Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 12: Kowtow to the Marshal?
"This reason... is really lame."
Yang Qiu continued to be sinister, his expression unchanged: "Your Excellency is wrong. Du Laoliu set up a blockade to prevent me from entering Sichuan, and even shot and injured my comrade first. Chen Hua arrested him just to fulfill his duty as a soldier. As for Wang Tianjie, he hid behind the wall and attacked secretly, which was a mean act. Even if he is not a rebel, he should be killed!"
"So you're not wrong and you've done something great?"
"No, I dare not take credit for it. If I say there is a mistake, I have indeed made a big mistake!"
The sudden turn of words made Zhang Biao curious. Even Li Yuanhong, who was listening to Xiao Anguo's detailed narration, came over and pricked up his ears, asking, "Oh? What's wrong with you?"
Seeing that both of them were curious, Yang Qiu knew that his tough military answer had worked, so he breathed a sigh of relief and continued to pretend to be serious, "Your Majesty's mistake was that you were too careless and did not consider the brothers who came with me to Sichuan. I killed them recklessly, causing them to be in danger with me. If it weren't for the timely arrest of Governor Zhao and the fear of them fleeing in all directions, perhaps... my brothers would have been killed by me on the way home."
"So..." Yang Qiu paused and said deliberately: "Today I have come to ask for your forgiveness and punishment."
"Ask for punishment?" Hearing this, even Li Yuanhong couldn't help but curl his lips slightly, thinking that this kid was really cunning. Punishment? Knowing that the title of "Loyal and Brave Baturu" has been given by the court, how can he be punished? Are you going to let Mr. Zhang contradict the court?
"Oh, this kid!"
Zhang Biao was also amused in his heart. He knew that this kid did it on purpose, but he was quite pleased to hear these words. He was not unhappy at all. Instead, he secretly had thoughts about Yang Qiu. He narrowed his eyes and deliberately asked, "Since you know so clearly, then what do you think should be the punishment?"
"Your Excellency, according to military regulations, if a comrade is trapped in danger, he will be flogged twenty times even if he escapes." Yang Qiu said decisively.
Seeing that Yang Qiu's expression did not seem fake, Zhang Biao nodded. After thinking for a while he suddenly turned to Xiao Anguo and said, "Anguo, you will be the one to punish this matter yourself."
"Sir...Yang Qiu."
"It's settled." Zhang Biao waved his hand to stop Xiao Anguo from pleading, but Yang Qiu could hear that this old guy didn't allow others to fight, but let Xiao Anguo enforce the law. Isn't this obviously to protect himself?
Zhang Biao glanced at Li Yuanhong after he finished speaking. Li Yuanhong nodded slightly and took out a memorial from his sleeve, reading: "Yang Qiu, the baggage train commander of the Eighth Regiment of the Hubei Army, protected the weapons and equipment entering Sichuan, captured the bandit leader alone to protect the local peace, and killed the rebels on the streets to uphold the law. These are all unprecedented contributions. I hereby grant him the title of loyal and brave Baturu, a yellow jacket, and 5,000 silver taels to announce this to the world."
"Also, Li Yuanhong, the commander of the 21st Mixed Brigade of Hubei, recommended Yang Qiu for his loyalty to the country and his proficiency in training troops, so he was specially appointed as the commander of the 42nd Battalion of the Hubei Army Mixed Brigade."
"So ordered!"
After listening to the memorial read by Li Yuanhong, not to mention Yang Qiu, even Xiao Anguo was dumbfounded.
Rewarding Baturu with silver and money was not surprising. Perhaps the reward for Baturu was a little too much. Five thousand taels was a bit shabby. But suddenly promoting him to the commander of the 42nd Battalion of the Mixed Brigade was really unexpected!
He watched Yang Qiu join the army. It had only been half a year since he put on the uniform. Including the four months of training before that, he had actually been holding a gun for less than two months. If you say that he has talent, he believes it, but to say that he has suddenly become the commander of the 42nd Battalion of the Mixed Brigade is as ridiculous as asking him to become an admiral all of a sudden.
Yang Qiu also opened his mouth and didn't say anything for a long time. The memories left by old Yang Qiu told him that the Hubei New Army had a total of one town and one brigade. The town was equivalent to a division in later generations, and the brigade was equivalent to a brigade. It was further divided into flags and battalions. The flag was equivalent to a regiment, and the units below the battalion were similar to later generations.
The 42nd Battalion belonged to Li Yuanhong's 21st Mixed Brigade, which consisted of two infantry battalions, the 41st and the 42nd, plus an artillery battalion, an engineering corps (the corps was equivalent to a company) and a baggage train, with a total of more than 4,600 people. This means that Li Yuanhong directly put nearly half of the main force under his command.
From a small soldier to a flag commander, there are three more levels in between: platoon leader, company commander and battalion commander. Even if you write novels, you can only be promoted three levels in a row, but I was promoted directly four levels... and a little more.
What is this?
Moreover, the 42nd Battalion looked worse than the 41st Battalion, but the Mixed Brigade was originally the 11th Regiment of the New Army, which means it should be a division, so it was not much worse! Moreover, the 42nd Battalion’s main camp was set up next to the gun factory! And from a historical point of view, because it was deployed far away from the main core area of Wuchang, the infiltration of the party members was not strong. There were less than 700 people in the Mixed Brigade who directly participated in the uprising, and many of them were simply coerced out of dissatisfaction. On the contrary, the Eighth Brigade, Zhang Biao’s confidant, had more than 3,000 people directly involved.
