Chapter 22: Encounter with the New Revolutionary Army (Part 2) Fourth Update

  "Hurry, brothers, you go first. I'll stay behind with Wu Zi and the others. Hurry up and inform the other battalions, especially the Eighth Engineering Battalion led by Xiong Bingkun. Tell them we've already made an agreement that the revolution must continue. Tonight at 8 o'clock, when the gunfire sounds, the whole city will rise up! Hurry, hurry... don't let our comrades' sacrifices be in vain..."

  Escaping from the East Gate of Wuchang, with the help of the surrounding terrain and a group of brothers from the Hongmen and Red Gang, several new army soldiers who had paid a huge price to escape were now all pale-faced. Looking at the blood-stained clothes of many people, some gritted their teeth in anger, even bleeding from the corners of their mouths!

  "Woe is me, Brother Yan, you must avenge our Big Brother for us! Those damned bastards have already sealed off our guild hall and Big Brother and more than ten of our brothers from the Tang clan were all arrested and thrown into prison yesterday. Everyone... everyone..."

  A sturdy man with a red scarf background, his face revealed a sorrowful expression, and for a moment, tears filled his clothes, he looked up at the sky and forcibly held back the grief in his heart!

  "Waaaahhhh~~~~"

  "Uncle Du, and Sixth Uncle, it's us who have wronged you... waaahhh... if only... if only..."

  For a time, the team was filled with sorrow.

  "Elder brothers of the Triad and Hung Mun, I... we owe you an apology!"

  Seeing these men, who were escorting them to escape from the Qing army's pursuit, some of whom had been shot two or three times and only simply bandaged without even frowning, cry with a broken heart. In the team, several new military youths who took off their uniforms to hide had red and purple faces, and they also felt guilty and ashamed. If it weren't for the commander's mistake when making bombs yesterday, which led to the premature exposure of the uprising, many brothers from the Red Gang and Hongmen would not have been implicated. Today, seeing the governor's mansion searching the city's new military camps on a large scale, although it was to notify the new military in the city to rise up, they were discovered by twice as many guards shortly after sneaking out of the camp. If it weren't for the help of these loyal and righteous men, perhaps... perhaps this action would have been foiled again. Thinking of this, one of them felt extreme fear, clenching his fists and letting his fingernails pierce into his flesh, with fresh blood flowing out from between his palm creases, as if he hadn't noticed.

  He was Yan Zhongzhi, who was the brother of Yan mentioned by that monk earlier. The Wuchang uprising was indeed a bumpy road to the extreme. In order to suppress the people's uprising in Sichuan, the Qing government sent Minister Duanfang to lead part of the Hubei New Army into Sichuan to quell the uprising, which led to a weakening of the Qing army's defense forces in Hubei, and the revolutionary party decided to launch an uprising in Wuchang. On September 14, 1911, the Literary Society and Gongjin Association established a unified leadership organ for the uprising under the promotion of the Tongmenghui, united against the Qing. On September 24, the two revolutionary groups held a joint meeting and decided to launch the uprising on October 6. The activities of the revolutionary party were detected by the Hubei authorities, who were on high alert everywhere, and with key leaders such as Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren unable to arrive in Wuhan, the uprising was postponed. In early October, due to a riot by soldiers at the Nanhu Arsenal, the new army's firearms were confiscated, and there was not enough ammunition for the uprising. On October 9, the commander of the uprising, Sun Wu, and others were making bombs in the Russian concession in Hankou, but an explosion occurred due to carelessness. The Russian police arrived upon hearing the sound, seized the list of revolutionary party members, the proclamation of the uprising, and other secrets were leaked out. The Governor-General of Huguang ordered the closure of the four cities and a thorough search for revolutionary party members. In desperation, the revolutionary party decided to launch the uprising immediately on the evening of October 9. However, the defenses within Wuchang city were very strict, and the revolutionary party members in various battalions could not make contact with each other, so the plan for that night was abandoned.

  It was precisely because of their involvement that, although the list of revolutionary comrades that fell into the hands of Governor Zhang Ruiqing of Hubei and Hunan had less than 30% of the names, he would inevitably be subjected to severe torture and some comrades with slightly weaker willpower would reveal more comrades, resulting in many sympathizers or supporters of the new army in the city being exposed, including members of the Hongmen and Red Gang. Many rural assembly halls in Sichuan and Hunan were forcibly closed last night or this morning.

