Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 74: Confrontation at the Heavenly Sacrifice Ceremony
As the sound of gunfire at Wusheng Pass grew more frequent, the parade ground on the west side of Sheshan Mountain in Wuchang was also bustling with activity.
In the center of the platform, soldiers and some military officials who came to supervise the construction were busy going up and down. The wide horizontal banner was quickly pulled up. Under the banner was a wide incense table, which was filled with various offerings, as well as three cups of Xuanjiu Tailao for offering. The huge tablet of Emperor Xuanyuan was in the center. On both sides of the incense table, the eighteen-star flags and swords and spears echoed each other. The officials who praised the ceremony and read the blessing in Hanfu were checking the sacrificial text to prevent mistakes.
A moment later, teams of selected reorganized troops entered the parade ground. Thousands of people took up most of the parade ground, leaving only a small open space on the right. No one dared to step on it easily, because everyone knew who it was reserved for.
Ma Rong stood behind Li Xiping, kicked the latter's heel, and snorted: "Look, what a big arrogance, I don't know what will happen if he meets Beiyang."
Li Xiping didn't say anything, but there was a cold light flashing in the corner of his eyes. The humiliation he suffered from Lei Meng that day made him lose all face, so that after he was released from confinement, he was squeezed out of the military government and had to return to the army. Fortunately, Sun Wu took care of him and made him a team officer, but the soldiers under him all blamed him indirectly, and this account naturally had to be attributed to Yang Qiu.
Just as everyone was getting impatient, they heard a dense and orderly sound of footsteps coming from outside. They turned their heads and saw soldiers in brand new mud-yellow uniforms, armed belts hanging from their waists, and Flying Tiger armbands on their arms coming in. Unlike Li Xiping and others who were whispering to each other, these soldiers kept silent, just carrying their Hanyang rifles with bayonets fixed all the way to their positions in order, and no one stopped after standing firm, and they continued to march in place.
Following them appeared four Maxim machine guns that had been installed on a small-wheeled trailer and wrapped in green waterproof gun covers. The huge heavy machine guns aroused envy. After the machine guns went around to the edge, a row of shiny 57mm mountain cannons were pulled in.
"Everyone! Stand at attention! Guns down!"
Following a loud shout from the team leader Bingwen, the soldiers of the two companies participating in the review immediately stopped and lowered their guns at the same time. Their movements were as uniform as one person, and the surrounding Wuchang officers and soldiers cheered secretly.
Just as Ma Rong was about to chat with the familiar faces in the queue, a crisp sound of footsteps rang out from behind the right-wing army again. Although the sound of military boots hitting the bluestone slabs was not as dense as before, each step was extremely solid. Li Xiping turned his head and saw Yang Qiu, who was wearing the same yellow military uniform, with two pistols tied to his thighs and a command knife hanging on his waist, had walked in with several officers. The overwhelming momentum made him turn his disdain into a cold snort.
When the temporary commander of the review, Wu Zhaolin, saw him, he hurriedly went up to him and saluted, saying, "Wu Zhaolin greets Commander Yang."
"Brother Wei San, you don't have to be polite. You are the greatest contributor to the first uprising. If you hadn't taken on the heavy responsibility and led the team to capture Wuchang, I'm afraid the two towns of Hankou would still be under the feet of the Manchu Tartars." Yang Qiu smiled slightly, stood at attention and returned the salute to Wu Zhaolin.
Soldiers usually salute officers, but never see officers salute back. Many people have a favorable impression of this young commander. Wu Zhaolin admires him secretly. Although he briefly participated in the Rizhi Society, he is not a real party member. He was forced to serve as the commander-in-chief of the uprising, so he has no hostility towards Yang Qiu. Instead he appreciates his swift strategy and said kindly: "If the commander had not acted decisively to defeat the remnants of Zhang Biao and sent troops to support Wusheng Pass, I am afraid we would not have the opportunity to stand here and speak."
"Overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and supporting the Han Dynasty is what our generation of soldiers should do. Let's work together." Yang Qiu admired Wu Zhaolin and smiled, "It's a pity that my right-wing army is in need of a staff officer like you, Wei San."
Wu Zhaolin's eyebrows jumped. He had seen people being won over, but he had never seen such a straightforward one. You know, there are still thousands of soldiers from the Left Route Army here! Although the two armies began to accept each other, the impression left before was still there. If he answered the question at this moment, he would probably be arrested as a traitor by the party members at night, so he quickly laughed and avoided it. Yang Qiu smiled and did not force him. Wu Zhaolin was a talent, but now was not an opportunity, so he introduced him to several officers including Fan Liangshan who were accompanying him and returned to the front of the queue. Like the soldiers, he staggered his feet and stood behind his back.
Not long after, Li Yuanhong, dressed in military uniform, appeared in public for the first time, surrounded by Tang Hualong, Ju Zheng and others. Yang Qiu glanced at Sun Wu, who was almost sticking to Li Yuanhong's back, and a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. It can be seen that after the political exchange last night, this leader of the Three Wus finally made a choice.
