Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 65: Northward

"Make way, make way."
The shouting behind him made Hu Ruilin turn his head, and he found that Tang Hualong had come to his side under the protection of several guards. He asked hurriedly: "Jiwu, how come... Wuchang's event has been settled?"
Tang Hualong and he were in-laws, and both were members of the Advisory Council. They had long shared the good and the bad, so he sighed and said without hiding anything: "The old fox has already acquiesced, and they are preparing for the inauguration ceremony. As for the others... they are all helping the lawless and unruly people!"
After hearing the dissatisfaction in his words, Hu Ruilin immediately asked in detail. After Tang Hualong told him what happened in the past two days, he stroked his sparse beard and frowned, saying: "Jiwu...you did something wrong!"
Tang Hualong was worried and asked quickly, "What's wrong?"
Hu Ruilin immediately explained: "The Kuomintang was hasty and chaotic. After the uprising, they couldn't even find a leader, and they had to bring out the old fox. This means that they don't know what to do next! How can such a person accomplish great things? So you must support the old fox at this moment and help him manage government affairs. You must use a big hat to suppress those party members in everything. When drafting documents, you must not write the name of Hubei alone, but the name of the whole country. It is best to change the Hubei Military Government to the Military Government of the Republic of China! Don't underestimate the difference between the two words. Since you are the first to rebel and have a large army to help, you should be sure of this matter. At this moment, you just need to keep supporting the old fox and crown the three towns as the first in the country! Only in the future can you control the party members in the world!"
At this point, Hu Ruilin looked at the dark crowd around him, but there was no noise at all. The atmosphere was quiet, dull and terrible, and he sighed: "Jiwu, although you are capable, you should learn from Yang Qiu in the overall situation. Look at him, with a notice and a telegram, he became the legitimate National Defense Right Route Army. The National Defense Army! That is the army of the whole country! What's more, he promoted the old fox to the position of governor. The most important thing is that he occupied the righteous cause! He blocked the mouths of the Kuomintang and forced them to admit it. If he wins this time..., I'm afraid he, the commander-in-chief of the Right Route Army, will be famous all over the world!"
When Tang Hualong thought of Yang Qiu, he felt so angry that his teeth itched. He glanced at the crowds of people filling the streets: "This is all..."
"All of them!" Hu Ruilin nodded heavily. "After the oath-taking ceremony in the morning, people started waiting on Beimen Avenue. The situation became even more serious after the cannons sounded at noon. I think half of the people in Hankou are here. Even Hanyang said that nearly 10,000 people came. If the news of victory is passed back later..., I'm afraid you and I will never be able to shake his title as the number one in the two towns!"
Tang Hualong was even more jealous and whispered, "Not only did he take over the two towns and half of Hubei's wealth, but he also got a gun factory for nothing. Poor Zhang Zhongtang spent countless efforts and it was all swallowed up by him! He even sent a barbarian to Wuchang to ask for money and weapons, and he asked for a million! He also wanted tens of thousands of quick-firing guns and hundreds of cannons! His wolfish ambitions are beyond description!"
Hu Ruilin looked at Tang Hualong, who was full of jealousy, with a complicated expression, and sighed, "Jiwu, I wanted to be a person who doesn't care about these worldly disputes, but you and I are in-laws, so I still have to remind you that people who lead troops in troubled times must not be touched! Not only should you not touch them, but you must also treat them well! Yang Qiu's right-wing army is just starting out. It seems to be full of energy but actually lacks foundation. If you help it now, once it has established a firm foothold! Not to mention the three towns, even if it is the whole country, who can touch you? As for money... Haha, you will naturally have money if you have a reputation! When he comes back later, you should go to see him quickly, don't miss the opportunity."
Tang Hualong knew that his relative was quite capable, and these words really touched his heart. At the moment, the biggest weakness of these constitutionalists was that they had no military power. Yang Qiu was now offering an olive branch, which was really a rare opportunity! Hu Ruilin knew from his expression that he had listened to him. When he was about to say a few more words, he suddenly heard a loud shout from the front.
"We won! We won! Liujia Temple, we won!"
The shouting was like a bright light in the dark night and like a loud thunder in the chaos, sweeping away most of the haze covering the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people like a strong wind. People who knew each other and those who didn't clapped and shouted, venting the tension and anxiety in their hearts. In an instant, the whole Hankou was immersed in cheers of victory.