If it weren't for the 41st Regiment who produced the commander-in-chief of the uprising, Jiang Yiwu, perhaps history would not have wanted to record these two regiments. Of course, that guy deserted before the uprising for fear of being caught, and was ridiculed by history. Therefore, the 42nd Regiment was also the last to announce its acceptance of the leadership of the military government.
Although the following three battalions are currently stationed in Hanyang, Yichang and other places, due to the ongoing Sichuan Railway Protection Movement evolving into an armed conflict, after 4 battalions of the Hubei New Army were drawn into Sichuan, the 42nd Battalion will be directly deployed to Hanyang, Hankou and the Beijing-Hankou Railway! !
The most coveted land in the three towns of Hanjiang River, which was coveted by domestic ambitious people and even foreigners, was in his hands without any reason. How could this happen? If Xiao Anguo was included, it was equivalent to giving him the key to Chuwang Tower. Although having the key did not mean that the arsenal belonged to him, he did not have to rob it openly like the rebels.
Most importantly, after having these territories, does it mean that the data machine in my arms has finally found a ray of hope for use? Otherwise... kowtow to Marshal Zhang and Marshal Li to thank them for their great kindness? !
Yang Qiu carefully took the command knife and the seal of the commander, his head was full of swelling. This promotion was too confusing, and it made him feel a sense of alarm. As a soldier in later generations, he was not a white-handed rookie. No matter what era, the most important things in the army were skills and qualifications. The former could help you convince the soldiers, but the latter... he was really lacking at the moment.
Yang Qiu had no idea that Li Yuanhong and Zhang Biao had gritted their teeth before offering the position of commander of the 42nd Infantry Regiment. If Rui Cheng had not come to ask for the person and wanted to take the opportunity to interfere in military affairs, Yang Qiu would not have been able to get this good position no matter how capable he was.
But then again, Zhang Biao and Li Yuanhong were not afraid that Yang Qiu would turn against them. Firstly, Yang Qiu had already offended the party members in Sichuan and became their mortal enemy, so it was impossible for him to go along with them. Secondly, the 21st Mixed Brigade was brought up by Li Yuanhong, and with Yang Qiu's current qualifications and connections, he could not shake this huge mountain.
After all, the Mixed Brigade had only more than 4,600 people, and Yang Qiu was in charge of less than half of them. The real elite of the New Army was in the Eighth Regiment personally controlled by Zhang Biao. Under the noses of more than 10,000 troops, a small battalion commander was trapped in Hanyang, separated from Wuchang City by a river. No matter how disturbed the army was, it could not be hidden from their eyes.
But it was different for Yang Qiu. He couldn't just sit there and watch the Wuchang Uprising and then the Yangxia War destroy the three towns, right? Especially Hanyang, which was the best place to use the data machine. What should he do?
Destroy the First Uprising? This is impossible. The national cause must be firmly upheld. But if the First Uprising is not destroyed, when the Beiyang forces come, will we have to watch Lord Feng destroy Hankou and Hanyang with a fire and a barrage of artillery shells? And then we have to find a place to farm slowly? !
"Ah... I wonder if Hanyang can build the T34 now."
Yang Qiu sighed and left the governor's mansion in a dilemma. At that time, the news that Yang Dagouzei was promoted and suddenly became the commander of the 42nd Battalion of the Mixed Brigade began to spread.
This piece of news was not as well-known throughout the country as the story of the loyal and brave Baturu, but it caused a stir in the three towns of the Han River. Gossipers even analyzed from the subtle details that Yang Qiu was the "little seed" of the romantic youth of Admiral Zhang, which was why he rose to fame overnight like a rocket.
Inside the Huguang Governor's Office, Rui Cheng threw the document to the ground with angrily, and was so angry that he could not speak.
"Please calm down, sir." Seeing this, Rui Fang said hurriedly, "I heard that Zhang Biao was also upset and ordered Yang Qiu to be whipped 20 times for violating military regulations. It seems that he has lost the big picture this time."
"Hmph, what twenty lashes? It's just a tickle." Rui Cheng was not as foolish as Rui Fang. The Huguang Governor's Mansion and the Admiral's Mansion were only a few streets apart. How could they hide anything from him? So he sneered and said, "This son-in-law, I want to see if you will come and beg me!"
After saying that, he picked up the name card on the copybook and handed it to Rui Fang: "Go, send my name card to visit Yang Qiu, and summon the gentry of the three towns, and say that this governor wants to welcome and celebrate the great hero of the court. I want to see what Zhang Biaozi can do to stop this governor this time!"
"Sir, if we do this at this time, I'm afraid..."
"Go ahead. I have my own plans."
Seeing that Ruicheng was determined to fight Zhang Biao head-on, Ruifang had no choice but to pick up his name card and leave the Governor's Mansion. As soon as he left, Ruicheng came to the backyard again and called his trusted advisor Zhang Meisheng and said, "Go to the warehouse and exchange the silver for the maintenance of the gun factory in the second half of the year in my name for silver notes, and also put the salary that should have been allocated to Zhang Biao in it. From next month, all taxes will be temporarily stored in the warehouse. No one can transfer them at will without my permission!"
Zhang Meisheng was Ruicheng's trusted advisor. He knew about the dirty deeds that Ruicheng and Zhang Biao had done in the new army over the years, so he reminded him, "Sir, why don't you deposit the money in a foreign bank? That way, Zhang Biao won't be able to find out even if he wants to."
"The country is in a difficult situation. This money will have to be allocated sooner or later. Although it is safe to deposit it with foreigners, it is inconvenient to withdraw it and it is easy to give people a handle on colluding with foreigners." Rui Cheng waved his hand and said bitterly: "Besides, I just want to let him know where the money is and wait for him to beg me!"
