Volume 2: Famous all over the world Chapter 25 An Opportunity Given by History
It was not until eight o'clock in the evening that the fierce battle of the first day came to a halt. Both sides began to lick their wounds and wait for the even more brutal second and third days after the sun rose...
Dinner was simple pancakes and canned meat, the latter of which was the work of Shen Shukai, and of course one of Commander Yang's big moves. In this era, he was the only one in China who would spend a lot of money to buy shiploads of canned meat from the United States for military supplies. The soldiers were happy, but this decision made Zhang Wenjing unable to eat or sleep when he saw meat. He even hooked up with several businessmen and said that he wanted to invest in a military farm and a meat canning factory together. It was said that he had even started purchasing equipment.
Yang Qiu ate very quickly, because in his previous life, in order to get closer to actual combat, during special training, the instructor would deliberately have people put piles of garbage next to the meal time, or simply move rotten and smelly animal carcasses to the side. In order to deal with "them", he developed the habit of eating quickly and attentively. He stuffed two large pancakes and a can of meat into his stomach in a few gulps, which made Miao Luo, who was still "counting meters", secretly sad, thinking that he had not eaten enough for ten days.
Miao Luo bit the dry and hard pancake gently while secretly looking at him. After seeing him again for many days, he found that his cheeks had become much thinner, and his once bright eyes were now full of bloodshot and fatigue. He hadn't changed his military uniform for many days, and it was not only full of wrinkles but also covered with dust. The only thing that hadn't changed was probably his majestic military temperament.
Seeing that she had been looking at him, Yang Qiu smiled slightly, scaring the girl so much that she lowered her head and dared not raise it. Then he turned around and asked, "Why did you two come to the front line? You are responsible for the safety of the country. You should leave as soon as possible after dinner."
Both Song Jiaoren and Huang Keqiang were still immersed in the fight just now. The cruel scene of blood and flesh flying around made them lose their appetite. They looked at each other, put down the pancake and said, "I heard that Chen Hua talked to the special envoy sent by Yuan Shikai yesterday?"
The sudden arrival of the two made Yang Qiu vaguely guess that it was related to his meeting with Liu Chengen. He immediately nodded and acted angry: "Liu Chengen, relying on the self-righteousness of the Beiyang government, actually has the intention of supporting Yuan Shikai as the president. How abominable! I have already rejected his request and there is no room for negotiation! I have said to Mr. Ju Zheng before that our revolution is for the ideal advocated by Mr. Sun of 'expelling the barbarians, realizing a republic, and dividing the land equally'. Only he can uphold this purpose, so when Mr. Sun comes back, I will immediately send a large army to pick him up in Wuchang to serve as the president. Mr. Sun will lead us to create democracy and realize a republic!"
Regardless of whether he was acting or not, at least these words made the officers and staff around him feel comfortable, especially those Hubei officers who were secretly happy. They all knew that if they could bring Sun Yat-sen to Wuchang, Hubei would be the direct line of the Republic of China in the future, which would also be good for their own development. But Huang and Song frowned, especially Huang Keqiang, who said, "Chen Hua, you are too extreme! Yuan Shikai has a large army, and the Beiyang tree is deep-rooted and cannot be eradicated overnight, so we need to win him over."
"Don't worry, Mr. Keqiang. I have already told him that as long as he agrees to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, I will support him to be the vice president and the general. At that time, I will also step down and become a fool."
"Chen Hua wants to abdicate?" Song Jiaoren was secretly surprised. He didn't expect that Yang Qiu had the idea of retiring at such a young age.
"As long as Yuan Gongbao agrees to the conditions and lets Mr. Sun lead us to realize a republic and revitalize our clan, there would be nothing wrong with retiring to the mountains and countryside." Yang Qiu spoke with great confidence, but he sneered in his heart. If Yuan Shikai was willing to be a tail of a phoenix, how could there be warlord separatism in China later?
Huang Keqiang said: "Chen Hua's intention is indeed very good, but have you ever thought that by doing this, you will push Yuan Shikai to the side of the Qing Dynasty. If he is determined to protect the Qing Dynasty, won't all our efforts be wasted?"
