Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 52: The Day of Rise (Part 7)
"boom……"
Just as Wang Anlan put down the phone, a shell exploded not far from the Mixed Corps Command Headquarters. The huge noise shattered the glass all around, and some soldiers outside were so scared that they quickly hid inside.
Li Yuanhong was also sitting in front of a big desk with a grim face. A broken corpse in the hall was shocking to see. It was the liaison officer sent by the party, who was hacked to death on the spot because he was afraid of trouble.
Due to the previous major rotation, the two battalions of the 41st Regiment were out, and the 42nd Regiment was trapped in Hanyang and Hankou and could not cross the river to support him. So he only had one infantry battalion and one artillery battalion left with him, and only Liu Wenzhi, Wang Anlan and others were left as officers. The command post was much quieter. Li Yuanhong glanced at Wang Anlan, who was almost falling down because of the explosion, and asked, "What did Yang Qiu say?"
Wang Anlan calmed himself down and repeated, "Sir, Yang Qiu said that all the 42nd Battalion are on standby and waiting for your order. He also said..."
"It's already this time, and you're still hesitating!" Seeing him evasive, Li Yuanhong slammed the table. Wang Anlan dared not delay any longer, and said quickly: "He said that no matter what happens in Wuchang, he will definitely protect you, and he also said that no matter what you choose, he will be your external aid!"
"Foreign aid..." Li Yuanhong read these two meaningful words, and then raised his lips unnoticed, and continued coldly: "Now the bandits are causing chaos, and all the camps have responded. You usually eat the court's salary and receive the court's grace. At this time, you should be loyal and chaste, and you must not act recklessly!"
Liu Wenzhi heard the hidden meaning of Li Yuanhong's words and said quickly: "Don't worry, sir. My 41st Regiment still has two battalions outside, and Yang Qiu's 42nd Regiment is also on standby on the other side. These rebels will never dare to act rashly."
"Yes, we have a united group of people." Li Yuanhong sighed, waved his hand and called his trusted guards to quickly write a few words and said, "Go find Wu Zhaolin. I heard that he is in charge. Give this to him. Don't let anyone see it. If he sees it, he will definitely kill you."
When the guards heard that their lives were guaranteed, they rushed out of the command post.
At this time, the gunfire outside became more and more frequent. Several shells landed near the command post again. Liu Wenzhi and other officers became more anxious and asked hurriedly: "Sir, what should we do now..."
"It's better to go with the flow than against the current." Li Yuanhong said something incoherent and waved his hand. "You all should go back. Don't participate in the mutiny. If they come to your door, persuade them kindly. If they shoot to scare you, don't fight back. As for the soldiers, let them do whatever they want. I can't do anything about it."
After hearing what he said, the officers finally breathed a sigh of relief and said goodbye. Li Yuanhong didn't know where to go at this time. Seeing this, Liu Wenzhi immediately said, "Sir, why don't you go to my place to rest for a few days and come back after things are settled here."
"Okay." Li Yuanhong agreed readily.
…
"Bullets are coming, bullets are coming..." As the soldiers shouted excitedly, Yue Peng, who was looking at a map in the room, let out a long sigh of relief as his fingers trembled. After he calmed down a little and walked out of the door, he saw that several carriages had stopped in the middle of the military camp. Several anxious soldiers immediately pried open the boxes, and yellow bullets immediately splashed down.
Just as everyone started to collect bullets, the sound of hurried running came from outside. Zhang Wenjing's third battalion finally arrived. Seeing that the number of people had not decreased but increased, they were surprised and said, "Wenjing, what are you doing..."
Zhang Wenjing immediately pulled out a 30-year-old man from behind him. When the man saw Yue Peng, he saluted and said, "Hang Zhi greets the commander. We are from the Left Banner of the Hankou Patrol Camp."
Zhang Wenjing was afraid of misunderstanding, so he quickly told the whole story. It turned out that when he was coming back and passing by Dazhimen Railway Station, he met Hang Zhi who was leading a team stationed there. The two were from the same hometown and knew each other. When Hang Zhi heard that Zhang Wenjing wanted to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, he excitedly brought people to join in.
Yue Peng knew that Zhang Wenjing was always steady in his work. Since he recommended the person, he must be confident. But he still had to make things clear, so he glanced at the new soldiers and said, "Let me be frank. Our 42nd Battalion is not like other troops. The commander strictly requires orders and obedience! It's about following orders. Even if there are knives in front of you, you have to bite your teeth when ordered to rush forward! Is there any problem?"
