Chapter 45: Investigate Guns and Eliminate Hidden Dangers

  In the Consulate General of Hankou on this evening, footsteps were coming and going in a hurry. After receiving Dr. Kawano's report that there would be a riot in Wuchang tonight, the telegraph room was ticking non-stop. Matsamura Teiyo stood at the window with the sword given by His Majesty, outside the Yangtze River Three Towns had already been shrouded in deep twilight. Having stayed here for several years, he knew how much wealth the three towns possessed. To say the least, this place has become a gathering place for wealth in southern China.

  There are 53 factories in the UK, 43 in Japan, 35 in Germany, and over 200 in more than a dozen countries including France, Russia, and the US. The city trades in tung oil, raw silk, tea leaves, etc., with an annual trade volume of over 100 million taels of silver, surpassing Tianjin and Guangzhou, second only to Shanghai.

  Ointment.

  He, who thought he had a good understanding of Chinese culture, immediately came up with these two words, which meant a big and delicious piece of meat that was dripping with oil, but for Japan, this piece of fat was still a bit too big, too big...

  Matsumura Teijirō's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps from his deputy: "Report to Your Excellency, Shanghai has already wired back. The Consul General is requesting that we ensure our neutrality. Two cruisers have received the message and are on their way, but he also hopes that we can provide as much assistance as possible to those party members. If they fail again, he wants us to use the navy to escort them to Shanghai for refuge."

  The vice-officer was excited and continued to say loudly: "Also, the Consul General asked me to inform you that Saito Toshiro of the Ministry of Army will arrive here two days later. He will personally inspect this incident."

  "Please inform the Consul General that I will do my best to help them." Matsumura Teiichi said, and suddenly asked with a cold smile: "Do you know why the Nationalist Party people are always unsuccessful?"

  "Lack of trustworthy armed forces."

  "No."

  The deputy thought for a moment after finishing speaking, and Matsumura Teiichi shook his head: "It's their own fault that they are too chaotic, with internal factions in disarray, lacking a true leader, and... implementing republicanism in Shina, it still lacks sufficient soil."

  "But... this is a fortunate event for us Japanese." Matsumura Teiichi took a deep breath, turned his head again to look at the Wuchang city which was sprawling like an ancient giant beast by the Yangtze River, and frowned: "What time is it now? Did Kawano hear wrongly?"

  The deputy looked at his watch: "It's already 11 o'clock, maybe..."

  Before he could finish speaking, the military officer stationed in Hankou burst into the room, panting and saying: "Your Excellency, perhaps they have failed again..."

  "What's going on?"

  "Just now I received a phone call, the Qing governor's office has extracted some secrets from those party members captured since last night, and just now they destroyed the party's headquarters in Wuchang. I think they are probably..."

  "A group of Chinese pigs!"

  Matsumura Teiō gritted his teeth and stomped his feet, never expecting that waiting for half the night would lead to this result. Thinking of the telegram from earlier, he could only say with a scowl: "Let them suffer a bit, we'll think of a way to rescue them at dawn."

  Similarly, Deng Yulin, who had just managed to inform the various camps in Sanzhen of the overnight self-defense incident, was completely stunned. He didn't expect that when he arrived at the Xiao Chaojie Literary Society's headquarters, it was already too late. A large number of Xun Chengying soldiers had already sealed off the streets. Liu Fugui and two others fought to the death but were outnumbered and captured. Only Jiang Yiwu escaped and his whereabouts are unknown.

  Actually, after Liu Tong was caught, he felt that something was wrong, so he had to find a place to hide and wait for the situation to develop. However, in his haste, he forgot to inform Qiu Wenbin and others at No. 42 not to take action yet.

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  "It's over, it's over."

  The next morning, at the crack of dawn, a loud shout erupted outside the barracks of the 42nd Division. The soldiers, who had been accustomed to high-intensity training for two months, sprang up like hunting dogs. Even the engineering and logistics teams, who had only arrived a few days ago, quickly put on their clothes, shouldered their guns, and rushed out of the barracks.

  After receiving the news of the uprising yesterday afternoon, Qiu Wenbin quickly contacted comrades from the First Regiment and the logistics team to make preparations. He waited with his ears perked up all night for the sound of gunfire that he had dreamed of, but it wasn't until the sky was light outside that he heard the military bugle and shouting. In a daze, he grabbed his loaded gun from under the bed and rushed out.

  Just as he walked into the school field, the figure that had been haunting him like a nightmare for two months suddenly appeared in front of him. With a guilty conscience, he was startled and it took him a while to remember to salute: "First Battalion Second Company Second Platoon Third Squad Leader Qiu Wenbin reporting for duty, sir."

