Chapter 64: Holding Up Murder

  In the city of Wuchang, with the fall of the Governor's Office and the escape of the 8th Division, Wu Zhaolin ordered people to recruit a dozen foreign photographers, who took pictures of the captured former Hubei Governor Ruicheng. The photos were printed on flyers and scattered throughout the city. Suddenly, most of the Qing soldiers in the city put down their weapons, and even the two battalions of Zhang Biao's elite troops outside Tonghuamen and Zhonghemen gates, who had suffered heavy losses, chose to surrender. For the revolutionary soldiers, victory was already within sight.

  However, the subsidence of the war did not mean that the situation in the city also subsided. On the contrary, it became even more chaotic because of some people.

  The residents living in the streets near where the insurgent soldiers and Qing troops were fighting saw the fire burning more and more fiercely, fearing that the fire would spread, so they hastily packed up their belongings, dragged their families along, and under instinctive urge, fled towards the outskirts of the city amidst the sound of gunfire and shouting filling the entire city, planning to hide in the countryside for a while until the war subsided before returning.

  It is better to be a dog in peaceful times than to be a man in chaotic times.

  In the peaceful years, the common people lived a hard life, and in the chaotic world, their lives were as fragile as grass. However, encountering such chaos, hoping for others to change this fate of displacement was also impossible. The only way out was to join the revolution and end this chaotic era as soon as possible. There were also those who refused to be mediocre, with a firm determination in their hearts, following the principle that "royalty and nobility are not born but made", they loudly rallied relatives and younger brothers to chase after the fleeing Qing soldiers, snatching weapons, regardless of the outcome, ultimately not living a life in vain.

  Under the influence of this idea, some carefree poor men carrying wooden sticks and holding bricks also joined in the attack on the fleeing Qing army. There were also the Red Gang and Hongmen heroes from all over the city, although at this time the war was about to subside, with or without them it didn't matter!

  The sound of gunfire gradually subsided, but inside and outside the city, due to the previous bombardment, especially in the southwest corner where the original governor's office and the Eighth Town Command were located, flames rose into the sky, a scene of the end of the world.

  On the night of October 10, 1911, around 10 o'clock, after several hours of fierce fighting, with the desperate efforts of the new army in various parts of the city and the hard work of the three battalions of the uprising army, under the deadly sniping of the Hubei New Army's Nanhu Cannon Camp, which was originally stationed outside the city, the Qing army, which had far superior strength to the uprising forces, finally lost control of the entire Wuchang City. The original governor of Hubei, Rui Cheng, was captured, and at the same time, Li Yuanhong, the commander of the 21st Mixed Brigade, was also captured. By around 10 o'clock that night, the 29th Battalion, led by Cai Jimin, had completed its rearmament and rejoined forces with Li Han's Iron First Battalion, which had already broken away from the battle with the remnants of the Eighth Town. After a barrage of more than ten minutes from over a dozen large cannons, the last stronghold of the Qing army, the Baozhengsi (the Governor's Office), also fell into the hands of the uprising forces. Thus, the revolutionary army thoroughly occupied all strategic locations, including the Chuwangtai military depot, She Mountain, Fenghuang Mountain, Zuo and You Qiying camps, Liangshu General Bureau, Huayuan Mountain, as well as the telegraph office, telephone office, and railway bureau inside the city. Amidst the soaring flames and the cannon fire of the revolutionary army, Wuchang, this ancient city of a thousand years, solemnly declared its liberation ahead of schedule by more than ten hours!

  History has been rewritten at this moment!

  After handing over the defense of the city to Cheng Zhengying, who arrived later with his troops, Cai Jimin led the 29th Division to clear up the remnants of the rebels around the Huanghe Building. It is said that the main generals of various departments will gather at the Ziyihui Bureau to discuss the next battle plan, so the war in the city must be ended as soon as possible.

  Li Han was also on the invitation list, and more than that... he also received a new task.

  "Recover firearms and suppress the rioters in the city..."

  The order was passed to Cheng Zhengying, who seemed a bit stiff, and Li Han responded. The city's defeat by the Qing army had left behind a large number of guns and bullets, which were scattered all over the streets along the main roads. This attracted some thugs and hoodlums, who took advantage of the situation to loot the weapons. Some of these people, after obtaining the weapons, immediately revealed their true nature, going from street to street robbing shops, and killing anyone who resisted. What was even more infuriating was that they claimed to be part of the "Revolutionary Army", severely damaging the reputation of the uprising army and causing panic among the city's residents. Of course, it was inevitable that members of the Red Gang and the Hongmen were involved in this chaos. To prevent the situation from getting out of hand again, measures had to be taken.

  For these scoundrels who seized the fruits of revolution, Li Han was not afraid to offend anyone. He dispatched several companies under his command, with at least one machine gun per company, to suppress and search for attackers along the main streets and alleys in the city. Those who wore military uniforms but were arrogant and held firearms, as well as those who took advantage of the chaos to set fires and kill people, would be disarmed on the spot. Anyone who dared to disobey orders, regardless of whether they were supporters of the revolution or members of the Red Gang, would be summarily executed by firing squad!