A moment later, the main road was covered with a kilometer-long line of firecrackers, and everyone was staring at the end, waiting for the triumphant soldiers to return.
“Here it comes! Here it comes! Here it comes!!!”
The uniform sound of horse hooves and footsteps sounded like drumbeats. All hearts were captured by these heart-stirring steps. Outside Tongji Gate, a torrent of people marched into Hankou in neat square steps.
"Everyone! Goose step, guns at attention!"
A loud slogan rang out from the front of the team. Everyone saw that as the sturdy and tough officer with a dusty face shouted, a flag was raised high. The flying tiger seemed to come alive in the wind, stepping on the sea of ​​blood and laughing proudly at the sky, just like the army returning from a bloody battle. The Hubei E Army already had the nickname "Flying Tiger Army", and this name . When hundreds of soldiers lined up in four teams waved their guns and put them on their shoulders as if in one action, everyone felt their blood boiling.
Guns like forests and footsteps rolling!
In the solemn queue, clothes stained with blood and gunpowder could be seen from time to time. Especially when dozens of dead bodies of soldiers carried in the middle appeared in front of everyone, even those who wanted to laugh at the joke felt their noses sore and tears flowed like fountains.
Pretentious, showing off! Hu Ruilin and Tang Hualong both saw what that person meant, but they couldn't deny that ordinary people, especially those young people, would buy into this! Even they were burned by this enthusiasm. Miao Luo and Rui Yao in the teahouse were even more tearful, and couldn't help but think of that person, but unfortunately no matter how they searched, they could not see his figure.
"Bang, bang, bang..." firecrackers rang out. Amidst the red paper scraps, a porter stepped out of the crowd and took the stretcher with the corpse on it from the soldier.
A powerful arm, a pair of arms with bulging veins, countless arms...! After hundreds of years of being ruled by foreign races, the frustration and anger were finally vented at this moment. The Right Route Army recruitment stations in Hankou and Hanyang were immediately crowded with fanatical young people.
Just as the troops returned in full attire and the two towns of Hankou were in an uproar, there was no longer any laughter in the meeting room of the Right Route Army Headquarters in Hanyang. The officers who had returned early on the warships all looked at Lei Meng, who had just returned, with serious expressions.
"Fuck their grandma, a bunch of idiots! I spoke in a humble manner, but was still driven out. They also said that they would not even give our right-wing army a bullet! Is this considered a comrade army?!" Lei Meng was born with a hot temper. When he saw Yang Qiu, he immediately pointed in the direction of Wuchang and cursed: "That Sun Wu with gauze wrapped all over his face, and the old man who coughs every time he speaks. Oh, right! Plus that Zhang Zhenwu, they are all worthless! I told them that the military situation in Hankou is urgent and we need weapons and ammunition, but these three guys who are selling their butts said that we can take the ammunition, but we have to hand over the gun factory to them!"
Su Xiaohu and other officers who didn't know the details immediately started to complain indignantly. Even Song Ziqing and others who had expected this result were upset. They had thought that at least a few thousand guns and bullets would be allocated, but they didn't expect that there would be none! Only Yang Qiu looked at the map and didn't seem to have heard anything. Lei Meng saw that he didn't say anything and thought that he was blaming himself. He rolled up his sleeves and went to find someone: "Commander, I messed up this mission. Just let me take my brothers to Chuwangtai to grab a batch back! I don't believe I can't kill them!"
"Stop!" Yang Qiu stood in front of the map, his body always in the most standard military posture, and shouted at him: "I know you have been wronged, everyone here has been wronged, but what we need now is solidarity and unity to fight the enemy together! Remember? Repeat it!"
"Remember, unite as one and fight the enemy together!" Lei Meng pursed his lips and shouted after hesitating for a long time.
"Go out and tell all the soldiers about this! Go and invite Mr. Su here, I have something important to discuss with him." Seeing Lei Meng run away in grievance, Yang Qiu glanced at the officers expressionlessly: "Lei Meng didn't get the aid, but it doesn't mean we won't fight! We swore to defend Hubei, so we must not give up our oath because of a little grievance! Now the gun factories are all ours, are we still worried about not having military equipment? In addition, I have asked the shopkeeper of Heshengyuan to send a telegram to Shanghai to purchase another batch of military equipment. The last batch of machine guns was bought by them. Maybe there will be good news in a few days. We have Hanyang to garrison and a wide river to block it. Even if we can't buy it, the existing cannons and machine guns are enough to block tens of thousands of people!"
