Volume 1 Wuchang Vortex Chapter 75: Forced Disarmament
At the southern foot of Dahong Mountain, teams of soldiers rushed northward along Qianjiang River. The huge Maxim machine guns were towed by war horses, and light machine guns were carried on their shoulders. The whole journey was filled with laughter.
There were only two battalions when they set out from Hanyang to the north, but in just a few days they had expanded to five battalions. Because they had stopped two battalions of the 41st Regiment, and there were also many good fighters in the Hanchuan Volunteer Army, nearly half of the three battalions were veterans of the Hubei Army who had been trained for a long time. No wonder everyone was so happy. After leaving Hanchuan, the troops were divided. Hang Zhi led the third battalion to Yuezhou, and Hu Laosan led the independent battalion to Yichang and Badong. The three battalions and the guard company directly under the 2nd Regiment continued to head north to Xiangyang. Now everyone hoped to hide in Xiangyang. It is said that Liu Yunyu, who has gathered five battalions, would do his best.
"Commander, look..."
Yue Peng was deploying the task of conducting exercises during the march to several battalion commanders. When he looked up, he saw a small group of cavalrymen galloping in the distance. When the cavalrymen arrived in front of him, they immediately saluted: "Urgent order from the commander!"
Except for larger towns like Yichang and Xiangyang, Hubei lacked telephones and telegraphs, so Yang Qiu later ordered 12 sets of radios and hand-cranked generators from Traun. However, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst, so currently all places and Hanyang must communicate with each other by express horse. Seeing the anxious faces of the two messengers, Yue Peng hurriedly asked, "What happened?"
"Yesterday, the Beiyang Army tested Wusheng Pass. The commander judged that they might launch a strong attack in the near future. He asked you to speed up the capture of Xiangyang and establish a defense line along the Dahong Mountain side of the Xiangshui River as soon as possible!" The messenger took out a letter from his chest pocket and continued, "This is a letter from the commander to the regiment commander. He also said that the naval vanguard of Commander Sa has arrived in Yangluo, and Wuchang has sent two groups of troops to Wusheng Pass and Xiaogan this morning respectively."
Ke Shao, who was already the second lieutenant commander of the direct company, didn't understand why they looked so serious, and asked, "Isn't this a good thing? Captain He only has three battalions, and with the reinforcements, they can hold out for a few more days."
"It's not that simple." After reading the letter, Yue Peng spread out the map and frowned, saying, "Superintendent Li issued a rotation order! He wants Wu Zhaolin to replace the regiment to guard Wusheng Pass. The commander will definitely find a way to delay for a few days, but it will be sooner or later to withdraw. In addition, Xiaogan and Macheng to the east..."
Following his finger, Ke Shao also saw something strange. If Wusheng Pass was replaced by Wu Zhaolin, and Xiaogan and Macheng were blocked, and the Dahongshan Road was difficult to pass, it would be equivalent to cutting off the retreat route of He Xi's four battalions!
Ke Shao felt a chill down his spine. He had been capturing cities and strongholds, recruiting soldiers, and had sent nearly 2,000 selected recruits to Hanyang in just a few days. It seemed glorious, but it had already touched some people! Would they take this opportunity to block a group, and then...? This simple big guy didn't dare to think about it anymore. Yue Peng also didn't dare to neglect it. Although the possibility of the two armies fighting each other now was not great, it was still necessary to prevent it! The only way now was to speed up the capture of Xiangyang and ensure the safety of the Dahongshan defense line. In that way, if something happened, He Xi could go back to Hanyang along the Dahongshan River along the Xiangshui River. Even if He Xi was fine, he could quickly stop him after the Beiyang broke through the pass to prevent the situation from further deteriorating.
Thinking of this, Yue Peng immediately folded the letter neatly and stuffed it into his pocket, and ordered: "Ke Shao! Yu Dehai, you two immediately take the direct company and the fourth company to Jingshan, find Liu Ying and Liu Tie, and let them accept reorganization immediately! I will take the remaining two battalions to Xiangyang first, and after the reorganization, you follow the old method, leave a platoon to set up a recruitment station, and then quickly go east to Anlu and deploy a defense line along the Huanshui River! If Wusheng Pass is breached before I return, you must bite the Beiyang flank!"
"Commander, Liu Ying is now the deputy governor, does this mean...?" Yu Dehai was 23 years old, and was also a young officer promoted by Yue Peng. He and Ke Shao were more steady in doing things than him, so he asked about how to deal with the incident first.
Yue Peng understood what he was thinking and repeated Yang Qiu's words: "Deputy governor? Who appointed him! At this moment, the Wuchang event has been decided. Governor Li has never appointed a deputy governor, and the military government's announcement also clearly stated that the Hubei Army has only two routes! Go and tell him that he can either accept the reorganization, or... I will treat him as a bandit and wipe him out!"
…
In the Jingshan County government office, Liu Ying looked at the Dahong Mountain outside the window with a worried look on his face.
