Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 13 Sun Wu's Anxiety
The summer rain poured down in torrents, then flowed into the Han River along the streets and alleys, carrying away countless filth, as if washing the three towns of the Han River. The Turtle Mountain in the distance looked like a giant beast, and together with the Snake Mountain on the opposite bank, it blocked the river, standing tall in the wind and rain to protect the three towns.
In the Hankou Russian Concession, which faces Guishan Mountain, a man in a suit and leather shoes puts his hands in his pockets. On the street downstairs, several Russian soldiers carrying guns happened to pass by here. The man subconsciously shrinks back, and only opens the curtains again after they are far away. When he is about to look outside again, there is a knock on the door.
After three knocks, there were two more knocks. After hearing the secret code, the man opened the door and two men wearing wide-brimmed hats flashed into the house.
"Sun Wu."
As soon as Jiang Yiwu entered the room, he hastily winked at Li Xiping, who had come with him. Li Xiping hurriedly walked to the window to look outside, and Jiang Yiwu grabbed Sun Wu and said anxiously, "Yang Qiu returned to Wuchang yesterday afternoon."
"Oh? He's back?"
"Yes." Jiang Yiwu continued, "I heard from the governor's office that Xiao Anguo, who came back with him, has been appointed as the commander of the Chuwangtai Pingku. He was first beaten, and then promoted to the commander of the 42nd Battalion of the Mixed Brigade!"
Chuwangtai Pingku! Mixed Association 42nd Standard Command!
Sun Wu was shocked. He never expected that Yang Qiu would become the commander of the 42nd Battalion. It seemed that the court had spent a lot of money to win him over. The 42nd Battalion was stationed in Hankou and Hanyang, which meant that all of these areas would be under his jurisdiction in the future. This was a considerable threat to the Hubei comrades who had established their revolutionary base here.
As for Xiao Anguo's promotion to Pingku, it was also a big threat. He had been eyeing the tens of thousands of guns and hundreds of cannons in Chuwangtai for a long time. Jiang Yiwu and others had been secretly lobbying the Engineering Battalion, hoping to attract more like-minded comrades. Unexpectedly, Zhang Biao and Li Yuanhong would intervene. In this way, with Yang Qiu guarding Hanyang and Hankou, and Xiao Anguo guarding Chuwangtai, the uprising would probably be more troublesome.
"Why are you so worried? Pingku is just a key keeper, he's nothing to be afraid of. As for Yang Qiu, do as I say, let me take people to kill him." Li Xiping, who was on sentry duty nearby, saw that both of them had serious expressions, and immediately patted his chest and said with gritted teeth.
"Nonsense, do you think it's that easy to kill him?" Sun Wu glared at Li Xiping and said, "He is no longer the same as before. He is in a high position and has great power. If there is any disturbance, the three towns will be in chaos. Moreover, he has been appointed as the commander of the 42nd Battalion. He must be heavily protected by soldiers when he goes out. We have a big event coming up, so we must not let anything else happen."
"Are we just going to let those two lackeys live happily ever after?!" Li Xiping said indignantly.
"Okay, let's not talk about Yang Qiu for now." Sun Wu was worthy of being the leader of the Tongjin Society. He knew that Yang Qiu could not be killed at this moment, and he was afraid that mentioning this matter again would cause dissatisfaction among the "mud legs" of the literary club like Jiang Yiwu, so he changed the subject and asked, "Any news about the explosives I asked you to get?"
Li Xiping was very upset after being blocked by Sun Wu, but he didn't dare to talk back, so he had to vent all his anger on Yang Qiu. He secretly made up his mind to find a chance to kill this evil villain who was opposing the revolution.
Jiang Yiwu's face was uncertain, and he shook his head and replied, "The inspection at the gun factory was too strict. We only got dozens of private guns without bullets from those craftsmen, and we haven't got the explosives yet."
"Forget it, I'll find another way to deal with this." Sun Wu sighed and waved his hand: "You go back immediately and find a way to contact more soldiers in the 21st Mixed Brigade. Our development is really too slow there."
