Chapter 23: Has Someone Come to Kill?

  They say military history is united in heart, especially seeking votes and firepower support to burst chrysanthemum!

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  The Yangtze River separates them, and three towns belong to each other.

  If Wuchang is considered as the political and military center of Hubei, Hankou is the economic center, while Hanyang across the river is the base for industry and manufacturing.

  Originally to protect this largest and most perfect industrial base in China at that time, Zhang Zhidong built a larger base here when he was training the new army. As the 8th town moved to Wuchang later, Hanyang became the training ground for the 21st mixed brigade.

  As one of the two infantry regiments under the 21st Mixed Brigade, the 42nd Regiment was stationed near the Gun Factory.

  Although the rain had thinned out a lot, the 42nd Division's barracks and training grounds were still crowded with soldiers who had been recalled from various places. Some of them were smoking, while others were dozing off, lost in thought.

  In the center of the soldiers, there was a sturdy man who stripped off his clothes and revealed his muscular physique. He swung a stone lock weighing over 30 kilograms up and down with ease, while the onlookers cheered and shouted in admiration. Some even started betting on him, which made the man even more proud.

  Next to the circle, a clean and simple official uniform, slightly thin figure of Yue Peng saw Shi Suo Fei Wu, also occasionally shouting "good" twice. Next to him, Zhang Wenjing, who graduated from Gaowu Preparatory School in the same year and is now the secretary of the 42nd Brigade, smiled and said: "Brother Yue Peng also wants to show off his skills?"

  Yue Peng shook his head and smiled: "Wen Jing, why must you tease me? Look at my appearance, can I dance with the stone lock so elegantly?"

  Zhang Wenjing and Yue Peng were not only classmates, but also good friends in the army. One was a secretary officer, and the other was a second-class assistant officer. Standing together naturally attracted attention, so he quickly pulled Yue Peng aside and asked in a low voice: "Brother Yue, have you heard about what happened last night? Do you think General Biao will come today?"

  Yue Peng furrowed his brow and gazed at the camp gate shrouded in misty rain, but he had no answer in his heart. As a military officer, even if he was dissatisfied, he knew about the events that took place in Wuchang City last night. It's said that there were nearly a hundred shell casings on the streets alone, which showed how tense the situation was at the time. Would he still come under such circumstances?

  "I don't know which little devil's ancestral grave emitted such a large amount of green smoke, and he actually became our banner. Zhang Wenjing laughed: "I heard that he is only 22 years old today, and has been in the army for less than half a year. He went to Sichuan as a logistics soldier and jumped four ranks! You say, how come I didn't encounter such good luck?"

  Zhang Wenjing's meaning was not yet exhausted, and he pointed to the sturdy man playing with the stone lock, then nodded a few times towards the Yi Zhi She and the military officer, and smiled slyly: "See? They're all puffed up like a blowfish, it'll be fun to watch in a bit."

  Yue Peng smiled silently, the army is a complex place, where reason and unreason coexist. Sometimes, having a bigger fist can be more persuasive. Moreover, what's most taboo in the military is bringing in an unfamiliar officer from outside to lead them. Let alone these old soldiers being unruly, even Yue Peng himself might not obey some new rookie officer.

  "Heh heh, Brother Yue, how many men do you think he'll bring from the logistics camp to make a scene?"

  Yue Peng was about to speak when his eyes suddenly lit up: "He will come alone."

  "Are you kidding me? One person is coming?"

  "I'm never joking." Yue Peng's mouth hooked into a smile as he gazed at the camp entrance: "Because...he's already here!" As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Wenjing hastily turned his head and saw that outside the camp entrance, a tall and sturdy young man wearing a general's uniform with a command knife at his waist was walking in alone, carrying a small bundle on his back.

  "Go on, go to the conference room." Yue Peng pushed Zhang Wenjing and frowned, saying: "Not bad courage, unfortunately do not know......"

  As he walked into the school grounds, Yang Qiu couldn't help but furrow his brow at the chaotic scene before him.

  Before he came out, he temporarily refused the kindness of Xiao Anguo and Ma Kui to bring a few people to calm down, so he came here alone. Now there are three battalions inside, plus miscellaneous personnel, with a total of 1733 officers and soldiers. As long as he steps over the camp gate, there will only be two outcomes.

