Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 37: No Longer Covered
"What is this for?"
After seeing off Tan Yankai and returning to the camp, Zhang Wenjing saw a bustling scene. He moved a small table to the center of the parade ground, with a small box of silver dollars next to it. Soldiers were lining up in a long queue to receive the silver dollars one by one.
"Hehe... Sir, you forgot that today is the first day of the new year, the day of salary collection." Yue Peng, who had just finished selecting the machine gunners, walked over and said, "Everyone has been looking forward to this for two months."
Yang Qiu then remembered that the first day of every month was the day to collect wages for the new army. As the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement intensified, although the Governor of Huguang Rui Cheng allocated the outstanding wages, Admiral Zhang Biao only paid part of it and kept the rest for emergency use.
When several soldiers who had received their pay saw Yang Qiu, they immediately surrounded him and thanked him, because the 42nd Regiment was the only unit that received the full amount this time. Of course, this was not because Zhang Biao looked at them differently, but because Yang Qiu had not gotten back the 10,000 oceans he had taken out last time.
"No, I have to go find Lord Li later. He promised to return my money." Yang Qiu deliberately slapped his forehead and jokingly shouted, "Hey! Wen Jing, don't give it all away. That's my wife's money. Please save some for me."
"Ha ha……"
Yang Qiu's joke caused a burst of laughter from the soldiers. Yue Peng also came closer and joked, "I heard that your second uncle is a big businessman in Shanghai. He can make a little money."
"Small money? Ten thousand dollars!" Yang Qiu's eyes twitched. He had gone through life and death and was assassinated several times before he got a little over 60,000! So he ignored this guy and asked, "How is the selection of the machine gunner going?"
When it comes to business, Yue Peng's face suddenly falls, and he said bitterly: "Sir, except for me, there is no one in our 42nd Regiment who can operate a machine gun. If I learn from scratch, isn't half a month too short?"
"Hey, I know this isn't enough time, but..." Yang Qiu looked around and found no one paying attention to this side, so he leaned closer and said, "If I tell you that there will be a big earthquake in Wuchang in half a month, would you believe it?"
Yue Peng is not a fool. After entering August, the atmosphere in the three towns of Wuchang became increasingly tense, and rumors of killing the Tartars on August 15th were flying everywhere! All kinds of leaflets can be seen , and newspapers are worried about the current situation every day. The dissatisfaction between the lines can be seen as long as you can read! Especially not long ago, the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement officially evolved into an armed conflict. After the Hubei New Army was ordered to block the waterways and passes from Hubei to Sichuan, tension and anxiety had already fermented on both sides of the Yangtze River. However, Yang Qiu dared to predict the time so accurately, which surprised him very much. So after hearing this sentence, his heart suddenly shrank, and his eyes suddenly became sharp.
"I know you may not believe this, but I really didn't lie." Today, there are some things Yang Qiu doesn't want to hide anymore. Although he still clearly remembers the places where the Kuomintang had activities, including Xiaochao Street, Chuxiong Building and Baoshanli, as recorded in the Museum of the Xinhai Revolution, and he can completely destroy the revolutionary center headed by the Three Wus with a wave of his hand, he knows that he can't do that!
History has made it clear that Wuchang seemed accidental, but it was also inevitable.
Although the Kuomintang's continuous uprisings all ended in failure, their influence continued to expand with each sacrifice. Even if they destroyed Wuchang, they would still emerge in other places. Because the problem was not how powerful the Kuomintang was, but that the foundation of the Qing government was already crumbling under the impact like a moth to a flame.
It was normal for people to change their minds, and even many local officials were unwilling to intervene and let it go. Although the army was not full of party members as later propaganda had said, the soldiers generally sympathized with these people.
Moreover, without Wuchang, there would be no Yangxia, and without Yangxia, there would be no Yuan Shikai’s emergence and the abdication of the Qing Dynasty.
From the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 to the Reform Movement of 1898, from the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 to the Eight-Nation Alliance, this huge central dynasty had long been abandoned by everyone. Overthrowing the Qing Dynasty had become the trend of the times and no one could stop it, and Yang Qiu naturally did not want to do so.
