Volume 2: Famous all over the world Chapter 14: Killing without a Knife (Part 2)
On the evening of October 26, the train that Yang Qiu was on slowly pulled into Xiaogan Station. What surprised Zhang Jingliang and others was that, except for him and the guard company who got off the train, the remaining two battalions continued to head towards Xingou behind because they needed to rest.
As the news of his arrival spread, many officers wanted to hear him talk about the details of Wusheng Pass and how the pass was lost, but Yang Qiu and the guards kept silent about it, saying that they would report to Wuchang before making a decision. The more confusing the news, the easier it would be to arouse speculation. The news of the loss of Wusheng Pass seemed to have weighed on everyone's chest, so after dinner, the barracks seemed to be in an uproar. The soldiers gathered together and whispered, "Brothers, do you think we can stop the Beiyang?"
"What can't be stopped? They just have a head and two legs. Even if I die, I can still bite off a few pieces of flesh!"
"I think everyone should be more careful. Guns don't have eyes, and there's no need for us to risk our lives."
"Damn it, I think it was all Zhang Jingliang's fault! If he had asked us to go to support Wusheng Pass two days earlier, how could we have lost it? Commander Yang led his troops to hold on for six or seven days, and I heard that several thousand people died, which is rare."
"Yeah! If I had known this earlier, I would have just stripped off my clothes and joined the Right Route Army. At least I could have had a good fight!"
"Damn Zhang Jingliang, and that Sun Wu! He was the one who recommended this bastard!"
"By the way, why didn't we see Wu Xietong today? Wasn't he also in Wusheng Pass? There was no news that he was dead!"
"Could it be in Xiaochang? Didn't Commander Yang say that the main force stopped in Xiaochang to cooperate with Commander He?"
When Zhang Tingfu passed by the entrance of the barracks, he was stopped by the muttering. He was also very confused. Wusheng Pass was fine before, how could it be lost just like that? Moreover, he knew better than the soldiers that only two battalions of the right wing army arrived in Xiaochang, and the two battalions heading south were also the right wing army. Where is Wu Zhaolin? Where is the First Army? It is impossible that they are all dead! Thinking of this, he felt something was wrong. Could it be that Yang Qiu used the Beiyang to...
He didn't dare to think further, but was worried about the safety of Wu Zhaolin and Yixie, so he gritted his teeth and rushed to the train station to find out clearly. When he arrived, he suddenly found that Yang Qiu was completely different from the defeated general. He had changed into a new military uniform, looked energetic and without any sign of decadence. He was writing something under the kerosene lamp. Seeing that he was frowning, he had to suppress his temper and stood by with Lei Meng, who was leading the way, and waited patiently.
While waiting quietly, he was also secretly looking at this commander who was almost too young to be true. Although the establishment of the right-wing army was suspected of being opportunistic, no one could deny that the subsequent battles were fought beautifully. Moreover, he was one of the officers who supported the northward advance, and he was even more in favor of the forced disarmament of the Liu brothers in Jingshan. Not to mention that the disarmament of the brothers contributed to the recovery of the entire Hubei province, it was already a success to eliminate all the restless factors before the Beiyang arrived. Moreover, he had recruited troops for nothing, which made it impossible for the Beiyang to quickly bypass Dahongshan and go south along Tianmen and Hanchuan after entering the pass, forming a two-sided attack on Yangxia! This alone shows that this young man has a deeper vision than ordinary officers.
He has always loved the art of war. If it weren't for the matter of Wu Zhaolin and Yixie, he would definitely be willing to sit down with this man and talk about the current battle. But now he has no mood to do so. Seeing that Yang Qiu had no intention of looking up, he could only cough lightly.
A crisp cough interrupted Yang Qiu's thoughts. When he looked up, he was a little surprised to see Zhang Tingfu.
