Chapter Nineteenth: The Secret of the Revolutionary Army

  The black house fell silent, with only Duan Fang still muttering to himself. Apart from this, some snoring sounds came from the corner, where several careless warriors were accompanying Duan Fang's complaints and falling asleep. The military upheaval had been going on for a whole night, although most people couldn't sleep, but there were always a few good men who couldn't hold their eyelids open. It was helpless, after all, it was a long-standing habit to stay up all night playing mahjong in the brothel and attending court during the day. This was the true portrayal of the officialdom that night.

  "Enough, brother, stop it, aren't you tired?" A voice came from the darkness, belonging to Duan Jin. This Duan Jin was the younger brother of Duan Fang, and the two brothers had a close relationship. When Duan Fang was ordered to review the troops, he also brought Duan Jin along to observe the military exercises and broaden his horizons. Later, when the Anqing rebellion broke out, Duan Fang didn't trust anyone, so he let his younger brother Duan Jin take charge of the logistics ship fleet, controlling the ammunition and cannons. After the Huangni Gang mutiny, Duan Jin was also captured by the mutineers and brought over. It was from Duan Jin's mouth that Duan Fang, Yin Chang, and others learned that a mysterious "water ghost" troop had snuck onto the logistics ship under cover of night and stolen a large quantity of weapons, ammunition, and all the cannons.

  "Bang!"

  "You idiot! If it weren't for your laziness, where would the rebel army get their big guns?"

  Du Fang slapped Du Jin on the ear and scolded him a few times.

  Everyone knows that Duan Jin's slap was unjust, the big cannons set up by the rebels on the mountain were not taken from the cargo ship at all. Duan Jin is taking the blame for someone else. If he hadn't been hesitant and delayed the troops' advance, perhaps this mutiny wouldn't have happened at all.

  After all, this is called fate, perhaps the luck of this Qing dynasty has come to an end.

  Yin Chang wanted to go comfort Duan Fang, but he straightened his waist and sat back down. At this time, even he himself was a clay Bodhisattva crossing the river, what qualifications did he have to comfort others? Save some energy, nurture your spirit, don't let the enemy take advantage of you when the time comes, after all, aren't you also a descendant of the Eight Banners' strong and brave warriors who followed the dragon into the pass? Looking back, over the years, he had enjoyed everything he should have, dying here wouldn't be regrettable. If he was killed by the rebels, he would definitely enter the Temple of Loyal Martyrs, his orphaned children would not lack imperial favors and rewards, no matter how you calculated it, it couldn't be considered a loss.

  "Sir, we're locked up here and they don't even mention trial or punishment. What's the point of this?" someone squatting beside Ying Chang asked.

  Yin Chang turned his head to look, although he couldn't see the other's face clearly, but judging from the voice, it was indeed Zhang Biao, the commander of the eighth town, however, it was also unknown whether it was related to his neck injury, and his voice had changed somewhat.

  "What's the point of thinking so much? Those who should be executed will be executed, those who should be sent back will be sent back." Another official replied on behalf of Yun Chang. The voice was that of Xu Shaozhen, the commander of the 9th Division of the Jiangsu New Army. Although the rebels had intended to win him over, they had not yet shown any intention of releasing him from his cell. The people in this room did not know that he had previously revealed his idea of "turning against" to Yang Wangpeng and others.

  It's rare to find someone as open-minded as oneself, Yin Chang couldn't help but take a few more glances at that "bookworm". In his opinion, Xu Shaozhen really didn't look like a soldier, with too much of a bookish air about him, and not enough strength of character. He was indecisive and lacked courage, and even his subordinates couldn't be controlled by him. It would be more suitable for him to be a staff officer, but to put him in command of an army was really asking too much. Yin Chang couldn't help but wonder who had promoted him to the position of commander-in-chief in the first place, and he thought of "Qing Na Company" involuntarily.

  Several people spoke, and the room fell silent for a moment. Even the humming stopped, as if Xu Shaozhen knew the answer to the question. Having been locked in this dark room for so long without even an interrogation, it was indeed puzzling how the rebels would deal with these "dog officials".

  In the silence, the people in the house heard a few commands coming from outside, and the sentry outside changed shifts.

  "Two hours to change shifts." Zhang Biao muttered, although the watch had been taken away, but the habit he had cultivated for a long time allowed him to accurately judge the interval between the guards' shift changes.

  Everyone's mind stirred, they weren't without the thought of escaping, but this house was originally a large family's cattle pen in the town, and it wasn't clear whether it was to show off, but this cattle pen was built with grey bricks and mortar, extremely solid, even the beams were neat and tidy, better than those of small families' main halls. To think of escaping from here was basically just a dream, besides, the foreign guns in the hands of the sentries outside weren't just for show, so everyone just thought about it and put down this idea.

  Just as everyone was lost in thought, they heard the two newly-posted sentries outside whispering to each other:

  "Brother, on such a cold day, even officials don't give us a warm cotton-padded jacket to wear."

  "Alright, you're fine with just a coat on, haven't you seen? The vanguard officers don't even have coats, they came all the way from Anqing. The new army in Anqing doesn't even have coats but they're still making revolution, how can we, the Hubei soldiers, be outdone by them? At least our salary is higher than theirs, those Anhui folks are poor, I heard their women work in the fields with bare shoulders, why? Afraid of wearing out their clothes."

  "That's also true, if Anhui officers were to command our Hubei troops, we would have a hard time enduring it."

  "Haha, Anhui folks can't understand our Hubei dialect, and we can't understand their Anhui dialect either. If they really send an Anhui officer over, I'm afraid even giving orders would be a problem."

  ……

  From the conversation between the two sentries, Yin Chang and others confirmed one thing: the mutiny was indeed instigated by the rebel army from Anqing, led by a certain "vanguard officer", and it was the new army of Anqing that was bombarding them with cannons on the mountain ridge at that time.

  Everyone was locked in this dark room, already feeling suffocated and uneasy, when they heard the enemy soldiers talking. At once, everyone held their breath, concentrated, and listened intently with their ears perked up.

  At this time, the two sentries gradually shifted their conversation to the revolutionary situation.

  "Brother, tell me, can our revolution succeed? When will the Manchu dynasty perish? When will we Han people rule the country?"

  "This revolution will succeed in no time! We Han people won't need half a year, and we'll surely take the throne!"

  "How can you be so sure?"

  "Haven't you heard what the officials said? Our New Army in the south isn't rebelling on its own, we have people in the north too! If both the south and the north rebel together, can the Tartars still sit securely on their thrones?"

  "What does it mean? What did the official say?"

  "I'm asking you, within just two days, the Qing dynasty's dog emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi went to the underworld one after another, don't you think it's strange?"

  "It's a bit strange. You're right, it wasn't early or late, the emperor died first and then Empress Dowager Cixi also died soon after. If you say they both died of illness, that can only fool fools. Let alone officials, even I, a small soldier, have sensed something fishy."

  "Let me tell you, I was just helping the vanguard officers move their luggage, and they were discussing something. I secretly perked up my ears and listened to a few sentences. Guess what?"

  "What's going on? Is there something fishy going on here?"

  Everyone in the house held their breath, listening carefully to what the little soldier would say next. The deaths of Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi were too mysterious, and people couldn't help but be curious, even though they themselves were now on tenterhooks.