Chapter 53 Ambushing Rui Cheng (Merged into one large chapter)

  A secluded place outside Wuchang's Wenchang Gate

  Attack where they are not prepared... kill the enemy commander, our ancestors thousands of years ago had already proposed the truth of "capturing the king first", this tactic is precisely this principle. However, in those European and American military powers, they are accustomed to calling this tactic "decapitation tactics". That is, during a war, sending out elite soldiers who have received special training, taking advantage of the darkness or thick fog when the enemy relaxes their vigilance, quickly infiltrating the enemy's territory... assassinating local high-ranking commanders, such as a town governor... even the Minister of War, Regent King, etc. The purpose is to disrupt the enemy, or quickly end the war in its budding stage with lightning-fast means, intimidating the enemy soldiers.

  "Report... Forward Intelligence..."

  Just as Li Han was carefully explaining, in detail, to the few soldiers beside him who had received a good education and whom he had previously selected, their current tactics, a hurried footsteps came from beside them.

  Li Han turned around and stopped instructing, nodding for him to recite it out loud.

  "Yes, reporting to Commander Pi, the First and Second Artillery Regiments have joined forces with the 29th Regiment. As per your orders, the big guns are concentrated in front of the Governor's Office, attacking the main gate. The dispatched messenger has informed the 29th Regiment of your intentions, and General Cai has agreed to your tactics. He has arranged for our brothers who came to reinforce us to surround the front, left, and right sides, blocking the path to the Governor's Office and Zhang Biao's reinforcement route. Only one escape route remains, directly from Wenchang Gate to the dock... However... General Cai requests that you resolve this quickly, as since we bombarded the Huguang Governor's Office, the reaction from the Governor's Office has been extremely strong. Zhang Biao has ordered a desperate attack at all costs... Currently, Commander Wu of the 30th Regiment and two soldiers have escaped, while the rest have been annihilated... General Cai has also blocked off the captured patrol battalion..."

  "Report... The scout has already spotted a group of people who escaped from the Governor's Mansion, and they are now less than 100 meters away. We will make contact soon!"

  Li Han rubbed his chin with a slightly itchy beard, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "He's here, that's good, not afraid he won't come... but if he comes, hum..."

  He raised the binoculars in his hand and slightly adjusted the focus, gazing at the torches of a team that had appeared in his field of vision.

  "Alright! How are the casualties on the 1st and 2nd squadrons' side?"

  "Report to the superior, currently 17 people have died in battle, 11 are seriously injured, and 43 are lightly injured. Most of them are from the second company, with only a few light injuries in the first artillery company..."

  Li Han finally let out a sigh of relief. Judging from the intensity of this battle, these losses are not considered major. It has to be said that the quality of the new army trained by the Qing government at the end of the Qing dynasty is still good. Although the Hubei New Army is slightly inferior to the Beiyang Six Divisions, as a new army that began to be trained during Zhang Zhidong's era, its quality is only second to that of the Beiyang New Army in the country.

  His heart was secretly excited, but this was his first time commanding so many people in such a bad situation. He couldn't help but feel some excitement. Considering that the three companies had already sent out a team to ambush at the dock, he was afraid that there would be no other way out. As someone who knew history, he remembered that Rui Cun had escaped under Zhang Biao's protection during the uprising when the new army surrounded the governor's office... This led to the originally planned one-night rebellion being prolonged for several days before finally taking control of Wuhan's three towns, and also left behind the hidden danger of Zhang Biao's unit, which put the revolutionary army at a disadvantage in the subsequent 40-day Yangxia Battle.

  "I command!"

  "Yes!"

  As soon as he was about to issue the latest combat orders, a young soldier standing next to him immediately stood up and took out a notebook and pen from his ribs, ready to take notes!