In the parallel world, this 28-year-old young party officer is a little legend. His father was the last tribute student in Handan County during the Guangxu period. He has been interested in military affairs since he was a child and often secretly bought military books to read. He has a strong character, great ambitions, and is outstanding. Later, his father had no choice but to send him to Baoding Military Academy to study. Because he was the only son, he was not allowed to join the army or apply for the military academy. In the end, he took a lot of effort to be admitted. After graduation, he was assigned to the Hubei Army as a trainee non-commissioned officer and joined the Literature Society. He went from being a shed clerk to a platoon leader and company commander. After he became famous during the Yangxia War, he became a pillar of the army comparable to Wu Zhaolin, but in the end he was assassinated at home because of the dirty tricks of the Communist Party of China and the Literature Society in the Heroes Meeting Incident, which made people sigh.
"Qingcheng (Zhang Tingfu's pen name) is here. What's the matter so late at night?" As soon as Yang Qiu stood up, the upright Zhang Tingfu immediately asked, "Commander Yang, I'm here to ask how Wusheng Pass was lost? And why Wei San and the others are nowhere to be seen?"
Yang Qiu guessed that Wu Zhaolin would definitely make some guesses if he didn't come back, so he turned around, picked up what he had just written and handed it to Zhang Tingfu: "Take a look at this first."
This is a detailed plan for the restructuring, combat, firepower allocation and training of the town-level army. The eight towns had similar things before, but they were far less detailed than this one. According to the arrangement in the plan, in addition to changing the town into a division, the three-three system was also adopted, that is, each division was divided into three brigades, each brigade had three regiments, and so on until the platoon was divided into four squads, with a total of 16 people in each squad. In addition, each division will be organized into four independent units, including an artillery regiment, an engineering battalion, a baggage regiment, and a teaching regiment that I saw for the first time. The firepower and infantry were also divided in detail. The brigades and regiments had their own artillery teams and machine gun companies, and even the equipment of the squads was listed in detail.
Although he had never studied abroad, Zhang Tingfu had a good eye. He might have regarded it as a treasure before, but now he didn't have the heart to do so. He asked anxiously, "Commander Yang, such detailed military reform regulations are indeed the first time I have seen such detailed military reform regulations in my life, but I still want to ask about Wei San's news."
At this point, Yang Qiu did not hide it. He walked to the map hanging on the wall and pointed at it, saying, "He went to Dahong Mountain to join Yue Peng. The First Contingent and the nine battalions of our army that stayed there will be reorganized into the First Division of the National Defense Army according to this plan. They will defend Dahong Mountain to prevent the Beiyang from bypassing and penetrating into Xiangyang, Tianmen and other places, and protect the Xiaogan flank. Brother Wei San has agreed to serve as the deputy division commander!"
"Wei San joined the Right Route Army?" Zhang Tingfu moved his lips in astonishment, as if he couldn't believe it. Although He Xifan told him when he first arrived that Yang Qiu asked the troops to obey his command, he still felt uncomfortable about the sudden change. He was a straightforward person, and just as he opened his mouth to speak, he suddenly heard a shout from outside, followed by a series of crisp gunshots!
The sound of gunfire became a dense line of sound. Zhang Tingfu rushed to the window and saw dozens of soldiers in the uniforms of the Left Route Army rushing out from somewhere in the darkness and firing at Yang Qiu's guard company.
"Enemy attack! ..."
"Protect the Commander!"
Before he could figure out what was going on, screams were heard from outside again. Then Hakan and several German bodyguards rushed into the room, pinned Zhang Tingfu to the ground without any explanation, and took away his pistol.
Zhang Tingfu was even more puzzled. He didn't expect that there was a foreign bodyguard beside Yang Qiu. Fortunately, he stopped the fist that was about to hit him in time. After helping him up, Yang Qiu asked knowingly, "Who attacked us?"
"They are all wearing the uniforms of the Left Route Army. It's too dark to distinguish their faces." Lei Meng shouted, "Commander, you must retreat immediately!"
