Volume 1 Turbulent Times Chapter 29 Assassination

  It seems that the situation is more complicated than he imagined, especially with Zhao Hengyu's revelation earlier. Fang Zidao was shocked and never thought that Sun Wen, Chen Qimei and others would be so reckless, actually sending people to buy off soldiers and assassinate military officers? Is this still the style of a revolutionary? It's almost as notorious as the later infamous terrorist organization.

  The situation of the Eighth Division is not optimistic. As the division commander, Zhao Heng can only control his thousands of men, and the internal forces within the Eighth Division are complex and intertwined. What's more worrying is that there are even Japanese advisors holding important positions in the Eighth Division. Although on the surface it has not been seen what role these Japanese advisors have played, Fang Zidao has already had great vigilance in his heart. The ambition of Little Japan is something Fang Zidao understands better than anyone else in this era. As for whether there are any Japanese behind Sun Wen and others who are now calling for a "second revolution" at home, Fang Zidao is even more worried.

  If it were in ordinary times, Fang Zidao might have been able to use his method to slowly get out of this situation, using the smallest cost to achieve the greatest results. But time waits for no man, and the current situation is changing by the day - who can say what tomorrow will bring? After much thought, Fang Zidao finally made up his mind, and with a gloomy face, he began to make arrangements with Zhao Hengyu.

  "Captain, Li Duxu has sent a telegram to inquire when our regiment can change its defense?" Lin Liguo asked in a low voice, holding the telegram. Lin Liguo was Captain Lin Hu's clansman and served as deputy officer, also being one of Lin Hu's most trusted confidants.

  "Has Xiaoyi returned to Jiangxi?" Lin Hu hastily grabbed the telegram and asked.

  "Yes, I just arrived last night." Lin Liguo nodded and said: "Before Commander Li came to Jiangxi, he had already made arrangements and prepared to start the uprising in the near future. Colonel, our time is limited, you should make a decision as soon as possible!"

  After reading the telegram, Lin Hu smiled and asked, "What's the situation in the regiment now?"

  "Everything is arranged according to your plan, just waiting for the captain's order, we can set off at any time. However... there are still shortages in ammunition and supplies..."

  "Good!" With a excited pat on the armrest, Lin Hu stood up: "Pass down my order, each battalion and company should get ready, we will set off within three days. As for ammunition and supplies, haha, that's easy, just go ask Zhao Hengyu for them."

  "Squad leader, what if Zhao Hengyu refuses?"

  "Not willing? Hmph, he'll be willing!" Lin Hu smiled carelessly, in his eyes, Zhao Hengyi this superior was just a puppet, timid and incompetent. If Huang Xing hadn't died suddenly, it's likely that the position of superior would have fallen to him, Lin Hu. Now, under these circumstances, Zhao Hengyi was probably sitting on pins and needles, sweating bullets, eager for them to leave as soon as possible.

  While pondering this, a messenger came to report that Zhao Hengyu and Zhao Shizhang had sent someone to invite Lin Tuanzhang to the division headquarters. Lin Hu asked what the situation was, but the person who came couldn't explain it clearly either, only saying that Zhao Hengyu had also called several other regimental commanders to discuss some major matter together, with a seemingly very serious expression.

  "Haha, it seems Zhao Hengyu can't hold on anymore. Well, well...". Lin Hu smiled and turned around, saying: "Liguo, come with me, we'll take care of the ammunition and other things at the same time."

  Zhao Heng's division, the two brigade commanders of the 8th Division, Wang Xiaozhen and Huang Kaiyuan, have arrived. The regimental commanders Li Ju (29th Regiment), Zhang Huafu (30th Regiment), Tao Demiao (31st Regiment), He Sui (32nd Regiment), Liu Jianfan (Cavalry Regiment) and Li Shimao (Artillery Regiment) also arrived one after another.

  "Brother Yi Wu, what brings you here today?" Huang Kaiyuan was an old member of the Tongmenghui, born into a wealthy family. In his early years, he spent 10,000 taels of silver to buy a Daoist title and later bribed Prince Yikuang with over 20,000 taels to gain influence in the Qing court. He became well-known in the official circles and was also close friends with Huang Xing. After the Wuchang Uprising, he transformed overnight into Huang Xing's advisor and chief of staff, rising rapidly through the ranks alongside Huang Xing. In no time at all, he became the commander of the 31st Regiment. When Zhao Hengti officially took over as division commander, Huang Kaiyuan succeeded him as commander of the 16th Brigade of the 8th Division, becoming one of the main high-ranking officers of the 8th Division.

  "It's not those messy things, sit down, Baochang brother, Yong Gong, and all of you please sit down first." Zhao Heng looked like he was full of worries, forcing himself to stand up and greet everyone.

  "Yi Wu brother, is your body...?" Although Wang Xiaozheng usually didn't get along with Zhao Hengyu, he was still a relatively loyal person and couldn't help but ask when he saw Zhao's unpleasant expression.

