Chapter Ten: The Tongue

  "Those heavy ships must be captured at the first opportunity!" said a man crawling beside Wu Zhenhan. This man was named Tian Jinfu, originally the squad leader of the 2nd company, 2nd battalion, 62nd regiment of the Anhui New Army. On the night of the uprising, he followed Zhao Bei in the city, fighting bravely and earning Zhao's respect. After the recapture of Anhui, Zhao recommended him to Xiong Chengji for promotion to battalion commander. This time, when Zhao came to instigate the Autumn Maneuver New Army to rise up, he also brought Tian along, commanding the guard troops.

  The heavy ships mentioned by Tian Jinfu are the supply ships brought by the autumn maneuver troops, which are now anchored in Gangjiao outside Huangni Port, a large area of black, stretching downstream for over ten miles, magnificent like a dragon. Due to the shallow water of the Muzi River, large ships cannot enter, and only flat-bottomed steamships can tow wooden boats upstream. This Huangni Port is the end of the steamship's navigation route, and going further upstream can only rely on wooden boats.

  It was for this reason that Zhao Bei and his men sailed up the Luoma River in more than 20 wooden boats, cautiously searching their way forward. When they arrived at a point more than 10 miles downstream from Huangni Port, they had to stop and abandon their boats to avoid being discovered by the Qing army ships moored on this stretch of river.

  Because Zhu Daniu successfully obtained the ships, Zhao Bei was able to bring more than 500 people here, but there were not enough ships, so they had to leave some of the luggage behind, but they brought a lot of silver tickets. They set off from Anqing at noon yesterday and sailed west by boat at night, with everyone taking turns rowing, sailing upstream along the Luoma River, using a whole day's time to arrive at Huangni Port, where they unloaded the cannons and luggage from the boats in the middle of the night, then sank all the ships into the river channel to block the Qing army's ships from sailing downstream, so as not to attack Anqing by water.

  The crowd pulled two light mountain cannons, under the guidance of the vanguard, along the south bank of the Muzi River. Each person had to carry a shell on their back, as well as a sack full of dry rations, bedding, and bullets, weighing no less than 70 kilograms. They struggled along the way, laboring in difficulty. Under the cover of night, they approached Huangni Port Town, occupying the commanding heights on the opposite bank before dawn, secretly setting up artillery positions. The crowd lay hidden in the valley, waiting for the moment to act.

  Zhao Bei's plan was to find a way to send people in disguise into the military camp of the Autumn Exercise troops, mobilize them to respond to the uprising, if the Autumn Exercise new army troops could not be mobilized, then bombard the Qing army command center, kill its commander, make these new army troops lose unified command, and then divide and disintegrate, even if they couldn't pull them together to rebel, at least they can reduce the military pressure on Anqing's west side.

  However, it now appears that Zhao Bei had previously overestimated the morale of the Qing army and underestimated the development of the revolutionary situation. Obviously, after more than 200 years of oppression, the shoulders of the Chinese people could no longer bear the slavery of this feudal dynasty. The invasion of foreign powers, the corruption of officials, was enough to stir up the people's determination to fight back. The new army soldiers all came from among the people, and it is impossible for social attitudes not to have an impact on them. If we say that before the year 1900, this Manchu Qing dynasty may still have had a little chance of reform, then after the Eight-Power Allied Forces occupied its capital in 1900 and completely turned it into a foreigner's ATM, its fate was already sealed. This is not only where public opinion is heading but also the general trend.

  "The transport ships must be captured first, and if they can't be captured, they must be destroyed!" Zhao Bei looked at the transport ships for a moment, put down his binoculars, left a few staff officers to continue monitoring from the hilltop, and sent out some mobile scouts to strengthen surveillance of the surrounding area. He then led Wu Zhenhan and Tian Jinfu away from the observation point, crossed over the mountain ridge, and returned to their hiding place.

  "Big Bull Zhu!" Zhao Bei called out in a low voice.

  "Report!" Zhu Daniu dropped the roasted cake in his hand, wiped the corner of his mouth, and rushed over to stand at attention and salute. This military etiquette was learned on the ship, and now it has been learned to be like a model. Except for not wearing a military uniform, it really looks like a military man.

  Not only was he not wearing a military uniform, but Zhao Bei also didn't wear one. When everyone arrived, they all changed into casual clothes, first to conceal their tracks and secondly, in case they encountered Qing naval patrol boats, they could also bluff their way through.

  "How's your water supply?" Zhao Bei took a bun from Wu Zhenhan and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing on it. Since landing last night, he hadn't eaten anything until now. The bun was cold, only the boiled water was hot.

  "Report to the superior officer. I could swim in the Yangtze River with adults when I was five years old, and I could cross the Yangtze River when I was six years old. As for my swimming skills, there are not many boatmen in Anqing City who are better than me." Zhu Daniu straightened his waist, without being modest at all.

  "On such a cold day, dare you swim in the water?" Zhao Bei asked again.

