Chapter 25: Wind and Rain in Jiucheng (Part 2)

  The cannon fire grew denser, the attacking troops had arrived on the opposite bank and made contact with the Qing army. Although the battle situation on the south bank could not be seen from the north bank, every officer on the north bank looked longingly to the south. If the assault team succeeded, then the main force could cross the river safely, launch a fierce attack on Jiujiang City, pull out this nail on the Yangtze River, and then pin their own troops here, use the large cannons on the artillery platform to blockade the Yangtze River waterway, prevent the Qing army's gunboats from sailing upstream, ensure the smooth advance of the Western Expedition Army, and cut off the connection between the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

  It can be said that whether Zhao Bei's western expedition strategy can be implemented smoothly depends on this battle.

  Zhao Bei has the confidence to win this battle, a confidence that not only comes from his familiarity with history but also from the conviction deep in his heart: History will be written by him!

  "Report!" A staff officer rushed over.

  "Speak!" Zhao Bei did not turn his head, still standing on the giant stone looking southward. In the distance, the dark horizon was already flashing with red light, and the battle had become even more intense.

  "There is a leader of the Huai Party who wants to see you." The staff officer walked up to the giant stone and handed over a name card. "He led that batch of wooden ships to surrender to us."

  Zhao Bei took over the name card and looked at it, suddenly stunned: "Gong Chuntai? Why does this person's name sound so familiar?... Please come in!"

  The adjutant led several burly men to hurry over, the leader was about forty years old, with a refined face, not like a gang leader who ran the rivers and lakes, but rather like a village school teacher.

  "Humble person Gong Chuntai, paying respects to your lordship." The man gave a fist bump in the direction of Zhao Bei, his Jianghu demeanor was quite convincing.

  Zhao Bei jumped down from the boulder and clasped his hands together, saying: "Mr. Gong's name sounds familiar, but I just can't recall where I've heard it before."

  Gong Chuntai sighed and said, "To be honest, I am the leader of the Liudragon Mountain Hongjiang Society. The Xiangxi Uprising in 1908, which shook the world, was instigated by me. Gong Chuntai is just my alias, my real name is Xie Zuiying, also known as Yue Lou, from Lianyuan, Hunan Province. In my early years, I was a firecracker worker and later joined the Gelao Society. With the support of my brothers in the society, I became the leader and later changed the name of the society to Hongjiang Society, making it easier to contact revolutionary comrades in Hunan."

  Zhao Bei suddenly realized that this uprising was also quite famous in the history of the late Qing dynasty. In 1906, the Yangtze River flood caused famine in Hunan and other areas, and the people's rebellion broke out. The Tongmenghui decided to take advantage of this opportunity to launch an uprising in Hunan, contacting the Gelao Hui and Wusheng Shetuan and other Jianghu organizations in Pingxiang, Liuyang, and Liling. They launched the uprising in the winter of that year, declaring the establishment of the "Chinese National Army", dividing their forces to plunder the land, with a grand momentum. The Qing court was caught off guard and had to dispatch new armies from various provinces to suppress it. Due to the various shortcomings of the Hui party's armed forces and the disparity in strength between the two sides, this uprising, like other uprisings launched by Tongmenghui, was quickly crushed by the Qing army, ending in failure. It also indirectly led to the disbandment of the Xinzhong Jianguo revolutionary organization in Hubei.

  "It turned out to be Gong Longtou, sorry for the disrespect." Zhao Bei was polite. "After the failure of the uprising, the Hunan governor-general carried out a large-scale search and killing of revolutionary comrades, and Gong Longtou was able to escape unscathed, which shows that his methods are very clever."

  "It's too kind of you to say that." Gong Chuntai sighed. "In a vast Hunan province, only a few people managed to escape, and I'm one of the lucky ones. One of my disciples died in my place; otherwise, my head would be hung on the city gate of Changsha Xiangyang for public display. How could I have made it till today?"

  "Gong Longtou, don't be discouraged. This time, Zhao led the army to revolt, it is to overthrow the Qing dynasty and avenge the dead revolutionary comrades." Zhao pointed to his subordinates to bring over a bamboo hat and handed it to Gong Chuntai. "In addition, I dare not assume the title of 'adult', we are doing revolution, it is to eliminate feudal bad habits, so from now on, there is no need to say 'adult' or 'small people'. If you don't mind me being arrogant, just call me 'Commander-in-Chief'."

  Since General Li left Huangni Port, Zhao Bei let everyone change their titles. From then on, he was the "Commander-in-Chief" of this army.

