Chapter Twenty-Five: Zheng Zhong Straight

  "Right, it was I who was rude earlier. Please don't mind, sir, I'm sure with your intelligence you already know our identities."

  Li Han, who was lost in thought about the future, suddenly heard Yan Zhongzhi speak up behind him and immediately came to his senses, nodding his head in agreement.

  Yan Zhongzhí smiled wryly, "Please don't be offended, sir. My name is Yan Zhongzhí, and my style name is Guangru. Due to our identities, I was afraid of implicating you earlier, so I avoided mentioning names. As you have guessed, we are indeed revolutionaries..."

  She then carefully stared at Li Han's face, as if afraid he was that kind of sinister person.

  Li Han naturally saw it and secretly felt amused, thinking to himself: If I were really that kind of person, wouldn't you feel that with just one move, helping you kill more than twenty Qing soldiers is a bit excessive?

  However, he also knew that the other party was only afraid of having suffered losses in this regard before, so he was more careful in his heart.

  He had a few words of conversation with him, but the other party was clearly grateful to him, yet still had a few points of vigilance. He asked several people where they needed to go and he could help take them there together, but the other party kept shaking his head in refusal, apparently having some concerns in mind.

  After driving for about 20 miles, even the cavalry wouldn't be able to catch up in a short period of time. Li Han stopped the car and first asked Tian Shi, who had been quietly listening to the conversation in the back seat without interrupting, to move to the front passenger seat. Then he took out the first-aid kit he had found earlier and treated the three people who were pale-faced.

  "Brother Li originally served in the United States of America, no wonder his skills are comparable to those of a seasoned veteran!"

  After Li Han applied the military fast-acting hemostatic medicine to his wounds, Yan Zhongzhi's complexion improved significantly. Although the several wounds on his body still ached slightly due to Li Han's recent removal of the bullets, Li Han administered a strong painkiller, which greatly alleviated the pain compared to before. Slightly uncomfortable and leaning back in the soft seat inside the car, he had some spare time to try to get closer to this capable person who was not only an excellent marksman but also a veteran of foreign military service, and wanted to pull him into their revolutionary ranks!

  Thinking back to how Li Han dealt with the Qing soldiers who were chasing them, he hadn't reacted at first, but now thinking about it, their guns were all fatal shots, even if they were imperial spies, it's impossible for them to have prepared a luxurious car that no one had ever seen before as a tool. Just now when talking to him, I also heard that he had served in the military abroad and was an officer, a qualified soldier who had really seen blood and killed people, his mind suddenly became active! After all, at this time, having one more helper would add another hope of victory to the uprising.

  He glanced at the two companions who had already fallen asleep on the adjacent seat, and he was also a helpless move. The gunshot wounds on the two men were more serious than his, so before Li Han prepared to help them remove the bullets, he reminded him to give them some anesthetics, otherwise they would not be able to bear it. At this time, the two of them had not yet passed the medicine, and their injuries also affected their movements, and he was afraid that he could no longer take the two with him when he left.

  What the revolutionaries lacked was, how to put it, guns and ammunition, funds for the uprising... but most crucially, they lacked comrades with rich combat experience. After today's events, he finally understood that launching an uprising wasn't as simple as they had thought. A few like-minded comrades and a few rifles couldn't possibly overthrow the corrupt Qing government's rule - the views they had learned in Japan were clearly impossible!

  Otherwise, Mr. Sun and Mr. Huang would not have experienced so many failures before, and they still haven't had a single success until now. Besides, yesterday's incident is still fresh in his memory!

  The previous battle had thoroughly awakened him. Just look at their previous record, three people with three rifles and dozens of bullets. Although the opponent was also a new soldier, Zhang Biao's guard had seen it before, knowing what kind of goods they were. However, even facing such goods, the result was that everyone on their side was injured, and the outcome was only a small amount, with only one Qing army soldier killed and no more than five wounded. Dozens of bullets were wasted in vain. If not for the sudden appearance of an overseas Chinese returnee, they might have been lying outside the city by now, and their bodies might have been dragged back to be exposed to the sun!

