Chapter Seventeen Radio Station

  Yang Wang Peng finished speaking and retreated back into the ranks, waiting for Zhao Bei's decision.

  "Blue Sky Alliance." Upon hearing this name, Zhao Bei pondered for a moment before making up his mind and saying decisively: "Since Blue Sky has studied military affairs in Japan, he is talented and a revolutionary comrade of the Blue Sky Alliance. He can be reused, and currently our army's general staff has not been established, so let him take charge of that. I can appoint him as chief of staff to plan military affairs. As for those other old officers, they absolutely cannot be used! Now that the revolution has just begun, especially at this critical juncture, we cannot allow people who are wavering between two sides to infiltrate our revolutionary ranks. If military affairs suffer a setback, these people will turn their guns on us at any moment! We can accept Xu Shaozhen, but for now, he cannot lead troops. Comrades, remember that revolution is not a dinner party, it's a great undertaking that requires risking one's life! At no time can we be blindly optimistic! Nor can we easily trust the fake Qing dynasty officials! Only our own people are reliable!" When Zhao Bei said "our own people", he intentionally emphasized his tone and immediately achieved an effect. Almost everyone smiled in their hearts, thinking: yes, those present were all "their own people", comrades-in-arms from the same trench.

  "What did the vanguard officer mean?" Yang Wangpeng asked.

  Zhao Bei walked forward, patted Yang Wangpeng's shoulder, looked at this young scholar, and smiled: "Of course, it's a bit of a rush to promote you from small soldiers to battalion commanders and regimental commanders. However, if you don't try, how do you know you can't command this revolutionary army? Remember, we are now a revolutionary army, not the old army that was mired in darkness. In the old army, it's about seniority, but in the revolutionary army, it's about talent and ability. Those who have talent rise to the top, those who don't fall behind! Don't use your age as an excuse, you're all in your twenties, just like me. I'm already a vanguard officer, and I don't think you're too young. Why are you worried about these trivial matters? In the past, Gan Luo was appointed prime minister at the age of 12, and Emperor Kangxi of the Qing dynasty took power at the age of 14. They were younger than you, but they didn't hesitate to take control!"

  At this point, Zhao Bei glanced at Tian Jin standing behind him and asked: "Yiren, what official were you before the uprising?"

  "Tanmoku!" Tien Jinfu said without batting an eye.

  "What now?"

  "Pipe band, Guards commander!"

  "Do you still want to get promoted?"

  "I want!"

  Zhao Bei turned his head and smiled, "Everyone has seen it, my subordinates have never been afraid of being officials. The Western military god Napoleon said a good phrase, 'A soldier who does not want to be a general is not a good soldier!' Remember this sentence. Revolutionary soldiers become officials not for wealth, nor for oppressing the people, but for leading the revolution and bringing it to victory! Only those willing to be revolutionary officers are true revolutionaries! Ask yourselves, are you a true revolutionary?"

  "Yes!"

  The crowd responded with thunderous applause, exchanging smiles, and Zhao Bei's words finally untied the knot in their hearts. The reason they didn't dare to be officials wasn't that they didn't want to be officials, but rather they were afraid others would say they joined the revolution just to get promoted and wealthy. Now, even the vanguard officer of the revolutionary army was encouraging them to become military officers, if they continued to decline, they might appear hypocritical instead. Moreover, Zhao Bei's words earlier made a lot of sense, at this early stage of the revolution, it was indeed not suitable to let old officials control the troops again.

  It's just that the high-ranking officers in an army are all young people in their twenties and thirties, which is indeed somewhat frightening to hear. Perhaps this is a unique phenomenon of the revolutionary era.

  "Yang Wang Peng!" Zhao Bei said in a low voice.

  "Arrived!"

  "Quickly draw up a list of high-ranking military officers, let me review it, and once I've stamped my seal on it, our revolutionary army will be reborn. As for lower-ranking officers such as platoon leaders, they can be elected by the soldiers themselves - those who are brave in battle and have the support of their comrades can become officers! As for how to organize the army, we'll discuss that later after all the troops have been gathered. Work hard tonight and get the troops in order as soon as possible. Oh, and the 33rd Regiment of the Jiangsu New Army is still stationed along the Yangtze River - someone needs to be sent to persuade them to join us. Xu Shaoxing alone won't be enough, we need to send a few more reliable people with him. Who do you think should go?"

