Volume 1: Turbulent Times Chapter 36: Attack! Attack!

  No. 14, Sassoon Road, Shanghai French Concession, this small building was the residence of Japanese expatriate Yamada Kenzaburō and also a secret activity base for revolutionary parties in Shanghai.

  On this day, the usually quiet little building suddenly had a lot of guests, and what's even stranger is that these guests were all dressed up when they entered, wearing deliberately lowered top hats, looking mysterious.

  Finally, the last guest entered the building, and several gangsters dressed as men hid in a dark place outside to protect them. The living room of the small building was already filled with guests, including Chen Qimei, the former commander-in-chief of the Shanghai Army, Huang Fu, the former chief of staff of the Shanghai Army Headquarters, Jiang Zhicheng, the former commander of the 5th Regiment of the Shanghai Army, He Yingqin, the regimental commander, Dai Jitao, the secretary-general of the Revolutionary Party, Shao Yuanchong, the editor-in-chief of the Shanghai "Minguo News", Wu Zhongxin, the former police chief of the Provisional Government, Zhang Qun, the former staff officer of the Shanghai Army, Chen Guofu and others. And sitting in the center was Sun Wen, the leader of the Revolutionary Party, who should have been in Japan.

  Actually, when Li Liejun arrived in Shanghai and Chen Qimei discussed the "Second Revolution", he quietly set off from Japan and arrived in Shanghai a few days ago. Accompanying him were also Jiang Zhicheng and Dai Jitao, who had been hiding in Japan, among others. After arriving in Shanghai, Sun Wen and his entourage did not appear publicly, but instead directly moved into this place, staying indoors and patiently waiting for the opportunity to arise.

  Yesterday, the long-awaited good news finally arrived. Li Liejun's telegram announcing his "uprising" in Jiangxi had just reached Shanghai when Sun Wen hastily summoned Chen Qimei and others to discuss the situation. As a result, this morning all the main figures of the revolutionary party in Shanghai gathered here.

  "Governor Li is indeed a good comrade of our party. As soon as the independent gunfire sounded in Jiangxi, I responded with the rise of various provinces in the south. It seems that Yuan Shikai will definitely fail!" Apart from Sun Wen, Chen Qimei was one of the most senior and highest-ranking members, who enthusiastically praised Li Liejun.

  "It's extremely extreme!" Shao Yuan-chung, who was eating his pen holder rice, immediately stood up and also greatly praised Li Lie-jun's "loyalty and bravery" and revolutionary righteousness, as if Li Lie-jun had already led the troops to respond nationwide in Jiangxi, and President Yuan Shi-kai's position was shaking and about to be lost, and the road for the revolutionaries to march north and seize power was like a golden highway.

  With Chen Qimei and Shao Yuanhong taking the lead, others also didn't want to fall behind. You said one sentence, I said one word, the atmosphere on the scene was extremely warm.

  Jiang Zhicheng followed suit, flattering Chen Qimei a bit, but his eyes were always stronger than others. He saw Sun Yat-sen sitting at the top, not saying a word, and quickly used his heel to lightly tap Chen Qimei, giving him a look.

  "Gentlemen, gentlemen! Now my revolutionary prospects are not just a little good, but a great good! However, in order for the revolution to truly succeed, our fellow revolutionaries must continue to work hard. As for what we should do next and how to respond properly, please let Premier Sun enlighten us."

  When Chen Qimei said this, Sun Yat-sen's expressionless face finally revealed a hint of a smile, and he sat up straight with sparkling eyes. He immediately opened his mouth and said: "Comrades, Li Duzheng's first righteous act in Jiangxi is the embodiment of our revolutionary spirit! As revolutionaries, we should respond to each other and work together to overthrow Yuan Shikai and save the country. The Northern Warlords, led by Yuan Shikai, have stolen the country and the people, while traitors like Song Jiaoren of the KMT have betrayed the revolutionary spirit. Only our revolutionary party can truly bear the responsibility of saving the country and the people. These opposing factions will inevitably be swept into the dustbin of history by our revolutionary party and abandoned by the people!"