These words made everyone less worried, especially after seeing the power of machine guns and new cannons today. Yue Peng stood up first and said, "The commander is right. What we need to do now is not to wait for support. The arrival of Beiyang's heavy troops is a foregone conclusion. So the most important thing now is to speed up the cleanup of the four fields and try to eliminate the remaining enemies around before Beiyang arrives!"
"The court reacted quickly this time. We must first dampen their enthusiasm. In my opinion..." He Xi swept his eyes and came to Wusheng Pass.
Yang Qiu's attention was also focused here. He had studied the Battle of Yangxia. In addition to the disadvantages of the militia soldiers and equipment, insufficient preparation was also a major reason for the defeat. In the parallel world, the party members' deployment was chaotic. From the beginning of the uprising on the 10th until the first batch of Qing troops arrived at Liujia Temple on the 17th to join Zhang Biao's troops, they crossed the river to launch an attack. Before that, there was not even a trace of strengthening of defense, and they also forgot to support the troops stationed in Wushengguan, which led to the loss of the most important pass in Hubei and the Beiyang was able to quickly move south through the Beijing-Hankou Railway.
Now that he is back, he naturally cannot make such a mistake. The train from Liujiamiao to Wushengguan is still open, and the troops can arrive in one night, but he is not only thinking about Wushengguan, but also Yichang, Xiangfan and other places north of the Yangtze River! However, the number of veterans on hand is really insufficient. How to solve this biggest constraint? When his eyes moved over and over again on the map, the conference room also became quiet. From the eyes that repeatedly scanned the map like a hawk, everyone could guess that today's battle of Liujiamiao might just be a prelude.
Just when everyone was waiting anxiously, Yang Qiu finally turned his head and asked without saying anything, "Wen Jing, have you figured out the statistics for Liu Family Temple?"
Zhang Wenjing was stunned for a moment, then immediately took out a list: "173 people were killed, 733 people were captured, 71 of whom were injured and needed medical treatment, 1,300 rifles were seized, 4 57mm mountain cannons, 2 of which were destroyed and unusable, and two Hotchkiss machine guns. More than 300 boxes of ammunition, 280 war horses, and more than 500 tons of military rations and other supplies that were supposed to be shipped to Henan in the station. I have sent a ship to transport them back to Hanyang first. In addition, officers such as Zhang Biao and Li Xianglin have been detained. He has promised to hand over the looting of these years when the commander releases him. In addition, I just counted the donations. So far, the two towns have received a total of 300,000 donations, and the conscription station has registered more than 2,000 people."
These figures made everyone feel relieved. In order to ease the atmosphere, Xiao Anguo joked, "So, we don't lack weapons at all. If we don't have any, we can just rob them."
"hehe……"
"Brother Xiao is right..." Everyone was amused by his words. Even Yang Qiu curled his lips. He glanced at Yue Peng and Song Ziqing and said deliberately, "So what we lack most now is not munitions, but veterans who can fight!"
When he glanced at them, Yue Peng and Song Ziqing knew that Yang Qiu was testing their vision. After thinking about it, the former spoke first, "It's not that we don't have veterans. The 1st Battalion of the 41st Regiment is in Yichang, and the 3rd Battalion is in Yuezhou. At this moment, the three towns are in danger and they should be on their way back. Most of them are neutral soldiers. Now that we have a status and everyone is a veteran of the Mixed Corps, we should be able to recruit them. Even if we can't bring them all back, we can at least recruit a battalion of veterans. "
Song Ziqing also said: "In addition to these two battalions, there are also many patrol battalions in Yichang, Jingzhou, Xiangfan and other places. Among them, Liu Yunyu and Xie Baosheng's two divisions are the strongest. Although the patrol battalions are not as good as our new army, many of them are veterans who have been transferred from the Eight Towns in recent years. The quality of the soldiers is much better than those new soldiers who can't even hold a gun. If we can defeat them as soon as possible, we can at least recruit three or four battalions of veterans."
"That's right. Does anyone have anything to add?" Yang Qiu nodded and looked at He Xi, Jiang Tai and others. However, no one could think of any other troops that could immediately increase their combat effectiveness. Finally, Zhang Wenjing had to say, "Commander, please don't test us."