  "May I ask, Commander-in-Chief, are you going to fight in Guangdong or Hunan?" Gong Chuntai put on his bamboo hat and said: "In the past when the Tongmenghui invited us to start a riot at the Six Dragons Mountain Hongjiang meeting, it was agreed that if we lost in Hunan, we would flee to Guangdong. There were people there who would provide support for us. If all else failed, we would board ships and retreat to Vietnam. However, at that time, we were defeated before leaving Hunan and did not make it to Guangdong."

  Zhao Bei rubbed his temples and said, "As for whether to attack Guangdong or not, we'll have to wait until after the capture of Jiujiang City. As for Hunan, if our military campaign goes smoothly, we will definitely go there. However, for now, we must first take down Jiujiang."

  After hearing this, Gong Chuntao's eyebrows danced with joy and he said: "In that case, I will send people to gather ships. Once we take down Jiujiang, we'll board the ships and head south into Poyang Lake, then follow the Gan River southward. After taking Nanchang, we'll continue south and enter the Jinjiang River, heading west to Shanggao. We'll abandon our ships and disembark, dividing our troops into two routes: one will go to Guangdong, while the other will take a shortcut through Hunan by land. I'll first send people back secretly to Xiangyang, and when our main force arrives, we'll attack and take Xiangyang, seize the Pingxiang-Liuyang railway, then in one breath, charge westward. As long as we occupy Changsha, all of Hunan will be ours."

  As for Gong Chuntai's offensive plan, Zhao Bei was not interested. Except for the Pingxiang Railway and coal mines, this era of Hunan had almost nothing, far less important than Hubei, so even if it was necessary to put Hunan into the overall strategic plan, it could only be left until after the recovery of Hubei. However, another piece of information revealed in Gong Chuntai's words caught Zhao Bei's attention.

  "How many ships can you gather?" Zhao Bei asked.

  "The commander-in-chief doesn't know that among the boatmen on this stretch of river, five or six out of ten are our Hunan gang. Although I'm not a boatman myself, I've been running around for many years and know quite a few people in the shipping guilds of Hubei, Jiangxi and other provinces. The influence of the Elder Brother Society is also very strong among the boatmen. As long as I give the order, it's no problem to gather several thousand boats within a few days." Gong ChunTai said with some satisfaction.

  Zhao Bei walked back and forth with his hands behind him, then stopped and asked: "Does your clan have any influence in the Qing army's naval forces?"

  Gong Chuntai was slightly stunned, then nodded and said: "I don't know about other naval forces, but among the warships patrolling along the river, there are indeed our people. The Commander-in-Chief means..."

  "Can you instigate a mutiny of the naval gunboats? If you can't, then think of a way to sink them!" Zhao Bei clenched his fist.

  Gong Chuntai thought for a moment and said, "This isn't going to be easy. But we can give it a try."

  Zhao Bei ordered a staff officer to bring paper and pen, spread them on an ammunition box, and under an oil-paper umbrella, wrote out a letter of appointment:

  "Gong ChunTai is hereby appointed as the Commander-in-Chief of the Yangtze River Patrol, overseeing all naval military affairs on the Yangtze River!"

  He put on his own "vanguard officer" uniform, Zhao Bei took the appointment document, blew it, and handed it to Gong Chuntai, saying: "Then trouble Gong to run along the river bank, if you see the Qing army's gunboat, try to win them over. If successful, you will have made a great contribution to the revolution."

  Gong Chuntai hesitated for a moment, took the letter of appointment, patted his chest and said: "Don't worry, Commander-in-Chief. Even if I fail to turn the gunboats around, I will definitely sink several of them."

  Zhao Bei took off his pistol and solemnly handed it to Gong Chuntai, saying: "Brother Gong is a man of noble character. I regret that we met too late and could not fight side by side in Hunan together. This pistol was captured during the Anqing Uprising and has been quite useful. I'll give it to Brother Gong. When you set out, I'll send some men with you and provide more ammunition."

  "Gong was no longer polite. Gong Chuntai put away his gun, cupped his hands together and said: 'General's great achievements will be remembered for ages to come, if you want to join the organization, I am willing to vouch for you and yield the position of leader.'"

  "No, no!" Zhao Bei waved his hand repeatedly. "I'm not suitable for the position of Dragon Head, it's better for Gong to take it. From now on, the situation in Hunan will rely on Gong to maintain, I trust Gong's prestige, and as for gathering civilian ships, we'll also have to rely heavily on Gong."

  Gong Chuntai was eager to make a name for himself and soon took his leave with his men.

  "It's still useful to have a party." Looking at Gong Chuntai's distant back, Zhao Beiyu was deep in thought.