Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 44: Cigarettes Cause Trouble
No. 14 Baoshanli is a small building with its own entrance and courtyard. Since it is located in the Russian Concession in Hankou, although there are many people coming in and out every day, the Indian patrolmen will not care if there is nothing serious. After all, there are many Chinese doing business in the concession, and some are busier than this one.
As soon as Liu Tong arrived at the door, he saw Tang Zihong, a member of the Communist Party. Seeing that he had a thick thing wrapped around his ribs, he quickly approached him and asked, "Brother Tang, what is this?"
Tang Zihong is a veteran of the literary club. He has been in charge of peripheral work since the decision was made to start the rebellion. He also admires Mr. Liu for donating so much money. Moreover, Mr. Liu is the designated prime minister. So when he saw that it was his brother, he did not hide it and said, "This is the 18-star flag. We just made it."
"Eighteen-star flag? Can you show it to me?"
Liu Tong had never seen the 18-star flag, so he was very curious. Since there were no outsiders around, Tang Zihong simply unfolded the flag. The flag was more than one person tall, and when unfolded it was wider than both arms.
Seeing that Liu Tong did not understand, Tang Zihong explained: "The nine black corners represent the nine states recorded in "Yu Gong", namely Ji, Yan, Qing, Xu, Yang, Jing, Yu, Liang, and Yong. The 18 small yellow round stars represent the 18 provinces, which means that the 18 provinces worked together to overthrow the Manchus. When the great event is accomplished, perhaps this will be the national flag!"
"Really?" Liu Tong's eyes sparkled with excitement. "So on the day of the uprising, this flag will be hoisted at the Governor's Mansion?"
"Of course. Not only should we put it in the Governor's Mansion, but also in every city gate, barracks, government office, and even street corner. Then when you walk down the street, you will be the younger brother of the Prime Minister of the Military Government. How impressive!"
Tang Zihong became more and more excited as he spoke, but Liu Tong suddenly felt something was wrong and asked, "Why is there only 18 provinces? Northeast China, Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang are not included."
Tang Zihong's expression froze, and he said, "Those are all foreign lands, and the Northeast is the hometown of the Manchu Tartars. How can they be included in the flag of us Han people!" After that, he ignored Liu Tong and left angrily.
Liu Tong stuck out his tongue, knowing that he had said the wrong thing. However, when he thought about what Tang Zihong had just said, that he would soon become the Prime Minister's younger brother and a high-ranking official in the military government, he suddenly felt itchy in his heart, so he could not help but run to Sun Wu's room to ask when the rebellion would take place.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw Sun Wu holding a washbasin with a lot of yellow and black powder in it, which he was carefully wrapping with thick gauze and stuffing into the iron shell. Liu Tong saw sweat on his head and thought he was very tired, so he kindly took out a cigarette and handed it to him: "Brother Sun, have one to relieve your fatigue."
Sun Wu didn't pay attention to Liu Tong because he was making bombs and couldn't be distracted, so he didn't even look at him and said no. Liu Tong didn't get angry. He lit a match and asked, "Brother Sun, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been over for several days. When are you going to start the rebellion?"
"Almost done, almost done, waiting for this..." Sun Wu was so focused that he stuffed the gunpowder into the cloth roll while talking. But just as he stuffed it in, he suddenly smelled a whiff of smoke. He raised his eyes and found that Liu Tong was smoking next to him. He was so scared that his whole back was sweating. He suddenly shouted, "What are you doing! How can you smoke here!"
Liu Tong was only sixteen years old and had an unstable mind. He was frightened by Sun Wu's behavior and trembled all over. The cigarette he was holding fell into the basin unconsciously. Before the two could react, they heard a muffled "bang" and flames suddenly jumped out of the basin. Sun Wu was caught off guard and his face was immediately burned. He covered his face and shouted, "Hurry up, hurry up!"
Liu Tong was so frightened that he knew he was in big trouble, so he ran away immediately.
Tang Zihong and others were checking flags and other things next door. When they heard the call, they rushed over. However, they saw that the fire had spread all over the room, so they quickly used clothes and bedding to put out the fire.
But the fire was too big, and there were still a lot of unpacked explosives, so Sun Wu didn't care about the pain on his face, and asked everyone to move things quickly. At this time, several urgent sirens sounded, and everyone immediately cried out inwardly that something was wrong, so they had to drag Sun Wu out through the back door.
