Chapter Thirty-two: Ruthless and Fierce

  A new week, highly recommended! Don't forget to collect!

  "What identity do you have to dare block me?" Lin Hu glared and was about to erupt, but his deputy officer hastily smiled and said: "Commander Lin, don't get angry, I'm here to tell you something good."

  "Speak up if you have something to say, fart quickly if you need to, I don't have time to waste on you." Lin Hu didn't even give the small adjutant a glance, and instead let out a cold laugh.

  The deputy's face flashed with anger, and he quickly bowed his head and smiled: "The commander-in-chief is very happy to hear that Captain Lin has arrived, but the commander-in-chief's wound still needs some time to heal. As for Governor Li inviting Captain Lin to Jiangxi, the commander-in-chief also knows about it, and he supports this matter. Since Captain Lin has official business and doesn't want to stay long, the commander-in-chief specially entrusted me to come and give you a gift, wishing you success on your journey!"

  "Haha! Alright, alright!" Lin Hu was slightly surprised and then burst out laughing. He patted his deputy's shoulder with a smile: "Not bad, not bad, this kid Zhao didn't get scolded for nothing, after getting scolded he became sensible. This attitude is what it means to be a revolutionary. As for the gift... haha, forget about it, I Lin Hu don't lack these things anyway. Just help me prepare ammunition and supplies for my troops, that's enough."

  "This please don't worry, Commander Lin, everything else has been arranged by the other commanders." With a wave of his hand, a soldier came in, holding a large box: "Commander Lin, this gift is still for you to accept, after all, it's the commander's kind intention. We're all comrades-in-arms, aren't we?"

  "Ah...". Lin Hu thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, casually taking the box and weighing it in his hand, feeling that it was quite heavy. He couldn't help but laugh and ask: "It's really heavy, what good things are inside? Won't Zhao Shifu have taken out all of his wife's gold and silver jewelry to treat our troops?"

  "Haha, gold and silver jewelry are nothing, this is the real good stuff, Master spent a lot of effort to specially prepare it for Commander Lin. Open it up and take a look, you'll understand." The deputy officer smiled and stood aside, pointing at the box. Lin Hu heard this and became even more curious, pulled away the red cloth covering it, and opened it with his hands.

  "Ah!"

  A loud cry, the box in his hand fell to the ground with a thud, and then two round objects rolled out, the people present were shocked, their hair standing on end, their faces pale.

  "Li... Li Guo! Zhu... Zhu Zhuowen?"

  Standing closer to Lin Hu, he saw clearly that on the ground were two pairs of dull, empty eyes staring blankly ahead, belonging to a head that refused to close its eyes in death. One of them was none other than his nephew Lin Liguo, who had come with him to the capital. As for the owner of the other head, he was no stranger either - it was Zhu Zuwen, who had just arrived in Nanjing a few days ago and was still actively exploring the city.

  "Not good!" Lin Hu's expression changed from shock to anger to vigilance in an instant, his years of military experience making him react faster than anyone else. He immediately sensed the danger approaching. Before he could even speak, Lin Hu's face changed and he reached for the gun at his waist, but before he could grab it, two guns were pressed against his forehead.

  "Commander Lin, how's this gift? You must like it?" The muzzle was pressed against Lin Hu's head, and the deputy officer smiled as he easily disarmed him.

  "This……this……." At this time, others also reacted, and most people were stunned, while a few quick-witted ones immediately flashed the idea of being trapped in a conspiracy! Lin Liguo was beheaded, perhaps it can be said that Zhao Hengyu was dissatisfied with Lin Hu's arrogance, and decided to kill him to establish his authority. But among the two heads, there is also Zhu Zhuowen's, which makes people think of Zhao Hengyu's pretence of being shot and injured not long ago, and the words he said just now, suddenly making everyone feel a chill in their hearts.

  "What are you doing?! What do you want to do?!" Lin Hu's face was gloomy, the muscles at the corners of his eyes twitching involuntarily as he suppressed the unease in his heart and shouted loudly: "Zhao Heng! Zhao Heng, come out! You dare to kill me? Dare to kill Premier Sun?! You... you have a big nerve!"

  "You guys are the real daredevils!"

  As soon as Lin Hu's voice fell, a strange voice suddenly sounded, and Zhao Heng finally appeared with a red glow all over his face without any signs of injury. Walking half a step in front of him was a young man wearing a suit, who slowly entered the hall, looked at Lin Hu with piercing eyes, and sat down directly in the main seat.

  "What kind of person are you?" Those were the words spoken by this young man, Lin Hu stared at him with a look of astonishment.

  "Head of the KMT Central Statistics Group, KMT Central Envoy, Secretary-General to the Premier, Acting Deputy Commander of the 8th Army Corps, Fang Zida, Fang Mengming!"