  "I'll go!" Zhang Yukun from the Qunchixueshe stepped forward, walked a few steps, and also pulled out someone from the Jiangsu military officer's side. He pointed to that person and said: "Brother Lin used to be the battalion commander of the 33rd Regiment, he himself said that his relationships with people in the regiment were not bad, it would be best if he went together too."

  "Your name is Lin Shuqing, right?" Zhao Bei remembered this person's name.

  "Yes! I am Lin Shuqing, currently serving as the battalion commander of the 36th Regiment of the 18th Brigade of the New Jiangsu Army. Previously, I had been serving as the battalion commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 33rd Regiment for nearly two years."

  "All right, you choose a few people to take Xu Shaozhen together to instigate the 33rd Division to rebel." Zhao Bei nodded and said to Yang Wangpeng and others: "As for the rest of the people, each will return to their respective departments, conscientiously reorganize the troops, and clean out those military officers who are hostile to the revolution."

  "Yes!" Yang Wangpeng bowed and withdrew.

  "Report!" Another person stood up.

  "Speak!"

  "Duan Fang and Yin Chang have been captured alive by our army, they are all Tartar dog officials, die-hard elements. It is up to you to decide how to deal with them, I hope the vanguard officer will give instructions!"

  Zhao Bei looked at this man and remembered that his name was Deng Gang. Seeing the anger on his face, he said: "You caught him, you decide what to do with him."

  "Kill!"

  Everyone almost spoke with one voice.

  This square and prosperous person's interpersonal relationship is also somewhat poor.

  "Not bad, kill. Zhao Bei walked a few steps with his hands behind his back, and then said: "However, it can't be now, killing now is not good, let's wait until dawn, before we set out on the western expedition, and then kill. On the one hand, to intimidate the stubborn elements lurking in the army, and on the other hand, it can also be considered as a sacrifice to the flag."

  Zhaobei is not a killer, but he has thought about taking the bamboo sticks of Duanfang and Yinchang to supplement military expenses. However, in this situation, it seems that Duanfang and Yinchang must be killed, otherwise, the morale of this new rebel army cannot be controlled. If everyone's heart is not convinced, how can this vanguard officer command the troops to fight? What can he use to make soldiers sacrifice themselves for him? Who made Duanfang and Yinchang kill so many people from the Qunchu Xueshe? This is called self-inflicted, self-retribution, but also cannot be blamed on others.

  Deng Gang stepped down with great satisfaction, and another person walked out, saluted, and said: "Report. In the battle, two Japanese telegraph officers who controlled the radio were killed by rioting soldiers. This matter is likely to trigger international negotiations. Those rioting soldiers have been controlled. Please ask Vanguard Officer how to deal with it?"

  Zhao Bei waved his hand and said lightly: "Let it go! Those two Japanese officers obviously committed suicide, they weren't killed by us."

  Everyone exchanged a look, tacitly understanding each other, and several people couldn't help but smile.

  "How many wireless stations have we taken control of?" Zhao Bei asked.

  "Report, the two towns' new army has a total of four Marconi-style spark wireless telegraph machines. Two were destroyed by Japanese officers during the battle, and the other two are intact and now in the hands of the insurgent soldiers!" he replied.

  "Alright, have someone keep watch by the radio and try to gather as much information as possible about Anqing. Unfortunately, the Anqing rebel army doesn't have a wireless telegraph, so we can't get in touch with them. Alright, everyone go and get your troops in order. If you hurry, you might still be able to catch a few winks before dawn, rest up and then charge westwards with renewed energy." Zhao Bei waved his hand.

  "Report, Zou Runyu of the Ministry of Posts and Communications is willing to bring a telegraph machine and rush to Anqing overnight!" The man said.

