Chapter 42: The Chaos Brought by the Order to Change Guards

  The order to collect bullets triggered strong resistance from the soldiers, and riots broke out in various battalions, with more than a dozen small-scale brawls and confrontations occurring.

  The 42nd badge belonged to the duty squadron, so each person was able to keep three rounds of ammunition, which made Yue Peng and others slightly relieved. As Guo Xing and Chen Shanyou returned to their posts, both were arranged by Yang Qiu to be deputy officers. Whether they could control two battalions had become a key issue.

  Apart from continuing to copy materials in his spare time every day, Yang Qiu devoted almost all his time to training soldiers. The intense training made the soldiers too tired to think about the outside world, and even Qiu Wenbin, a unstable element of the literary society, fell asleep as soon as he lay down every day.

  Sitting in the office, tearing off a page of calendar paper, he also had an impulse to roll up his sleeves and change something. With his understanding of the later Xinhai, he could easily change the fate of people like Liu Fubiao, change Xiaochang Street... and even quickly ascend to the position of governor! But what about afterwards? The foundation, reputation, party people's restraint and counterattack, how can the constitutionalists be controlled? It is impossible to guarantee with less than 4,000 soldiers in hand, not to mention unified thinking.

  If we were to abandon that position rashly, then Han Yang would immediately be declared fallen.

  So he still endured it in the end, because now it's too early to take action. From the moment he walked from being misunderstood to being on opposing sides with the party, he knew he only had one chance.

  Zhang Wenjing knocked open the office door, he also served as the secretary of the 42nd marker. After entering, he looked at the various drawings on the table and was slightly stunned for a moment, then his face returned to normal: "Sir... the replacement order has arrived!"

  Yang Qiu suddenly got up and snatched away the formal order for the change of guard, his heart had already started racing violently.

  When everyone thought that the three towns had returned to their usual calm as if overnight, a large-scale replacement order was sent to each camp, and some people suddenly exploded.

  "It's no good."

  Liu Fukei, who was discussing action plans with Zhang Zhenwu in the Xiaochang Street Literary Society's office, heard a noise and hastily lifted his head to see Jiang Yiwu bursting into the room in military uniform. Without waiting for others to speak, he immediately took off his uniform, gulped down two mouthfuls of water, swept the table with one glance, and said: "Don't look at these anymore, they're all useless now, something big has happened."

  The Paoting Incident had caught them off guard, as the city garrison and police tightened their search, making it difficult for representatives of each camp to communicate with each other. The order to collect bullets resulted in a severe shortage of ammunition among the rank-and-file soldiers. As things got more and more difficult, one cry of "Something big has happened" made both men's hearts sink suddenly.

  "The deployment map is useless now......" Jiang Yiwu swept away the city defense map on the table and said urgently: "You've been cooped up here researching and discussing for days, but outside, things have already changed!"

  Rui Fang brought the 31st and 32nd battalions into Sichuan early this morning, I thought the opportunity had come, but Rui Cheng and Zhang Biao suddenly ordered a large-scale redeployment!

  "What a big change of defense?!" Liu Fubao and Zhang Zhenwu hastily exchanged a glance, with Zhang's mouth agape in shock. With the Mid-Autumn Festival just a few days away and the event imminent, wasn't everything they had prepared so far going to be overturned?

  "How to exchange?" Liu Fugui's temperament was calm and steady, he was the stabilizer of this operation, so he forced himself to calm down and pointed at the map saying: "Mark it out for me."

  It's a matter of great importance, and Jiang Yiwu didn't dare to slack off. He hastily picked up his pen and said while writing: "These two old dogs have ordered the 29th battalion of the 3rd regiment to head to Yuanyang, the 8th battalion to Xiangyang, our 41st battalion's 1st regiment to Yichang, and the 3rd regiment to Yuezhou. All these orders came at the same time. Moreover, they were issued very suddenly, and now each battalion is starting to pack up. They will set off one after another early tomorrow morning."