This is a land with a tradition of resisting tyranny. The Green Forest Uprising led by Wang Kuang and Wang Feng was the second large-scale peasant uprising after the uprising of Chen Sheng and Wu Guang in the late Qin Dynasty. Now he cooperated with Wuchang to launch the Yonglong River Uprising, killed Zhang Jinfu, and took a patrol battalion under his command. Originally, according to the plan, he should have set out to capture Tianmen yesterday, and then moved to Hanjiang to cooperate with Sun Wu to let the Tongjinhui control Hubei, but the sudden arrival of three fully staffed battalions from Hanchuan made him feel something was wrong.
If it was any other army, he might not have been worried, but this army was not the revolutionary army that came to support him, but the army of the Manchu Tartar Baturu Yang Qiu who had been so much talked about before!
"Guangxi (Liu Tiezi), tell me, what should we do now? Should we follow the example of the Liang brothers and be reorganized, or should we..."
Although he only said half of the words, Liu Tie understood what he meant. He got the appointment of deputy governor not because there was no one in the Tongjinhui, but because Sun Wu hinted at internal and external cooperation. In this way, even if Wuchang failed, he could quickly lead his troops to Hanshui to support Yangxia. But now Yang Qiu suddenly rose up in Yangxia, which completely disrupted the previous deployment, making their army somewhat unjustified.
Liu Tie and his brother went to Japan to study. After meeting Mr. Sun Yat-sen, he joined the Tongmenghui and changed his majors to study in a Japanese military academy. Later, the Tongmenghui split. After returning to Hubei, the two joined the Tongmenghui led by Sun Yat-sen and began to prepare for an uprising.
Since I was not in Wuchang, I am not very clear about what changes took place there. But seeing that Yang Qiu was in power today, Li Yuanhong was appointed governor, Sun Wu was silent, and the former general Jiang Yiwu simply disappeared, it shows that they, the party members, are being marginalized little by little!
This is not a good thing, so it is crucial to be able to keep this army and leave a little flame for the Tongjinhui in Hubei! So Liu Tie thought about it and said: "The three battalions may seem powerful, but there are nearly a thousand Liang brothers' rebels inside. Although we lack weapons, we may not be unable to defend Jingshan. As long as we keep this place for a few days, Sun Wu and the others will definitely find a way to keep this place."
Liu Ying nodded. These were similar to what he thought, but...what would the army below think? The Qing Dynasty had not yet abdicated, but internal friction had already begun. Would it destroy the little prestige that he had built up by spending all his wealth?
"Brother, a battalion has arrived outside the city, with at least six or seven hundred soldiers!" When he was hesitating, he heard Liu Jie's call from outside the door. He was also Liu Ying's cousin. He loved martial arts and had good skills. He had a good relationship with the Pao brothers in the surrounding area. He led hundreds of Pao brothers in the uprising and made great contributions.
When the three men and the officers just stepped onto the low county town wall, Liu Tie was secretly surprised, because the opposite side had arranged a three-layer wedge-shaped attack formation, with a Maxim machine gun on the left and two five-gun and seven-gun mountain cannons in the back as preparations.
Liu Ying also noticed something was wrong, and felt that this unit was somewhat different from the Hubei troops he had seen before. As for how they were different, he couldn't tell. He just felt that these soldiers were very disciplined and there was no chaos at all during the pre-war preparations. They were also equipped for the first time with the Maxim machine guns, which were only in service in the country's Beiyang Army.
"It must be that Yang Qiu, the Manchu running dog, is colluding with Li Yuanhong to take over Hubei and continue to be a slave! What's wrong with Sun Wu and the others that they let these Qing officers continue to hold the military power! It was agreed that he would be the governor-general and my brother would be the deputy governor-general, commanding both sides of the Han River to lead the anti-Qing movement. Now the army is coming to encircle us and they don't even say a word!" Liu Jie, who was standing next to him, was much more irritable and shouted, "It's obvious that they are here with ill intentions! Brother, let's fight! If we don't fight now, when they are ready, we will all be dead without a burial place!"
"We can't fight, we can't fight..." As soon as Liu Jie said this, several Yonglong Qing army officers who had defected immediately shook their heads and said, "Although our army has more than 2,000 people, we only have more than 400 guns and no cannons to support us. Given the narrowness of Jingshan County, fighting will only increase casualties."
"They are also a revolutionary army. Maybe they are deploying their troops to prevent any accidents. I think we should send someone to ask them first."
Liu Ying was not happy to see an opponent who had already set up an offensive formation before exchanging any information. Now the opponent only had one battalion, and the strength was already equal, so he did want to fight and wait for a few days for news from Wuchang, but he was afraid that the army would be unstable, so he planned to send someone to contact them first. But before he could choose someone, he saw several soldiers from the opposite side, surrounded by an officer, and seeing that the large army in the distance was not moving, he immediately went to meet them.
"Second Lieutenant Ke Shao, the commander of the Second Regiment of the National Defense Right Route Army, has been ordered to meet the leader of the rebel army, Liu Ying." After Ke Shao saluted, his eyes just stopped at Liu Ying who was surrounded by the crowd, and Liu Jie next to him jumped out indignantly and shouted: "How dare you! My brother is the deputy governor of the Hubei Military Government and the commander of the Second Town!"