Yang Qiu smiled slightly, walked to the map, and suddenly moved his finger upwards. When his fingertips were about to enter Sichuan, Song Ziqing's eyebrows suddenly jumped twice, and he clapped his hands and said, "Yes! How could we forget about them!"
Zhang Wenjing understood now and said immediately: "Among the troops entering Sichuan, there are three battalions of the 31st Regiment, one battalion of the 32nd Regiment, plus a baggage train and an artillery train, which is almost 3,000 people! And they are all veterans of our Eight Regiments! At this moment, the civil unrest in Wuchang is still unsettled, and there is little communication on the road. They must not have been given a hand signal yet. As long as we can get ahead of them and control them, it will be a great help to recruit them in the name of our right-wing army's oath to protect Hankou!"
Yang Qiu did intend to recruit troops entering Sichuan. At that time, the Hubei troops entering Sichuan did not kill the Rui Fang in Zizhong until Hanyang fell, and then marched south overnight. But now the Yangxia War has just begun, and it is a good opportunity to take action! The only question left is who is the right person to recruit?
"I'm on good terms with several officers of the 41st Battalion, so at the very least I can bring back a hundred or so soldiers." Yue Peng volunteered and immediately looked at Song Ziqing. The latter knew that he could not hide his true identity from him, so he smiled and said, "Zi'an will go to pick up the 42nd Battalion, and I'll go to Sichuan. I have several good friends in the 31st Battalion, so I believe we can bring back some soldiers."
"It's not just about bringing back soldiers!" Yang Qiu suddenly put his hands on the edge of the table, and leaned forward slightly, giving people a sense of urgency: "The northern troops are approaching, and the number will be more than I said! Many of you should know better than me that even if we can control the entire Hubei Army, we may not be able to defeat the Beiyang!"
"So I ask you to be a hundred times more spirited from now on! Forget about Liujia Temple! Today's battle is just the beginning, and there will be bigger and more tragic battles waiting for us!... I don't care what you think! No matter what plans you have for the future! At this moment, we must work together! Find a way to strengthen ourselves as soon as possible!" Yang Qiu pushed the table and stood up suddenly: "So now... I order!"
The passionate words had already aroused everyone's enthusiasm for fighting. After hearing the word "command", even Xiao Anguo stood up straight. He then quickly walked to the map and said, "He Xi."
"arrive!"
"You lead the first and third battalions of the first regiment to take the train north to Wusheng Pass. I calculate that the vanguard of Henan Patrol City Battalion will arrive by tomorrow night at the latest. Your troops must arrive and occupy the pass before it is lost and blow up the railway. You must not give the Beiyang army a chance to quickly move south and assemble! I don't know how long it will take to send reinforcements, but you must be prepared to fight hard for 20 days without reinforcements!"
"Commander, rest assured. Even if Lao He dies, he will die in 21 days!"
"Yue Peng! You must immediately select veterans and loyal soldiers to form an independent battalion with Hu Laosan as the battalion commander. Together with the 3rd Battalion of the 2nd Regiment, you will form the spearhead of the northern advance! Bring an additional 3,000 rifles, 85mm cannons, 75mm mountain cannons, and 20 light machine guns, and command them personally! After incorporating the 41st Regiment's 2nd Battalion, immediately attack northwards along Xiantao, Hanchuan, and Tianmen."
Xiao Anguo interrupted and said worriedly: "Commander, the Liang brothers in Hanchuan and Liu Ying in Jingshan have already responded to the uprising. Liu Ying has also raised the banner of the deputy governor of Ezhou and is currently active in this area. Will Yue Peng..."
"I don't know what a deputy governor is!" Yang Qiu interrupted decisively, "There are only two armies in Hubei now, the left and right armies. My right army is in charge of the north of the Yangtze River! Either recruit them or... destroy them!"