  "That's not right, both the 29th and 41st divisions have moved, doesn't that mean there are even fewer Wuchang troops?" Zhang Zhenwei asked.

  "How could it be less." Jiang Yiwu hastily pointed to Hankou and said: "The 30th Division will be redeployed back to Wuchang tomorrow, and Yang Qiu's 42nd Division will take over the defense of Hanyang and Hankou! The Jiangfang Water Squadron has also received orders to garrison the Guishan and Sheshan batteries, cooperating with the Chu Yu San warship to strictly inspect passing ships."

  Hearing this, Zhang Zhenwu slammed his fist on the table and cursed: "Damn it! Whose idea is this? It's too vicious, trying to disperse our forces, intentionally deploying troops, these two treacherous old dogs!"

  "Who else could it be, but Zhang Meisheng, the master of Rui Cang Lao Zei?" Jiang Yiwu gritted his teeth and said: "The 8th town, 15th cooperative, 29th battalion, 1st and 2nd companies, and the 30th battalion are all basically Zhang Biao's loyal followers! Our 41st battalion, 1st company will be going to Yuezhou tomorrow, and I definitely can't stay behind. This time it's big trouble!"

  Jiang Yiwu looked somewhat disheartened, Liu Fugui immediately gritted his teeth and said: "Don't be discouraged, I think there's still a chance." After finishing speaking, he immediately leaned over the table, pointing at the revised map of the city defense made by Jiang Yiwu: "The 42nd Regiment is far away in Hankou and Hanyang, Yang Qiu can only gaze across the river even if he has the ability. The 41st Regiment has lost two battalions and only the second battalion remains, let alone that there is still a distance from the Left Banner to the Governor's Office."

  32 Brigade has two regiments, 29 Brigade has one regiment and 30 Brigade has three regiments. Although they all claim to be Zhang Biao's trusted subordinates, we also have many comrades inside. The artillery and cavalry brigades are outside the city and cannot enter, so as long as the first shot is fired, it may not be impossible to succeed. The key now is where to launch from and who will fire the first shot!

  "The key is guns and bullets." Zhang Zhenwu added, "The other side of the governor's office has several machine guns. If there are not enough firearms and ammunition, it can't be taken down at all."

  "Didn't Sun Wu go get explosives?"

  "Chen Ying-shi called to say that the bomb will arrive within three days, but relying solely on explosives won't work. Are we supposed to have everyone hug the explosives and perish together with the enemy?" Zhang Zhen-wu shook his head.

  "I think so......" Liu Fugui looked at the city defense map and thought for half a day, saying: "The two battalions of logistics and engineering have always been lax in their defense. Why don't we first stir up the engineering battalion at Tanjiao? The logistics battalion is not far away, but they are all muddy legs. Even if they want to help Zhang Biao rush over, the impact will not be great. Let the cannons outside the city fire first as a signal, so that all three towns can see it. As for Chu Wangtai......"

  "Chu Wangtai is no big deal, that Xiao Anguo doesn't have much ability. He's a nice person, but all he knows how to do is drag the warehouse manager out for food and drink every day." Jiang Yiwu said.

  "Then so be it!"

  "Now is the time when discontent in the new army is at its highest, as soon as a gunshot sounds, let comrades immediately stir up soldiers from each battalion and regiment, the more the better! Soldiers are a mob, once they gain momentum, they will not be afraid. After rising, let them go to Chu Wangtai to receive ammunition first, even if Xiao Anguo is powerful, he dare not make an enemy of so many soldiers! If you really want to die for the Manchu dynasty, kill him! After obtaining the key to the Chu Wangtai arsenal, immediately pull out all the big guns and attack the governor's office, this way there will be more opportunities."

  After listening to Zhang Zhenwu's words, Liu Fubiji also made up his mind. After a while, he inserted the pen fiercely into the corner of the desk and vowed: "It will be done this way, if not successful, I'll die for it!"

  "Passing by and collecting, recommending... Big mouth hippo says thank you"

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