Volume 2: Famous all over the world Chapter 12: Killing without a Knife (Part 1)
The sound of the explosion at Wusheng Pass had not yet reached Xiaogan, but the sky over this town guarding the northern gate of Hankou was already covered with dark clouds, because the small town that had prospered because of the Jinghan Line and Gypsum had completely turned into a large military camp.
The Second and Fourth Brigade of the Left Army, two battalions and two artillery battalions of the Second Regiment of the Right Army and two newly arrived battalions of new recruits, a total of more than 10,000 people filled this place. As Wusheng Pass was in danger, more troops gathered here. Every day, trains would deliver large numbers of soldiers and equipment. Although he was not on good terms with Yang Qiu, after driving him away, Sun Wu knew that if he could not defend Xiaogan, his position as Minister of Military Affairs would probably be over. So he specially moved nearly half of the equipment of Chuwangtai here, and gave Zhang Jingliang whatever he wanted.
The pervasive tense atmosphere caused the local people of Xiaogan to gradually move to Hankou. Except for hired teachers and people who were reluctant to leave, there were few people in the town, and those who occasionally passed by were almost all soldiers and military government staff.
Soldiers of the artillery team of the left army stationed outside the town were cleaning their cannons in preparation for battle. Several gendarmes at the camp gate were armed with live ammunition and looked a little nervous because the order to support Wushengguan had not been issued yet. Yesterday, some soldiers who had lost their patience stormed the headquarters and almost caused a bloody conflict, so they dared not slack off.
"Stop, this is a military camp, you are not allowed to trespass!"
As soon as Chen Haohui walked to the door, he was stopped by the military police and hurriedly said, "I am Chen Haohui, and I am here to see Captain Zhang." "Looking for Captain Zhang?" The guards looked him up and down, and seeing that he was dressed in a Confucian robe and did not look like a weapon, they let him in.
The barracks were actually temporary civilian residences. After Chen Haohui entered, he saw a short and sturdy man who looked like a tough soldier drinking alone. He quickly called out, "Brother Zhenchen."
This long-unheard shout made the man's glass slip suddenly, and he subconsciously pulled out his pistol. Seeing him so nervous, Chen Haohui waved his hand quickly: "Brother, I'm Xiaoliu!"
"Xiao Liu?" The man shuddered. After seeing clearly, he was not happy but even more angry. He grabbed his collar and pointed the gun at his head, cursing: "You bastard, how dare you come to see me? If you hadn't failed to protect my father, how could he be caught and humiliated by Yang Qiu!"
Others may not know who the father he is talking about, but Chen Haohui knows very well, because he was Zhang Biao's personal guard before joining the Right Route Army. The person in front of him is not an outsider either, he is Zhang Biao's eldest son Zhang Zhenchen. After the revolution, he took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the artillery team under a pseudonym. Because of his solid artillery skills, he was promoted to team officer. In addition, this artillery team was established later, so no one discovered his true identity.
After being pointed at his head, Chen Haohui pulled open his shirt and said with red eyes: "In the past, we brothers all called you big brother! If big brother thinks Haohui is a coward, you might as well take a knife and come here ! The gunshot alarmed the people outside and made it impossible for big brother to hide. Brothers are ashamed of the Marshal's cultivation for so many years!"
Chen Haohui's words were sincere, but Zhang Zhenchen still didn't believe it. He asked, "Stop whining. I heard that you joined the Right Route Army to be Yang Qiu's lackey! What? Do you want to recruit me now?"
Chen Haohui slapped his thigh, excitedly took out a thousand taels of silver and slapped it on the table, his face flushed and he said excitedly: "Brother, do you really think Xiaoliu is a coward who betrays the commander? It was because I was afraid that no one outside would pass on the message, so I had to agree. This is the thousand taels they gave me, and I didn't touch a single cent! If you still don't believe me, just kill me."
Zhang Zhenchen looked at the banknote and actually believed it. Because Chen Haohui's family was poor, his brothers and sisters had to rely on him as a soldier to support them. When he was with Zhang Biao before, he was very poor and was laughed at by him and other guards. He thought that if he really surrendered to Yang Qiu, how could he not send the money back home? So he put the gun on the table and said, "Tell me, what are you doing today?"
