Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 62 Lei Meng Seeks for Help
"Captain."
Several soldiers were walking on the official road leading to the Advisory Council from the Wuchang Wharf. They were carrying rifles on their backs and wearing brand new Flying Tiger badges on their arms. They turned their heads and looked around every few steps, and there seemed to be endless resentment in their eyes.
"The brothers have all gone to Liujia Temple, why are we running here?"
"Come and follow the order!" Under the scorching sun, smoke was curling up on Lei Meng's forehead, and his hands were on the handle of the M1911 all the way. He had been furious about this matter for a long time. If the commander had not given the order personally, he would have definitely started cursing. Now that the soldiers said this, wouldn't it be adding fuel to the fire?
"Look, the Marine Battalion is out!"
Although he didn't want to see it, Lei Meng couldn't resist the temptation and took a sneak peek. He saw that the Chu Yu and Chu Qian ships of the Navy Camp were leading several other small gunboats, spewing black smoke all the way from Yingwu Island to the Yangtze River, and heading towards Liujia Temple downstream.
"Everyone, cheer up! Look at what you look like! Don't embarrass the commander and our right-wing army!" Lei Meng took advantage of the situation and said, "Hurry up and finish the job. Maybe we can catch Zhang Biao when we go back!"
"Who are you..." Before Captain Lei could finish his lecture, several soldiers with guns came towards them.
Originally, they were brothers who ate in the same trench, so Lei Meng was very polite and bowed, saying, "Brothers, I am Lei Meng, the captain of the Right Route Army Guard (the original name of the organization is used temporarily for external purposes), and I have been ordered by the commander to see the Grand Commander to discuss important matters."
"Right Route Army?"
Several soldiers who were blocking the road looked at each other. The news that a Right Route Army had appeared on the opposite side had spread throughout Wuchang City since yesterday evening. Before it had died down, they had sent people to kill them. Thinking of this self-proclaimed title, the soldiers laughed: "What Right Route Army Commander? Isn't he just a running dog of Baturu of the Manchu Tartars? Let's go. Governor Li is very busy and has no time to see you."
It would have been fine if they really didn't want to meet, but after hearing these guys' mocking words, Lei Meng, who was already full of anger, also shouted in a stern voice like Commander Yang: "Who the hell are you! Since you are wearing military uniforms and holding steel guns, don't you know the rules of the army!"
He was born with a loud voice and a fierce look, which really intimidated the soldiers who blocked his way. Seeing that the other party dared not speak again, he cursed proudly: "Just because we are in revolution, can we forget the military rules?! Whether the right-wing army counts or not is not up to you to decide! I don't have the time to waste here with you, I have to go to attack Liujia Temple later!"
"Hmph! Remember to salute first when you see your superior next time!" Lei Meng snorted coldly, marched in step and glared at the soldiers, then continued to walk forward with his men in a swagger.
Several veterans looked at the other party's neat uniforms, brand new Flying Tiger armbands and the neat and unique military steps, then looked at their own wrinkles left by the lack of rest in the past few days, sighed in their hearts and followed him.
Along the way, more and more soldiers saw Lei Meng and his party. When they arrived at the Advisory Council, there were already more than a hundred people surrounding them. The soldiers pointed and talked, some were disdainful of the Right Route Army, and some were curious about the Flying Tiger armband. Lei Meng didn't care about that. The more people there were, the more excited he became. When he arrived at the door, he shouted at the top of his voice: "Lei Meng, the officer of the Right Route Army, is ordered to see Governor Li!"
Tang Hualong, Wu Zhaolin and others were having a meeting in the conference room. As Li Yuanhong was still detained upstairs without eating or drinking, everyone was extremely anxious, so this shout directly aroused everyone's anger, and they all rushed out immediately.
"Who is making noise here? Don't you know that there is a meeting going on?" Li Xiping from the outer room was the first to rush out. When he saw them, he started to scold loudly without asking any questions. This really pissed off Lei Meng. It would have been fine if an officer of the same rank came out to scold him, but a military academy student who didn't even have a hair on his head dared to yell at an officer. How could this be so disgraceful!
"Get lost!"
Rolling Meat pointed his finger directly at Li Xiping's face, spitting everywhere: "Who are you? I'm here to see the governor of Hubei! How dare you, a hairless military school student, yell at an officer? Don't you have military rules? Don't you have the law?"
Li Xiping was a military academy student after all, and had received regular military training. He was so scolded that he was speechless for a while. Many of the soldiers watching the excitement were officers above the rank of lieutenant. They had long been dissatisfied with this military academy student who came in and out of the Advisory Council at will, and they shouted: "I told you that even in the revolution, you can't be disrespectful. Military academy students dare to shout and yell. If this continues, how can we lead the soldiers in the future!"
