Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 36: Hints to Granny Tan
After Yang Qiu returned to the camp with two imitation Madsen M50s, they immediately detonated the entire camp. Even Yue Peng and Zhang Wenjing put down what they were doing and rushed over after hearing about it. Lei Meng and Su Xiaohu, who was sent by the old man, stood next to the machine guns proudly. The more soldiers gathered around them, the prouder they were, as if it was their credit to get the machine guns.
Yang Qiu was not like other senior officers who kept their uniforms neat and tidy every day and carried a sword for fear that others would not know they were officers. Instead, he liked to wear ordinary military uniforms. During this period, he ate and lived with the soldiers, set an example and trained with them, rain or shine. So the storm of the forced training that day gradually passed, and the soldiers slowly began to accept him, this somewhat alternative commander.
In addition, Yue Peng and Zhang Wenjing took the opportunity of acting as battalion commanders to promote a large number of young and capable grassroots officers, so the atmosphere in the army improved a lot, and the soldiers became bolder and asked, "Sir, what kind of machine gun is this?"
"The light machine gun is called the Madsen light machine gun in Europe. It was imitated by Master Su Hongsheng a few years ago. I brought it back so that everyone can learn from it first." Yang Qiu patted the machine gun and said with a smile, "Who can use it?"
"Sir, I learned this when I was in Germany." Yue Peng stood up, walked to the machine gun, fiddled with it for a few times, then frowned and said, "Sir, is this broken?"
"There are good ones, but I don't know when they will be delivered." Yang Qiu muttered to himself, and glared at him, "Since you have used it, you can teach everyone how to use it."
"Sir? Are we going to equip them with machine guns ?" Zhang Wenjing's eyes lit up, but before he could dream, Yang Qiu immediately hit him, "Let's talk about it after Beiyang doesn't want them anymore."
"Damn it, it's the Beiyang again. I just can't stand those guys."
"Yes, they always think of them first. All the guns are made in Germany, and the same goes for the cannons. They just push the obsolete ones to us. It's really annoying."
"Okay, there will always be a day when it will be our turn to get equipment. I heard that this gun is good. Master Su happened to have it, so I brought it back for everyone to practice with. Even if it is broken, we can still practice with it, and let everyone learn more." Hearing the soldiers mumbling, Yang Qiu smiled. It seemed that his subtle influence on Beiyang was effective. He said to Yue Peng: "I can only borrow this gun for half a month, so you can choose more people to practice with."
"Are we still training a broken gun? Sir, is this considered as using your power to oppress others?" Yue Peng's face turned black. It takes at least three months for Germany to train a machine gunner, and thousands of rounds of ammunition are needed to train a skilled machine gunner. He only has half a month here, and it's a broken gun! There's no chance to use live ammunition! Isn't this just making fun of him?
"Not satisfied? Fine, play one-on-one with me. If you win, just pretend I never said anything."
To challenge you to be the second Lei Meng? Isn't this uncomfortable! Yue Peng waved his hand quickly, pointed at Lei Meng who was watching the joke and said: "Don't worry, please let me go. If you want to do it, go find Lei Meng."
"Me?! Ouch, I have a stomachache..." How could Lei Meng dare to fight with Yang Qiu in a duel? During this period of time, he had suffered enough from the pain of being defeated by the enemy with one move in the future. He was either strangled or knocked unconscious for no reason, and then he had to run away to urinate.
"Haha..." The usually fearless Lei Meng was scared away, and the soldiers all laughed. Even Qiu Wenbin and others who had been paying attention to Yang Qiu had to admit that he was very friendly to the soldiers. This made them even more worried, because there were few comrades here, and now there was such a nemesis, and the prospect of cooperating in the uprising suddenly became bleak.
After handing over the task of training machine gunners to Yue Peng, Zhang Wenjing quickly pulled Yang Qiu aside and said, "Sir, the people from Hunan have been waiting for you for a long time."
"Someone from Hunan? Who? Why are you waiting for me?"
Zhang Wenjing quickly explained, "It was Mr. Tan Yankai from the Hunan Advisory Council. He was ordered to come to the gun factory to take the guns back to Hunan. This is not the latest strict inspection and prevention. You need to check before you can set off."
Granny Tan? Yang Qiu remembered what happened at the dinner party that day and asked quickly, "Where is she?"
"It's loading at the dock."
…
The Hanyang Arsenal was located in Dabie Mountain (today's north side of Guishan Mountain), close to Yuehu Lake and Han River, and shared a dock with the ironworks.
