Chapter 42: Eastward and Westward (Part 2)

  Take a look at the map and you will know that Hubei is located in the heart of Central China, with Henan and Shaanxi to the north, Hunan and Jiangxi to the south. If the Qing army deploys heavy troops in these four provinces, it would be a situation of pincer movement from both north and south, and encirclement from all sides. This is what is referred to as "the place where four battles meet".

  It's not that scary, the "place of four battles" also depends on who the opponent is. In Zhao Bei's view, the only disadvantage of Hubei is the Beijing-Hankou Railway, which was also one of Zhang Zhidong's Westernization policies when he was governor-general of Huguang. It has been completed and opened to traffic, but it is controlled by foreign financial groups. The army can take the train from Zhili to go south, and it will arrive in Hankou in two or three days at most. If the Qing court dispatches the Beiyang Army to go south to Hubei from here, the Republican Army will face a real tough battle. In the Xinhai Revolution in history, the Qing army attacked Wuhan from the Beijing-Hankou Railway.

  If this railway had been opened a few years later, the Western Expedition would have been more secure.

  However, considering that history has changed now, will the Qing army still follow the historical military plan? Zhao Bei had no bottom line in his heart, but he firmly believed that without Yuan Shikai's Beiyang Army, they would be like a dragon without a head, and their combat effectiveness would be greatly reduced. It was precisely for this reason that he would carefully devise strategies to alienate Yuan Shikai from the Qing court, even if he couldn't force Yuan Shikai to rebel, he wanted to make the Beiyang Army lose their spiritual leader.

  Seeing the two men with puzzled expressions, Zhao Bei smiled faintly and said: "I've made it very clear that Hubei's geographical location is extremely important. Once occupied, we can cut off the connection between the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Qing army. To the north, we can directly attack Henan and Shaanxi, to the south, we can attack Hunan and Guangxi, and cover our comrades in various provinces who rise up in revolt. Moreover, I am a Hubei native, and having spent many years drifting abroad, I understand the warmth and coldness of human relationships. This hometown sentiment is also important to me. Listening to your accents, you two seem to be from Hubei as well. Overthrowing the Qing dynasty and saving our homeland is our long-cherished wish. The Qing dynasty is cruel and oppresses the people; as revolutionaries, how can we not prioritize saving our own hometown first? Although the southeast is rich, it's not comparable to the thickness of hometown sentiment. This is also my small personal desire."

  Peng Han and Sun Wu looked at each other in dismay, they really didn't expect Zhao Bei to pull out the "hometown sentiment" card, but thinking carefully, what Zhao Bei said wasn't necessarily unreasonable. As long as Hubei was occupied, control of the Central Plains would be secured, they could see this point, and the Qing court wouldn't be oblivious to it either. When the time came, if the Qing army's attention shifted towards Hubei, it would actually benefit the uprisings in other provinces. However, this point couldn't be revealed, once exposed, it would scare off this commander who spoke without thinking, he would no longer advance into Hubei but instead turn eastward, which would essentially expose Hunan to the Qing army's frontline attacks, extremely detrimental to the Gongjin Hui's revolutionary cause. Since he was willing to take the lead in front of Hunan, it was better to let him do so, regardless of whether he could stand firm in Hubei or not, as long as the Hunan party acted together, Gongjin Hui wouldn't miss this revolutionary train.

  A few people sat in the signing room, bringing their own ideas to discuss the revolutionary situation together. Although both sides could not achieve true sincerity, they at least made it clear to each other about the current situation, and it was through the mouths of the two that Zhao Bei came to understand the current disintegration of the Tongmenghui.

  Last year's Qinzhou-Liuzhou uprising, the Zhennan Pass uprising, this year's early Qinzhou-Shangsi uprising and Yunnan-Hekou uprising, all four uprisings launched by the Tongmenghui ended in defeat, greatly dampening the morale of the Tongmenghui members. Many people became disheartened and gave up, while another group of people continued to argue in Tokyo, Japan. Some advocated for long-term hiding and waiting for opportunities, while others advocated for continuing to launch uprisings to awaken the nation. The radical faction formed the Gongjinhui, broke away from the Tongmenghui, and went solo. Sun Wu and Peng Han were sent back to China to explore and lay the groundwork.