  Failure, success!

  As a military man in a parallel world, he understood the logic of the army better than anyone else and knew how difficult it was for a newcomer with no prestige or battle achievements to lead an equivalent team. In front of him was a messy web that had been tangled for a long time, with countless threads, how could he untangle them?

  Looking at the stone lock that was still flying around, Yang Qiu smiled coldly. If it were in another field, he might have turned his head back directly, but this is the military!

  Yang Qiu walked into the military camp with his head held high and a smile on his face, surrounded by soldiers who gathered around to get a good look at this logistics soldier who had risen four ranks overnight.

  "First Battalion Commander He Xi, Second Battalion Commander Chen Shanyou, and Third Battalion Commander Guo Erxing have arrived to see General Biao." As soon as Yang Qiugang entered the conference room, the three battalion commanders immediately stood up with the other officers at the door to greet him.

  The captain of the first camp, He Xi, was probably over thirty years old, with a big beard, and his mouth had never been straight since he saw Yang Qiu. Chen Shanyou was just the opposite, short in stature and very thin, with no smile on his knife-like face. As for Guo Erxing of the third camp, who had met Yang Qiu before, he even sneered at Yang Qiu with a cold smile at the corner of his mouth.

  "It's all thorns." Yang Qiu said quietly and then smiled: "I've kept you waiting for a long time."

  "Governor, you're being too polite. Today is the day of your appointment, this is what we subordinates should do." He Xi's face was full of smiles, but his eyes kept glancing out the door. Yang Qiu saw this and laughed, saying: "Governor He doesn't need to look anymore, Commander-in-Chief sent me to take over as Governor, but he forgot to assign a cavalry escort for me."

  "Hehe......"

  Yang Qiu's words brought a burst of laughter from the crowd, and even Yue Peng and Zhang Wenjing, who were sitting in the corner, exchanged a glance, thinking that this new young master, who was about their age, at least had some skill with his mouth.

  "Sir, this is......" He Xi was about to introduce the officer when he was interrupted by Yang Qiu. Putting down his small bag, he smiled and said: "Let's go see the soldiers first, it's raining outside, we can't keep everyone waiting for too long." After that, he walked out himself.

  Behind him, Zhang Wenjing and Yue Peng looked at each other in surprise, not expecting Yang Qiu to be so unaccommodating.

  "Here, it's here."

  As soon as Yang Qiu entered the conference room, he walked out with several battalion commanders and officers. The low-ranking officers waiting outside immediately began to shout for the soldiers to assemble. Although the rain had thinned out a lot, the muddy parade ground that had been soaked all night and the dirty puddles were still making many soldiers lackadaisical. After repeated urging by the officers, they finally lazily shouldered their guns and stepped onto the parade ground.

  Is this the so-called "First Army of Nanyang" - the Hubei Mixed Brigade New Army?

  The soldiers' sluggish footsteps made Yang Qiu understand that this was not the new army known as China's modern troops, but an army that had suddenly come up with a new commander, who was mentally resistant and reluctant to respond.

  "Are these the 42 targets' brothers?" As Yang Qiu walked towards the standing army, He Xi and Chen Shanyou exchanged a glance, with a hint of ridicule in their eyes, while Guo Erxing curled his lips, his gaze becoming increasingly sharp.

  "Hello everyone, I'm Yang Qiu. From today on, we'll be eating from the same pot! Looking at the loosely arranged troops, Yang Qiu frowned and said: "Today is my first day in office, and I'll have to trouble you all..."

  "It's not that we're afraid of trouble, it's just that I don't know if General Biao has brought the two months' worth of salary, what do you brothers think?"

  The words had not been finished, a strange and funny voice came out from the army array, and the soldiers also burst into laughter. Yang Qiu turned his head to look, it was that sturdy soldier who played with the stone lock like a juggler just now, and he couldn't help but smile, the play has finally arrived.

