Chapter 44: Capture of Chu Wang Tai

  Just as the 8th camp was in chaos, Cai Jimin, who was closest to the city's 15th Brigade of the 29th Regiment of the 8th Town Army, personally led a group of armed and loaded soldiers patrolling back and forth in the camp.

  "Hello, sir..."

  "Hello..."

  All the soldiers he met on the road treated him with courtesy, and even those who were not familiar with him had to admit that within the 29th Division, if they talked about prestige, this man didn't need three stripes to be superior. Especially since the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement, after two battalions of the 29th Division were dispatched to Sichuan, although his position was not promoted, in fact he had already taken over the management of the second battalion!

  Don't look at Cai Jizhou being somewhat short and thin, even in history with a reputation that is not prominent. In fact, if it weren't for his good character, dislike of competing for power and influence, plus dying young, he would have been written down as a major figure in the annals of later generations!

  Cai Jizong, originally named Guo Zhen, styled Xiangyuan and Youxiang. A native of Huangbei, Hubei Province. Well-versed in classical studies and skilled in poetry and literature. In 1901, he joined the Hubei New Army and later entered the Hubei Military Primary School. Soon after, he held positions such as battalion chief, company commander, and others in the Eighth Division of the Hubei Army. In 1906, he participated in organizing the Daily Knowledge Society and subsequently joined the Progressive Association, the Officers' Research Group, the Gongzhixue She (a revolutionary organization), and the Literary Society. Through an introduction by Zhang Binglin, he joined the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance and served as the director of the Hubei branch's advisory department. During the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement, he worked tirelessly to unite the Progressive Association and the Literary Society, drafting plans for a rebellion. He can be considered one of the leaders of the Wuchang Uprising and was among the few leaders who escaped capture by the Qing government.

  On October 9, 1911, the uprising plan was exposed. On the morning of the 10th, Peng, Liu and Yang three martyrs were killed, and the situation became urgent. Because a Russian patrol carelessly tore off a list with his name on it, Cai Jizong narrowly escaped arrest by the Qing government and hid in pain.

  At 7:30 pm on the day of the original strength, due to the exposure of the Eighth Engineering Battalion, the uprising was launched ahead of schedule. He led the comrades in the 29th Brigade to respond and first controlled the 29th Brigade. Then he led the armed revolutionary army to launch a fierce attack on the Governor's Office, laying the foundation for the new army in the city to gather at the Chu Wangtai Arsenal. However, this also made him lose the command of the new army in the city, and Wu Zhaolin, a middle-of-the-road faction, took over.

  Although he was meticulous in his thinking, he lacked some military command skills. The 29th Brigade launched a fierce attack on the heavily guarded Governor's Office with their bodies, although it prevented the surrounding Qing troops from supporting the uprising of various battalions in the city, but also paid a huge price in casualties and failed to capture the Governor's Office.

  Fortunately, he came up with an idea and ordered someone to take cotton clothes, pour kerosene, and set fire. In an instant, the Governor's Office was on fire, providing a target for the artillery team. This severely injured the defenders inside the Governor's Office, but the 29th Brigade, which had suffered heavy losses, was unable to pursue, allowing the Governor of Hubei and Hunan, Rui Ceng, and the commander of the Eighth Battalion, Zhang Biao, to escape.

  Later, he led his troops to capture the Provincial Government Office. The Hubei Military Government was established, but he did not like to fight for power and only served as the head of the Strategic Department. During the Xiangxia War, Huang Xing went to Han to serve as the commander-in-chief, and Cai E served as the deputy chief of staff. Every time there was a battle, he had to personally direct the troops. Huang praised him as "the giant of the Hubei military".

  Later, he was in charge of military affairs, rectifying the army, and educating the soldiers. The officers all respected him, and Zhang Taiyan praised him as "one of the 28 generals of the Later Han". To comfort the wounded soldiers, he presided over the establishment of the Iron-Blooded Wounded Soldiers' Relief Association and served as its president. He also established an orphanage to educate the children of the martyrs.

  In October 1912, Yuan Shikai appointed Cai E as a lieutenant general in the army, but he declined. Yuan then ordered him to come to Beijing, but Cai remained in Hubei and did not go. In early 1913, he was appointed chief of staff by Li Yuanhong, the governor of Hubei. After the "Song case" broke out, he participated in the formation of an improvement team in Hubei, led the opposition to Yuan, but failed and fled to Japan. The next year, he joined the Chinese Revolutionary Party. Yuan repeatedly sent emissaries to Japan with large sums of money and sweet words to persuade him to return home, but Cai was unmoved. In January 1915, he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Hubei revolutionary army by Sun Yat-sen. In the spring of 1916, he gathered his old troops in Wuhan and launched a movement with the artillery team, but failed due to lack of coordination. In November 1917, he participated in the Jingzhou autonomous campaign, briefly occupied Guangji and Longping in Hubei, and then captured Wuxue. After losing, he went to Guangzhou via Sichuan and attended a military conference convened by Tang Jiyao, commander-in-chief of the Sichuan-Yunnan-Guizhou allied army. He later returned to Hubei and became the commander-in-chief of the Western Hubei Pacification Army in Lichuan, where he continued the struggle for constitutional protection. On January 28, 1919, he was killed by Fang Huasan, a brigade commander from Sichuan, and his remains were buried on the left side of Zhuodao Spring in Wuchang, with an epitaph reading "The tomb of Cai E, lieutenant general and hero of the First Revolution".

