Chapter 41: Decision

  Dark clouds surged above the Yangtze River, bringing with them a misty air that seemed to stagnate. Nobody could feel the wind blowing, and the suffocating pressure made it hard for many people to fall asleep. In the barracks after lights out, all that was left was the creaking sound of wooden beds as soldiers tossed and turned restlessly.

  Outside the Paoding Gate, in the heavy camp, Ma Kui and Xiao Anguo constantly lifted the black curtain to look out, but the chaotic night sky made it impossible for them to see through. The two exchanged a glance, both discovering the problem, when did they start treating Yang Qiu, who was insignificant before entering Sichuan, as the mainstay?

  "Ma Kui, you said he won't come? I heard the river surface is sealed off, and the Chu Yu warship is on the river, how can he still get here?"

  "Don't worry, I've already arranged for a few brothers to wait by the riverbank. If anything happens, they'll report back. Besides, Yang brother is clever and might come up with a plan. Let's just wait a bit longer...". Ma Kui said this out loud, but in his heart, he was actually worried. After all, tonight's patrol was very strict, and every camp had forbidden going out. And as a banner captain, if he were to be discovered sneaking out, the trouble would be big.

  Xiao Anguo also knew that he couldn't rush, but he didn't see Yang Qiu's heart was always empty, so he simply squatted in the corner and lit a dry cigarette. Ma Kui saw this and laughed: "I said Xiao Da Ge, you are all flat, taking standard salary silver, how can you still not change your habit of squatting in the corner?"

  "I'm a rustic, not like Brother Yang who has knowledge. I feel more grounded squatting down." Xiao Anguo chuckled and lit a cigarette, taking a drag before continuing: "Ma Kui, what do you think Brother Yang is worried about? I don't like joining factions either, nor do I want to die for the Manchu rulers, but we can't just drift between the two. It doesn't feel solid."

  "I didn't say I wouldn't rely on..." Ma Kui hadn't even finished speaking when a sudden voice came from outside the house. The two of them heard it and excitedly rushed to open the door, only to see Yang Qiu walking in with two young military officers, momentarily stunned.

  "Our own people......" Yang Qiu nodded to reassure the two, then introduced: "Yue Peng and Zhang Wenjing are both our deputy officers of the 42nd battalion, currently acting as battalion commanders."

  Yue Peng (Zhang Wenjing) has met with Xiao Daren and Ma Guandai.

  Xiao Anguo and Ma Kui exchanged a glance, and in just one month, they had won over two trusted followers. They couldn't help but secretly admire Yang Qiu's tactics, and hastily exchanged a few pleasantries with each other.

  "Everyone, don't be polite, there's plenty of time later." The logistics camp was Yang Qiu's "hometown", so he didn't hesitate to sit down and say: "I won't mention the outside situation, everyone already knows. Tomorrow morning, the city patrol camp will start collecting bullets from each camp, and the anti-riot sentiment in the army will definitely become more intense. So I'm sure there will be a big change within half a month."

  Yue Peng felt the most direct impact from Yang Qiu's assertion. He had just said yesterday that something would happen at Nanhu Camp, and today it indeed happened. Zhang Wenjing also had no doubts, as he had personally witnessed the situation in the third artillery battalion. The current situation within the military was indeed already on the brink of eruption. Once they start collecting bullets early tomorrow morning, the soldiers will definitely become even more dissatisfied.

  Xiao Anguo and Ma Kui still had some doubts, but as people born at the bottom, they understood the mentality of the soldiers better. With the distrust from above, being treated like thieves, and having their pay withheld, even those without grievances would become resentful. If it weren't for Yang Qiu, none of them would have wanted to continue.

  "Just now, Xiao Da Ge said that we two are not close, and I'm a bit worried......" Yang Qiu glanced at the four people and smiled: "Actually, this is quite right, unless we rebel, otherwise we really need to rely on one side."

  Yue Peng vaguely guessed Yang Qiu's mind and said: "Sir, are you preparing to rely on those party members... to gain great justice?"

  Yang Qiu nodded: "If it is true that I have made a correct judgment, once the soldiers mutiny, those party members will inevitably take advantage of the situation to incite the soldiers. As I said, during the chaos of the soldiers' riot, it is impossible for them to have a clear goal, they also need to find an excuse for themselves, and since most of the soldiers sympathize with the party members and praise their idea of overthrowing the Qing dynasty, so the two will definitely join forces."

  But those party members in the military are mostly mid-to-low level, leading a mutiny might be possible, but afterwards it would still require someone to stabilize the tens of thousands of soldiers, so they will definitely choose someone with prestige from our military.