At the dock, a dozen Hunan Army soldiers who came to escort guns were staggering around lazily, which made Tan Yankai frown. The phrase "There is no Hunan Army after Zuo Zongtang" revealed the decline of the Hunan Army. In just a few decades, the army that fought north and south to recover Xinjiang has now disappeared in the long river of time, leaving only these soldiers with no military discipline in front of them.
Tan Yankai didn't want to care and couldn't do anything about it, so he just looked at the spectacular industrial factory in front of him, secretly envious.
Although Hunan is also close to the river, it is a world apart from the three towns of Wuchang. The situation has been unstable in recent years and the number of bandits in the country has begun to increase, so he was anxious to transport this batch of guns back to the soldiers to reassure them.
Suddenly, a series of orderly footsteps were heard. Tan Yankai and several managers of the gun factory turned their heads and saw a group of new army soldiers walking in the same pace, trotting along with their guns on their backs. After landing at the dock, they did not greet them and immediately put down their guns and lined up in two rows. The head of the shed shouted, "Stand at attention!"
The sound of everyone standing at attention startled everyone. Before they could ask what was going on, the new commander of the 42nd Battalion, Yang Qiu, had already come over with Zhang Wenjing. After seeing him, Tan Yankai hurried over and said with a smile, "Commander-in-chief, we meet again."
"Haha, there have been a lot of things recently, and I'm sorry to have kept Lord Tan waiting for a long time. I hope we didn't miss the time?" After Yang Qiu finished speaking, he waved his hand, and several soldiers standing at attention immediately began to board the ship for inspection. This made the manager of the gun factory and those Hunan Army soldiers change their faces. They didn't expect that this notorious "Manchu Tartar running dog" really took him seriously.
Tan Yankai was fine, but he was a little surprised that Yang Qiu could train the 42nd Regiment so obediently in just half a month. Looking at the soldiers of the 42nd Regiment who were moving in an orderly and swift manner, he turned his head to look at the undisciplined Hunan Army behind him and sighed in his heart.
"Master Tan, I'm really sorry. Recently, the rebels have been causing trouble everywhere, so we have to be careful."
"Haha... Commander Biao, you are too polite. If everyone was as dedicated and responsible as you, things wouldn't be so chaotic." Tan Yankai smiled slightly and invited Yang Qiu to board the cargo ship together.
The small cabin was filled with long wooden boxes. After Hu Laosan and his soldiers carefully checked them, they immediately saluted and said, "Report, Hanyang made 1,000 bullets and 30 boxes of bullets, verified to be correct."
Yang Qiu casually pulled out a Hanyang rifle from the box, demonstrated it a few times, and praised, "Good gun."
Tan Yankai glanced at Hu Laosan and the others and said with a smile: "No matter how good their guns are, they are not as good as your soldiers. I really envy these soldiers."
Yang Qiu smiled secretly. He brought Hu Laosan and the others out just to let Tan Yankai see his neat military appearance and discipline and leave an impression on this "Mother-in-law Tan". Hunan is a land of fish and rice, which will be of great use in the future. What's more, what he lacks most now is political power, and the constitutionalists can still make use of it. So he should establish a relationship and talk to them first, so that they will not be at a loss for topics to talk about when the time comes.
Seeing that he had succeeded, he said no more, and immediately took out his seal and pressed it on the document, and deliberately smiled and said, "I like what you said, Lord Tan. Since we have chosen to carry guns, we must shoulder the responsibility of keeping the area safe! So no matter how good the gun is, it must be given to people who know how to use it. Even if the person who doesn't know how to use it has good intentions, the result will probably only make things worse!"
Tan Yankai was about to reach out to take the document, but when he heard this, his fingers trembled suddenly, and he raised his head and asked, "General Biao, what do you mean by this...?"
"Don't get me wrong, Master Tan. Yang Qiu was just speaking from his heart. I just hope that everyone who uses a gun in the world will use it properly and keep it tightly, and not let the gun become a disaster." Yang Qiu suddenly leaned in to whisper, "Master, if you are promoted to the governor of Hunan one day, don't forget to buy me a drink! Haha... Bye."
Governor of Hunan?
Looking at Yang Qiu's departing back, Tan Yankai's heart suddenly shook, and his eyebrows were squeezed together. Not to mention that there was no such title as Governor of Hunan in the Qing Dynasty, even if there was one, he might not be able to get it for the time being with his qualifications. But his words clearly hinted at something. What exactly was he hinting at?