  "We haven't tried it before. As people living on boats, once autumn arrives, we don't get into the river water; otherwise, we'll suffer from chronic rheumatism when we're old."

  "The revolution requires you to take a dip in the water, dare you go?" Zhao Beiling's sharp gaze swept across.

  Zhu Daniu was also straightforward, saying: "The officer's order is law! I enlisted to kill the Qing dog officials, for the revolution! Let alone being called to dive into the water, even if I'm called to jump into a sea of fire or climb a mountain of knives, I won't bat an eye!"

  "Great, your revolutionary spirit is strong." Zhao Bei patted the remaining crumbs of his roasted cake, took over the ceramic jug, and drank half a jug of hot water in one breath. He smacked his lips and said: "Zhu Daniu, choose fifty people with good swimming skills and strong revolutionary spirit from our newly recruited sailors, form an assault team, and prepare for action."

  "What's going on?" Only then did Zhu Dabull realize that this young "vanguard officer" wasn't chatting with him.

  "You'll know tonight. Now, go select the volunteers and then get some rest to recharge your energy. This afternoon, assemble the troops and let the artillery officer instruct you again on how to use the guns." Zhao Bei glanced at Tian Jinfu behind him and continued: "Tian Jinfu, gather all our military knives and bayonets, pick out the ones that are in good condition, and hand them over to the assault team for use. Also, bring out the liquor we brought with us, the assault team might need it."

  "Wu Zhenhan!" Zhao Bei glanced at Wu Zhenhan, who was crouching on one side eating a roasted flatbread.

  "Here!" Wu Zhenhan stood up.

  "Hasn't the person who caught the tongue come back yet?" Zhao Bei asked.

  Wu Zhenhan pointed eastward to the mountain ridge and said, "They're back! They've returned!"

  Zhao Beixiang looked out at the mountain ridge and indeed saw a few people walking down along the ridge with their waists bent, followed by several five-flower-bound men wearing military uniforms, who were the captured "tongue".

  Those few people walked into the valley. The leader bowed to Zhao Bei and said, "Reporting to the officer. I am Chen Tieshan from the Ministry of Justice. Fortunately, I did not disappoint your orders and have brought back the tongue."

  "Interrogate them one by one!" Zhao Bei sat down on a crate of artillery shells, crossed his legs, and ordered the guards to take the others away, leaving only the youngest captive.

  Wu Zhenhan pulled down the rope on the prisoner's mouth and ordered him to kneel down. The prisoner listened and knelt down, kowtowing and shouting: "Good man spare my life, good man spare my life!"

  "I'm not some heroic outlaw." Zhao Bei glanced at the other's filthy military uniform, his command knife lightly tapping. "I'll ask you questions, and you'd better answer truthfully, no lies allowed. Otherwise, when it comes time to match testimonies, if you spout nonsense, don't blame my knife for being unkind!"

  "A hero asks whatever he wants, but a villain knows what not to say!"

  "Which town are you a soldier from? What exactly do you do?" Zhao Bei asked.

  "The little man is a groom of the 9th Regiment of Jiangsu New Army, specializing in horse breeding. He just came out to let the horses loose for his superior, but was caught by the good fellow's subordinates."

  "What is the current military situation in your Ninth Garrison? Who is in command?"

  "The Ninth Town is Xu Shaozhen's (courtesy name Guqing) troops, now under his command. However, since the rumors started two days ago, the military morale has been in disarray. Director Xu cannot quell it, and some people in the camp are speaking nonsense, saying that Jiangning has already been occupied by the rebel army, inciting everyone to kill officials and revolt together, and then return to Jiangsu."

  "Sure enough!" Zhao Bei glanced at Wu Zhenhan, seeing him giving a thumbs up, it seemed that the revolutionaries in the new army of Autumn Maneuvers had begun to take action. With a faint smile, he asked the captive again: "Is there a revolutionary party in your Ninth Town? The 'rebel party' in the official language?"

  "This... I don't know. All I know is that a few years ago, there was a 'Daily Knowledge Society' in the Hubei New Army, but later it was raided by the authorities and many people were expelled from the army. It's said they were suspected of being rebels, but there wasn't enough evidence to arrest them, so they just kicked them out of the army. I heard this from a soldier in the 8th Division of Hubei, whether it's true or not, I really don't know."

  Zhao Bei nodded in satisfaction and said: "First, I'll have to trouble you for a bit. Stay here with us for a while. Come! Take off his military uniform."

  Several guards came up, untied the ropes on the captive's hands, stripped off his military uniform, and then tied him up again. They took him to one side, and a moment later, they brought another person over, but this man was stubborn and refused to kneel.

  "What kind of people are you? How dare you frame our troops?" The captive asked.

  "What do you think we look like?" Zhao Bei stood up.

  "Not the Green Forest." The captive glanced around, his eyes lingering on Zhao Bei's command knife. "Your men are well-behaved, their movements and postures are all in order, just like new army soldiers. The ones who caught me were also skilled, using military grappling techniques. Your sword looks familiar too. Are you from Anqing?"