  To say that this new army is also a bit naive politically, how could they not think that such a thing happened yesterday, how could the imperial court not be tightly guarded? As a result, several people had just touched out of the camp for a short time, and were discovered by Zhang Biao's confidant troops patrolling and guarding the eighth town, and surrounded them in a small alley.

  Fortunately, some brothers in the nearby hideout discovered their danger and immediately guided them into the hiding place. After wandering around the city for a long time, they finally escaped. Unfortunately, when they encountered a checkpoint at the city gate, one of the brothers accidentally exposed the gun on his body, and as a result, they were questioned by the guarding soldiers. Fearing exposure, the crowd could only take advantage of the situation to attack the gate guards, paying the price of everyone being injured, and several brothers being shot dead, before they finally escaped with difficulty!

  "Alas, it's all my fault. If I hadn't been so impatient and seen the guard coming to investigate, thinking we'd been exposed, I wouldn't have attacked him, which is what really gave us away..."

  Looking at the grief and heartache on the faces of these escaped revolutionary comrades, one of them, named Zhang Shilun, suddenly stood up and slapped himself hard in the face. The force was so great that half his cheek swelled up immediately. As he raised his hand again, as if wanting to slap himself a few more times, Chu Guangpeng standing beside him grabbed his hand.

  "Zhang Zhi, this isn't your fault. Sigh, during this period everyone is being overly cautious, even the slightest movement makes them think they've been exposed. It's inevitable that things would turn out like this..."

  "That's enough! What time is it now? Zhang Biao's men will be here soon, what's the point of arguing about who's wrong? It's a complete waste of time!"

  He Liguo, who had been standing at the outer edge of the team with a sullen face and smoking secretly, perked up his ears as he heard the sound of footsteps coming from not far away. He was already fed up with the bookish air of these students who had returned from abroad, wasting time at critical moments like this. Did they want to get their brothers in the Hung Men society killed before they would be satisfied?

  He Liliguo was not with these people in the same camp, but came from the Nanhu Artillery Regiment, known as the "thorn head". After the uprising was exposed yesterday, the Nanhu Artillery Regiment felt that something was wrong. The leaders of the uprising inside quickly ordered the hiding of the privately stored weapons prepared for the uprising. Only then, after the 21st Mixed Brigade entered today, nothing was found!

  However, as the morning was about to pass, no news had been received from other camps in the city. The artillery battalion next door was under close surveillance, so the Nanhui Artillery Regiment sent out He Liguo, carrying their agreed-upon time for the uprising, and slipped out of the camp to make contact. He met this group near the city gate because they shared a common goal and decided to act together. However, he looked down on these student soldiers who had performed poorly in clashes with the guards.

  Moreover, he was a squad leader in the new army, and the other student soldiers were not bad, but the highest one was only a positive goal, so at this time, saying such words, he was not afraid of offending people.

  "This..."

  It was clear that as soon as these words were spoken, Yan Zhongzhi and Zhang Shilun's faces fell, but when they saw the impatience on the faces of their sworn brothers around them, they also realized that it was indeed their own group that was holding everyone back.

  "Needless to say, Zhang Zhi, you follow He Ce (Chu Guangpeng) and the others first, make sure to confirm the time of the uprising and the task notification to the Eighth Engineering Regiment and the brothers of the Left and Right Flags. Remember... remember... brothers, we will meet again if fate permits..."

  The chaotic footsteps in the distance were getting closer and closer. Yan Zhongzhi suddenly snatched a gun from a wounded brother beside him, pointed at two familiar new army soldiers without saying a word, and walked out of the small woods. Soon after, a burst of gunfire echoed from afar.

  "Let's go!"

  Zhang Shilun knew that this was not the time to fight anymore, a hint of pain flashed in his eyes, he picked up one of his brothers who had been shot in the leg and fell to the ground, leading them towards the Chu Wang Tai military arsenal near the Zhonghe Gate!

  "Go..."

  Seeing Chu Guangpeng still hesitating, He Lige frowned and pulled him along, carefully guarding the rear of the team as they marched further and further away...