"Yes, we captured Wuchang, but some hairless people took the credit."
"Well scolded! The cadets should go back to the academy and study peacefully, lest the Manchu Tartars laugh at us for having no one!"
The laughter from all around made Li Xiping embarrassed. He reached out to touch the gun, but Lei Meng, who had been on guard against him, suddenly shouted: "You dare! Anyone who draws a gun at the officer will be killed!"
The company commander gave the order, and the soldiers following behind him immediately pointed their guns at Li Xiping. The soldiers watching nearby did not expect the situation to take a sudden turn for the worse and drew their guns. They also wanted to raise their guns, but when they got the guns in their hands, they realized that every word the other person said made sense. It was a capital crime for a school student to attempt to kill a team officer, no matter where he was, so they put down their guns halfway.
"stop."
When the situation was about to turn into a bloody conflict, Wu Zhaolin, Tang Hualong and others arrived. Lei Meng knew Wu Zhaolin, and when he saw him, he immediately raised his hand, and the soldiers put away their guns and stood at attention in a smooth and seamless motion, which made the officers present's eyes light up.
Lei Meng saluted first, then said familiarly: "Brother Wu, I'm here to see Li Du, this is..."
"Oh, this is Chairman Tang of the Advisory Council, and this is Zhang..."
Lei Meng didn't even glance at Zhang Zhenwu and the other party members. He rushed to Tang Hualong and saluted, "Lei Meng, the officer of the right wing army, greets the chairman." Tang Hualong had already learned from Hu Ruilin that Yang Qiu was showing goodwill, but he didn't expect that this piece of meat would be so tactful. He immediately felt proud and asked in a pretentious manner, "Why are you pointing your guns at us? This is the Advisory Council, why are you making a fuss?"
Lei Da Gundaorou was a person who could confuse right and wrong, and he was very good at observing people's words and expressions. When he saw Tang Hualong defending himself, he immediately said that Li Xiping was a "hairless soldier" who had blocked military intelligence for no reason and attempted to kill officers with his gun. He added fuel to the fire and almost said that he was a traitor who had infiltrated the people. Since Li Xiping's hand was still on the handle of the gun, it was confirmed that he was trying to assassinate the commander, which made the surrounding soldiers blush.
Wu Zhaolin glanced at Li Xiping, who was shaking with anger, and sighed secretly in his heart. He didn't believe that these words were made up by himself, not to mention that every word was a accusation against him.
Tang Hualong had long been disgusted with these "upstarts", especially the fact that Li Xiping signed the public security notice on behalf of others that day. It was really lawless. A military school student dared to act so presumptuously in front of so many senior officials! If this continued, how could he, the speaker, establish his authority? So he immediately turned to Wu Zhaolin and said, "Wei San, this is a military matter, I don't care."
Wu Zhaolin had been furious for the past two days. When the uprising started, everyone listened to him, but after they took Wuchang, they were all unruly and unruly, refusing to exercise or turn off the lights. So he pointed at Li Xiping and shouted, "Someone, take away his gun and put him in solitary confinement for three days!"
Zhang Zhenwu, who was standing nearby, became anxious when he heard this. Li Xiping was a young man he had high hopes for, so he immediately jumped out and said, "Why should we believe his one-sided story? Can a lackey of the Qing dynasty wrongly accuse a good revolutionary comrade?"
"Who are you?" Lei Meng glared, "Why haven't I seen you before? Position? Rank?"
Li Yuanhong hadn't officially taken up the post of governor yet, so Zhang Zhenwu naturally didn't have an official title either. In addition, he wasn't a member of the military, so this question startled him and he quickly said, "My name is Zhang Zhenwu, and I'm from the Revolutionary Committee..."
Before he finished speaking, Lei Meng, who had already heard Yang Qiu's explanation of this person, immediately interrupted and said, "I don't care who you are, ask them first." He swept his finger at the soldiers around him and said, "What do you mean by military regulations are as heavy as a mountain!"
After that, he ignored them and turned to Tang Hualong and said, "Mr. Speaker, I am here to see Governor Li on the orders of Commander Yang to report something important."
"What Commander Yang? Who gave him the title? You're just talking nonsense!" Zhang Zhenwu, who was almost choked to death, was already furious . When he heard Yang Qiu's name, he cursed, "He hasn't even counted the killing of our comrades in Sichuan!"
"Li Dufeng! Do you have any objections? Besides, if you 'comrades' hide in the street corners to assassinate soldiers for a robber, I will kill you first, not to mention the commander!" Lei Meng deliberately emphasized the word comrade and loudly told the truth about why Wang Tianjie was killed, which immediately surprised all the soldiers around him.
