelters were maintained by these bodies， and the work of feedingand housing the people was well organized.
Thanks to the Defence ForceShanghai was proud of the way in which the Volunteer Corpsand the Municipal police acquitted themselves during the trying daysof the provincial war， and an inspection of these two bodies held onthe Race Course on October 31st， was witnessed by a large number ofthe foreign residents. Mr. Stirling Fessenden， Chairman of the Counciland Civil commandant of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps， took thesalute， and addressed the men， expressing the thanks of the communityfor their invaluable services during the critical period through whichShanghai had just passed.
Renewal of Civil WarCivil war between the two provinces broke out again in Decemberand lasted on into January of the following year. It was due to thefollowing cause： General Sun Chuan-fang， who had been made Tuchunof Chekiang， was forced to take up arms against General Chen Yao-san，one of the generals who had fled to Japan， with Generals Lu and Ho，when he returned and attempted to resume command over his formertroops in Sungkiang.