What he wanted to save was this country, not the Manchu Tartars, but he did not want to see decades of warlord fighting after the Kuomintang, so he was hesitant and confused. It was not until that day when Yue Peng enlightened him with his words that he finally made up his mind to fight for it. This led to the deal between Shen Shukai and Germany and the provision of machine gun drawings to Su Hongsheng.
But this is not enough!
Even if we could get advanced weapons and ammunition to cover the three towns of Wuhan, we still need people to operate them, and that requires... sacrifice!
"Can you walk with me?"
"I'm happy to accompany you." Yue Peng nodded, and followed him out of the camp and came to the Han River. Looking at the rolling river, Yang Qiu found a big rock and asked him to sit down and said, "Yue Peng, how long have you been in Germany?"
"Sir, please call me Zi'an." Yue Peng said, "I have been here for thirteen months, but unfortunately..."
"It's too short?"
"A little bit." Yue Peng seemed to miss that time very much, and said faintly: "When he went there, Zi'an was full of confidence, but when he got there, he found that the gap between us and the world was so big! My lord, do you know? My first stop was Port William, where masts were like trees, flags were flying, and huge ironclad ships filled the bay."
"Then I entered the military academy and briefly joined the Guards for internship. I understood what a truly powerful army in the world is! From that day on, I became a little discouraged. It wasn't until the adults enlightened me that I suddenly realized that the gap between us and the world's powerful countries is not the number of cannons and machine guns, but our lack of ambition to fight!"
"Germany has a small border, and its mortal enemies France and Russia have formed an alliance. It is suppressed on both the east and west fronts. It does not have as much land as Britain, nor does it have the unique conditions of the United States. Even its seaport is under the guns of others! If it were someone else, they might have surrendered, but they relied on their desire to win and became a European power in just a few decades after the war!"
"Soldiers, fight!"
The simple and even uneventful narration moved Yang Qiu deeply. As the most "visionary" person in the world, he could speak more brilliantly and deeply than Yue Peng, but he could not express the envy, helplessness and disappointment he had experienced.
"Zi'an, do you believe those people?"
Yue Peng picked up a stone and threw it into the waves, then asked with a smile, "Sir, do you want to be Baturu?"
"I don't like them... but I don't like them either. They launched the Guangzhou Uprising after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and stepped onto the stage. They were persistent and willing to sacrifice their lives to pursue their dreams. I admire all of this, but they have made no progress in the past decade. Do you know why, Zi'an?"
Without waiting for Yue Peng to answer, Yang Qiu continued, "They are too radical. They have gone too far and have become obsessed. For the sake of their dreams, they have forgotten the shame of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and joined the Japanese. For the sake of their beliefs, they are willing to join forces with gangs. They are mixed with good and bad people and will do anything to achieve their ideals! Maybe they can realize their ideals, but what will happen after that?"
"The Beiyang government dominates the north, the foreigners run rampant in the southeast, and Japan is eyeing them covetously. In addition, there are so many gangs within the country that need to share power, and they themselves do not have enough strength to intimidate the four fields. Do you know what kind of situation that is?"
In just a few words, a picture filled with gunpowder and smoke emerged in Yue Peng's mind. For the first time, he looked seriously at the man in front of him who had leapt from an inconspicuous baggage soldier to a standard commander.
Yang Qiu picked up a piece of dead branch and began to draw carefully on the ground. After a while, the general situation of the three towns appeared in front of Yue Peng. As an officer who was trained in a professional school and studied abroad, these crude lines surprised him very much, because although Yang Qiu's gestures were not many, each one hit the key point, as if these three towns were built by him.
How many years of training does this take?!
Yang Qiu used the military drawing method he learned later to quickly outline the general situation of the three towns and said, "Wuchang is the center of the three towns and the center of our Hubei Army. Although there are tens of thousands of soldiers stationed in Wuchang, it seems to be impregnable, but it is not actually the case."
"I believe that outsiders have no ability to shake the foundation of the army, but what if it is the army itself? You know the current situation in the army better than I do. I believe that most soldiers can abide by the rules, but don't forget that soldiers are also human beings. The dispute between the governor and the admiral has caused the army to be cut off from pay frequently, which has aggravated the dissatisfaction of the soldiers. If they are slightly instigated by them, it will lead to a mutiny. Those people will definitely stand up and regard themselves as leaders. When the soldiers can't find a way out, many of them will be dragged into it!"