  What's more, their goal is to revolt and completely overthrow the Qing government. So it was destined that they would not only face the new army loyal to the Qing government in the city, but also the Beiyang Army, which is considered one of the most elite forces in the country, formed by the imperial court to deal with the provocations of Russia and Japan in Northeast China and Outer Mongolia. Is there still a chance for this revolution to succeed?

  "How to put it? You also know that the Americans have never treated us Chinese as adults, if not for my family being slightly richer and hiring a few retired military officers to teach me knowledge. As for joining the army, I just joined a mercenary corps that often goes on missions in Europe and the Americas, gaining some experience. Some time ago, during a mission in South Asia, I heard that my fellow Sichuanese back home finally couldn't bear the exploitation of the Qing dynasty and stood up, so after feeling great joy, I chose to return to China, hoping to contribute to the revolutionary cause at home..."

  Li Han also knew that his previous statement about serving in the military abroad would not stand up to scrutiny, and anyone who investigated would discover that he was lying. However, since he had already thrown out the bait and Tian Shi was still by his side, knowing his excuse, he could only elaborate on it again, making excuses.

  After all, he can't control that much now. The implication of "winning him over" in Yan Zhong's straightforward words is already very clear. Although the other party has not explained his mission and identity to him, he is not a fool either. He had already guessed eight or nine out of ten, and was thinking about whether he could continue along this line and thoroughly integrate himself into the ranks of the new rebel army.

  In this era of chaos and confusion, standing firm and slowly integrating is what he needs to do most at present!

  "Well, since Brother Li is preparing to return home and devote himself to the glorious revolutionary cause, going to Sichuan is also a revolution, staying in our Hubei is also the same, after all, it's all for our great China, fighting for all the Hans in the world, why not consider joining our revolutionary organization?"

  His face grew more and more agitated, Zheng Zhong continued to urge him on, this was also the first time he explicitly revealed his identity in his words. "Brother Li should have seen the newspapers about yesterday's events too, right? Although yesterday we encountered some unexpected changes, resulting in problems with our originally planned uprising, not only did some of our comrades fall into the hands of evil people, but even more of our comrades are already imprisoned... however, the thousands of righteous warriors in our city never gave up..."

  "Now is the best time and condition for us. Firstly, due to the recent movement of the Sichuan people, the Qing government has transferred more than 60% of the new army in the province, and we have confidence that once we rise up, the remaining new army soldiers will definitely support us. Secondly, because the Governor of Hubei and Hunan, Rui Cun, is afraid of an uprising within the city, not only did he confiscate our weapons, but also took away many of the patrolmen and police officers, leaving only 21 mixed brigades and Zhang Biao's direct lineage with a few thousand men having some strength. Just yesterday, Rui Cun would never have thought that we would launch an uprising at this time, so once we rise up, we will definitely catch them off guard. If we can capture the key locations in the city, the uprising will surely succeed! At that time, we will be able to thoroughly destroy the corrupt and decadent power of the Qing dynasty!"

  Yan Zhongzhi became more and more excited as he spoke, his face filled with fervor. Even Li Han was affected by him, and Tian Shi, who was eavesdropping on the side with her body turned sideways, also became excited.

  "If I didn't know the history of China for the past hundred years, you would have made me want to join the revolutionary cause immediately!" While driving, he listened distractedly to Yan Zhongzhi's words, and frankly speaking, it was really exciting. Unfortunately, he shook his head secretly, because these inexperienced and overly idealistic revolutionaries had pulled in many people with various purposes, resulting in a situation where the revolutionary team not only had internal factions and cliques, but also had members of varying quality, making it impossible to compete with the Beiyang forces led by Yuan Shikai!

  Of course, Li Han, who claims to be a patriotic and indignant youth, has come to this era. Although he is powerless to change those opportunists in the revolutionary camp (it seems that someone also belongs to it), he will never again watch this country exhaust its blood and bones in decades of civil war!

  "This is natural, it is our duty to be loyal to the country, it should be so... it should be so..."

  Li Han smiled wryly, and the other party still hadn't told him where they were going, obviously not fully trusting him. Therefore, he naturally couldn't just agree to join them so easily, people don't cherish what comes too easily, let alone, he also knew that now was not the best time to join the revolutionary team because the other party still had a hint of vigilance towards him!