"No problem, don't worry, sir. Captain Zhang has already told me on the way here that we have long disliked the Manchus." Hang Zhi and his soldiers excitedly patted their chests and made the assurance.
"Well, we are brothers from now on. Each of us will be given 30 rounds of bullets, and then we will set off immediately." After Yue Peng arranged for Hang Zhi and the soldiers to collect the bullets, he immediately pulled Zhang Wenjing to his side and asked, "Is it okay?"
"Don't worry, he's our brother, there will be absolutely no problem." Zhang Wenjing patted Yue Peng on the shoulder and asked, "By the way, how is the adults doing?"
"He Xi led a battalion to attack Hanyang County and the patrol battalion. Lei Meng and the newcomer Ji Fucheng attacked the river defense battalion of Guishan Fort. Su Xiaohu got an advantage. The adults temporarily assigned him to an independent battalion to take over the gun factory. Even the steel mill will take the opportunity to clean up!"
"He Xi, Ji Fucheng, Su Xiaohu. None of them are his direct descendants, but he still dares to delegate power. I really admire him." Zhang Wenjing sighed and asked, "By the way, where is the master himself?"
"They have already gone to Wuchang City." Yue Peng's face darkened. Zhang Wenjing jumped up when he heard this: "What! How can you go to Wuchang to wade into muddy waters now? What are Xiao Anguo and the others doing? Why don't you stop them?"
Yue Peng was also extremely worried after hearing the news, but in his opinion, Yang Qiu was not the kind of person who acted rashly. He acted in a meticulous and organized manner. Since he insisted on going to Wuchang, it must be something big.
"Sir, a large number of rioters and bandits appeared in Hankou. A team followed orders and did not take action first. They sent people back to ask if it was..." The soldier who reported interrupted the two people's thoughts. Yue Peng patted Zhang Wenjing and said, "Sir, you must have your own reasons for doing that. Let's take care of Hankou before he comes back..."
Zhang Wenjing also knew that the most important thing at this moment was to capture Hankou, so he quickly said, "Hang Zhi just told me that the Hankou Patrol Battalion has two machine guns guarding it. We don't have any cannons now, and I'm afraid we can't rely on bombs and rifles alone..."
Hang Zhi, who had just received the bullets, heard this and immediately said, "There are cannons."
"There are cannons? Where are they? Tell me!" Yue Peng was already worried about the lack of firepower. When he heard Hang Zhi say there were cannons, he rushed to him in one step, which scared Hang Zhi. He scratched his head and smiled, "Yesterday, the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company received ten Krupp mountain cannons imitated from Germany by the Jiangnan Factory. I heard that they were supposed to be added to the Mixed Artillery Battalion in the next few days."
"This is real?"
"I dare not lie about this. I have a few sworn brothers in the Merchants Bank. They told me this when we were drinking yesterday."
Hearing what Hang Zhi said, Yue Peng knew it was true. The China Merchants could be said to be an official arms dealer of the imperial court. Many purchases of the Eight Towns in recent years were made through them, so he immediately said, "Wen Jing, you lead the team to surround the patrol camp first, and the rest of the people will occupy important places such as the customs building and the provincial treasury according to the plan. I will go to the China Merchants to get the cannons myself."
Just as Zhang Wenjing was about to leave, he suddenly remembered what the soldier had just reported, and quickly stopped him and asked, "What about the bandits and mobs?" Yue Peng knew he would ask this, so he suppressed a smile and said, "The Manchus are about to be overthrown, so Hankou naturally needs a new order!"
"It seems that our self-righteous Lord Yue is also going to become corrupt, haha..." Zhang Wenjing is not a pedantic person. Moreover, he was a clerk in the army before, so he naturally knows how much money it takes to support an army.
When the gunshots rang out in Hankou and Hanyang at the same time, Rui Cheng in the Huguang Governor's Mansion was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. The constant explosions and machine gun fire outside were like needles piercing his heart. He kept walking back and forth in the study. Although he and Zhang Biao had a lot of fun fighting and spared no effort to revive the Qing Dynasty, he was not proficient in fighting. Therefore, the defense of the Governor's Mansion depended on Li Xianglin, the former commander of the 29th Battalion who was transferred by Zhang Biao after the Nanhu Artillery Camp incident.
Li Xianglin was quite responsible. He transferred more than a thousand soldiers and military police from the three town patrol camps and personally supervised the battle. However, the combat effectiveness of these troops was very poor. Fortunately, they had machine guns to help them, which stopped the hasty and lacked coordination and command of the rebels. But he was still scared to death. After all, fighting is not an internal struggle. This is a matter of losing your head at any time. More importantly, even if Li Xianglin and his men were defeated and captured, they would not necessarily die, but this bannerman... that would definitely die!