  "What!" The crowd was shocked, Fang Zida? Who is he? Listening to his reported identity, it seems that he is an important figure in the KMT Central Committee, but how come no one has ever heard of him? Moreover, he is also the Secretary-General of the Premier and the Acting Deputy Commander of the Eighth Army? Who is this person? Is he from the KMT or the Beiyang government? How did he suddenly appear here?

  "It's quite strange, isn't it?" Looking around, Fang Zidao saw the puzzled expressions of the crowd and smiled calmly: "I'm afraid you don't know yet, just a few hours ago, the National Assembly officially elected President Yuan as the formal president of the Republic of China, and also passed the proposal by President Yuan to appoint Mr. Song Tonghe as the formal Premier. In other words, from now on, Mr. Song is the official Premier, and I have just taken over as the Secretary-General of the Premier's office and the acting Deputy Commander of the 8th Division."

  "What's the big deal? Song Jiaoren betrayed the revolution! He sold out his friends for personal gain! He colluded with Yuan Shikai! We absolutely do not recognize their appointments! Yes, we won't recognize them!" Lin Hu was a dead duck who still had a hard mouth, stubbornly shouting loudly. But the others didn't have his tough attitude, especially Huang Kaiyuan, who just hesitated for a moment before immediately congratulating Fang Zidao with clasped hands and saying some polite phrases like "I've long admired you".

  Ignoring Huang Kaiyuan's nonsense, Fang Zida took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Zhao Hengyu beside him: "Zhao Shilang, would you please read this out loud for everyone?"

  "Yes!" Zhao Heng was completely overturned in front of Fang Zida, who was actually his deputy. He took over the thing and stood aside, loudly reading it out. This order was not long, first clearly stating Fang Zida's new appointment and explaining that all military affairs of the Eighth Division would be handled by Fang Zida in collaboration with Zhao Heng. In addition, in response to some divisive actions within the Eighth Division at present, a strict order was issued that all officers of the Eighth Division must obey their superiors and absolutely not allow any private behavior, and if there is any occurrence, severe punishment will be meted out without delay.

  What is most astonishing is the signature at the end of the order, which not only has Song Jiaoren's signature as the KMT director-general but also has signatures from the Premier and the Army General Staff, meaning that this order was recognized by the KMT Central Committee, the State Council, the Ministry of War, and even President Yuan Shikai himself.

  As Zhao Hengti's order was read out, Lin Hu's forehead gradually broke out in beads of sweat the size of beans. He never expected that Song Jiaoren would make such a move, and he didn't know when he had secretly sent such a ruthless person to Nanjing. Originally, he thought he had arranged everything well, whether it was Li Liejun or Chen Qimei's side, everything was going in the direction he had imagined, especially when he heard that Zhao Hengti was shot earlier, he felt even more complacent. Who would have thought that all of this had long been part of the other person's plan, and they had made preparations against him, and in the end, he was the one who was kept in the dark like a fool.

  "Alright... alright! You win! I, Lin, admit defeat...". The opponent's arrangement was airtight, and Lin Hu knew that the situation had already gone against him. Gradually calming down, he decided to concede defeat, but in his heart, he hated Fang Zida and the others to the bone, plotting to take revenge on them when they fell into his hands one day.

  When Lin Hu said this, the tense crowd in their hearts all secretly let out a sigh of relief. As long as Lin Hu admitted defeat, that's all, at most he would be removed from office and retire. Today, these two people had already scared everyone half to death. Although they were both revolutionary soldiers, this kind of bloody affair was still rare among comrades. You're good, I'm good, everyone's good, isn't harmony the best?

  "Surrender? Haha, haha! Hearing this, Fang Zidao couldn't help but burst into loud laughter, looking at the expressions of the people present, he laughed so hard that tears were about to come out."

  "Do you think this is a child's play?" As soon as the laughter fell, Fang Zida changed his face and slammed the table, shouting: "Lin Hu, as a soldier, you despise military discipline, dare to privately mobilize troops, ignore superior orders, and collude with rebellious elements to bribe soldiers with money, assassinate superiors, and split the country... Can these crimes be borne by just saying 'I admit defeat'? Do you still have law in your eyes? Do you still have discipline as a soldier? You treat the army as your own property, letting soldiers and civilians bleed for your own preferences. Are you still a revolutionary soldier? Bah! You are a bandit warlord! Come on! Take Lin Hu down and execute him immediately, shoot him on the spot!"

  "Ah!"

  Fang Zida's words were so intimidating that everyone was stunned, all pale with fear and trembling with fright. Lin Hu was even more shocked, his face turned deathly pale, he never expected the other party to be even more ruthless, actually wanting his head on a platter immediately.

  "No! You can't do this! I have made contributions to the revolution! I have shed blood for the revolution! You... you can't treat me like this! Can't treat me like this!"

  In the midst of wailing and howling, Lin Hu was dragged away with despair and unwillingness, and soon a crisp gunshot sound came from outside.