  A thunderous applause erupted, with everyone excitedly clapping their hands until they turned red. Sun Yat-sen smiled and raised his hand to calm the crowd down. Once the room quieted down again, he continued: "Now that Jiangxi has declared independence, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi... these provinces will also rise up in arms immediately. In this way, the revolutionary spirit and strength of my southeastern region will be unstoppable! The Northern Government is already setting sun, Yuan Shikai is nothing but a withered bone in his tomb. My revolutionary army's northern expedition is imminent, the success of the second revolution is imminent!"

  "Good! Premier Sun said it well!" Huang Pu was so moved that he was choked with sobs, wiping away tears and patting his chest to guarantee: "Premier, please rest assured, I dare not say anything else, but in Shanghai, with Ying Shi and me, Huang Pu, there is absolutely no problem! What's the Northern Warlord's Shanghai army worth mentioning? My Green Gang has tens of thousands of brothers up and down, as long as you give the order, Premier, we can take down the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau and recreate the great feat of the 1911 Revolution!"

  "Good! Well said!" Sun Wen excitedly patted the armrest and stood up: "We need this kind of unprecedented determination, this is what a true revolutionary should be! Since that's the case, I'll leave the big matter in Shanghai to Shiying and Rongbai. The spirit of the Xinhai Revolution will surely succeed!" After thinking for a moment, he pointed at Jiang Zhicheng and He Yingqin: "Ruizhi, Jingzhi, you two were both in the original Shanghai army as battalion and regimental officers. Immediately contact your old comrades and work together with Shiying and Rongbai to start the uprising and build revolutionary merit!"

  Jiang Zhicheng and others suddenly flushed with excitement, stood up and loudly responded, patting their chest to guarantee that there was no problem.

  "Let's arrange it this way for Shanghai, and you guys from Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, etc. discuss how to deal with it?" Sun Wen nodded in relief, gesturing for them to sit down before speaking up.

  Chen Qimei spoke first: "Anhui Governor Bai Wenwei, Hunan Governor Tan Yankai and I have been in contact for some time. Bai Wenwei and Tan Yankai have agreed to follow Li's lead in rebelling against Yuan Shikai. As for Fujian, Guangdong and Guangxi, there won't be any problems with Xu Chongzhi, Hu Hanmin and Chen Jiongming around. Sun Daoren, Long Jiguang and Lu Rongting will either join the revolution or perish. The only problem is... Jiangsu."

  "What's wrong?" Sun Wen asked with an unchanged expression.

  Chen Qimei's face showed a look of indignation, gritting his teeth and saying fiercely: "It's still Song Jiaoren's doing! Since he went to Beijing, he has colluded with Yuan Shikai to betray the revolution, and now he has even become the Premier. Now he is targeting our revolutionary party, some time ago secretly sending a certain Fang Zidu to Nanjing, recently news came from Nanjing that Lin Hu's death was also his doing, even Zhu Zuowen lost his life at his hands, now the 8th Division in Nanjing is no longer under our control, Jiangsu Governor Cheng Dequan has been manipulated by him, so Jiangsu...

  "It's all right, no need to say any more!" Sun Wen angrily interrupted Chen Qimei's words. He sat on the other side, frowned and thought for a long time before rallying his spirits: "A mere Jiangsu province and an Eighth Division are not worth mentioning. As long as we can grasp Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui, Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi - these seven provinces and one city, it will be enough to bring down Yuan Shikai's Northern Government. When the time comes, humph! Those who betrayed the revolution will have to pay a terrible price!"

  "Right! The Premier is absolutely right, the revolutionary tide is sweeping forward, those who follow me will prosper and those who oppose me will perish. By that time, even ordinary revolutionary comrades in the Eighth Division will come to their senses, and Jiangsu will eventually fall into our revolutionary army's hands." Shao Yuanzhong was overjoyed, clapping his hands and laughing loudly, shaking his head and reciting a poem: "The great river flows eastward, waves washing away all things, ancient heroes of the past... heroic spirit and elegant demeanor, fans and hats, in conversation, strong enemies vanish into smoke..."