  "Bold and fierce, what do you mean? The military pay has been taken care of by General Lei and Commander-in-Chief. What business does General Guan have here?" Chen Shanyou put on a fierce expression, scolded him, then turned his head to Yang Qiu and cupped his hands: "Sir, don't mind these nonsense words from the soldiers. I will definitely teach him a lesson later."

  "It doesn't matter." Yang Qiu waved his hand and beckoned to the soldier who had spoken: "Come forward and talk."

  The robust soldier thought he was going to be punished, and his heart still had some fear, but seeing He Xi's expression, coupled with the fact that he had previously boasted in public that he would give the new "logistics soldier" a deep impression, so he gritted his teeth and walked forward.

  "Name, position."

  "Lei Meng, 42-year-old captain of the law enforcement team."

  Yang Qiu sized up the short and sturdy soldier, who was in his mid-twenties, with a robust physique that couldn't be concealed even by clothes. He had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a cold, hard mouth, and should have been an old veteran who had spent many years in the military.

  "How much tax money do you owe?"

  "For two months, a total of 50 yuan." With the confidence that someone was backing him up, Lei Meng fearlessly hummed in front of the "tall and elegant" Yang Qiu: "You officials have all received it, but you still owe us!"

  "I heard about the unpaid wages, so I brought it up with the Governor last night and he agreed to allocate 10,000 dollars for me to bring back." Yang Qiu's mouth curled up as he slowly pulled out the silver bills that Rui Cheng had given him yesterday and shouted: "Who's in charge of logistics and paying wages?"

  "Secretary Zhang Wenjing of the 42nd mark, requests an audience with your honor."

  "Take it away, send it out after morning exercise, a total of 10,000 yuan."

  The box contained a full 10,000 taels of silver, and the soldiers who had just been stirred up by Lei's anger were all shocked. The people behind He Xi also didn't expect that Yang Qiu would bring such a big gift.

  Guo Xing's heart sank even further, he was most clear about who gave this huge sum of money, and unexpectedly Yang Qiu didn't hesitate to spend his own money to solve the problem of unpaid wages.

  Lei Meng was even more stunned, thinking that his best excuse would be easily resolved, and he gritted his teeth and said: "We enlisted to carry guns and defend our country, training day and night, learning the way of killing enemies on the battlefield. It's not relying on luck! There are three battalion commanders here, and so many officers, why should we let an outsider control us? I don't accept it!"

  "You're also worthy of daily hard work and never slackening!"

  Lei Meng had just finished speaking, when Yang Qiu suddenly walked to the front of the formation, pointing at the crooked ranks and shouted: "Can't even form a line, can't even stand upright, is this the result of daily drills?" This sentence was equivalent to scolding everyone, instantly causing a stir among the soldiers. Yue Peng also secretly shook his head, seemingly feeling that the last few sentences were a bit excessive.

  Ke Yangqiu didn't care, he just wanted to leave a deep and unforgettable impression on these guys! So after finishing speaking, he turned his head and walked in front of Lei Meng, saying coldly: "Not bad, I know what you're thinking. You think I'm just a lucky soldier who got promoted by chance, and if I were to lead the 42nd battalion, we'd all be dead on the battlefield anyway, right?"

  "But let me tell you now, it's not that I look down on you, but what you learned before is just child's play!"

  "Sir, you can scold us if you must, but don't humiliate me!" Lei Meng was originally hot-headed and immediately jumped up, shouting: "We've been training hard to kill the enemy, what's wrong with that?"

  "Kill the enemy? Haha......"

  Yang Qiu burst out laughing wildly, then unexpectedly pointed at Lei Meng and said: "You're also qualified to talk about killing enemies? Have you ever been on the battlefield? Have you experienced life and death? Do you know what it feels like to be hit by a bullet?"

  "Not satisfied? Fine! Since you can take the lead today, it means they believe you can give me a good fight? Come on!" Yang Qiu raised an eyebrow, pointing at the troops, and swept the scene with pride: "One-on-one, no matter if it's you or anyone else here, as long as you defeat me, this logistics soldier who is just a burden to you, I will apologize to you immediately and never set foot in the 42nd Battalion again!"

  "On the contrary, you'll be obedient to me from now on!"

  Yue Peng's face suddenly changed, too arrogant!

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