"Shut up!" Liu Ying hurriedly stopped him and said with a bow, "I'm Liu Ying. I wonder what this brother has brought here with his troops for?"
Seeing that Liu Ying was about 30 years old and well-mannered, Ke Shao spoke more politely: "According to the order of the Grand Commander of the Military Government, our army is marching north to recover the counties of Hubei. All the volunteer armies in Hubei must surrender their weapons and reorganize..." Before he finished speaking, Liu Jie couldn't help but curse again: "What military government order? My eldest brother is the deputy commander, why doesn't he know? If you want to surrender our weapons, tell that Manchu running dog commander of yours, there's no way!"
Hearing Liu Jie scolding Yang Qiu, the soldiers behind him were all furious. Ke Shao frowned and shouted, "I am a soldier. Following orders is my highest duty! After the ceremony of offering sacrifices to the heavens at Wuchang Parade Ground yesterday, Governor Li officially announced the list of the military government and stipulated that the Hubei Army would only be divided into the left and right routes! You have no evidence. You said your eldest brother is the deputy governor, so show me the letter of appointment from the military government and Governor Li!"
The deputy governor-general Liu Ying was just a verbal product of the negotiations between the Tongmenghui and the Literary Society. At this moment, the situation in Wuchang had changed. Li Yuanhong came to power, the constitutionalists and the party members were competing against each other, and there appeared a commander-in-chief of the right-wing army whose identity is still unclear to everyone. Liu Gong and others were nowhere to be seen, so how could they possibly produce the letter of appointment?
"What? Can't you produce it?" Ke Shao raised his eyebrows. He learned from Yue Peng that the situation was urgent, so he didn't want to waste time. He said directly: "Within a quarter of an hour, show your proof or accept reorganization immediately, otherwise our army will disarm by force!" After that, he deliberately glanced at the officers behind Liu Ying: "You are all soldiers, and you should obey orders as your first duty! Brothers represent Governor Li and the military government! Brothers, you must think clearly about the consequences of armed confrontation! Once the war breaks out and causes the deaths and injuries of brothers and the people of the county, you will be guilty of a great sin. That's all I have to say. You can make your own choices. Goodbye!"
Liu Ying's face changed slightly. He didn't expect that this ordinary captain would be so powerful and dare to provoke the officers below in front of him.
These words indeed made the soldiers of the patrol battalion, which served as the main force of the rebel army, secretly murmur. They were all officers of the new army sent to various patrol troops in Hubei. They had heard from Liu Ying that the brother troops in Wuchang had revolted, and he was the deputy governor, so they followed him. They did not expect that at this moment they could not produce any letters of appointment, and the others were reluctant to give up power after recruiting them, especially the arrogant cousin Liu Jie who wanted to pull them against the military government. They all shook their heads and took a half step back.
Even though it was only a half step, it showed that some people had lost interest in fighting. Seeing this, Liu Jie immediately called some die-hards and shouted, "Listen to me, this Yang Qiu killed many of our comrades in Sichuan before. Now he is mixed up in the military government and wants to wipe us out! Do you want to surrender to such a treacherous person? We are a revolutionary army! But his troops are pointing cannons at us! Isn't this a wolfish ambition? Even if we want to surrender, we should go to Wuchang!"
His recounting of Yang Qiu's misdeeds actually stirred up some young people who didn't know the truth. Seeing this, Liu Tie, who was standing next to him, secretly thought it was not good and immediately pushed the silent Liu Ying: "Brother, do you really want to...?"
Liu Ying gritted his teeth and pulled out his pistol. He also knew that if he was disarmed now, he would never be able to make a name for himself in his life! So he might as well fight. As long as he could cause some trouble, he might be able to help Sun Wu overthrow Yang Qiu! But facing a regular military camp, could he win with more than 2,000 people? As he paced back and forth, ignoring the determination of the other side, the muzzles of the two mountain cannons in the distance were turning over little by little.
"Fire!"
When the watch reached the end of the minute, Yu Dehai and Ke Shao immediately issued the order to attack. The shells whizzed down on the city wall, and the machine guns repeatedly ravaged the city wall. The fierce firepower made Liu Ying and others change color suddenly. They did not expect that Yang Qiu's troops would attack without hesitation!
The morale of the Jingshan righteous army had been disrupted by Ke Shao's words and was unable to withstand the fierce attack. After the vanguard company rushed into the county town, the Yonglang patrol camp was the first to raise the white flag. In the chaos, Liu Jie of the three Liu brothers was shot to death, Liu Tie was seriously injured, and only Liu Ying was forced to surrender.
On October 20, after only a dozen people were injured, the Flying Tiger battle flag was raised over the Jingshan County Government Office. However, the deaths and injuries of the Liu brothers cast a shadow over this incorporation. At this moment, Ke Shao and Yu Dehai had no idea that they had caused trouble for the commander. They excitedly broke up the Jingshan volunteers into two new camps, selected the remaining 1,000 recruits, and according to regulations, gave each of them five dollars as a resettlement fee and sent them to Hanyang for recruit training. They left a company to garrison Jingshan and turned eastward to Yingcheng and Anlu.