  Zhao Bei looked up at the man and said with a somewhat approving tone: "Your courage is commendable, but this move is not advisable. Our army only has two radio stations, and it's inevitable that we'll encounter battles during our western expedition. If one of them is damaged, at least there will still be another one available for use. Moreover, if the two damaged ones are dismantled and their parts are used to repair the other two, perhaps they can barely function. Furthermore, in case we need to divide our troops, the two radio stations can also be used for communication. Therefore, under no circumstances can these two radio stations suffer any more losses."

  Just kidding! Anqing's Xiong Chengji is the "Grand Commander", Zhao Bei is just a "Vanguard Officer" under the Grand Commander, and subordinates must obey their superiors. If the radio station were to be taken to Anqing, and as a result, the Anqing side orders him to return to Anqing, would he return or not? Returning would be a dead end, not returning would be disobeying military orders, what a difficult choice! So, this radio station cannot be moved to Anqing.

  Zou Ruyu was stunned for a moment and didn't insist anymore. After all, Zhao Bei's words were also very reasonable. Of course, as for what Zhao Bei thought in his heart, he wasn't clear about that either.

  "Zou Runyu, are you a telegraph officer?" Zhao Bei asked.

  "Not really. However, the Ministry is now in charge of grasping those two radio stations." Zou Ruyu said.

  "Then, you go down and gather the telegraph operators and technicians to see if they can repair those two damaged telegraph machines. If they cannot be repaired, dismantle them for spare parts. Also, have the telegraph operator immediately recompile a new cipher telegram exclusively for our army, while continuing to intercept all plaintext telegrams and collect as much useful intelligence as possible."

  "Yes!" Zou Ruyu bowed and retreated.

  Zhao Bei walked back to the table, glanced at the map on it, and turned around to say: "Now, everyone can return to camp to reorganize their troops."

  "Vanguard officer, we have already prepared a place for you to rest, please Vanguard officer..." Yang Wangpeng said.

  Zhao Bei waved his hand and said, "Everyone is not sleeping, I am not sleeping either. Who made me the vanguard officer? Setting an example with one's own body is the root of our revolutionary army's combat effectiveness. You must also remember that in the future, you will have to share the same joys and hardships with the soldiers, become a cohesive unit, only then can we maintain the true character of our revolutionary army! Alright, go down and tidy up the troops, if there's anything report it to me here."

  Everyone bowed and retreated, Zhao Bei stretched his waist, to say he wasn't sleepy would be a lie, but since the words had already been spoken, it was too late to take them back. He could only prop up his eyelids and carefully examine the large-scale military map on the table, planning the route of their next campaign. In his experience, only by launching a pincer movement on all sides, using mobile warfare, could they disrupt the Qing army's strategic deployment, lead the Qing army by the nose, and grasp the initiative in their own hands. Moreover, if he could successfully capture the three towns of Wuhan, he would achieve his short-term goal of becoming independent and developing on his own. As a transmigrator, it was unacceptable to live under others for too long; the wheels of history still had to be turned by himself, and he couldn't rely on others.

  Moreover, in Wuhan there is a large arsenal waiting for him to take over and fight; having soldiers without guns is useless.

  " Tian Jin Fu!" Zhao Bei threw away the pencil in his hand and straightened up.

  "Here!" Tadaaki Ijuin, who had been standing by his side all along, hastily replied, and glanced at the map on the table, only to find that a rough sketch of a military flag was drawn on it.

  "Are those captured prisoners still locked up?"

  "The whole town has been sealed off, with big and small officials, several hundred of them. All the good houses in the town have been requisitioned."

  Zhao Bei looked around the empty temple and asked in a low voice, "Is there anyone among your subordinates who can act?"

  "Acting? Does the officer want to listen to a play?" Tian Jin's husband felt slightly surprised.

  "It's not me who wants to listen to the play, but to perform it for others to see." Zhao Bei hooked his finger. "Come closer and I'll whisper in your ear."

  Tian Jin walked up close, Zhao Bei whispered a few words in his ear, Tian Jin suddenly enlightened, nodded repeatedly, "uh" several times and then rushed out of the temple, several guards hastily flashed in, standing beside Zhao Bei.

  Zhao Bei stretched his waist, looking at the map in front of him, and muttered to himself: "Although it is said that times create heroes, heroes do not necessarily have to be created by times. Since the anti-Qing trend has not yet arrived, then let me push the development of the trend!"