  Rui Cheng is a banner person, it's already impossible, Admiral Zhang Biao, although he doesn't get along with Rui Cheng, has been suppressing the party people for many years and can't cooperate with him either, so...

  "Sir, are you thinking of letting this collaborator go?" Zhang Wenjing frowned and asked hastily.

  "Me? Haha......" Yang Qiu chuckled and pointed to his own nose, saying: "If Wen Jing, you are a party member, would you be willing to find someone who killed their leader, a Manchu loyal hero in the eyes of others?"

  Zhang Wenjing shook his head and put down his mind. Actually, he asked this question because he was afraid that Yang Qiu would go to sit in that position now. After all, he had been leading the army for a short time, and his reputation was not very good. If he rashly went to do it, he feared that the soldiers would be even more disbelieving and chaotic afterwards.

  "They will definitely look for General Li Xie Tong!" Yang Qiu said again, "Apart from those two people, the most prestigious person in the army is only General Li Xie Tong. Moreover, General Tong has always been kind and generous to his subordinates, so apart from him, there is no second choice."

  "Sir, you mean we......"

  "As soon as there's a change, we'll immediately take control of Hankou and Hanyang, then wait quietly for news from the Wuchang side." Yang Qiu said: "If they support Li Zongren, everything will be peaceful, but if they really want to act rashly, I definitely won't let them mess up the three towns!"

  "Sir, forgive me for being presumptuous." Zhang Wenjing asked: "Sir, you've been talking about defending the three towns all along, what's the reason for this?"

  Yang Qiu sighed: "The Qing dynasty has reached its end, this is the trend of the times, but I don't think highly of the Nationalist Party. Even if they can succeed in overthrowing the Qing dynasty, there has never been a precedent for republicanism in China's thousand-year history. It's not that republicanism is bad, but with the low literacy rate of the people and the common folk not understanding what republicanism means, hastily adopting it will only lead to more chaos within the country."

  The Beiyang warlords held power, Yuan Shikai had been lying in wait for a long time, the internal forces of the party were complex and contradictory, the good and the bad were mixed together, and the conflicts and disasters could not be reconciled.

  Everyone knows the importance of Sanzhen, Zhang's lifeblood has laid the foundation for industry and paved the way for the country's future. Once the Northern Expeditionary Army comes to conquer, it will surely be a disaster!

  "So... I will fight once, to keep it! Although I don't know where to go now, but I know that I absolutely won't destroy the foundation of this country, nor will I let the people fall into decades of war! If the party or the north can stabilize the country and lead tens of millions of Chinese children to prosperity, then I will definitely hand over everything and leave for overseas, never to return! And I also hope you can supervise me... if I betray what I said today, anyone can shoot me from behind!"

  Yang Qiu's words were a mix of truth and falsehood, but they struck a chord with several people. They were all Hubei-born soldiers who had long lost their loyalty to the Qing dynasty, but as military men, the idea of protecting their homes was deeply ingrained in them, only...

  "Counting the security team and Ma Guan's heavy camp, we only have five camps, with less than 4,000 guns at most, lacking machine guns and artillery. Defending Hankou might be a problem... The Beiyang army is far better equipped and trained than us, and they also have a navy that can be mobilized to come here. If they really come, they will surely take the railway line south and take Hankou first. I'm afraid it's hard to stop them..." Yue Penggang expressed his concerns, and Xiao Anguo immediately said: "The Beiyang army is indeed far better equipped than us, but we're not bad either! Brother Yang has already ordered hundreds of machine guns and 3 million rounds of ammunition, which will arrive soon!"

  "Really!"

  Yue Peng and Zhang Wenjing exchanged a glance, shocked again. Although foreigners were aggressively selling arms domestically, it was extremely difficult for an individual to obtain machine guns, let alone hundreds of them! How many more secrets did this young Lieutenant General have?!

  Seeing the two seemingly disbelieving, Ma Kui hastily told them about Yang Qiu using technical drawings to exchange equipment, and Yue Peng and Zhang Wenjing suddenly understood why he wanted to protect Sanzhen.

  "It's a deal... I gave them the technology they wanted, and they gave me what I wanted." Yang Qiu didn't want to say more on this matter for now. He couldn't resist the Beiyang warlord, and if Hanyang was destroyed, everything would be in vain. So he immediately became serious: "Machine guns and bullets are just foreign aid, it's uncertain whether they can arrive on time, we must rely on ourselves!"

  "Sir, controlling Hankou is no problem, but there's Yang Kaiyuan's 30th Division in Hanyang, I'm afraid..."