"Oh no, look...!" A guard noticed something unusual outside, and everyone saw that flames suddenly appeared in the direction of the warehouse where military rations and ammunition were stored. Zhang Tingfu's face suddenly changed. He knew that if something unexpected happened there, Xiaogan might not be able to be defended!
Yang Qiu glanced at the fire, not knowing what to feel in his heart, but since he had done it, he had to control the situation immediately, so he walked out under the protection of Hakan and others, shouting: "Wenbin! Take people to put out the fire, and kill anyone who stands in the way. Lei Meng, I'll give you ten minutes to clear the area. Remember, leave a few people alive!"
After receiving the order, the guard company instantly turned into another unit. Several light machine guns were quickly set up. The assassins sent by Zhang Jingliang were no match at all and were soon squeezed into a dead end.
At the same time Yang Qiu left, the sudden sound of gunfire coming from the train station made Xiaogan like a swarm of bees whose nest was blown up. The soldiers who were unaware of the situation thought that the Beiyang army was coming to attack them, and they rushed out of the barracks with guns picked up. At this moment, the granary and arsenal that stored more than 10,000 soldiers also caught fire. Due to the hasty situation, no one knew whether to eliminate the enemy or put out the fire first.
"Help! The Beiyang troops are coming! Turn the guns around and aim at the station!" In the artillery team, Zhang Zhenchen was shaking with excitement. He immediately ordered several five-meter-high mountain guns to turn around. Just as everyone was about to fire at the station, several military police rushed over and shouted, "Stop! The situation is unclear. Don't move!"
"Fuck it! The Beiyang troops have come to our door, and you won't let us fire! You guys must have betrayed us and joined the Manchus! Brothers, fight!" Zhang Zhenchen had gone completely crazy. He knew that if he didn't fire and let Yang Qiu escape, everything would be over, so he immediately pulled out his pistol and shot at the military police.
Many of the new recruits of the artillery team were members of the secret society who were fearless before. Many of them believed that Wushengguan was lost because Zhang Jingliang did not support them, so Zhang Zhenchen provoked them to raise their guns. In an instant, the artillery team was in chaos. Zhang Zhenchen took the opportunity to run to a cannon and suddenly fired a shot at the railway station! Due to the haste, the shell deviated a lot, so he picked up the second shell and prepared to continue firing. At this moment, he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his head.
"Brother...you should go."
"Xiao Liu...bang!"
In the chaos, this little man in the parallel world, who mingled with the militia under a pseudonym, betrayed the enemy when Feng Guozhang attacked Hanyang, resulting in the loss of Meiniang Mountain and Biandan Mountain. The militia had to retreat to the indefensible Shilipu and eventually lost everything. He also allowed Yuan Shikai to get the Hanyang Gun Factory for nothing. In the end, he fell on the gun position with his eyes wide open and his head tilted. The image of him holding the second shell tightly in his hand before he died became the watershed of this war.
The sound of the cannon made Xiaogan even more chaotic. The new recruits thought that the Beiyang artillery was coming, and when they saw the warehouse on fire, they were so scared that they ran away in the direction of Xingou. Several bloody incidents occurred along the way as officers tried to stop them. Suddenly, a fireball blazed from not far away, which frightened Hakan so much that he trembled all over. Zhang Tingfu, who was standing beside him, was so anxious that he was sweating profusely. He asked Yang Qiu for advice: "Commander, what should we do now?"
"Don't worry, we can make a judgment after we understand the situation clearly." Just as Yang Qiu finished speaking, Lei Meng dragged a few trembling guys over. Without even wasting a word, Zhang Tingfu recognized two of them. His face suddenly darkened and he shouted, "I recognize these two people. They are Zhang Jingliang's personal guards!"
Yang Qiu secretly breathed a sigh of relief. With Zhang Tingfu's testimony, things would be easier to handle, so he immediately ordered the arrest of Zhang Jingliang. More than 100 soldiers from the guard company immediately dispersed in squads, shouting slogans such as "Don't panic, Beiyang is not coming." and quickly rushed to the camp.