After Li Yuanhong entered the arena, he immediately saw the right-wing soldiers wearing new uniforms. When he saw Yang Qiu standing in the front, he quickly walked over. When he saw Yang Qiu coming towards him, Yang Qiu turned around and stood at attention from a distance, saluted and shouted, "Subordinate Yang Qiu greets Lord Governor Li."
"Haha, Chen Hua has finally come across the river. I and everyone else have been looking forward to it for a long time." Li Yuanhong smiled and said, "You are now the director of the branch government and the commander of the right army. You don't need to follow so many rules."
Sun Wu followed behind with a face full of jealousy. Not to mention that Li Yuanhong's words were equivalent to announcing that he was temporarily powerless against the right-wing army. The old fox was so happy at the moment, how could he still look so miserable as he did a few days ago! Yang Qiu smiled and said, "Li Du has cultivated me. If it weren't for Li Du, Yang Qiu wouldn't be here today. Even if it's the friendship between teacher and student, we should still greet each other."
"Haha... Chen Hua, today I realized that your ability to lead troops is far inferior to your ability to talk." Li Yuanhong laughed, took Yang Qiu's hand, walked to the middle of the right-wing army, reviewed it, and nodded in praise: "Not bad, not bad! It's not weaker than my previous reputation as a mixed-class soldier!"
Yang Qiu knew that the old fox deliberately mentioned the mixed association to point out that he should not forget his birth, so he quickly said: "It is all the hard work of Li Du, and Yang Qiu is just sitting back and enjoying the fruits of his labor."
"Chen Hua, you don't have to be modest. The other day, Wuchang was in chaos, and I was..." Li Yuanhong glanced at Sun Wu and the others, as if he had not forgotten the fact that he was under house arrest. He said, "You were entangled in worldly affairs and missed the opportunity to fight. It was almost a big mistake. Fortunately, you decisively led your troops to fight and defeated the remaining enemies in the four fields. This is why we are here today. You are a real hero of the first uprising."
Well! With these words, Li Yuanhong was promoted from a hero of the Qing Dynasty to a hero of the First Uprising.
"Although Commander Yang is young, he is good at commanding troops and has made great achievements! I think it would be better if he could lead the troops to Wusheng Pass to start the Northern Expedition after Hubei is completely liberated, and then completely defeat the Beiyang government and overthrow the Qing Dynasty to make more achievements!" Sun Wu, who had already made up his mind to join Li Yuanhong, came up immediately. He didn't believe that the old fox was not wary of Yang Qiu, so he deliberately said, "I think Commander Yang should have the same idea, right?"
Ma Kui, Fan Liangshan and other officers beside him were immediately filled with hatred. Who in the world didn't know that the Beiyang Army was brave? He hadn't done anything yet, but he had usurped Li Du and ordered the Right Route Army to march north. Wasn't this deliberately trying to make the Right Route Army brothers block the bullets? Even Ju Zheng frowned. He believed that Yang Qiu had ambitions, and he could accept forcing him to go north, but he said it in public, which showed that Sun Wu was not a man who could do big things.
The old fox continued to smile as if waiting for a reply. Tang Hualong didn't know what he was thinking. Seeing more and more eyes around him, Fan Liangshan and others were a little anxious, fearing that things would get awkward. At this moment, Yang Qiu suddenly raised his head and said, "To be honest with you, Minister Sun, I have indeed been considering the Northern Expedition. From the first day I took over, I told the soldiers that we are soldiers and the national defense force! For the sake of the country, we are ready to die!"
"We are the Wehrmacht!"
The sound shook the whole field, and hundreds of birds flapped their wings. Along with these passionate words, hundreds of soldiers on the right side shouted in unison, and the morale of the left side suddenly dropped.
Li Yuanhong cursed Sun Wu for being stupid. Wouldn't it make people wary to mention the Northern Expedition in such an occasion? Now that he had called for it, his momentum would increase greatly. He waved his hands and said, "There is no rush for the Northern Expedition. The most important thing now is to defeat the Beiyang outside Wusheng Pass first. Hey! The navy..."
Seeing that the old fox was a little timid again, Ju Zheng also sighed. He didn't know whether it was right or wrong to support this governor who was always sighing. He had to change the subject and said, "Everyone is talking nonsense here, which makes the soldiers suffer. I think we should get started. It will be bad if we miss the auspicious time." Tan Renfeng also breathed a sigh of relief and quickly announced the start of the memorial service and the oath-taking ceremony of the militia. Yang Qiu didn't want to go on stage, but Li Yuanhong and Ju Zheng pulled him, so he had to go on stage to participate in the memorial ceremony.
Guns were fired in salute, drums and music played, and under the gaze of thousands of soldiers and countless civilians watching from the outside, Li Yuanhong first burned incense, offered sacrifices and poured wine, then led the crowd to kneel down, took off their hats and kowtowed, and then read out the sacrificial text that had been prepared long ago.