  "Bring your gun here." Yang Qiu looked at him deeply, suddenly stretched out his hand to check the gun! This made the latter's heart suddenly tremble with fear. Normally, early morning exercises were required to bring guns unless otherwise specified, and no one had ever checked before. Why did Yang Qiu do this today...

  In just a few seconds, Qiu Wenbin was already drenched in sweat, staring at those cold eyes. Although he really wanted to turn around and fight back, for some reason he didn't dare draw his gun. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and take off the Hanyang rifle from behind his back.

  This scene also attracted the attention of the soldiers, especially the members of the Yi Yihui and Min Dang, who were so nervous that they had already moved to the periphery and were quietly moving towards the camp gate. Lei Meng and Hu Lao San, who had received orders earlier, immediately pretended to watch and led the soldiers to stick together.

  Yang Qiu took the rifle, weighed it downwards and suddenly pulled the bolt, everyone saw a bright yellow bullet jumping out of the barrel, falling on the muddy ground shining.

  Qiu Wenbin and dozens of Yi Zhong She soldiers' scalps were about to blow up, some people had already started trembling, while other soldiers all furrowed their brows, unexpectedly the usually lively and purposeful gun was actually loaded!

  There is a regulation in the army that when exercising, guns must not be loaded at all, for fear of accidental discharge and injury. Therefore, soldiers usually put the bullets they receive into their cartridge pouches and rarely load them directly into the magazine, even if some soldiers do occasionally load them, they will not chamber a round.

  Yesterday, after the incident in Hankou, Yang Qiu knew that these people must have received news of taking action, so they borrowed an excuse to check their guns and eliminate the unstable factors in the bud! So, under the gaze of the soldiers, he bent down, picked up the bullets without saying a word, and then took out a white handkerchief from his pocket to wipe off the mud and sand on the bullets. He deliberately scolded: "You don't want to die, that's fine, but your comrades don't want to die inexplicably at the hands of their own people! They sleep in the same big camp with you, eat from the same pot, they trustingly turn their backs to you, and as a leader, you should be even more strict with yourself. How could you do such a thing!"

  The angry rebuke made the Kuomintang soldiers breathe a sigh of relief, thinking that their plan had been discovered. But it was actually because of the bullets being loaded. However, Chiu Wen-pin secretly cursed his bad luck. Since everyone had prepared for the uprising the night before, he ordered them to load their guns and be ready to set out at any moment. Unexpectedly, early in the morning, before they could even put away their guns, they were blocked at the door.

  "Lei Meng, take people to check all the guns." Yang Qiu stamped his foot heavily and shouted: "You still say you are a new army that wins with learning, I think it's all nonsense! Have you forgotten such a simple thing? The bullet is loaded, do you want to kill your comrades?"

  These words caused dissatisfaction among the majority of soldiers, who said: "Wen Bin, what are you doing?"

  "Yeah, I'm still standing in front of you, what if something goes wrong and I get blamed for it!"

  "It's a good thing it was Lord Biao who saw him, otherwise something big would have happened. If he had met Guo Erxing instead, he would definitely have been sent to the constabulary."

  Comrade, in your words and my words, Qiu Wenbin became even more anxious, but couldn't argue back. Should he learn from the Third Artillery Battalion? No! Absolutely not! That would only scare away the snake, and might ruin everything!

  "Report to the master, a total of 47 people have been dealt with." After Lei Meng led his men to inspect one by one, he walked to Yang Qiu's side and handed over the list that had been secretly recorded, saying: "The master can rest assured of safety."

  "Look at yourselves!" Yang Qiu nodded and walked to the 47 people who had been dragged out, their guns confiscated. Pretending to be angry, he scolded: "Military regulations, especially gun management must be followed! Last month, the Eighth Town even had an accidental discharge that killed a comrade, have you all forgotten?!"

  "I originally wanted to hand you over to the military police for punishment, but since we are all brothers, I won't make things difficult for you. Take them away! Yang Qiu shouted loudly: 'Take them all down and lock them up for three days, let them reflect on their actions!'"

  Suddenly, so many people were loading their guns, and the other soldiers also furrowed their brows. This was clearly an omen of a riot! But why did Zhang Tong suddenly put down his gun? As for the soldiers who had loaded their guns, when they heard that they would not be handed over to the military police for punishment, they all let out a sigh of relief. Only Qiu Wenbin's face turned deathly pale, and he sat down on the ground with a thud.

  Yang Qiu's move was really too vicious!

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