Chapter 52: The Day of Rising (7)

  "Boom......"

  Just as Wang Anlan hung up the phone, a shell exploded not far from the Mixed Brigade headquarters, shattering windows all around with its deafening roar, and scaring some soldiers outside to rush in.

  Li Yuanhong was also pale-faced, sitting in front of the case, a broken corpse in the hall shocked him, it was a liaison officer sent by the party, because he was afraid of making trouble, so he was beheaded on the spot.

  Due to the previous large-scale troop rotation, two regiments of the 41st Division were outside, and the 42nd Division was trapped in Hanyang and Hankou, temporarily unable to cross the river to provide support. As a result, only one infantry regiment and one artillery regiment remained by his side, and the officers were reduced to Liu Wenzhi, Wang Anlan, and others. The command center was much quieter than before. Li Yuanhong glanced at Wang Anlan, who had almost fallen over from being startled by the explosion, and asked: "What did Yang Qiu say?"

  "Sir, Yang Qiu said that the 42nd battalion is fully assembled and waiting for your orders. He also said..."

  "What's taking so long, spit it out!" Seeing him hesitate, Li Yuanhong slammed his fist on the table. Wang Anlan didn't dare to delay any further and hastily said: "He says that no matter what happens in Wuchang, he will definitely protect you completely, and also says that regardless of your choice, he will be your external support!"

  "Foreign aid......" Li Yuanhong muttered these two meaningful words, a slight curl at the corner of his mouth that no one noticed, and continued in a cold tone: "Now that the bandits are causing chaos, each camp has its own response. You have been eating the imperial salary and receiving imperial favors all along. At this time, you should be loyal and steadfast, and absolutely cannot cause trouble!"

  Liu Wenzhi caught the implicit meaning of Li Yuanhong's words and hastily said: "Don't worry, sir. My 41st Regiment still has two battalions outside, and Yang Qiu's 42nd Regiment is also waiting on the opposite bank. These rebels will not dare to act rashly."

  "Yes, it's still me who unites people's hearts." Li Yuanhong sighed and beckoned his trusted bodyguard to quickly write down a few words, saying: "You go find Wu Zhaolin, I heard he's the one in command. Give this to him, but absolutely don't let anyone see you. Once he sees it, he definitely won't kill you."

  Qin Wei heard that his life was guaranteed and rushed out of the command post.

  At this time, the gunfire outside became more and more intense, several shells fell near the command post again, Liu Wenzhi and other officers were even more anxious, and hurriedly asked: "Sir, now we......"

  "Going against the current is not as good as going with the flow, forget it." Li Yuanhong said a few words and waved his hand: "You all go back, must not participate in the military coup. If they come to your door, just persuade them with kind words. If they fire their guns to intimidate you, don't randomly counterattack. As for how the soldiers want to make trouble, let them be, this old man can't control it either."

  Hearing this, the officers finally breathed a sigh of relief and bid farewell one after another. At this time, Li Yuanhong didn't know where to go either. Liu Wenxi saw the situation and immediately said: "Sir, why don't you come to my place to rest for a few days and come back when things are settled here?"

  "Alright." Li Yuanhong readily agreed.

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  "The bullets have arrived, the bullets have arrived......" Amidst the excited shouts of the soldiers, Yue Peng's hand trembled as he pointed to the map in the room, taking a deep breath before walking out the door. Only then did he see that several horse-drawn carriages had stopped in the middle of the military camp, and several anxious soldiers immediately pried open the boxes, with yellow bullets spilling out instantly.

  Just as everyone was about to receive the bullets, urgent footsteps also came from outside, and Zhang Wenjing's third battalion finally arrived. Seeing that the number of people not only didn't decrease but actually increased a lot, he exclaimed: "Wenjing, what is this...?"

  Zhang Wenjing immediately pulled out a burly man in his thirties from behind him. The big man, seeing Yue Peng, hastily saluted and said: "Zhāng Zhì has seen General Guǎn Dài, we are from the Left Banner of Hankou's City Garrison."

  Zhang Wenjing feared misunderstanding, so he quickly explained the situation. It turned out that when he returned and passed by Dashiqiao Railway Station, he met Hang Zhi, who was leading his troops to garrison there. The two were fellow townspeople and knew each other. As soon as Hang Zhi heard that Zhang Wenjing wanted to overthrow the Qing dynasty, he became excited and immediately led his men to join in.

  Yue Peng knew that Zhang Wenjing was a cautious person, and since he had recommended someone, he must have some confidence in him. However, things still needed to be clarified, so he scanned the new soldier with his eyes: "I'll say something ugly first, our 42nd battalion is not like other troops! General Zhang emphasizes the four words 'command and obedience'! It means that even if there are knives in front of you, if there's an order to charge forward, you must grit your teeth and do it! Do you have any questions?"