"…Once the voice of justice was raised, all the people united as one, and without bloodshed, they conquered Wuchang. The spirits of our heaven and earth, mountains and rivers, rivers and seas, and ancestors are truly here! Yuan Hong rose up and inherited Tianma. What he had not been able to obtain after decades of collective efforts and bloodshed was achieved in one day. How could this be achieved by human power? In the past few days, we have been collecting and preparing, and we will immediately issue a letter to all directions, drive to the northern desert, comfort our Han people, and annihilate the Manchu barbarians, so that we can stand on an equal footing with the countries of the five continents, follow the will of heaven, and build the great cause of the republic!"
The eulogy was generous and the words were flying, especially the sentence "Yuanhong threw his sleeves up to accept Tianma" made Li Yuanhong's eyes sparkle. When Tan Renfeng presented the golden seal and sword and officially swore that Li Yuanhong would take office as the governor of Hubei and commander-in-chief of the Military Government of the Republic of China, the parade ground suddenly burst into applause, and the soldiers raised their rifles and shouted "Long live China!" "Long live the four hundred million compatriots!" "Long live Governor Li!".
"Haha, really, what are you shouting about... I'm not that kid in the Forbidden City." Seeing that the ceremony was over, everyone kept shouting "Long live Governor Li". Li Yuanhong's face was flushed with excitement. When the voice stopped, he suddenly grabbed Yang Qiu and said, "Chenhua, I heard at Wusheng Pass right now is He Xi? He is also an old member of my Huncheng Association. He was injured in the autumn drills in Taihu Lake a few years ago. The weather gets colder faster in the mountains and wilderness. In your opinion, I should send one of the associations to take over, and then send another to Xiaogan and Macheng for protection to prevent the Beiyang from breaking through the pass. Isn't it better?"
The flames in Yang Qiu's heart suddenly jumped up. The echoes of the grand ceremony had not yet dissipated, and this old fox began to weaken him! Fortunately, he was well prepared and said calmly: "Chen Hua would like to thank Li Du for his concern on behalf of He Xi. He is indeed under great pressure over there, so it is reasonable to send an assistant to support him."
Li Yuanhong didn't care that he was only offered support but not promised to take over. He immediately struck while the iron was hot and began to reorganize the troops.
The main force in Wuchang was the Eighth Regiment of the former New Army and a small part of the 21st Mixed Brigade. Although the government affairs and military orders were extremely chaotic during the past few days under Sun Wu's leadership, the pace of recruiting soldiers was not delayed. As soon as he sat down, he took out the list he had prepared long ago.
Li Yuanhong had his own ideas, but he didn't want to turn against Sun Wu right away. However, he immediately raised his eyebrows after taking a few glances at the list, because the selection of officers for the army was similar to what he had thought. The eight regiments of veterans and new recruits were organized into four regiments, with Wu Zhaolin, He Xifan, Cheng Bingrong and Zhang Tingfu, who were veteran officers who favored him, as the regiment commanders, plus two horse regiments, two artillery regiments, and one regiment for engineering, logistics and military police. Xiong Bingkun, Deng Yulin, Yang Zaixiong and Luo Hongsheng were left to be responsible for recruiting the next four regiments of new recruits. The most surprising thing was that this plan actually incorporated Jin Zhaolong and Ma Rong, who were hostile to him and had radical ideas, into the death squad. This proposal made Li Yuanhong look at Sun Wu.
This look made the latter ecstatic. Knowing that his list was effective, he immediately said: "There are four regiments that will fight immediately. When Zai Qian and his four subsequent regiments are built, there will be a total of eight regiments. With the addition of the right-wing army, even if the Beiyang enters Hubei, we can resist it."
Seeing that everyone was in high spirits and said that the Qing army was vulnerable, Li Yuanhong did not dare to underestimate them. In fact, he did not take either the remnants of Zhang Biao or the patrol camps in various places seriously. The only thing that worried him was the Beiyang Army that was continuously advancing into Xinyang, Henan.
After the officers were appointed, Li Yuanhong immediately ordered Wu Zhaolin to lead the First Brigade to rush to Wushengguan, the Second Brigade to liberate Xiaogan and Macheng, and the Third Brigade to garrison Qingshan. According to Sun Wu's idea, the remaining Fourth Brigade should immediately join the Right Route Army to launch a small northern expedition, but was stopped by Ju Zheng and Tang Hualong. He did not expect that the two would join forces to speak to Yang Qiu, so he had to order the Fourth Brigade to Jiangxia and Xianning to learn from the Right Route Army to advance northward and completely liberate all Hubei areas south of the Yangtze River. At the same time, he also let Chief of Staff Zhang Jingliang take full responsibility for military supplies.
Seeing Zhang Jingliang accepting the appointment with joy, Yang Qiu really had the urge to draw his gun, but he had to suppress the words that were about to come out of his mouth. To be honest, he still needed this "Han army bannerman"!
"At noon tomorrow, all armies will march out! Anyone who delays military affairs and disobeys orders will be punished by military law!" After everything was arranged, Li Yuanhong seemed to have regained his posture as the assistant commander. Before anyone could shout in response, Zhan Dabei rushed in anxiously, "Oh no! The Manchu navy has arrived in Yangluo!"
Li Yuanhong's shoulders suddenly collapsed, and the lofty ambitions that had just risen in his heart were like being poured with a basin of ice water.
