Chapter 68 Layout

  In the midst of running naked

  "Yes, sir! I ordered a few clever soldiers to disguise themselves as Green Skin and infiltrate the scattered armed groups of the gang. As a result, we heard some small news from that group..."

  Li Han saw him frowning and stopping mid-sentence, and suddenly understood a bit more.

  "Go on..."

  "Yes, sir. It has been learned through internal channels that several leaders of the party have made contact with some dragon heads, seemingly to give a certain revolutionary army commander a good show, but the soldiers I sent to investigate found that the other side is very likely to be from the Progressive Association... because those people are overly concerned about this matter and also cannot be identified as belonging to any particular department, they have already exposed themselves and had to escape..."

  Li Han frowned and thought to himself, "Indeed", nodded, "Did we scare the snake out of the grass? Did you hear any specific content inside?"

  "Report to the superior, no! Also, near the artillery battalion's garrison, soldiers discovered that a few people from the Progressive Association personally welcomed someone in and sent him out about a minute later. I dispatched someone to follow that person and found that the last place he entered was the current Fifth Battalion Commander Xiong Bingkun's garrison... According to reliable information, the commander-in-chief might have also been inside the camp at the time..."

  The fifth mark? Xiong Bingkun and Wu Zhaolin also joined in?

  "Is the news reliable?"

  "The news is reliable. According to the information from Chu Wang Tai, the commander-in-chief did go out during that time period... but it's not clear where he went or who he met..."

  Li Han frowned, but in his heart he was secretly lamenting that it's no wonder the various forces of the south couldn't defeat Yuan Datou and take control of the newly born national government. Just when this revolution had a glimmer of hope, discordant voices appeared within. If the Qing dynasty hadn't been so corrupt with greedy officials, even if the revolutionary party had the backing of Japan's financial and military support, they wouldn't have been able to completely overthrow such a large empire in just a few short years!

  It seemed he hadn't finished speaking, so Li Han nodded for him to continue.

  "We had a budget of 10,000 silver dollars allocated by the authorities, with which we bought off several attendants close to the commander-in-chief and may have gathered some information about the content of tonight's meeting..."

  "Say..."

  "It may be related to the establishment of a military government, but the main issue is still the command problem of the revolutionary army within the city. According to one person we bribed, there may be obvious command problems among various departments, and... apart from the existing five battalions in the city, there are also 2,500 people left over... his meaning is that there may be some hidden agenda among these more than 2,000 people..."

  After saying all this, Li Donglai finally closed the notebook in his hand and stood quietly there waiting for him to give instructions.

  "Command authority?"

  Stroking the faint whiskers on his chin, Li Han remained silent.

  "Really?"

  In memory, Wu Zhaolin seemed to be the commander of the first battalion of the Wuchang Revolutionary Army, and even the commander of the First Regiment afterwards.

  "Get your people back, and be careful not to reveal anything. Also, clean up the tail of the party on that side. When I go to attend the meeting later, don't follow me, stay here and direct in my place. How's the arrangement of your things going?"

  "Report, the troops of the 3rd, 4th and 5th regiments as well as the artillery have boarded the ship according to orders. The foreign gentleman asked me to inform you that he guarantees the safe transportation of the personnel to their destination. Also, the telegraph machines you ordered have arrived, a total of three sets, one of which was brought by the troops of the 3rd regiment. However, since we don't have anyone who knows how to use them, I sent someone to the Mapping Academy to find some students who know something about it... Once the mission is completed, I guarantee that I will notify the superior officer at the first opportunity. The cargo ship is flying a foreign flag, which rules out the possibility of any accidents during the crossing!"

  Li Dong came with a face full of admiration and saluted him, which was also the reason why he was willing to take the initiative to stand out and assist in building the Intelligence Bureau for this new superior officer. Before the revolution had succeeded, this gentleman had already made most of the preparations. As soon as the situation in Wuchang City had stabilized, his eyes were already fixed on the other two towns. This kind of strategy and mind made him extremely convinced that the country's resurgence was not something that could be blown up with just one mouth, without a leader who was capable of taking action, everything was empty talk.

  "That's great!"

  Li Han nodded, leaning back in his chair to quietly think about whether he had missed anything. His eyes inadvertently swept over Li Dong's face for a moment, and he faintly saw a hint of hesitation on his face. He furrowed his brow, "Speak up, what else did you miss?"

  "Yes, sir, there's another piece of information, but..." Li Donglai didn't say it out loud, fearing that if he did, it would provoke some action from the new officer in front of him, which could have an even worse impact on the already precarious situation within the city.

  "Speak!"

  Li Han is not a fool, but rather very clever. From his hesitation to speak, he has already understood that this message may not be what he wants to see, and it may even seriously harm his own interests!

  "Yes, we received intelligence that about half a time ago, a wounded soldier from the 2nd company left the barracks under the pretext of buying medicine and never came back. A certain squad from the 4th company who were patrolling near the camp saw a familiar soldier from the 5th company contacting several suspicious men. They sent one person to follow them, then they circled around in the city for a while before entering the barracks of the 8th artillery regiment and never came out again!"

  Sneaked a glance at Li Han's gloomy and iron-green face, but seeing that he didn't have any extreme instructions, only then did he let out a sigh of relief and continued speaking.

  "Because the superior had previously instructed not to provoke trouble, so the new soldier retreated. In addition, I just sent someone to investigate in the camp and found that some people are openly inciting soldiers to oppose your leadership, with the 2nd company and the newly formed 7th, 8th and 9th companies being the most serious. There were even people distributing revolutionary pamphlets, and they were also...also speaking out of turn. Currently, I have grasped 17 people, and I suspect there may be more..."

  "This is all the intelligence gathered in the past hour. Since the Intelligence Bureau is still under construction, there may be some omissions and errors in the intelligence. Please instruct, sir!"

  Li Han narrowed his eyes and nodded, his right hand supporting his chin as he fell into deep thought.

  Li Donglai stood quietly beside him until a long while later, when a shout came from outside the door, he finally made a move and gently pushed Li Han who was deep in thought.

  "Report to the superior officer, the Ziyuan Bureau has sent another note. The person dispatched by the Commander-in-Chief is still waiting outside for your response. Do you think it's time to go now?"

  "Go!"

  A cold smile played on the corner of Li Han's mouth, and a glint of chill flashed in his eyes. "Go? Why not go? Some people would be delighted if I didn't go! Inform those below to make preparations according to orders, once... you understand what to do. Also, immediately eliminate any unstable elements within the organization, everything... it's better to err on the side of caution and not tolerate anyone causing trouble at this time!"

  A chill suddenly flashed across his back, and he remembered the new officer's previous words: "I would rather kill a thousand people than let anyone or any organization undermine my revolutionary success." "For the sake of revolutionary success, we must take drastic measures, even if it means being ruthless to defend our achievements." Li Dong was standing next to him at the time, and several members of an organization that had been discovered trying to stir up dissatisfaction among soldiers towards him, and even attempting to assassinate him when he was off guard, were now lying in a certain place in the city after a fierce battle. The man's methods and strategies were like those of a contemporary hero, and Li Dong was so frightened that his back was drenched with cold sweat as he hastily responded with a "yes".

  "Yes, sir! I guarantee to clean up all those with evil intentions!"

  "Bring me my gear and get those sharpshooters up here. You don't need to follow me in, just stick to the plan!"

  "Yes, sir..."