  "Thanks, Yong Gong, I'm still doing all right." Zhao Hengru nodded to him and sighed: "Don't hide from everyone, today we gather together is to discuss important matters."

  "Director Zhao, just say it directly."

  Zhao Hengyu let out another sigh, causing everyone to look at each other in confusion. Only then did they hear him ask: "I wonder if you all know Zhu Zhuowen?"

  "Zhū Zhuōwén!!?"

  Upon hearing this name, everyone in the room took a deep breath, and several team leaders' eyes flickered, their minds racing with thoughts.

  "It seems everyone knows about Zhu Zhuowen's arrival in Ning already." Zhao Heng saw the expressions of the crowd and was not surprised.

  "Brother Yi Wu, I just received the news this morning too." Wang Xiaozhong spoke up first: "After learning about this matter, I was greatly surprised. I didn't expect... Without hiding it from you, Brother Yi Wu, I originally wanted to discuss this with you after the meeting. Since you already know, what do you think we should do?"

  "Alas, gentlemen! My heart is in a mess now!" Zhao Hengyu sighed again and again, and to his surprise, tears even fell: "Comrades! We were born and died for the revolution, went through hardships and finally overthrew the Qing dynasty, established the Republic of China. But now... but now..., alas! If I, Zhao Mou, hadn't sacrificed myself yesterday, I'm afraid... I'm afraid you wouldn't have seen me today..."

  "What! They've actually started fighting?" Wang Xiaozhong and the others were shocked, especially Huang Kaiyuan who was flustered and trembling in his two legs as he stood up.

  Silently nodding, Zhao Heng took off his upper garment with the help of his deputy officer, revealing his bandaged arm, on which blood was still seeping through.

  "This... this... is outrageous! Outrageous!"

  Everyone stared with wide eyes, and after a long time, they spoke in unison, but it was clear that everyone's voice was filled with fear and unease, their gaze darting back and forth around them, as if they didn't know when someone would suddenly jump out and shoot someone.

  "Did you catch anyone?" Wang Xiaozhong asked hastily, still relatively calm.

  Shaking his head, Zhao Heng slowly put on his clothes with the help of his deputy officer: "Ran away! If it weren't for my bodyguard blocking a bullet for me... What a pity, what a pity that my loyal bodyguard has followed me for so many years!"

  Everyone was silent for a long time, and then Huang Kaiyuan spoke with a trembling voice: "Brother Yi Wu... this is really shocking! As I see it now... as I see it..." He spoke for half the day, but Huang Kaiyuan still didn't finish what he wanted to say.

  "Baochang, there's no outsider here, just say what you want to say directly, what's with the hesitation...". Wang Xiaozhen had always looked down on Huang Kaiyuan, this young master who relied on luck to be on an equal footing with him, and after listening for half a day without hearing him finish his sentence, he interrupted very rudely.

  He swallowed hard and smiled wryly, "My point is that if we continue to fight among ourselves now, both sides will be wounded. The Eighth Division will be completely annihilated. Rather than destroying ourselves, it's better to unite against the enemy, even if our strength can't be preserved, at least we'll make a glorious sacrifice. Since they want to rebel against Yuan, let's rebel too... anyway..."

  Although Huang Kaiyuan didn't say the last words, everyone understood what he meant behind it. Isn't it just saying that whether you stick your head out or hide it, you'll still get killed? It's all the same, you're done for anyway. So why not live one more day and count it as a gain? Several people in their hearts extremely despised Huang Kaiyuan this kind of guy, but to be honest, the current situation is indeed like what he said.

  Here is the translation:

  Say a few words! Thank you to old readers for their support. Regarding the comments from old readers about the previous book, I'm deeply sorry that it's been so late at night. A few years ago, due to work reasons, I delayed the previous book, and originally planned to continue writing after stabilizing my life. However, unexpectedly, when I sold my old house and moved, my computer accidentally broke, causing all the manuscripts stored on the hard drive to be lost. Later, with work being busy, I didn't continue updating. Several years have passed, and although I've thought about restarting updates, the plot and outline of the old book are now fuzzy in my memory, making it difficult to continue writing. So, I apologize to old readers for this.

  When I have time, I will read the old book from cover to cover again, find the feeling at that time, and try to finish it, but when to do this work, I estimate it will take some days.

  As for this new book now, when good friend was writing about the Republic of China's past events, there was already a conception in mind, but never put pen to paper, until recently after watching "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons" and "The Legend of Qin", the urge to write that had been absent for a long time grew stronger, thus this book was born.

  Due to the current starting point's strict review of Republic of China-type works, the editor also talked to me about it and said that this book is unlikely to be signed. However, I didn't write the book for any income, but just to express what I wanted to write. As for whether or not it gets signed, it's not a big deal for me, thank you!