  It turned out that this new army was still a place where personal talents emerged. At the time of Chu Wangtai, Li Han was worried that after a large number of new soldiers from various departments joined in, the combat effectiveness of Tieyi Camp would decline or his command authority would be questioned... As a result, he let out a sigh of relief. Although there were some discordant voices within the team, they didn't pose a threat to him. Except for a few people who showed unusual expressions and caught his attention, he was still able to grasp this expanded Tieyi Camp. Moreover, someone soon reminded him that these new soldiers were trained according to Western military standards, so there were some low-ranking officers with deputy positions who might not have the same command experience as those from traditional military backgrounds. However, most of the deputy officers had received training at the Army Primary School and could be used in emergency situations. Therefore, except for a few people whose faces showed unusual expressions, dozens of reserve officers were temporarily promoted to regular officers under his orders. He also promised that he would evaluate each officer during battles and those who qualified would be formally promoted, even with promotions!

  "Alright, Squad 1, hide as ordered and block their retreat once they come in. Squad 2, get ready... As soon as we open fire on our side, launch a full-force attack..."

  "Yes, sir..."

  "Also, send someone to inform the 1st and 2nd Battalions that I don't want our brothers to suffer too many casualties. Inform Captain Chen of the 1st Battalion not to be stingy with artillery shells, use them to annihilate all resistance!"

  Li Han calmly ordered, when he was still a small military officer in the Chengdu Military Region, at that time the domestic army had already begun to advocate for the Western "zero casualties" goal and began to tighten up the construction of the army's firepower. Although the casualties of Tieling No. 1 Camp were already very small in this era, he could not allow it! Not to mention that Tieling No. 1 Camp was the first armed force he had mastered with great effort, and might even become the foundation for his future conquest of China, he absolutely could not afford to lose too much blood and treasure in a war of internal strife! Of course, he also felt some heartache over the high casualty compensation he had spoken of.

  "Yes, sir!"

  Li Han may have had some mixed thoughts, but the other newly promoted officers in the battalion didn't think so, especially the ten soldiers who had been to the Hubei Army Military Academy and had received primary, secondary, and higher education, as well as possessing some Western knowledge. In their minds, this new officer, who was said to have served abroad, really cared about his soldiers and was a good leader!

  It was also Li Han's good fortune that, if it weren't for the severe shortage of qualified commanders in the uprising, he wouldn't have been given the command of a regiment so easily. Moreover, although the soldiers selected by Xiong Bingkun were not particularly robust, they were all spirited young men, which was quite good for this era. Since the new army had received some education, Li Han could pick out some decent ones and temporarily make them his adjutants to prepare for setting up a staff office, where he would teach them some things. As a military family heir, not only did he receive regular education from one of the top military universities in the Republic era, but he also read many books on war strategies. Although he had no experience commanding even a hundred men, which general was promoted overnight? And isn't it said that three cobblers are equal to one Zhuge Liang? As long as these reserve officers could learn some future warfare methods from him, whether it be World War I, World War II, or even after World War II, he would be content!

  "Pass down the order, strictly prohibit any noise, and wait for the enemy to enter the ambush circle..."

  Li Han said coldly.

  "Is it... sir... uh, are we supposed to capture Ryōchō alive?"

  The reserve officer who was being interrogated, named Li Donglai, raised his head with some confusion.

  "Huh?"

  "Sir, think carefully about it. That old thief has an irreconcilable feud with our revolutionary new army, and many of my Han people have died at his hands. Please, sir..."

  Li Han furrowed his brow. The hatred of the Han people towards the Manchu people, who had oppressed them for hundreds of years, was not ordinary. He knew that later generations, in order to maintain national peace, had kept some information from being made public. In fact, he had seen some internal documents brought back by his father, who worked in a military school, which revealed why the Qing dynasty never regained power after its downfall. It wasn't just due to the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion, but also because of the self-organized massacres of Manchu people by civilians who had suffered under their oppression, which thoroughly crippled the foundation for the Qing's resurgence. However... he shook his head, "The blood of my revolutionary comrades will not be shed in vain. If we capture him, let's spare his life for now. Conveniently, I need a scapegoat for my uprising, Rui Ceng... humph, someone will deal with him. But notify the brothers... to prevent anyone from escaping, don't hold back..."