"Of course, we should kill Yang Qiu and save the Marshal!"
"Kill Yang Qiu?!" Zhang Zhenchen almost jumped up when he heard these three words. Although he had less experience than Zhang Biao, he was not a fool. Moreover, Chen Haohui had joined the Right Route Army, so he hummed a few times without saying anything. The look in his eyes had betrayed him. Seeing this, Chen Haohui tore open his jacket, pulled out a letter from the gap and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't believe me, but the Imperial Envoy Yin and the Military Commissioner Feng Guozhang should believe it, right? I risked my life to go to Xinyang a few days ago, and the Military Commissioner told me personally that Wusheng Pass must be broken today! As long as Wusheng Pass is broken, Yang Qiu will definitely lead the defeated soldiers to Xiaogan. Here, his Right Route Army has only four battalions, and they are all deployed on the west side of the Huanshui River. This is the best opportunity!"
Zhang Zhenchen's eyebrows jumped twice. The letter did have the imperial seal of Yinchang and Feng Huafu's handwritten promise, but he had never seen their handwriting, so he was still a little confused. Chen Haohui added fuel to the fire, unzipped his trouser legs and leggings to reveal two brand new 9mm Hanyuan-style pistols (Hanyang M1911 9mm version), pulled out the pistols and magazines and put them on the table, saying, "This was stolen from the Hanyang factory at the risk of my life. I also contacted more than 40 of my original brothers, and Jin Lai Li of the Yangtze River Gang also brought more than 100 people to Wolongtan to wait for orders."
First, it was said that only the core members of the right-wing army could be equipped with pistols, and then there was Jin Lai Li, who had once assassinated Yang Qiu and was irreconcilable with him, as an external aid. Zhang Zhenchen believed it 90% at once, and immediately lowered his voice and asked: "Xiao Liu, I have offended you before, you..."
"Brother, what nonsense are you talking about?" Chen Haohui deliberately spoke in a vulgar way. He took out a cigarette and handed it to him, then lit it and said anxiously, "There are no rules at this moment! The most important thing is to seize the opportunity to kill Yang Qiu, the bastard, and rescue the Marshal! The imperial envoy has agreed. As long as we can kill Yang Qiu and cooperate with the Beiyang to disrupt Xiaogan, not only can the Marshal be reinstated, but you, brother, will also be promoted to the second rank!"
Zhang Zhenchen's eyes suddenly turned red. A second-rank official? That was second only to the official of a frontier province. But thinking about the current strength comparison, he sighed, "Xiao Liu, I'm not saying that even if Yang Qiu escaped here, he must be heavily protected. With just a few of us, I'm afraid..."
"Brother, don't be discouraged. I haven't finished talking yet." Chen Haohui looked outside, closed the door tightly and whispered in Yang Qiu's ear, "Brother, you have an artillery team! As long as we cause chaos in Xiaogan first, we can use the opportunity to say that the Beiyang troops are attacking and turn the artillery to the camp where Yang Qiu is stationed..."
"But how to mess it up?"
Seeing that Zhang Zhenchen hadn't figured it out yet, Chen Haohui sighed deeply in his heart. If Zhang Biao could barely be considered a tiger father, then this guy couldn't even be considered a dog son. No wonder the Eight Towns were quickly controlled by the Kuomintang. It seemed that his choice was still right, so he immediately said: "Brother, how could you forget about Lord Zhang Jingliang? He is the commander of the front line, and more than 10,000 people are under his control! Even if the party members are powerful, it is impossible for him to have no confidants. If Feng Juntong is not lying, then after the pass is broken, Ma Biao will definitely arrive in Xiaochang tomorrow. At that time, as long as the armory is given...let alone tens of thousands of people, even if there are several times more, the morale of the army will be completely disrupted."
Zhang Zhenchen took a deep breath. He didn't expect Chen Haohui to want to burn down the arsenal directly, but he had to admit that this was a great opportunity. As for Zhang Jingliang, he had been in contact with him for a long time. He was dissatisfied with the party's tyranny before and said that he would swear allegiance to the Qing Dynasty until his death. Now he holds the power, and he has helpers like Liu Xiqi. The arsenal is directly watched by his subordinate Luo Jiayan. It is really easy for him to set fire.
