Chapter 59: The Battle of Han Yang (Part 2)

  At the time when Zhao Bei was deploying troops and dispatching generals at Fengshan Gate, several main generals of the Qing army were also not idle. They gathered in a signing room at the Hanyang Iron Works to discuss military affairs. Those present included Wang Zhaoyuan and Lu Yongxiang, commander-in-chief of the Beiyang Army, as well as some generals from the Hubei New Army and the commander of the defense battalion guarding Hanyang. The commander-in-chief of the 21st Mixed Brigade of the Hubei New Army, Lei Yuanhong, was their strategist and also the highest-ranking officer among the Qing army generals present.

  However, as a senior officer of the Southern New Army, Li Yuanhong could not command the Beiyang Army. In the eyes of Wang Zhanyuan and Lu Yongxiang, every word spoken by this short and stout southern military officer was for his own benefit, and at the same time, it meant sending the Beiyang Army to their deaths. Moreover, both sides had very heavy accents, making communication inconvenient. As a result, over a counterattack plan, both sides almost stormed off in anger.

  "Your troops are troops, but my troops aren't? Your Hubei troops are in charge of defense, yet you order my Beiyang Army to counterattack. What kind of heart do you have?" Lu Yongxiang pointed at Li Yuanhong's nose, almost scolding him.

  "Zi Jia, don't be so impulsive, let's talk it over." Wang Zhaoyuan's temper was slightly better, but he was also very dissatisfied with Li Yuanhong's counterattack plan. "However, Song Qing, you have to make things clear, why can't your troops take the lead? We Shandong people are straightforward, some words that go around in circles, we don't understand either. Now the Beiyang Army has less than a thousand men left, even if it's asking us to go die, we should at least be able to die with a clear understanding."

  Wang Zanyuan's words were laced with malice, but Li Yuanhong didn't miss the implication. He suppressed his anger and spoke calmly: "Zichun, my intention is that my Hubei troops are unreliable! If they're sent to charge at the front, who knows if they'll turn their guns around and cause chaos? The 10,000-strong Hubei New Army in Taihu all defected to the rebels. Who can guarantee that the remaining soldiers don't have any ideas brewing in their minds? I'm not hiding it from you two, but a few days ago, I caught some people in the army who had escaped from Taihu and were spreading rumors and stirring up trouble among the troops. Although they've been arrested, who knows if there are any more hidden among us? These past few days, my soldiers have all looked suspicious. If it weren't for the officers and flagmen keeping them under control, and the tight grip on ammunition, I fear that before you even cross the river, this Hubei New Army would rebel again. The 21st Mixed Brigade I originally commanded is now in Taihu, mutinying. What's left here are just a few regiments from the original 8th Garrison, but I can barely command them."

  "So you still want to insist on counterattacking? Won't you just defend and wait for reinforcements? Don't you understand this principle? Was your official hat bought from King Qing?" Lu Yongxiang slapped the table and stood up.

  Li Yuanhong also turned against him, rebuking: "How did Li get his official hat? No need for you to say! The current situation is clear, the Beijing-Hankou railway bridge has been destroyed, and traffic has been cut off. Even if reinforcements arrive in time, they will have to march over 100 miles on foot. Not to mention that the rebel warship is blocking us! Now look at the rebels, who have just occupied Hankou, but their foothold is not yet stable, and their fortifications are not yet complete. This is exactly the best time for us to launch a counterattack! Now that night has fallen, the rebel warship cannot fire its cannons, which makes it convenient for us to launch a night attack. As long as we concentrate our forces and retake Hankou, defeat the rebel vanguard, and crush their morale, their army will inevitably be shaken. In this way, our army will have a glimmer of hope, and we can take advantage of the opportunity to retreat to Hankou and defend it firmly, or wait for reinforcements from Hankou to cross the river. Otherwise, sitting here is just waiting for death!"

  "Night raid on the ball! Night raid is a taboo for soldiers! Fortunately, you are still a new army." Lu Yongxiang slapped the table so hard that it almost fell apart, and the kerosene lamp on the table also jumped up.

  Wang Zhan-yuan also said: "Zi Jia's words are not wrong, now our morale is low, launching a night attack is not feasible. In addition, according to the news from the foreign soldiers' ships, this rebel army has been advancing westward from Jiangxi, and only left some troops in Qi Zhou and Huang Zhou, but did not dispatch any troops to other small places. Why? It's just to make a show of force, to take down Wuhan with one blow! This is a desperate gamble, if they can't take down Wuhan in one breath, they will become bandits and can only go west to Sichuan."

  "What does 'Zi Chun' mean?" Lei Yuanhong was somewhat perplexed.

  "What I mean is that we can't counterattack now, and we have to continue to withdraw our troops and defend the arsenal. Chen Zaitai just sent a telegram saying that he has already telegraphed Anluo Fu and De'an Fu to transfer some of their defensive camps here. As long as we hold out in the arsenal for a few more days, those defensive camps will almost arrive."