  It seems that apart from the Wuchang Uprising, he did not achieve any remarkable achievements throughout his life. However, after careful consideration, one can understand the underlying reasons. In the Hubei New Army, the strongest and most influential force was still the Gongjinhui, although it was nominally subordinate to the Tongmenghui, but outsiders were difficult to know about the internal interests and disputes. The second group, Qunchuxueshe, had been pursued by the imperial court and its power was greatly reduced compared to before. Wenxueshe was also the same, having lost too many key members in the Qing government's crackdown before the uprising. Therefore, although Cai Jiemin held a high position, he actually did not have a deep foundation within the revolutionary party, and he had never been good at competing for power or authority. His expertise lay in assisting and advising, rather than fighting or commanding. After the success of the Wuchang Uprising, they encountered a series of fierce battles, and those who had experience on the front lines, such as Xiong Bingkun, were more influential within the new army. Huang Xing, who was not good at commanding, suffered a great defeat in Hanyang and fled with the Beiyang Army, leaving the situation in Wuchang chaotic. The revolutionary party members who had been vying for power behind the scenes suddenly lost their leader and could only push forward the previously neglected Li Yuanhong to command the revolutionary army against the invading Beiyang Army. This eventually allowed Li to establish his prestige within the revolutionary army, and soon after, he eliminated Sun Wu and others who had lost military power, thoroughly grasping control of Hubei.

  Let's not mention these for now.

  Just then, Cai Jimin was leading the team on patrol when he suddenly heard a burst of urgent gunfire in his ear. He waved his hand to signal the patrolling soldiers to stop and listened carefully, his face suddenly changing color.

  How did you know? It turned out that the gunshot actually came from the direction of Chu Wangtai, if...if it was really as he thought, then things would get troublesome!

  "Captain... is something wrong over there?"

  The several people following Cai Jimin were also revolutionaries who knew the scheduled time for the uprising. When they suddenly heard the sound of gunfire coming from that direction, they panicked and hastily gathered around him to ask what was happening.

  Cai Jimin's face was gloomy, he shook his head and looked in that direction with a worried expression, "I don't know, maybe something unexpected happened..."

  Also seeing Zhou Ren's face change, with a bitter expression on his mouth, he thought for a moment, "Tell the brothers to prepare, we..."

  "Boom!"

  A loud cannon shot came from the direction of Nanhu Camp. Cai Jimin had originally planned to send a few people over to take a look, but now it's really impossible!

  Cai Jimin took a look and thought that he couldn't delay any longer, so he quickly raised the gun in his hand, pulled back the bolt, fired a shot into the air, and then ordered the soldiers beside him: "Quickly...hurry up and control the camp..."

  Another team of patrolmen not far from the camp heard the gunshot, and the first few people's faces lit up with joy. After recognizing each other at a glance, they took out the red silk strips that had been prepared long ago and tied them to their arms. They also loaded the bullets and then ran towards him!

  Among them, one of the men turned around the corner and saw that the newcomers were Cai Jimin and others who had already tied red cloth strips on their arms. He was overjoyed in his heart and before he arrived, he heard a loud shout: "Brother Cai, shall we rise up now?"

  Cai Jimin nodded and took two steps forward, walking to the middle of the two teams that were about to merge. He smiled slightly, revealing a set of white teeth: "Li Heyan, you lead a team to immediately attack the central camp, and must capture all the officers working there. He Fei and Dong Hua will go to the barracks to organize the brothers to attack the 30th battalion on the side. We'll take down the camp as soon as possible, then march towards the military governor's office..."

  Perhaps due to his solid foundation as a staff officer, Cai Jimin, although startled, did not panic in the face of the sudden chaos. He quickly calmed down the premature uprising and arranged the tasks for later with just a few words. However, some tension was unavoidable, so he took a deep breath, suppressed all distractions, and led a team to rush out. As they passed by the barracks and dormitories, he saw a group of new soldiers without red armbands transporting sandbags to block the entrance of the barracks, while another pair of men were frantically pouring bullets into the courtyard. Knowing that he had encountered the enemy, Cai immediately ordered his soldiers: "Everyone, take aim and fire accurately!"

  Between the shouts, the gun in his hand also rose, targeting an officer holding a command knife and directing, with a loud bang, hitting his shoulder, instantly losing command, the opposing sniper team became chaotic.

  The barracks area was shaken by the sound of gunfire, and some soldiers who had not listened carefully to the mutiny in the engineering battalion now understood that their own battalion was also in chaos, with gunshots ringing out everywhere. Since the commanders of each unit had secretly informed them of the time of the uprising, everyone knew that it might be necessary to advance the schedule. They quickly grabbed their weapons and rushed out of their barracks, attacking from both inside and outside, and soon defeated the Qing soldiers who were blocking their way.

  After the soldiers rushed out of the barracks, Cai Jimin had unknowingly gathered hundreds of soldiers around him. Following previous orders, he let He Fei and Dong Hua lead a team to charge towards the 30th banner on the side, while he led the remaining soldiers to swarm and defeat two groups of enemy snipers in the camp, then rushed out of the camp and advanced straight towards the direction of the governor's office!