The slogans finally stabilized the situation a little. Many of the original eight regiment veterans stopped their rush. When Yang Qiu and Zhang Tingfu arrived at the warehouse, Qiu Wenbin had already caught Luo Jiayan and others who had set the fire, and was leading the soldiers to put out the fire. However, the fire was too big, and in the end only some weapons and ammunition were rescued, and the rest were almost all burned.
When it was almost dawn, Lei Meng led the team to capture Zhang Jingliang and others who were preparing to escape in disguise. Zhang Jingliang, who knew he was going to die, was still very stubborn. When he saw Yang Qiu, he immediately started cursing. The officers who arrived later were so angry that they wanted to shoot him immediately.
Yang Qiu didn't even glance at these "dead men". The most important thing was to eliminate the two major hidden dangers in the army in one fell swoop. Moreover, he wanted to curse them a few more times to distance himself from them, so he stopped them immediately: "Everyone, the most important thing now is to stabilize the morale of the army! I will immediately report to Governor Li to transport the food and weapons. Everyone must unite in the next few days and don't let the Beiyang take advantage of the situation!"
Seeing Yang Qiu begin to deploy the pacification mission, and then let people take Zhang Jingliang and others back to Wuchang immediately to report to Li Du, the swift and decisive orders gradually calmed down the panic, and the officers regarded him as the backbone. Zhang Tingfu beside him also felt a little scalp numb. Is his luck too good? Just after recruiting Wu Zhaolin and the First Association, Zhang Jingliang rebelled, causing him to become the highest officer on the Xiaogan front!
“Could it be…”
Zhang Tingfu finally shook his head as he watched Zhang Jingliang being dragged away by the soldiers, cursing and yelling at Yang Qiu along the way. He was honest but not stupid. From now on, it was obvious that this matter had nothing to do with him, but how to explain this coincidence? Moreover, Zhang Jingliang was appointed by Sun Wu, and everyone knew this. Now Zhang Jingliang rebelled and burned food and fodder, causing the camp to explode. Sun Wu... Hey! He sighed, maybe being a pure soldier is the best choice.
…
The sky outside the window was gradually getting brighter, and the emergency meeting in the small conference room of the Advisory Council had reached its final moments. After staying up all night, the party members and military government officials were a little sleepy, but Sun Wu was still energetic and said, "It's almost dawn, I think everyone should have a result, right? The loss of Wusheng Pass has seriously dampened the morale of the army. Fortunately, I had Zhang Jingliang deploy a defense line in Xiaogan a long time ago. I think we must investigate and punish the officers who lost the pass to prevent failure and rout!"
Cai Jimin stood up again and disagreed, "It is well known that the Beiyang army is good at fighting. If we investigate Yang Qiu just because of one defeat, who will dare to lead the army in the future? Moreover, he has made great contributions and bought us so many days. This must not be allowed!"
"Can meritorious service cover up the crime of losing the battle and fleeing? It is wrong to offset merits and demerits! Extraordinary measures should be used in extraordinary times. I agree with Sun Wu's suggestion to dismiss him and investigate him." Zhang Zhenwu stood up with his eyes wide open to express his opinion.
"No! Not to mention that Yang Qiu is still in Xiaogan supervising the battle. Even if he comes back, our actions will only disappoint the generals!"
"That may not be the case. Great wars and great peace have existed since ancient times. Only by strictly investigating Yang Qiu can we show our army's determination to fight to the death."
"no……"
Seeing that there were still many disagreements after a night of hard work, Sun Wu coldly glanced at Cai Jimin and other officers who did not support the investigation of Yang Qiu, and simply handed the problem to Li Yuanhong: "Governor, you decide this matter. You must put the morale of the army first!"