"Mr. Keqiang! What do you mean?" As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Qiu immediately stood up and walked in front of him, staring coldly at Huang Keqiang with his eagle eyes.
Huang Keqiang was startled. He was already considered tall, but the young man in his early twenties in front of him was a little taller than him. He was dressed in military uniform, with a straight back, handsome and tall. Compared with them, he held great power and had a large army at his side, so his eyes were already faintly intimidating, especially the murderous aura on his body, which almost choked him. But he was not an ordinary person. He insisted on his own ideas and said loudly: "I mean, if Yuan Shikai agrees to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, we can also make some compromises."
This sentence forced out by Yang Qiu immediately caused an uproar in the command post. The officers had never expected that the second-in-command of the Tongmenghui actually had the idea of compromising with Yuan Shikai and letting him rule the country. Jin Zhaolong and other hot-tempered officers even shouted: "Why compromise? The Beiyang government is not made of iron. Haven't we killed enough people these days?"
"That's right! Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang government are both slaves of the Qing Dynasty. We are fighting for our lives here. Do we want him to gain a high position in the end?"
"Compromise is a sham. If they have the guts, they should defeat us first!"
Most of those who spoke were military officers from Hubei. Regardless of whether they agreed with Yang Qiu or not, the military government had always regarded itself as the central government since its establishment. The army was now called the National Defense Army, so it inevitably had a central posture. How could they be willing to hand over power to the north?
Seeing that everyone was a little excited, Song Jiaoren quickly stood up and said, "Chenhua, don't worry. Li Keqiang is also thinking about the country. Although various places in the south have become independent, the forces in the north are still very strong. If the war continues, it will be the people who will suffer. Didn't you see that the people here all ran away after Xiaogan was opened? Displacement and starving people should not appear after the republic. Mr. Sun Yat-sen is even more unwilling to see it, so Li Keqiang also wants to end it early to give the people of the world a chance to breathe."
Song Jiaoren continued, "After the Republic, there will definitely be a parliamentary election. Even the president will be controlled by the parliament. If he agrees now, we can use the parliament to slowly weaken the Beiyang forces. Isn't that better than a head-on confrontation now?"
Yang Qiu shook his head subconsciously. From these words, it can be seen that Song Jiaoren is an idealistic politician who is bent on transplanting the American system of separation of powers and using parliament to weaken the power of the president and the military. The problem is that in the end, even the leader of the Tongmenghui who is about to return did not agree with his ideas. The two finally parted ways unhappily over whether to have a presidential system or a parliamentary system, which led to the complete split of the Tongmenghui, not to mention Yuan Shikai.
It was too early to argue about this, and he did not want to give the generals the impression that he was meddling too much in politics, so he took a deep breath and waved his hand to stop the argument: "Mr. Dunchu, Mr. Keqiang, Chen Hua is just a soldier after all. I don't want to interfere in these matters. I just want to remind you two! The blood of the soldiers cannot be shed in vain. Don't let down the sincere hearts of the revolutionary patriots!"
"That's all I have to say. You two can decide for yourselves!" Yang Qiu said and walked to the map. "Shaoyue, go check the situation of the sudden position. I want a detailed loss report in an hour."
After He Xifan took the order and left, he turned to Zhang Tingfu and Qin Zhangshu, the latter of whom was a capable general under Yue Peng and is now the commander of the 1st Brigade of the 2nd Division, and said, "The Beiyang army will definitely attack more urgently tomorrow. You should each send a regiment to reinforce the left and right wings. All of them must be deployed in place by midnight tonight. Lao He, the reinforcement of bunkers and trenches must also begin immediately. Send all the new recruits and civilians who can move up. I want to see that all defense lines have been rested before tomorrow morning!"
After giving all the orders, he glanced at Cai Jimin, Deng Yulin , and pulled up his left sleeve: "You have all worn the Flying Tiger armbands, which means that you are now brothers of the National Defense Army who live and die together in the trenches. I still say that we are soldiers, not politicians, so everyone should focus on fighting! Mr. Li Keqiang and others will take care of the future, and our current mission is to protect Hankou!"