When the Beiyang horse flag arrives tomorrow, the morale of the militia will surely be low after we set fire to the arsenal. We can just turn the guns towards Yang Qiu's camp while the chaos is going on. Then...! Zhang Zhenchen's eyelids twitched. After thinking for a while, he grabbed the Hanyuan pistol and said, "Come on, follow me to see Zhang Jingliang. If there is news that Wusheng Pass has been breached, let's kill him! After this, I will become sworn brothers with you! We will share the hardships and happiness in this life."
Chen Haohui thanked him profusely, packed his clothes, hid his gun, and then they walked towards the Xiaogan Command Post together. Along the way, they saw notorious party officers from time to time. Zhang Zhenchen couldn't keep it secret, and his teeth were chattering as he vowed to kill these guys. Only then did he walk into the command post as Chen Haohui shook his head secretly.
Zhang Jingliang was discussing with Liu Xiqi how to suppress the soldiers' emotions. When he saw him, his face changed in fear: "Zhenchen... why are you here? Go back quickly. How can I be worthy of the Marshal if an acquaintance meets me!"
Zhang Zhenchen also felt a little warm in his heart. After all, it was thanks to his care that he was able to stay in the army anonymously until today. So he clasped his fists in gratitude and told them his purpose, and then introduced Chen Haohui to the two of them.
Zhang Jingliang and Liu Xiqi had long been planning to give Beiyang a generous gift. They picked up Yinchang's handwritten letter and found that it did not seem to be fake. However, they were still skeptical about the statement in the letter that Wusheng Pass would be captured today. Everyone knew that Yang Qiu was commanding the troops there personally. For the past few days, he had relied on the geographical advantage to fight against Beiyang's elite troops and had fought well without being at a disadvantage. How could he break through so easily? So they immediately turned their attention to Chen Haohui.
Chen Haohui was also anxious. It was already past noon. If the pass had been breached in the morning, he would have come back to report it quickly. Why was there no news yet? Did something go wrong over there? But now he had to grit his teeth and bite the bullet and said as planned: "Your Excellency the Commander may not know that before we came back, there was news that the Emperor had appointed Yuan Gongbao as the Prime Minister to command the troops of the whole country. The Beiyang Army is his direct lineage. They will definitely fight hard to capture Wusheng Pass to celebrate his success!"
These words made several people believe it. Everyone knows that the real controller of Beiyang is Yuan Shikai. If he came out, the army would not hesitate. When Liu Xiqi was about to speak, there was a sudden noise outside. The three people who had something to hide were frightened and trembled. Zhang Jingliang quickly arranged the two behind the screen and shouted, "Who is making noise outside?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw two soldiers running in quickly. As soon as they entered the door, they shouted: "Commander! It's bad, Wusheng Pass has been breached!"
"Nonsense! Yesterday they reported that everything was safe and sound, why..." Zhang Jingliang was shocked. Just now they said that they had broken through the border today, but now the news came. In order to verify it, he grabbed the scout's collar and asked again fiercely.
The soldier who reported the news was so frightened that he trembled all over, but he did not dare to delay because the matter was of great importance. He immediately said, " Sir , this is true! The fast horse sent by Commander Yang is outside. He also said that he will lead his troops back to Xiaogan to rest at noon tomorrow at the latest. Let your lordship be prepared to receive him!"
Zhang Jingliang was worthy of being an officer who graduated from the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer Academy. He could not say how good he was in fighting, but he had a much better grasp of the situation than the party officers. He rolled his eyes and ordered He Xifan to lead the Second Association to station in Xiaochang on the pretext of guarding against the Beiyang government. After transferring this biggest thorn in his side, he ordered to set up a camp at the railway station to allow Yang Qiu, who had been defending Wusheng Pass for several days, to take a break.
Chen Haohui, who heard these orders behind the screen, finally felt relieved. Glancing over, he saw Zhang Zhenchen's face full of excitement.