  "Don't worry, sir. Zhang Guan and I have already discussed this on the way here. We've had our eyes on those Manchu bastards for a long time." Hang Zhi excitedly patted his chest to guarantee it, accompanied by his soldiers.

  "Alright, from now on we're brothers. Each of you will first fire thirty rounds, then set off immediately." After arranging for Zhang Zhi and the soldiers to receive their ammunition, Yue Feng pulled Zhang Wenjing aside and asked, "No problem, right?"

  "Don't worry, he's our own brother, absolutely no problem." Zhang Wenjing patted Yue Peng's shoulder and asked, "By the way, how is it going on the adult side?"

  "He Xi led a battalion to attack the county seat of Hanyang and the city garrison, while Lei Meng and newly arrived Ji Fu Cheng attacked the Jiang defense camp at Guishan artillery fort. Su Xiao Hu got lucky, and the leader temporarily assigned him as an independent battalion to take over the arsenal, even the steel plant was going to be taken advantage of!"

  "He Xi, Ji Fu Cheng, Su Xiao Hu. None of them are from the main family line, yet he still dares to give them power, it really makes me admire him." Zhang Wen Jing sighed and then asked: "By the way, what about the master himself?"

  "Has already gone to Wuchang City." Yue Peng's face sank, and Zhang Wenjing heard it and suddenly jumped up: "What! How can you go to Wuchang now? What are Xiao Anguo and the others doing? Why didn't they stop him?"

  Yue Peng was also extremely worried after hearing the news, but in his opinion, Yang Qiu is not that kind of reckless person, he is meticulous and has a clear plan, if he insists on going to Wuchang, there must be something big.

  "Sir, a large number of rioters and bandits have appeared in Hankou City. A team was ordered not to take action first, and someone was sent back to ask if it's...". The reporting soldier interrupted the thoughts of the two men, Yue Peng patted Zhang Wenjing: "The adult must have his own concerns, let's get Hankou ready before he returns..."

  Zhang Wenjing also knew that taking down Hankou was the most important thing at this moment, and hurriedly said: "Hang Zhi just told me that there are two machine guns guarding the city wall of Hankou on this side. We don't have any big cannons now, and relying solely on grenades and rifles is probably......"

  Just after receiving the bullets, Hang Zhi heard and immediately said: "There are big guns."

  "Are there big guns? Where are they? Speak quickly!" Yue Peng was already anxious about the lack of firepower, and when he heard Hang Zhi say that there were big guns, he rushed forward in a flurry, startling Hang Zhi. Rubbing his head and laughing, he said: "Yesterday, the Purchasing Bureau brought ten Krupp mountain guns made by Jiangnan Factory, which were supposed to be supplemented to the Mixed Brigade's artillery battalion these past few days."

  "Is this true?"

  "I dare not speak falsely, I have several sworn brothers in the Recruitment Bureau, and it was they who told me this while drinking yesterday."

  Hearing Hang Zhi say this, Yue Peng also knew that he couldn't pretend anymore. The Purchasing Bureau was originally a military supplies merchant run by the imperial court, and many of the Eight Towns' procurements in recent years had been made through them. So he immediately said: "Wen Jing, you lead the team to surround the City Patrol Camp first, and the rest of the people will occupy important places like the Customs Building and the Treasury according to plan. I'll personally go to the Purchasing Bureau to get the cannons."

  Zhang Wenjing was about to leave when he suddenly remembered what the soldier had reported earlier, and hastily pulled him back to ask: "What about the bandits and rioters?" Yue Peng knew he would ask this question, and smiled quietly: "The Manchu dynasty is going to be overthrown, Wuhan will naturally need a new order!"

  "It seems that our self-proclaimed noble General Yue is also going to be tainted, haha......" Zhang Wenjing was not a pedantic person, and as the former secretary officer in the army, he naturally knew how much money it took to maintain an army.

  When the gunfire from Hankou and Hanyang erupted simultaneously, Ru Cheng in the Huguang Governor's Office was anxious like an ant on a hot pot. The continuous explosions and machine gun fire outside were like needles piercing his heart, as he paced back and forth in his study. Although he was engaged in a fierce struggle with Zhang Biao to revive the Qing dynasty, he was not skilled in battle tactics. Therefore, the defense of the Governor's Office had to rely on Li Xianglin, the original commander of the 29th Brigade who was summoned by Zhang Biao after the Nanhu Cannon Camp incident.