The sound of police whistles resounded throughout the Russian Concession. The entire Baoshanli was filled with smoke. A large group of Indian patrolmen began to surround them. A moment later, many Russian soldiers also arrived. This forced Sun Wu, who was hiding in the corner and preparing to take the opportunity to snatch back the things and eliminate the traces, to stamp his feet and grit his teeth and said, "Hurry to the French Concession and find Deng Yulin."
The sudden disaster left almost everyone stunned, especially when they saw more and more patrolmen and soldiers rushing over. Everyone could only crowd around Sun Wu and run along the alley towards the Japanese Concession.
On the other hand, when Liu Tong walked into Baoshanli with a cigarette in his mouth, Yang Qiu was also taking Yue Peng and several followers, dressed in casual clothes, strolling along Xinsheng Road where the Chinese area and the concession intersected, surveying the terrain.
Yue Peng introduced: "Xinsheng Road is the intersection of the Chinese area and the concession. There are four roads that can enter the concession. The roads are relatively wide. In addition, there is also a railway from Dazhimen that can enter the concession. I have taken people to check it out for a few days. Most of the time, the roads leading into the concession are guarded by Indian patrols, but Japanese soldiers often come here, and they control it very strictly. Last time, they beat up several passers-by who were about to borrow the road from here."
"Damn it, it's the Japanese again. I really don't know why those rebels like the Japanese so much. The sign they put up saying 'Proletarians are not allowed to live here' is so funny! How is it the same as 'Chinese and dogs are not allowed to enter'?!" The speaker was called Ke Shao, a big guy. He was not only one of the first machine gunners who learned how to use a machine gun, but also because he was straightforward and relatively neutral, he was promoted when Yue Peng was the acting captain.
Yue Peng glared at him, motioned him to lower his voice, and then continued, "One team (company) can basically block Xinsheng Road. Near the river is the Merchants Steam Navigation Company and the Customs Building. The police station is also there. The situation has been tense in the past few days, and the guards there have been strengthened. One team can ensure that they can be taken down."
"Only Dazhimen is a bit chaotic. The road there is narrow and has many forks. It is also a train station, so there will be a lot of refugees. It will take at least two teams to block it! The rest is easy. There is only one railway and waterway dock in and out of Hankou, and the foreign docks are not allowed to be used by Chinese. So as long as we block the two southeast gates and seal off the Chinese docks, we can completely block it."
"You must also pay attention to the telephone office. Cut off the calls to Wuchang as soon as possible. The telegraph office must also be blocked immediately. In short, the Chinese area must be completely blocked."
"The telegraph office is fine, but the telephone... The foreigners also use this line to contact Wuchang. If it's cut, what will happen..." Before Yue Peng finished expressing his concerns, Yang Qiu smiled and said, "It's not ten days or half a month. The foreigners won't be able to do anything in two days at most. At most, when they come to you, you can say that it was blown up and we are repairing it. We will restore it as soon as possible."
Yue Peng thought about it and thought that if they cut off the foreigners for a short period of time, it might not really matter. He smiled and said, "It's no big deal to blockade Hankou. As long as we act quickly, I can guarantee that Wuchang will not get any news for the whole night. But what do you think we should do with those bandits and merchants?"
"You decide for yourself." Yang Qiu thought for a moment and said, "I don't care about the rest, but Hanyeping has a branch in Hankou. You should find a way to move it and pay attention to controlling the heat..."
Hanyeping! Yue Peng was startled. Just as he was about to speak, a shrill police whistle sounded in the Russian Concession in the distance, followed by a large amount of thick smoke rising into the sky.
Seeing the smoke, Yang Qiu's body was shocked and he rushed into the British Concession. When he arrived at the Russian Concession, he vaguely saw a dozen panicked people carrying a young man who seemed to be burned into a Japanese clinic.
When he wanted to go over to take a look, a large number of soldiers and police from the concession blocked the street and prevented them from moving forward. Yue Peng quickly squeezed to the front and saw a German soldier who immediately asked in German: "Please tell me, what happened?"
Perhaps he did not expect to hear his native language in a foreign country. The German soldier did not hide anything and said, "Damn Russians, they have taken in some southern guys. Now something is wrong. This place will be blocked. You should leave now."
Yue Peng used to go to the German Concession frequently, and his face changed immediately when he heard this, because German soldiers liked to use "Southerners" to refer to party members, so he immediately guessed what was going on.