"Once Wuchang is lost, Hankou and Hanyang will certainly be undefendable!"
"From the perspective of the North, if there is any problem with the three towns, they will definitely send a large army to collect the levies. Zi'an, do you think that with our current strength, even if we gather everyone together, we can stop the Beiyang? Can we stop the navy coming up the river?"
"They have no scruples, because if they fail here, they can go to the next place. They can lose Hankou, Hanyang, and even Wuchang, but can we leave here? This is where we were born and raised, and it is the people of the three towns who save money to provide for us! Once the army comes north, it will definitely destroy everything. How can we face them calling for help?"
"I don't want to support anyone. I just want to keep the three towns and be worthy of the people of the three towns and this land. Because there are ironworks, arsenals, the best industrial base, and thousands of skilled workers here. What does industry represent? You should know better than me since you have been to Germany! This is the last bit of vitality of this country! I... want to keep it!"
"I don't have a eloquent mouth, nor do I have a program, let alone beautiful promises that can make people follow me! But I am not afraid, because I am a soldier! In front of soldiers, there are only guns, only smoke... and sacrifice!"
Yang Qiu used his feet to smooth out the lines in front of him and threw the branch into the Han River, as if he had never done anything. He turned his head and smiled slightly: "Zi'an, do you want to fight with me?"
Yue Peng was shocked.
Really, it was the first time he heard someone analyze the gains and losses of Wuchang and the world in such detail. It was the first time he knew that there really were madmen in this world, who wanted to stand between two factions that were already fighting to the death with two pistols, and resolutely stepped into that strange and unpredictable vortex that could swallow them at any time!
His scalp was tingling and he really wanted to agree to Yang Qiu immediately, but he still had a doubt in his heart: "Sir, why are you so sure that something will happen within half a month? It can't be the rumor about killing the Tartars on August 15th, right? Although there are many dissatisfactions in the army, they only sympathize with those people. It is difficult to incite them!"
Yue Peng was very sure about what he said, but he forgot another thing, which was the political exchange.
The Wuchang Uprising was indeed an accidental event, but it would be more accurate to say that it was a spontaneous mutiny by grassroots soldiers. Although there were many party members among the mutineers, most of them were soldiers who rioted because they were dissatisfied with the status quo. The fact that Li Yuanhong later became the governor of Hubei shows that it was not so much the Kuomintang that launched the uprising, but rather they hijacked the mutiny and quickly stood up after it occurred. The faction headed by Sun Wu saw the value of the mutiny and quickly came together with the mutineers, but they themselves lacked strength, and in the end they had to let Li Yuanhong, whose prestige was second only to Zhang Biao, come out.
Whether Li Yuanhong was forced or intentional, he needed a righteous cause to command and mobilize the soldiers, so he joined forces with the Kuomintang. It can be said that this was a classic case of mutual exploitation!
The Kuomintang took advantage of the mutiny to realize their dream of being the first uprising to drive the whole country, and picked up a huge wallet given to them by history. The military faction used the Kuomintang to gain justice and call on the whole country. Finally, the Battle of Yangxia made Yuan Shikai come back to power and sounded the death knell of the Qing Dynasty.
Yang Qiu laughed bitterly in his heart. I can't tell your brother that he traveled through time. These are all history, right? He could only squint mysteriously and say , "Let's make a bet. Something will happen in Nanhu within two days!"
"Nanhu? The Third Battalion of the Artillery?" Yue Peng couldn't sit still after hearing this. He stood up and stared at Yang Qiu: "Sir, who are you?!"
"Yang Qiu, courtesy name Chenhua, 22 years old, the real deal!" Yang Qiu finished speaking, and patted his shoulder with a smile: "They...may not have that strength, but if the soldiers' anxiety and dissatisfaction are not handled properly, I'm afraid they will be taken advantage of! So...you have to train the machine gunners well...maybe they are our only savior to save the three towns. As for you personally...if you are willing, you can come to me tomorrow night."
Turn around and leave.