  After receiving the order, Iron One Regiment, except for the third company that was severely damaged and almost crippled in a fierce battle with the Eighth Town at the dock, and the fourth company that was left to rest and reorganize, the remaining four companies killed more than 100 thugs who were looting and burning within less than half an hour. They even fought against the Red Gang armed forces who were looting a silver store in the city under the banner of "Revolutionary Army", thoroughly defeating them and leaving nearly a hundred corpses behind. At the same time, Cai Jimin also beheaded more than 100 rioters at the Huanghe Building ruins, thus thoroughly intimidating those who intended to take advantage of the chaos in the city, gradually grasping control of the originally chaotic situation.

  This operation, with just one battalion under Li Han's command, collected over 700 good rifles, nearly a hundred damaged ones, tens of thousands of bullets, and five machine guns. The area was then handed over to Wu Xinghan's new patrol battalion after it had been pacified.

  Up to now, Wuchang City successfully ended the short-term anarchic situation caused by the hasty revolution. In the midst of the revolutionary flames and smoke, the "Provisional Revolutionary Military Government" was declared established, and the appointment documents for all levels of military government officials were immediately issued.

  When Li Hanming took over the appointment letter from Wu Xinghan, the newly appointed commander of the First Patrol Battalion, his face showed some fatigue. He had just finished counting the captured weapons and was thinking about whether the failure to stop Zhang Biao with three companies would affect his future plans.

  "Order, Li Han has talent and has made contributions in our uprising. He is specially appointed as the commander of the first battalion of the Hubei Revolutionary New Army. Due to the war not being over, he can recruit soldiers for his battalion on his own, but must not disturb the people. Otherwise, he will be severely punished by military law! On behalf of Wu Zhaolin, Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Army"

  "What? Appoint me as the first target of the banner?" Li Han flipped through the appointment document and suddenly felt that there must be something strange about it.

  Although Wu Zhaolin has been highly praised throughout history, and he himself had a long-standing relationship with Wu Shen. However, saints are also human, let alone the fact that he had previously offended him due to the uprising, and it was inevitable that he could obtain this first banner of the Banner System.

  After thousands of years of historical influence, the nation attaches great importance to competing for merits and ranking. As he had offended the revolutionary party of the Gongjin Society in his previous life, it was impossible for him to be granted the position of "First" commander-in-chief of this revolutionary army. It would be strange if there were no strange things inside.

  Even if Wu Zhaolin is really broad-minded and not on the same level as others, there are many leaders in the city who have stood up for justice, not just Wu Zhaolin. The opposition from the Gongjin Hui and Tongmenghui alone is not small, let alone those officials who are eager to be the leader of the Jianghu party. Even if the revolution succeeds, it will be difficult for this man with an unknown background to enjoy the honor of being the first leader.

  "This matter, Brother Li should thank Commander Wu and General Xiong for. If it weren't for Commander Wu's strong recommendation, even threatening to resign from the position of Grand Marshal, and General Xiong's praise that you use troops like a god, saying that without you, our revolutionary army might not have succeeded, only then was the discord suppressed, and we fought for this first place for you," Wu Xinghan reminded with a smile.

  "This time, apart from Brother Li, there are also Brothers Dai and Cai, plus the 8th and 32nd battalions that have defected within the city, making a total of five!"

  He didn't show any envy in his words, but seeing Li Han's face without a hint of complacency, he instead looked like he was frowning and deep in thought. Suddenly recalling the news he had heard earlier, he realized that the other party had already understood the various three-pointers.

  However, be more careful in the future, Brother Li.

  "Wu Xinghan kindly reminded him, 'There are many people in the city who are dissatisfied with this matter, especially comrades from the 8th Battalion and the 5th Battalion, 8th Regiment, as well as the engineering team. Many brothers also have great dissatisfaction with this matter. If you encounter someone looking for trouble in the future, it's better to yield three points... Wu Mou still has a task on his body, so he bid farewell..."

  After finishing speaking, he bowed to him and turned around to lead his team away.

  It turns out that Wu Xinghan was also a wonderful person. In his early years, he had participated in the Gongjin Society, but because of his dissatisfaction with Sun Wu and others' arrogance, which seemed to turn the Gongjin Society into a dictatorship, he offended Sun Wu and others. If it weren't for Liu Gong's intervention, he would have been at odds with Sun Wu. Therefore, he didn't have much good feeling towards some people in the Gongjin Society who had become arrogant before the revolution even started. That was why when he left, he reminded him of something.

  It was also because of this sentence that Li Han finally came to a sudden realization soon after he left, and his mind only had two words - 'killing with praise'.

  He thought, perhaps he had already figured out what Wu Zhaolun was up to!