"Damn, hiding in the corner and assassinating, I would do the same thing."
"I thought so. It turns out that Lord Yang was trying to protect himself."
Wu Zhaolin knew that Lei Meng was the tough guy sent by Yang Qiu on purpose. If the quarrel continued, the army would probably be in chaos. He quickly changed the subject and said, "Brother Lei, this is all a misunderstanding. We are all comrades now. Commander Yang will not pursue the matter. You should calm down."
Tang Hualong didn't want things to get too bad. After all, he still needed these people to stop the Qing army. Moreover, they had really captured Hanyang and Hankou. In addition, as soon as he issued the notice yesterday, the other side immediately followed suit. He couldn't erase his title as the commander of the right army, so he also said, "Captain Lei, Li Du is resting. If you have anything to say, you can tell me."
"Mr. Speaker, this... don't blame me for being nosy. The commander asked me to tell Li Du in person, and I have no choice."
Unexpectedly, Yang Qiu could actually train this piece of meat into such a state. Tang Hualong could only use his eyes to ask Wu Zhaolin. The latter thought that Yang Qiu should have no reason to kill Li Yuanhong, and said: "Let's go, I will take you to see Governor Li."
Although Zhang Zhenwu was unwilling to let Lei Meng meet Li Yuanhong, the notice of the Right Route Army had already spread all over the world, and even a national telegram had been sent. Li Yuanhong's title of Grand Commander could not be removed, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and follow.
At the second-floor window, Li Yuanhong, who was said to be under protection but was actually under house arrest, had already seen this scene. Seeing Lei Meng scolding several party members until they were red in the face and speechless, he smiled slightly, then sat down again and looked bitter again.
"Lei Meng, the officer of the right wing army, pays respect to Governor Li!"
Lei Meng's waist was straighter than before. Li Yuanhong, who had not spoken since being placed under house arrest, smiled for the first time when he saw him and said, "I remember you, the top 42nd batch of meat... Haha, you have become a team officer now, not bad!"
"That's all because of the governor's cultivation and the commander's appreciation." Hearing Li Yuanhong praising him, Lei Meng touched the back of his head and smiled foolishly. Zhang Zhenwu was even more resentful when he saw that Li Yuanhong actually spoke for this bastard.
"Yang Qiu..."
"Report to Governor Li, the commander has led us to recover Hanyang and Hankou, and has also captured Ruicheng. He is now in prison, and is waiting for you to cross the river to see what to do." Although Lei Meng is a rogue, he saw a lot of sentries when he came in just now, and knew that Li Yuanhong was under house arrest. He immediately glared at the people around him who were stunned by the news and changed their color, and said fiercely: "Governor Li, if you want to cross the river now, Lei Meng can protect you!"
This statement frightened Wu Zhaolin, Tang Hualong and others. They were surprised to hear that Yang Qiu had captured Ruicheng, but they didn't expect that he wanted to force Li Yuanhong to cross the river! This was a big deal. If he was really taken across the river, this place would probably be torn apart immediately, and everyone would be killed when the Qing army arrived.
Li Yuanhong also knew that he couldn't leave even if he wanted to, so he waved his hand and said with a smile: "You think too much. I've been busy these days. They are afraid that others will disturb my rest."
Hearing Li Yuanhong say this, even Zhang Zhenwu was relieved. Lei Meng still didn't believe it and said loudly: "Li Governor, Commander Yang asked me to tell you that you are his superior. Once you are, you are his superior for life! As soldiers, since we choose to wear military uniforms and carry guns, we don't have so many pretentiousness and so many tricks! He said that even if you don't wear a military uniform that day, you are still his old superior!"
No matter how many empty words there were in these words, Li Yuanhong still felt warm at heart and said with a smile: "It's amazing that he can still think of me at this moment."
"The commander said that without Governor Li's recommendation, there would be no success in the recovery of the two towns today, so he asked me to greet you before leaving! Oh, by the way." Lei Meng immediately took out a red cloth bag from his arms, and slowly opened it in front of everyone. A brand new M1911 pistol appeared in front of everyone, and he said, "The commander said that Governor Li said you liked this kind of gun in the last meeting, so he specially asked Master Su Hongsheng to order one for me and asked me to bring it to you."
News of Yang Qiu's two new pistols had already spread throughout the three towns. Many soldiers were envious when they saw Lei Meng carrying two of them just now. Now, seeing this exquisite pistol that had been obviously modified, they also swallowed their saliva secretly.
Li Yuanhong slowly picked up the gun, played with it for a few seconds, then suddenly saw a line of small words engraved on the grip guard. He quickly squinted his eyes. Tang Hualong beside him also came over and read out one word: "The First Governor of China"!