  The meaning of this last sentence was already very clear, and the few people beside him were obviously not fools, so they all immediately understood what he meant!

  It is...

  Lieutenant Lee Donglai quickly finished writing the record and handed it to a messenger standing next to him, continuing to wait for his orders.

  Li Han recalled, looking to see if there were any other loopholes, when a hint of vigilance suddenly flashed across his face, almost forgetting it. "Tell Sanlian Tan Jiangmin's department to send someone who is fluent in English to the dock to contact the Austro-Hungarian Floberg Shipping Company's cargo ship and tell them that it was the gentleman from this afternoon. Let them quickly prepare the ship, we will use it later!"

  In the distance, one could already see the torch-bearing procession that stood out even more in the dark of night. One could see their destination was the dock, where Zhang Biao had gathered the remaining thousands of Qing soldiers from the city. Not wanting to fall into such a situation in later generations, he had secretly used his tactics... hoping not to disappoint him!

  "Yes, sir!"

  Look, he was also called "adult", Li Han was used to it, and after rolling his eyes, he didn't bother to care about these things. He waved his hand to let him hurry up and report. He adjusted the equipment on himself, raised the binoculars in his hand, and continued to look forward. The gunfire from the Governor's Mansion had gradually become sparse, although there were still some, but he was more worried about the side of the Training Public Office, Zhang Biao's eighth town elite were all there, although they were temporarily at a disadvantage due to being caught off guard... ...if Chu Wangtai didn't hurry up, not to mention the 29th mark, even the second battalion he sent over would be in danger...

  Wearing night vision goggles, he watched the team of four horse-drawn carriages and forty or fifty Qing soldiers with guns and ammunition. Li Han estimated the distance...

  "It's almost done..."

  As the tail of the motorcade entered their encirclement, the tense atmosphere finally relaxed. Li Han raised his QCW05, which only had one last clip left, without attaching a silencer. The people beside him saw him aim at one of the horsemen and immediately followed suit, raising their guns to aim!

  Hit!

  One angry shout, because the wind direction was not calculated well, as a result that one shot did not hit the target's chest, but also after hitting his shoulder, he fell off the horse.

  "Not good... Quick, protect the master and retreat, there's an ambush..."

  "Go quickly... step back..."

  "There is an enemy..."

  "Hit..."

  "Boom!"

  The clamor and curses were particularly desolate amidst the dense gunfire, but on this battlefield it was either you die or I perish, where would there be time to bother with what you said? Even the second company's machine gun had been set up and was firing wildly... Not long after, a group of ambushed people were crying out in pain, throwing away their weapons and surrendering...

  The soldiers' hatred had not yet dissipated, but seeing Li Han's unwavering face, no one dared to voice their opinions anymore. After all, Li Han had brought four light machine guns when he set up the ambush, and being able to survive under the crossfire of four machine guns was proof that his time hadn't come... at least not yet.

  The second team ran over with guns to sweep the battlefield, while the first team stood guard around them. They quickly finished cleaning up the battlefield.

  "Grass...still doesn't die even like this...really has a big life..."

  "Wow... so many..."

  "Keep your voice down..."

  Just as Li Hansi was thinking about his next move, there was a sudden commotion and cheers all around, which startled him. He quickly looked up to see that the staff officers around him were all equally bewildered!

  "Adults... adults..."

  "What's wrong? What's going on?"

  Seizing the new soldier who was running over, Li Han asked!

  "Sir, we've won! We've caught Rui Xuan!"

  "Really?"

  Can't hide the excitement on his face!

  "Yes, sir. But he has fainted and is in that carriage over there... Besides, it would be better if you went to take a look..."

  The orderly took a canteen of water from an aide and drank two gulps, then said to them with joy!

  "Long live!"

  "Long live, we have won!"

  "Long live the revolution!"

  "What's wrong?" Li Han asked after seeing him finish drinking water.

  "It's silver... and there are many small yellow fish, you'd better go take a look..."