Ju Zheng was very dissatisfied with the last sentence. He was also very angry at Sun Wu's recent behavior of constantly eliminating dissidents. He immediately said, "Li Du, this matter is of great importance. It is better to be cautious."
The last time he cut off the firewood from Hanyang, the other party moved the army away first, which made Li Yuanhong alert. He knew that Yang Qiu had been on guard against him for a long time, so he regretted his decision these days, but since he had done it, he had to die! Otherwise, if he didn't take this opportunity to get rid of Yang Qiu, he was afraid that his position as the governor would really be handed over to someone else, so he glanced at Ju Zheng, then looked at Sun Wu, and straightened his back with all his tiredness.
This action suddenly attracted all eyes to him. Cai Jimin and others were secretly anxious. With his current status and Sun Wu who held all the power, if Yang Qiu really touched him, even if they said they would die, it would be useless. So they all stood up and prepared to persuade him before he could say anything. At this moment, there was a sudden clamor from outside.
"Wushengguan has not been defeated! Governor Li, Wushengguan has not been defeated!" Wang Anlan rushed into the conference room waving a newspaper and shouted, "Governor, this is the latest newspaper. Last night, a reporter came back from Wushengguan first, saying that Yang Qiu deliberately set up a false formation and took the initiative to retreat, and used bombs to kill more than 3,000 Beiyang soldiers in one fell swoop (propaganda figures)!"
"real?!"
At the most critical moment, this news came unexpectedly. The conference room suddenly exploded. Ju Zheng and Cai Jimin were so anxious that they squeezed over and grabbed the newspaper. They saw the huge front-page headline at a glance.
"The Beiyang attack was fierce, and three thousand people died tragically"!
Perhaps influenced by Yang Qiu's love of using vernacular, Dai Tianchou used vernacular in this report to describe the tragic situation of Yang Qiu and his troops defending Wusheng Pass for several days. He vividly portrayed the heroes who sacrificed their lives for the revolution, especially the final active retreat, the burying of explosives, the killing of 3,000 elite Beiyang troops in one fell swoop, and the blowing up of the road into Hubei, which was described as the most successful counterattack tactic.
The room cheered loudly. Not to mention how many Beiyang elites were killed, just blowing up the road would delay Xiaogan for at least four or five days! With these four or five days, we can completely complete the defense line of Xiaogan!
Amid the boiling noises in the room, Li Yuanhong slowly sat down, his face was hard to tell whether he was happy or sad, there was no doubt! Once this report came out, if Yang Qiu was severely punished again, it would not be an ordinary case of punishing officers, but suppressing and killing revolutionary heroes! Such an unexpected battle report was already a big surprise, and it was not sent back to Wuchang first but asked the reporter to write it, which itself explained a lot of problems.
Charge him with delaying the battle report? If it was a report of defeat, it would be justified, but now it is obviously a victory. What's the difference between a slight delay and scratching an itch? Besides, they can use the excuse of poor communication and difficult roads to evade him. Thinking of this, he was confused and immediately turned to Sun Wu, who was also shocked. The latter knew that if he couldn't calm down at this moment, he might not be able to touch Yang Qiu at all. He slammed the table and said, "This Yang Qiu is simply lawless! Delaying the battle report has violated military law. He actually disobeyed orders and voluntarily abandoned Wusheng Pass. Such despicable behavior must be severely punished."
He was already somewhat flustered and had no choice but to force these charges on him. But before Ju Zheng and the others could refute him, the secretary of the Military Affairs Department, Tang Zihong, walked in with a pale face: "Minister Sun... Xiao... Xiaogan has an urgent report. Last night, Zhang Jingliang and Zhang Biao's son Zhang Zhenchen and others launched a rebellion. After the assassination attempt on Yang Qiu failed, they... burned all the food and fodder!"
The meeting room suddenly became quiet, and Sun Wu's body shook violently and he fell heavily into the chair. When he turned to look at Li Yuanhong, the two gazes he cast at him had become icy cold.
It's like... looking at a dead person!