"Sir, retreat, retreat!" Just as he was worried, Li Xianglin came in with murderous intent. Seeing Ruicheng, he hurriedly reported the good news: "Sir, our troops have repelled their attack. It is safe here for the time being."
“That’s great, that’s great!”
Rui Cheng jumped up like a child in excitement, but the "retreat" he had deliberately left by his side, the captain of the Chuyu ship, Chen Delong, was not easy to fool, and asked: "Sir, are these rebels going to retreat so helplessly?"
Li Xianglin glared at Chen Delong, thinking that everyone was just trying to get a job, why bother! Seeing Ruicheng looking at him, he quickly said, "Don't worry, sir. Although they are organizing a second attack, they have machine guns to help, and the admiral has also dragged out a lot of rebels. They will definitely ensure your safety until the imperial army arrives."
"That's good." Rui Cheng also knew that Li Xianglin had really tried his best. He sighed in his heart and gave him more instructions, and made a lot of empty promises before letting him go out to continue the resistance. But as soon as he left, his face fell. He grabbed Zhang Meisheng and asked, "Meisheng, what do you think we should do tonight?"
Zhang Meisheng was just a scholar and a military advisor. He knew nothing about military affairs and thought that there were only a few hundred rebellious soldiers, so he answered firmly: "Sir, in my humble opinion, the rebels are just a bunch of courage and lack a unified command, so as long as you are here, you can calm people's hearts. In addition, it is too dark outside and it is inconvenient for Sir Zhang and Sir Li to mobilize troops. As long as we hold on until dawn, these rebels will naturally not dare to fight again."
Chen Delong got angry when he heard this. He was a pure warrior and hated the literati's tricks the most. He shouted, "Your Excellency's life depends on the safety of Hubei Province. The riot tonight is difficult to predict. You must not take risks. You should go to my ship first. You can still command the rebellion there."
Zhang Meisheng had the temper of a scholar. Since he had spoken, he would stick to it to the end, so he did not give in: "Your Excellency cannot leave! If you leave, the morale of the Supervisory Office will be dispersed, and there is no doubt that it will fail!"
The fight outside was lively, and the quarrel inside was even more tense. Rui Cheng didn't know who to listen to, so he had to hide in the inner room to seek some peace and quiet. Unexpectedly, the inner room was also in chaos. Liao Keyu, who was directing the maids to pack up the belongings, saw him come in and asked hurriedly: "My lord, what's going on outside? But..."
"Don't worry, ma'am, it's safe for now."
Ruicheng expressed the opinions of Zhang Meisheng and Chen Delong. Liao Keyu was also secretly anxious after hearing this. She thought that if she continued to guard here, it would be a situation where both sides would be destroyed. The man would be shot at most, but she was a woman and often heard about how the mobs treated women and children after the riots. It was a tragic situation where they could not die. She hurriedly said, "Master Zhang is a scholar and does not know military affairs. I think Captain Chen is right! Besides, the adults are here, and my family and I are dragging you down. How can you concentrate on guarding? It is better to leave immediately before all the chaotic soldiers come! Don't listen to them!"
Ruicheng wanted to leave, but if he left, he would be charged with desertion. The northerners were not very capable, but they would not show mercy when it came to killing people. Just when he was hesitant, he heard a huge explosion outside, and a shell fell into the garden. His company was immediately pale. How could he defend the garden when the cannons came? He hurriedly said, "Madam, pack up quickly, don't take the big things, just take the banknotes I exchanged." Then he immediately ran to the front to find Chen Delong and said he was leaving.
Chen Delong was not a soldier, and he did not feel safe staying on land in such a chaotic situation. So when he heard that Ruicheng had finally decided to leave, he was immediately delighted. He asked the seven or eight sailors he brought with him to dig a hole in the backyard, and prepare to leave through the hole.
Zhang Meisheng saw that Ruicheng was leaving, so he naturally didn't dare to stay. He had done a lot of bad things, and if he stayed, he would definitely die without a complete body, so he also took his belongings that he had packed and crawled out of the big hole. But when he just raised his head again, he saw dark shadows swaying around him, and before he could shout, his head was pressed against the black muzzle of a gun, and then a familiar voice rang out.
"Isn't this Lord Rui and Master Zhang? This must be Lord Chen Delong, the captain of the Chuyu ship..." In the dark night, Yang Qiu walked out from the darkness with a mouth full of white teeth.