  Li Yuanhong shook his head and said, "If the rebels can stabilize their foothold in Hanyang, with our current military strength, we can hold on for two days at most, and it's unlikely that we can last until reinforcements arrive."

  Lu Yongxiang sneered: "So you also know that our troops are few, yet you still want to launch a night attack?"

  "It is precisely because of insufficient military strength that we must seek to survive in the midst of death, taking advantage of the rebels' unstable foothold to launch a surprise counterattack. Although the rebel forces are numerous, they are mostly a disorganized mob; defeating one unit often causes several others to retreat together."

  Bang!

  Lu Yongxiang slapped the table and stood up, pointing at Li Yuanhong's nose and scolding: "Seeking survival in death? Hmph! If you want to die, you die, I won't accompany you! The rebel army is a motley crew, but there are also two new battalions inside, do you think they're just decorations?"

  Wang Zhan-yuan hastily came out to mediate, saying: "Both of you, please calm down. Counterattacking is not feasible. Not to mention that the Hubei soldiers are unreliable, even if they were reliable, our Beiyang Army cannot make a move easily. Now all our artillery shells have been destroyed in the explosion at Liu's Temple, and only a few shells are left on the ammunition carts. Although we have many old cannons, the shells inside are all filled with firecrackers, which sound good but are useless for fighting. As for launching a night attack, it is really too risky. With the current morale, you're not afraid that we'll have even more deserters? Now we can only wait and see what happens. The telegram just received said that Governor Chen has gone to the concession to negotiate with the foreign consuls, to see if they can borrow a few foreign warships. Once the foreigners agree, with their warship cover, it's not too late for us to launch a counterattack."

  "Foreigners? What are foreigners thinking, we can't be unprepared." Li Yuanhong hummed and didn't persist. He was clearer than anyone about the situation of his troops. The words he said to Wang Zhaoyuan and Lu Yongxiang earlier were not meant to intimidate them. Since learning that the Jiujiang Revolutionary Army had gone west, the Hubei New Army had shown obvious signs of mutiny. If they hadn't taken decisive action, this army would have rebelled long ago. Currently, there were over 2,000 soldiers from the Hubei New Army defending Hankou with the Beiyang Army, more than half of whom were concentrated in the area around the steel factory. In order to monitor the troops, Chen Kuilong, the Governor-General of Huguang, had already mixed in some banner troops, but it was unclear how effective they would be.

  "Otherwise, shall we gather the troops on Turtle Mountain and defend the munitions factory and ironworks?" Before Wang Zhaoyuan's words had fallen, a staff officer rushed in from outside the duty office, shouting: "Qintai... Qintai is under fierce attack!"

  "What?" Several people felt embarrassed, Qintai and Guishan were in a pincer movement, supporting each other. Once Qintai was lost, Guishan would be isolated and helpless.

  As they walked out of the signing room, several people leaned in to listen, and indeed from the direction of the piano platform came the sound of gunfire and cannons, the dark night sky was occasionally torn apart by the flashing explosions of shells, that "rumbling" explosion sounded like spring thunder, making one's heart and soul tremble.

  "What are you still dazing about? Call Guishan and adjust the artillery to intercept!" Lu Yongxiang shouted in a fluster.

  "It's so dark, I'm afraid of mistakenly hurting our own people..." The staff officer hadn't finished speaking when he was slapped in the face by Lu Yongxiang. He could only cover his cheek and rush towards the telephone house, but before he entered, another military officer rushed out from inside, shouting while running: "Guishan is under enemy night attack! Requesting support!"

  "What support? Support my balls! Where did I get so many troops from? Several regiments were thrown into the city of Hanyang." Lu Yongxiang was furious.

  "Send in the Hubei troops! General Li, we can't hesitate any longer!" Wang Zanyuan said.

  Li Yuanhong said, "The Hubei troops are all guarding the factories. Without mentioning whether they can arrive at Guishan in time, even if they can arrive, will the munitions factory and iron factory not be guarded?"

  "It's blown up! The arsenal has blown up! All the ammunition and explosives inside have also been blown up!" Wang Zhaoyuan gritted his teeth and said. In addition to storing newly manufactured guns and bullets, the Hanyang Arsenal also stored a large amount of military equipment accumulated over the years, which was originally transferred from the Wuchang Chuwangtai Military Armory by the Governor-General of Hubei before the war, with the intention of recruiting local militias on the spot. However, before the recruitment team could return, the Republican Army had already arrived at the city gate and captured Wuchang in a swift and decisive manner.

  "No way! The Hanyang Arsenal is the lifeblood of the people of Hubei Province. If it's blown up, not to mention that the people won't agree, even the New Army of Hubei won't carry out the order. Besides, where can we get so many explosives?" Li Yuanhong shook his head repeatedly, looked towards the direction of Guishan, and sighed. "The battle has reached this point, in my opinion, it's already a blessing if the New Army of Hubei doesn't betray us."