  Just as he was speaking, an outer guard rushed in to report.

  "Report to the Commander! Blue Chief of Staff has returned!"

  "Please come in." Zhao Bei stood up, glanced at Peng Hanyu and Sun Wu with a wooden face, and said: "Blue Consultant is Blue Tianyong, also a member of the Tongmenghui. I don't know if you are acquainted?"

  Both of them shook their heads. This can also be understood, the alliance is a secret organization, in order to keep secrets, members may not all know each other, which has both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that it will not lead to a situation where one person is caught and a large group of people are implicated. The disadvantage is that fellow comrades do not recognize each other, even when working together, they do not know the true identity of their counterparts. One person takes action, while another remains in the dark. This is also a manifestation of the alliance's disintegration. The current alliance is more like a revolutionary club, a motley crew, far from being a strong fighting collective.

  Of course, as members of the same organization, they still have contact codes among themselves. This code is generally a unique gesture, which is learned from Jianghu Hui Party and Tongmenghui also has this kind of gesture.

  Under the introduction of Zhao Bei, Lan Tianwei met with Peng Hanyi and Sun Wu. After a brief handshake, they confirmed each other's identities. Peng and Sun were quite excited, as this indicated that members of the Tongmenghui had also participated in this uprising, and it seemed that no one had stolen all the limelight.

  Watching their hand movements when they shook hands, Zhao Bei felt that something was not quite right. In his opinion, this kind of secret signal was a bit too childish. If the Qing government's spies learned it, it seemed like they could use this method to "fish" for information.

  After a few pleasantries, Lan Tianwei immediately got to the point and said to Zhao Bei: "Commander, our negotiations with the British Consul in Jiujiang have ended. The British refused to hand over the fugitive and protested against our Republican Army, saying that we had disrupted normal trade order, disrespected British sovereignty, and they would reserve the right to take free action."

  Zhao Beiling snorted and said, "This is a place in China. Even if we discuss sovereignty, it should be discussed by the Chinese people. It's not their turn for the British to intervene! Xiuhao, have someone draft a statement to protest against the outrageous behavior of the British Consul in Jiujiang who interfered with China's internal affairs. After drafting the statement, submit it to me for review and then send it out by telegram. Write it as a circular telegram so that the whole world knows that the British are doing everything possible to maintain this corrupt and decadent feudal dynasty!"

  Lan Tian said hesitantly: "Commander, think thrice. This telegram is no trivial matter. If it were to offend the British government, I fear it would be detrimental to our revolutionary cause."

  Zhao Bei waved his hand and said, "I'm just sending a telegram, not planning to bombard the British concession in Jiujiang. You're being overly cautious; in diplomatic matters, it's not good to always compromise and retreat. When necessary, you need to be tough, otherwise everyone will think you're a soft persimmon and want to take advantage of you. Besides, Britain's current strategic focus is on Europe, and in Asia they can only maintain the situation through their running dog Japan. However, Japan currently doesn't have the power to intervene in the revolution alone; it can only try to win over other countries. But Germany, America, and Japan are not on the same page, and with wolves and dogs unable to get along, nothing will come of it."

  On the side, Peng Han and Sun Wu were confused and hastily inquired about it. Lanyan Zhang briefly told them about the incident of Duan Jin and Zhang Biao escaping to the British concession. The two men finally understood, although they felt that the British had done something wrong, but Zhao Bei was somewhat making a big deal out of a small matter. However, since they were not Zhao Bei's advisors, it was better not to interfere in such matters. Moreover, before coming, they had already learned about the contents of that "telegram". If Zhao Bei could support the Qing minister Yuan Shikai as the republican leader, then sending another telegram to provoke the British was not an unreasonable thing to do. In their view, the "Commander-in-Chief" in front of them was either a politician who was difficult to understand or simply someone who didn't know anything and had accidentally joined the revolutionary ranks, and would eventually suffer greatly.

  As for the thoughts of the two, Zhao Bei didn't quite understand, but he could see that they were displeased. However, at present, he didn't care what others thought, as long as his goal was achieved, then no matter how despicable the means were, it would be worth it.

  That's politics.