  As Shao Yuan's poem came to an end, Sun Wen's smile grew brighter and brighter, as if he had already seen himself with a feather fan and a scholar's hat, chatting and laughing, the moment when the strong enemy was reduced to ashes.

  That afternoon, after Chen Qimei and others left, they immediately took action separately. By dusk, the Shanghai Anti-Yuan Army was formally established. Chen Qimei served as the commander-in-chief of the Shanghai Anti-Yuan Army, Huang Fu served as the chief of staff, Jiang Zhiqing served as the front-line commander, He Yingqin served as the deputy front-line commander, and others took up important positions. At the same time, Chen Qimei also declared himself the new military governor of Shanghai, gathering 3,000 Green Gang members to form three battalions, preparing to attack the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau.

  Chen Qimei's abacus was quite good, this move is actually similar to the Xinhai Revolution that year. First, occupy the manufacturing bureau, seize the military weapons, and then rely on these weapons to develop a large number of troops, thereby seizing the entire Shanghai.

  At 10 o'clock that night, Chen Qimei formally launched a rebellion and began attacking the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. With guns of varying lengths in hand, some even carrying gleaming knives and axes, a large number of gang members charged forward with great fanfare. For a time, the area around the manufacturing bureau was filled with cries of "Kill!" and the sound of gunfire was incessant. The troops stationed at the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau were completely unprepared and were caught off guard, leaving behind dozens of bodies as they retreated in disarray. Seeing that the attack was going so well, Chen Qimei was overjoyed and repeatedly ordered his men to press on with the attack, striving to capture the manufacturing bureau before dawn.

  "What did you say?" At 5:00 am, Chen Qimei's troops had already reached a place just over ten meters away from the manufacturing bureau gate two hours ago. However, at this distance of just a few dozen meters, the continuous attacks were all beaten back, not only did they fail to advance even one step, but they also suffered heavy casualties.

  "Commander! Brothers, we really can't take it down, the firepower of those bastards on the other side is too strong, let's retreat first." The green gang's small leader wore a hat crookedly, holding a short gun in his hand, his face was all black and dusty, even lost one shoe. These mixed gang members were also old hands who made a living on the tip of a knife, but who had seen such a big scene? What arrogance, killing intent, skill, all became useless in front of machine guns, just a sweep of bullets would make even the most skilled Red Flower Double Clubs covered in blood holes.

  Chen Qimei's plan was not wrong, but he had not considered one aspect. At that time, he faced the Qing government, but now his opponent was a regular army stationed in Shanghai under the Jiangsu Governor's Office. Although they were caught off guard at first, once they reacted, Chen's three thousand mobsters were no match for the regular army. Moreover, behind the enemy was the manufacturing bureau, which had an abundance of guns and ammunition. How could these gang members win by relying solely on brute force?

  "Retreat? Can't retreat!" In the firelight, Chen Qimei's face behind his glasses was distorted with rage. He roared savagely: "Whoever dares to mention the word 'retreat' again, I'll show no mercy!"

  "Governor, as long as the green mountain is still there, we don't have to worry about running out of firewood... Ah!" The little head was about to persuade him again, but unexpectedly Chen Qimei suddenly glared with his eyes wide open, pulled out a sharp samurai sword and beheaded him. The headless body sprayed fresh blood all over him, and in the light of the flames, Chen Qimei now looked like a devil crawling out of hell.

  "Whoever dares to retreat half a step, he will be the next one!" Chen Qimei roared in a hoarse voice, scaring the few people beside him pale and retreating continuously. Standing still, panting heavily for several mouthfuls of air, suppressing the bloody nausea, he raised his knife and charged towards the direction of the manufacturing bureau, shouting: "Brothers! Continue to attack for this governor! Attack! The first official to break into the manufacturing bureau will be promoted three ranks and rewarded with 5,000 yuan! Kill! Give me a kill!"