"What day is it today?" Thinking of this, Yue Peng pulled Ke Shao over. The latter thought something had happened and quickly said , "August 18th, it's just three days after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Have you forgotten, sir?"
Yue Peng turned his eyes and looked at Yang Qiu. He had always thought that Yang Qiu's "assertion" should be based on analysis of clues. After all, as a standard commander, he had access to many high-level secrets. But now he felt that it was really incredible!
There is no doubt that the Russian ambassador will report the situation to the other side, and Ruicheng, who has been worried recently, will definitely take this as an opportunity to take action. And from a military point of view, launching an attack while the enemy has not yet fully established itself is the best choice for the weaker side. If those party members want to protect themselves, they will definitely... launch an attack!
Yang Qiu didn't know how to describe it. It was a very complicated state of mind. What kind of feeling was it to see famous historical events happening around him, within his reach, and even able to save them? Itching, soreness, numbness, pain, etc. were all mixed together and it was very uncomfortable! But he told himself that if he wanted to rise in this troubled world and gain enough support, he needed not only guns and cannons, but also fame and victory! So he needed this momentum!
He is not a god, and he cannot stop the Beiyang with such a small number of troops, not to mention that he is "notorious", so he needs to borrow the power of Wuchang and use a war to justify himself and establish his status as a hero! Establish a new coordinate for this country! He wanted to rush in and take a look, but the most important thing was to endure it. There are some things... he can't care about, and he doesn't want to care!
"Let's go, it will be time for martial law..." Yang Qiu sighed dejectedly. When he turned around and went back resolutely with Yue Peng and others with horror on their faces, a hospital in the Japanese Concession was already in chaos. They watched as the Japanese doctor Kono carefully treated Sun Wu's burns, and Deng Yulin and others nearby were so nervous that they were speechless . Seeing that such a thing happened when a big event was about to happen, what should they do?
Sun Wu gasped when a piece of burnt skin was pulled off. Kono knew Sun Wu and said quickly, "Sun-san, you can distract yourself by staying here with me. If anything happens, I can take a letter to our consulate and ask them to send you to Shanghai by warship."
Sun Wu smiled bitterly and said, "Thank you Mr. Kono for your friendship. Can I have a conversation with them first?"
"Of course." Kono bandaged the wound and walked out of the ward with the Japanese assistant, but after closing the door, he immediately put his ear to it.
No one in the ward knew that Kono was eavesdropping. Sun Wu was anxious because there was a roster in Baoshanli that listed all the party members in the three towns. So he ignored the pain and asked, "What's going on outside? Baoshanli..."
"Baoshanli was raided by Russian police. I saw them load all the stuff onto a horse-drawn carriage and send it to Ruicheng Old Dog. And..." Seeing Deng Yulin hesitate, Sun Wu slapped the bed anxiously, "Tell me quickly, what's wrong!"
"When Mr. Liu heard about this, he was extremely anxious and sent Liu Tong and Li Shuqing back to get the list. Unexpectedly... they were arrested. We don't know what their current situation is, but I have notified everyone to evacuate as soon as possible." Deng Yulin did not dare to hesitate and said with gritted teeth: "The situation is urgent now. Many comrades don't know what to do. Bo Kui has already rushed back. Now we need..."
Everyone knew what Deng Yulin meant and looked at Sun Wu lying on the hospital bed.
Sun Wu was very unwilling to accept this. Originally, there had been conflicts between the Tongmenghui and the Literary Society. Now he had finally raised the Tongmenghui to the same level as the Literary Society. He was about to use their power in the army to make his name known throughout the country, but he did not expect such a thing to happen at the critical moment.
But he also knew that the roster must have been sent to Ruicheng and Zhang Biao. There were only two options at this moment! The ward suddenly became quiet. The thumping heartbeat was getting faster and faster. It was a critical moment. Should he fight to the death, or...?
After a while, Sun Wu suddenly waved to Deng Yulin. As soon as the latter walked to the bedside, Sun Wu suddenly shook his hand and said, "I am already disabled. My intelligence now depends on you, Brother Bing San! You immediately cross the river to inform the comrades in Xiaochao Street, and send someone to contact Hanyang as well. Tell them my opinion. Launch the attack immediately tonight! Only by launching the attack immediately can we take the initiative and survive!"
"Tell everyone, victory or defeat depends on this one move, take care!"