"This Yang Qiu is making trouble..." Li Yuanhong said it was nonsense, but he had no intention of putting down his gun. Instead, he seemed to like it very much. After making two gestures and just about to speak, he heard a burst of fierce artillery fire from the opposite bank.
Tang Hualong had never fought in a war before, and he trembled all over when he heard the cannon fire. Zhang Zhenwu was also pale. Only Wu Zhaolin was relatively calm, and shouted, "What's going on? Who is firing the cannon?"
"It's fired, it's fired!" Just when everyone was nervous, Lei Meng rushed to the window, jumping and shouting excitedly like a child. The guards and even the soldiers who stayed downstairs clapped their hands happily to celebrate.
Li Yuanhong immediately walked to the window and saw black smoke rising from the direction of Liujia Temple. He immediately understood what was going on and pointed in that direction and asked, "Lei Meng, this is..."
"Report to Governor Li, in order to celebrate Governor Li's appointment and to sweep the Four Fields and prevent the Qing dogs from colluding with the outside, the commander has personally led all the brothers of the 42nd Battalion to attack Liujia Temple. Today we must annihilate the remnants of Zhang Biao and save Hankou from danger!"
Attack Liujia Temple? !
Everyone became excited. After learning yesterday that Zhang Biao had occupied Liujia Temple, he had been regarded as a serious threat. Just now, someone suggested that the army should cross the river immediately to defeat him, but they did not take action because of the unstable morale of the army and the lack of a suitable commander. Unexpectedly, Yang Qiu on the other side actually threw in all his heavy troops to kill him without hesitation. Such determination was really astonishing.
Tang Hualong looked at the artillery fire but his face was not very good. He hadn't figured out anything yet, but Yang Qiu not only took the richest Hankou into his arms, but also put the Flying Tiger flag on the most important customs building! He also put the huge gun factory directly into his pocket, not to mention that the customs has an annual income of nearly 3 million! The Hanyang Gun Factory alone is not a steel mill separated by a wall that was tossed by Sheng Xuanhuai and owed countless debts and was manipulated by the Japanese. It is the complete property of the Qing Empire. If you count the money, it is worth at least several million! Now he took advantage of the instability on his side to attack Liujia Temple again. If he wins again by luck, he will gain both fame and fortune!
Who in the three towns can be on equal footing with him?
Li Yuanhong withdrew his gaze from the smoke, a complicated look flashed in his eyes, and asked: "Lei Meng, you just said you had something to talk to me about? Is that it?"
"One more thing." Lei Meng took out a list that he had prepared long ago from his pocket: "Li Du, the commander has received accurate intelligence. The Manchus have appointed Yin Chang as the commander of the two regiments and three associations of the Beiyang Army. The 52nd Battalion of Henan Patrol is on its way here as the vanguard. General Sa's navy has also set off from Shanghai!"
Before everyone had digested this shocking news, Lei Meng continued to speak anxiously: "Li Du, you know best that our 42nd Battalion is short of troops, and we are seriously short of heavy weapons such as cannons. Hankou is definitely the main battlefield, so the commander hopes that Li Du can consider the millions of Hankou people across the street and allocate 1 million military funds, 20,000 rifles, 2 million bullets, 100 cannons and shells for emergency use, and transfer 5,000 elite soldiers to the right wing army to defend Hankou!"
What!
Two towns, three associations and a navy! Before everyone could recover from the shock, they asked for 1 million military supplies, 20,000 rifles, 2 million bullets, 100 cannons and 5,000 elite soldiers!
Not to mention Tang Hualong and Zhang Zhenwu, even Wu Zhaolin jumped up. Chuwangtai had reserves, but there were only more than 50,000 rifles, of which more than 10,000 were Japanese Type 30 rifles eliminated by Beiyang, and there were only 120 cannons. What's more, half of them were taken away before they were even warm! Moreover, after the capture of the treasury, everyone knew that Ruicheng had secretly transferred the autumn tax that had just been collected, and now there was less than 800,000 silver coins left, but Yang Qiu was so good that he asked for 1 million!
This is clearly an act of using the enemy to gain respect, so shameless!
Li Yuanhong frowned, somewhat dissatisfied with Yang Qiu's big appetite, but if the intelligence was true, if there were so many Beiyang troops coming, I'm afraid this amount of weapons would not be enough! Moreover, the 42nd Battalion was indeed too weak. From a military point of view, Hankou and Hanyang were the first to bear the brunt. Although the Grand Commander-in-Chief of the First Uprising could be remembered for thousands of years, he didn't want to die. If some fortifications were not built as soon as possible, it would be really troublesome. So after thinking about it, he wrote a few words and handed them to Lei Meng. Just as he was about to give instructions, a voice suddenly came from outside the door.
"Ordnance, don't move!"