Jiang Yiwu heard that Sun Wu was also worried about Yang Qiu, so he nodded immediately. Just as he grabbed his hat and was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, how is Sichuan doing?"
"Some comrades died, but fortunately most of the backbones survived." Sun Wu said: "Mr. Song has returned to Shanghai now. I heard that Mr. Song has already agreed with Deng Xiaoke and others to personally take charge of Sichuan affairs. It is estimated that they will start again soon."
"That's great. With Mr. Song personally taking charge, this matter will surely be a great success." Upon hearing that Huang Xing was going to personally take charge of Sichuan, Jiang Yiwu and Li Xiping became excited. Song Jiaoren's name was much more famous than theirs.
"Maybe." Sun Wu was not as optimistic as them, and said calmly: "Do our job well. Once Sichuan really succeeds, we will need to use our sacrifice to protect the fruits of victory!"
"Yes." After the two nodded, they put on their hats again, opened the door and left quickly after seeing that no one was paying attention. After seeing the two leave, Sun Wu sat down again, took out a pen and paper, and wrote two big words on the white paper.
"Yang Qiu!"
After finishing writing, Sun Wu was still uneasy, so he stood at the window to get some fresh air, but he saw Jiang Yiwu and Li Xiping walking on the street, muttering to each other.
"Brother Jiang, are we just going to let that bastard get away with it?" Li Xiping said fiercely. He was very unhappy that Sun Wu had blocked him just now. Jiang Yiwu was also very dissatisfied with Sun Wu's plan to not kill Yang Qiu for the time being. Seeing that he was interested, he simply gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go find Jin Lai Li."
…
"hiss……"
In the baggage camp of the Eighth Regiment of the New Army in Wuchang, Yang Qiu was lying on a bamboo bed with his bare chest, surrounded by soldiers from the baggage camp. Ma Kui was sitting beside him, using a cotton ball dipped in medicinal wine to wipe the light red bruises on his back. Every time he wiped, there was a sound of gasping.
"Come on, my great hero Baturu, does it hurt so much?"
Not only did the sound of inhaling not make everyone anxious, but it caused a burst of laughter. Hu Laosan, who loved the excitement the most, deliberately squinted his eyes and said happily: "Brother Yang, I don't think you used much force when you whipped me. Could it be that Ma Kui touched you too comfortably?"
"Yes, I think our captain is being lenient. The last time I was whipped, I lay in bed for three days and three nights."
"Bullshit, can you compete with Brother Yang? By the way, why did you get whipped last time?"
"I know that. He went to meet his lover in private, and ended up being tossed around all night and missed the drill."
"Ha ha……"
Compared with other battalions, most of the soldiers in the baggage battalion came from rural areas and had little education. They spoke without discrimination and were more friendly than in the army. In the past, Yang Qiu was considered an outlier because he was the only one in the battalion who had attended a foreign school.
In the past, except for Bingwen, most people only regarded him as a favored child of heaven and rarely talked nonsense. This time he went to Sichuan and rescued his brothers who were escorting the goods. In the end, his entire baggage camp was commended by the court and each person received ten dollars, so he suddenly became much closer to everyone.
"Are you all bored? Go do what you need to do." Xiao Anguo's loud voice came from behind. The soldiers suddenly jumped up and disappeared, leaving only Yang Qiu and Ma Kui who was applying medicine to him.
"Brother, I hope I didn't hit you that hard." Seeing Yang Qiu's grimacing face as if he was seriously injured, Xiao Anguo secretly laughed. This guy is really good at pretending to be dead. He is worthy of being a scholar!
"Eh? Why is Lord Pingku so free? Aren't you afraid that if you go too late, tens of thousands of guns will be stolen?" Yang Qiu picked up his clothes from the side and put them on, jokingly saying, "Are you going to take three days off to heal your whip wound like me?"
"I really have something to talk to you about."
Seeing Xiao Anguo find a stool to sit next to him, as if he wanted to discuss something, Ma Kui immediately stood up and wanted to leave. Yang Qiu held him and said with a smile: "Brother Ma, please sit down. We brothers are not strangers. Besides, when I was in the governor's mansion that day, I recommended you to take over the baggage camp. The governor has also approved it. I estimate that the transfer order should arrive in two days."