  Li Xianglin was still quite responsible, from the three towns of the city's garrison came more than a thousand soldiers and police, and he personally took to the battlefield to direct the battle. However, these troops were very weak in combat power, fortunately there were machine guns to assist, which managed to hold off the hastily assembled and uncoordinated rebel army. But he was still scared to death, after all, this wasn't a fight within the party, this was a matter of life and death! More importantly, even if Li Xianglin's side lost and got caught, they wouldn't necessarily die, but for that banner person... it was certain death!

  "Sir, retreat! Retreat!" Just as he was worried, Li Xianglin had already walked in with a murderous aura. Seeing Rui Cheng, he hastily reported the good news: "Sir, the vanguard has repelled their attack, and it's temporarily safe here."

  "Too good, too good!"

  Rui Cheng jumped up excitedly like a child, but he deliberately stayed by his side "back road", Chu Yu's shipband Chen Delong couldn't be fooled, and asked: "General Biao, are you saying that these rebels just retreated with their tails between their legs?"

  Li Xianglin glared at Chen Delong, thinking to himself that they were all just muddling through their duties, so why bother? Seeing Rui Cang looking at him, he hastily said: "Don't worry, sir. Although they are organizing a second attack, our troops have machine guns for support and Admiral Ti has also pulled out many of the rebel soldiers. We can definitely ensure your safety until the imperial army arrives."

  "That's good." Rui Cai also knew that Li Xianglin had tried his best, and he let out a sigh of relief before instructing him again and making a bunch of empty promises. Only then did he let him go to continue resisting. But as soon as the person left, his face fell, and he grabbed Zhang Mei Sheng, asking: "Mei Sheng, what do you think...what should we do tonight?"

  Zhang Mei Sheng was just a scholar, the governor's advisor, and knew nothing about military affairs. He thought that there were only a few hundred mutinous soldiers, so he replied firmly: "Your Excellency, in my humble opinion, the rebels are just a mob, lacking unified command. As long as you are here, it will be enough to calm people's minds. Moreover, it is too chaotic outside now, and it would not be convenient for Governor Zhang and Governor Li to deploy troops. If we hold on until dawn, these rebels will naturally dare not fight again."

  Chen Delong flared up upon hearing this, he was a pure martial artist who detested the scholar's way of thinking. He loudly exclaimed: "The safety of the province depends on Your Excellency, tonight's riot is unpredictable, absolutely cannot let Your Excellency take risks, it's better to first go aboard my ship, where Your Excellency can still command the suppression."

  "Sir can't leave! If sir leaves, the people in the governor's office will definitely scatter and it's certain that everything will be lost!"

  Outside was lively, inside was even more quarrelsome, Rui Cai didn't know who to listen to and could only hide in the inner chamber to seek some peace, but unexpectedly it was also chaotic like an anthill. Liao Ke Yu, who was directing the maids to pack up the valuables, saw him come in and hastily asked: "Sir, how is it outside? Is it...?"

  "Don't worry, madam, it's still safe for now."

  Rui Cheng expressed both Zhang Mei Sheng and Chen De Long's opinions, and Liao Ke Yu also became anxious upon hearing this. She thought that if they continued to stay here, it would indeed be a desperate situation where everyone would die together. Men might be able to escape with just a bullet wound, but as a woman, she had often heard about how rioters treated women and children after the chaos, which was truly a miserable fate worse than death. She quickly said: "Zhang Shifu is a scholar who doesn't understand military affairs, I think Chen Guan Zhang's words are more reasonable! Moreover, with the master here, we family members are all dragging you down, how can you focus on defending? Take advantage of the fact that the rebel soldiers have not yet fully arrived, let's leave immediately! Don't listen to them!"

  Rui Xuan had thought about leaving, but if he did, it would be considered desertion. The northerners were not skilled in martial arts, but they wouldn't hesitate to kill people. Just as Rui Xuan was hesitating, a loud explosion was heard from outside, and a shell landed in the garden. His face turned pale, and he said, "Madam, quickly pack up, don't bring anything big, just take the silver notes I exchanged for." Then he immediately ran to the front and told Chen De Long that they had to leave.

  Chen Delong was not in the army, and with the soldiers running wild on land, where could he feel safe? So when he heard that Rui Ceng had finally decided to leave, he was overjoyed and immediately ordered the seven or eight sailors who came with him to dig a hole in the backyard, preparing to escape through it.

  Zhang Meisheng saw Rui Cheng about to leave and didn't dare stay behind. He had done many bad things, so staying would have meant certain death. So he grabbed his already packed belongings and crawled out of the big hole. But just as he lifted his head again, he saw dark shadows swaying around him. Before he could shout, a black gun muzzle was pressed against his forehead, and then a familiar voice rang out.

  "Isn't that Lord Rui and Master Zhang? And this must be Commander Chen Delong of the Chu Yu warship......" Out of the dark night, Yang Qiu emerged with a mouthful of white teeth.