Zhang Wenjing agreed, "The commander is right. The chaos of guns and troops in various places will be detrimental to the future. What we are facing now is the elite Beiyang! Any destabilizing factors should be destroyed immediately! There are about six battalions of volunteers in Jingshan and Hanchuan now. At least three battalions can be left after incorporating them. Besides, except for the three towns, the rest of the places, especially the rural areas, are still extremely poor. As long as we publicize it, many young people are willing to come out to serve in the army. These rural children are hardworking and are the best soldiers! If we can incorporate the two battalions of the 41st Regiment, plus these volunteers, we can continue to advance to Yichang, Xiangfan, Anlu and Yingcheng. We can quickly raise a force of 20,000 to 30,000 people by carrying out publicity and recruiting new soldiers along the way! In this way, a large left-wing cluster can be formed. Even if the Beiyang crosses Wusheng Pass and enters Hubei, the unrest on the flank will drag down a large number of their troops, and they will not be able to concentrate all their forces on Hankou!"
Without waiting for anyone to continue speaking, Yang Qiu turned his gaze to Song Ziqing and Wang Guangxiong: "Ziqing, Wang Guangxiong! Your mission is the most important! You must immediately take two gunboats and an infantry company north along the Yangtze River into Sichuan, find a way to incorporate the Hubei Army brother units that have entered Sichuan, and then... immediately capture Chongqing and Guang'an for me!"
"Chongqing, Guang'an!"
The meeting room suddenly fell silent. Everyone looked at each other and saw the horror in each other's eyes. Just now everyone was wondering why the naval battalion was brought along, but now they finally understood! Song Ziqing's eyes lit up: "Commander, you... really think far ahead."
Yang Qiu stood straight, like a sharp javelin. He knew better than any of them that no matter how hard he fought, unless he had the ability to immediately march north to kill that man, a nominal central government would definitely appear in this country in two months. No matter how unreliable this government was, it was the central government after all! So this period of time was the best opportunity for expansion, and we must take advantage of this period of time to build a large and stable base! And Sichuan was one of the core bases in his mind! So even if the battle in Hubei was a little harder, he would transfer troops to occupy Chongqing first as an outpost for future advances! So he immediately said: "I know you are wondering why I am in a hurry to enter Sichuan when Hubei is not stable yet. I will only say one thing now! We are not the Hubei Army now, but the National Defense Army! It is an army that wants to overthrow the corrupt Qing Dynasty and create a new country! So we can't just focus on Hubei, our future is to protect the entire country!"
Yue Peng and Song Ziqing looked at each other quietly, and saw the heat in each other's eyes. Even Jiang Tai, Su Xiaohu and others straightened their backs. Protect the entire country! Become a real national defense force! Isn't this the highest dream of a soldier?
Yang Qiu slowed down his speech: "Wen Jing. Now that we are at war, the soldiers' salaries need to be raised. Previously it was two dollars a month, but now it has been increased to five dollars per person, ten dollars for officers below the company level, and twenty dollars for officers above the company level. When recruiting soldiers, you must also immediately give them five dollars as a resettlement allowance."
"Brother Ma, you must recruit 3,000 soldiers immediately. All trains and ships here will be under your command. The gun factory will also be under your supervision. You must ensure the logistical needs of this levy! Brother Xiao, the training of the new recruits in the three towns is now in your hands. Clear out the prisoners, find someone to treat the injured, give 10 yuan to those who want to leave, and break up those who are willing to stay and train them together with the new recruits. Yue Peng, Ziqing! The new recruits on your side should also be trained while fighting, and ideological education must not be relaxed!"
After Xiao Anguo nodded in agreement, he looked around at the people who were about to set out for the battle, and said with concern: "Brother, the army is about to arrive, and we are going to fight such a large-scale recovery war here! I am afraid that the weapons... How about I go across the river and say a few soft words, and if that doesn't work, I'll give you some money..."
"No need! We don't have that much time to talk nonsense!" Yang Qiu shook his head. He had to seize every minute now! He must not stop! If he stopped, there would be noise in this army that was not yet united, so he decided to take advantage of this gap to recover Hubei first! No matter how difficult it was, he had to keep fighting! Only in this way could the troops gradually merge into a real whole, and only in this way could an iron national defense army emerge!
So he slapped the map covering 90% of Hubei to the north of the Yangtze River with his palm, and said in a sonorous and powerful voice: "This time, we are marching north, not only to recover the whole Hubei, but also to start the recovery of the southwest in the future! It is also a battle for our national defense army to restore its reputation in the world! He Xi will buy us 20 days! If you don't want to see the soldiers at Wusheng Pass sacrificed in vain, then fight as hard as you can within 20 days! Fight! Before the Beiyang enters, completely recover Hubei!"
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