"Really?" Upon hearing that Xiao Anguo recommended him to take over the position of commander of the Quarry Battalion, Ma Kui was so happy that he scratched his head. Although the Quarry Battalion was not as important as Pingku, and it did not guard important places like the 42nd Battalion, officials often came to the Quarry Battalion to transport some goods, and the benefits were good, so he hurriedly thanked Xiao Anguo.
"Look how happy you are, but don't thank me for this, it's all thanks to Brother Yang."
After Ma Kui sat down, the three of them quarreled for a few more words. Xiao Anguo's mouth fell and he said bitterly: "To be honest, brother, I always feel uneasy after returning from the Governor's Mansion. Why do you think the Admiral and Lord Li recommended me to be the Pingku?"
"How would I know?" Yang Qiu rolled his eyes, slapped his forehead and said, "Brother, you are just a warehouse keeper, to put it bluntly, but brother, I...what is this?"
"This is different, this is different." Xiao Anguo waved his hands and said, "Brother, you are a very capable person, and you have read so much. When you first came to the baggage camp, I knew that you would be successful sooner or later. But I, Xiao Anguo, am just a rough man. If I hadn't learned a few words from the teacher when I was a soldier, I would not even be able to write my name."
Seeing Xiao Anguo's hesitant look, Yang Qiu knew that he was really anxious, so after thinking for a while, he said, "If you don't think I'm talking nonsense, I'll analyze it for you."
"Brother, speak quickly." Xiao Anguo quickly moved his stool closer. Even Ma Kui pricked up his ears, wanting to hear what Yang Qiu had to say.
"Brother Xiao." Yang Qiu took a breath, raised his eyebrows and said, "Chu Wangtai has a heavy responsibility, so there is a saying in the army that only trusted people can be appointed, but on the other hand, are trusted people really reliable? Since the establishment of the new army, many eyes have been on the admiral, not to mention this arsenal, which is the top priority. That's why you haven't arranged for Pingku for so many years, and only let Li Keguo from the engineering battalion take the position concurrently, because you are afraid of gossip and being attacked."
"Then why let Brother Xiao take the position now?" Ma Kui asked from the side.
"First, Brother Xiao happened to have made contributions and needed a reward." Yang Qiu raised his finger and analyzed, "Second, it should be said that I harmed you, because after the trip to Sichuan, Brother Xiao and Brother Ma, you may have been labeled as Yang Qiu's accomplices. In this way, there is no need to worry about the armory being infiltrated by rebels."
"Brother, what you mean is... those rebels will rob the armory!"
Xiao Anguo and Ma Kui looked at each other in surprise. They didn't expect Yang Qiu to say that. You know, the defense of Chuwangtai is the best in the entire new army. It seems impossible to outsiders, but the latter did not reveal the historical awareness in advance. He continued: "The admiral and Lord Li have been in charge of the new army for many years. Naturally, they know which places are important and are familiar with the situation in the army. Moreover..."
At this point, an extremely bold idea suddenly arose in Yang Qiu's mind. In history, the Swiss side transferred troops from the new army for emergency assistance, and Zhang Biao lent him the 31st and 32nd Battalions of his Eight Regiments. However, these two regiments rebelled when they were about to reach Chengdu!
On the contrary, the remaining troops in Wuchang actually entangled with the rebels for a long time. If Chu Wangtai and Li Yuanhong were not brought up later, Zhang Biao might not have been defeated! According to this calculation, can we assume that Zhang Biao actually knew something and deliberately sent out the two most infiltrated soldiers?
Now, because of a small fork, he actually let Xiao Anguo take over as Pingku. Does it mean... he already knew that Chuwangtai was in danger? You must know that the mutinous troops, under the instigation of several members of the Democratic Party, took down the most core Chuwangtai without firing a single shot.
"It turns out... I've been made a target of the party members!" Yang Qiu slapped his thigh and understood everything.