"yes!"
Huang Keqiang's face darkened at the shouting response of the crowd. These words were obviously directed at him, and he secretly cared about Yang Qiu in his heart! This man was too good at taking advantage of the opportunity. In addition, he had made a mistake just now, and he was forced to reveal the truth by him. Now the army and Beiyang are fighting fiercely, and they are united in hatred of the enemy. They can't wait to eat Beiyang's meat and blood! How could they agree to let Beiyang rule the country! So he took advantage of the people's hearts and won over most of the troops! Just as he was secretly annoyed that he didn't choose the right time, Yang Qiu had already walked out. Before he reached the door, Chen Guofu rushed in and almost bumped into him.
"What are you panicking about! Do you still look like a soldier?"
Chen Guofu had never seen Yang Qiu get angry before, so he was so frightened that he saluted and puffed out his chest to report: "Report, I just received a telegram from the commander of the Yuezhou battalion, Hang. A mutiny occurred in Hunan yesterday. Both Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin were killed by... the mutinous army!"
"What?" Deng Yulin and Cai Jimin jumped up immediately. After the Sun Wu faction faded out of the political stage of the they were the only ones left to hold the fort. Originally, Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin could still take care of it in Hunan, but now that they were dead... the fort was completely finished!
Huang Keqiang and Song Jiaoren were even more shocked. Hunan was their hometown and they were of course concerned about its every move, but they did not expect that Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin, who were the first to respond, would be suddenly killed!
"Who did it?!" Yang Qiu snatched the telegram and asked knowingly. Chen Guofu shook his head: "I don't know yet, but there is news that Tan Yankai was removed and appointed as the governor of Hunan."
"Son of a bitch!"
Yang Qiu kicked the empty ammunition box away deliberately. In the parallel world, the killing of the two people was almost calm, and history rarely spoke a word of justice for the two. But now it is different. This is a great opportunity given by history! Otherwise, there would not be a battalion stationed in Yuezhou when the Beiyang army was approaching. This is an opportunity! An opportunity to completely take Hunan into his own hands is right in front of him, so he immediately turned around and slammed the telegram on the table, looking at Huang Keqiang and saying word by word: "Mr. Keqiang! You tell me... continue to compromise with these diehards and let them kill our revolutionary patriots indiscriminately, or march into Hunan and arrest the bandit leader!"
He did not say that he wanted to overthrow Tan Yankai, he only said that he wanted to arrest the bandit leader, but no one paid attention to this sentence and only cared about the sentence "march into Hunan"!
Huang Keqiang's scalp was bursting with anger. He had not expected that such a thing would happen when the artillery fire in Hubei was getting more intense and the reinforcements from Hunan were about to arrive. He certainly did not want to touch Hunan because it was his hometown and even Song Jiaoren was from Hunan. Moreover, Tan Yankai had a personal relationship with them. But there had already been some dirty dealings between the two sides just now. If they compromised again... I'm afraid he and Song Jiaoren would have to pack up and go home.
All eyes were focused on Huang Keqiang. Song Jiaoren, who was standing next to him, knew his temper and was definitely unwilling to let Yang Qiu extend his hand into Hunan. He was the first to speak: "Chen Hua, calm down first. Now that the Beiyang enemy is at hand, we are too busy to take care of ourselves to have the energy to march into Hunan. Why don't I send a telegram to Tan Renfeng to find out the situation before making a decision?"
"No need!" Yang Qiu threw the telegram to Chen Guofu: "The Beiyang is very strong, but it cannot change my determination! Send a telegram and order Hang Zhi to march to Changsha immediately and bring back the bandit leader who killed the two patriots! Chu Yu of the Navy Battalion will immediately go up the river. Chu Qian and Han Jiang are currently near Yichang. Order them to go south immediately to cooperate..."
"Tell Hang Zhi! Anyone who dares to stop our national defense forces from arresting the murderer..." Yang Qiu paused, his eyes slowly stopped at Miao Luo's already pale face: "Kill without mercy!"