  Yue Peng just got to this point, Yang Qiu stretched out his hand and interrupted him: "I have already received the order that three towns will be fully replaced tomorrow. My 42nd division will take over Hankou, Hanyang and Liujiatun Railway Station of Beijing-Han Railway. Guo Erling and Chen Shanyou will come back tomorrow, but I will continue to arrange for you two to serve as deputy officers. As for whether you can control it..."

  "Haha, it seems that heaven is helping us!" Yue Peng had nothing to say about Yang Qiu's "luck" and "prophecy", and looked at Zhang Wenjing with a smile: "One is thin and sour, the other is a complete fool. If I, one of the two of us, can't even surpass them...I would be too ashamed to face our superior."

  Having said that, he turned his head towards Xiao Anguo: "Now it's up to Xiao Guan to take charge."

  His words drew everyone's attention to Xiao Anguo's face, and after tomorrow's collection of bullets, only diligent soldiers could get three shots. Once something happens, even self-protection is impossible, so the key becomes how many bullets can be obtained from Chuwangtai.

  Xiao Anguo glanced at Ma Kui and said with confidence: "Chuwangtai is located on the edge of Meiting Mountain, with a main road leading directly to Xunsi River. We can set off from our camp in an instant and arrive there quickly. As for the boat, we can also arrange it. I have a general understanding of the warehouse side as well."

  Wu Zhaolin and Li Keguo led the engineering battalion's left team in charge of defense, but most of the lower-level soldiers were party members or sympathetic soldiers. If something happened, they would definitely rush into the armory to seize the military supplies. Therefore, we had to take action before them. As long as we could bring out the military supplies first, we could go along the Xunsi River and enter the Yangtze River, which would lead us directly to Hankou. It's not easy to say, but it's possible to get three thousand Hankou-made guns and several hundred boxes of bullets. Now it depends...

  "We can't win the battle with our current strength, but we have unity of purpose and no traitors among us. Except for a few people, everyone is unwilling to work for the Manchu rulers anymore! When the time comes, I can forge an order to go to Chu Wang Tai ahead of schedule to load goods. With Xiao Da Ge as our inside man, there shouldn't be any major problems. Now it's just up to......" Ma Kui said, his eyes turning towards Yang Qiu.

  Everyone's eyes focused on Yang Qiu again, and they all believed in his "assertion". They were all tense now, this was no small matter. If there was no military coup or riot, then their arrangements would be in vain.

  "Don't worry, I'm not stupid enough to give my own head to the Manchu for chopping." Yang Qiu took a deep breath and suddenly pulled out two familiar handguns, removed the magazines and ejected the bullets one by one onto the table. Then he pulled out five silver tickets and a boat ticket from his pocket: "This is my final choice for all of you! One ticket costs 10,000, plus a boat ticket to Shanghai. Once you arrive in Shanghai, go to He Sheng Yuan and mention my name, someone will arrange for your passage to America."

  The sudden decision left all four people in the room stunned, looking at each other in silence for half a day. Although 20,000 yuan is not a lot of money, it's a windfall for ordinary people, and not getting involved in this mess is a good choice.

  In the quiet room, Yang Qiu's palms were sweating. Since ancient times, people's hearts have been unpredictable, and individual strength cannot intervene in this vortex, so help is needed! And when things reached this moment, laying one's cards on the table was undoubtedly the best choice! The success or failure of the future may be decided in this choice!

  Yue Peng first pushed the silver ticket back to Yang Qiu, grabbed his own ship ticket and tore it into pieces: "Soldiers, let's fight! Twenty years of lagging behind, I'm not reconciled!"

  "The adults gave too little, the Manchu people didn't do a good job, but the gun factory spent nearly ten million, I don't want to see it all fall into your pocket." Zhang Wenjing smiled and also tore up the boat ticket.

  Ma Kui and Xiao Anguo exchanged a smile, also tearing their tickets to shreds: "Yang brothers, you can't monopolize all the good things! You're the great hero who defended three towns and drove out the Manchu invaders, but now you want to drive us away and lick the foreigners' buttocks? No way, I'll at least be a small hero."

  Seeing the four piles of paper scraps on the table, Yang Qiu's eyes suddenly turned red. It is said that this is the last heroic era in Chinese history, and today he finally saw it. For a dream that was still vague, for a conviction to overthrow the Manchu dynasty, he would risk everything.

  "Then let's fight for our lives! Tell everyone, a strong nation and rich people... there are not only two roads!" With a few clicks, Yang Qiu put away his gun and said heavily: "On the night of August 19 (lunar calendar), we will take up arms at the sound of gunfire!"

  Something came up tonight, so I'll update first.