Chapter 49: The Harmony Gate Blocks the Enemy
It was just past 6 pm, and the sky had not yet completely darkened. Suddenly, gunfire erupted throughout the city, and a large fire raged outside Wusheng Gate. Deng Yulin knew that the uprising had begun, and he rushed out of the stables, firing his gun into the air and shouting for others to seize cannons and horses. His comrades poured out of their quarters, some pulling out mountain guns and opening fire on the small drill ground in response to the uprising, while others broke into the ammunition depot to seize shells, and others went to the stables to lead out horses and prepare carts. Deng Yulin pulled out a nine-pointed eighteen-starred flag from his pocket and ordered the soldiers to quickly hoist it up. A soldier found two bamboo poles used for mosquito nets in a house, hung the flag on them, and tied it to a large cannon. The red flag immediately fluttered in the wind.
At this time, the battalion commander Gong Guangming was visiting the north and had not returned. Officer Zhuo Zhanbiao rushed to the drill ground with a gun to stop the soldiers from pulling the cannon. However, no one listened to him, and they continued to do as they pleased. Zhuo Zhanbiao and Yang Qifeng did not dare to fire their guns, so they quickly returned to report to Commander Jiang Mingjing: "The soldiers are in chaos, please bring troops to suppress them." Jiang Mingjing snorted and said: "Even Zhang Biao has no solution, what good method do I have? I advise you two not to intervene, lest the soldiers become anxious and your lives be endangered." Zhuo Zhanbiao anxiously said: "If the officers don't intervene when the soldiers are in chaos, they will likely be implicated." Jiang Mingjing sneered at them: "Do you think that intervening would save you from being implicated? If you can't stop it, you'll still be dismissed and investigated. Now there are only two options: either join the revolutionary army or flee for your lives?"
Zhuo Zhanbiao and Yang Qifeng thought for a moment, didn't dare to join the revolutionary army, so they fled.
The soldiers were in a flurry, the cannons were hung on the carts, the carts were loaded with shells, and the horses were also harnessed to the carts, waiting for the order to be given to set off towards the Zhonghe Gate. Deng Yulin and Xu Wanhua suddenly found that Jiang Mingjing, He Liguang, and several team officers were also standing in the ranks. Deng Yulin was both delighted and surprised, and quickly ran a few steps to catch up with Jiang Mingjing, grasping his hand and saying: "I didn't get in touch with you yesterday, I thought something had happened to you." Jiang Mingjing smiled and said: "You know that our South Lake Artillery Team has always been the vanguard, how could we be absent from this revolutionary uprising against the Qing government? Come on, come on, we have some extra guns here, let's distribute them quickly and go together..."
Deng Yulin burst out laughing, "Right, right, right... Let's go together. We'll take down the Qing dynasty's life together."
After the two teams merged, their strength increased instantly, and soon they took down the entire Cannon 8 mark.
Deng Yulin ordered again, firing three shots to demonstrate military power. A large cannon slowly turned its muzzle towards the sky above Wuchang City, "Boom! Boom! Boom!" fired three shots in a row, and three flames whizzed over Wuchang City in an arc, falling into the Yangtze River, stirring up a pillar of water that reached the sky. The thunderous cannon fire shook Wuchang City, boosted the morale of the insurgent soldiers, struck at the spirit of the defending Qing troops, and shocked people within dozens of miles around. Amidst the rumbling of carts and neighing of horses, the 8th Battalion maintained its full formation, advancing bravely towards the Zhonghua Gate in Wuchang.
At that time, the 8th Cavalry Regiment and the 32nd Infantry Regiment were near the 8th Artillery Regiment. Hearing the sound of cannons roaring inside the artillery regiment, people shouting and horses neighing, they knew something was wrong. The commander of the 8th Cavalry Regiment, Yu Hualong, and the commander of the 32nd Infantry Regiment, Sun Guoan, hastily sent someone to report to Tie Zhong on horseback. Tie Zhong was shocked when he heard the news and immediately issued an order, calling for Yu Hualong and Sun Guobin to quickly dispatch troops to surround and annihilate the 8th Artillery Regiment.
At that time, 70% of the cavalry regiment participated in revolutionary activities, but not a single officer joined. On October 9th, the revolutionary party's notice to prepare for the uprising was received by Qi Guojun, the representative of the horse team, who immediately made active preparations for action. Unexpectedly, after waiting anxiously for a night, there was no news at all, and it wasn't until dawn that something had happened. That evening, before dinner time, Qi Guojun saw fires burning outside the city, gunfire ringing out inside the city, and cannon fire rumbling within the 8th regiment, knowing that the uprising had begun. He hastily gathered his comrades to prepare to follow behind the artillery team and enter the city to participate in the uprising.
Yu Hua Long received Tie Zhong's order, but before organizing the troops to attack, he saw that the situation was chaotic, with some soldiers gathering in formation, others watching from the side, and a few officers coming to ask for instructions. With his own safety at risk, how could he possibly lead the troops to surround and capture the 8th Battalion? He could only hold Tie Zhong's order and circle around outside the gate twice, not daring to provoke these soldiers who were on the verge of mutiny, pretending to be stupid and not executing Tie Zhong's order.
The 32nd Regiment, which remained in Nanhu, had only about two teams from the 2nd Battalion, plus other old and new soldiers who were left behind to guard, totaling over 400 people. Sun Changfu, a representative of the revolutionary party of the 32nd Regiment, had previously agreed with Meng Faquan of the 8th Artillery Regiment and Qi Guojun of the Cavalry Regiment to take concerted action. At this time, they heard the sound of cannons from the 8th Artillery Regiment, and revolutionaries Zheng Wenbin and Wang Lipeng immediately set fire in the kitchen to respond. In no time, the flames illuminated the entire barracks of the 32nd Regiment. At this time, Jin Mingshan, who was sent by the 8th Artillery Regiment to coordinate and mobilize, ran onto the drill ground and shouted loudly: "The entire 8th Artillery Regiment has risen up and entered the city, and we have come to ask you to provide cover for us!" The soldiers of the 32nd Regiment were even more inspired by this, and revolutionary Dai Hongying blew a whistle on the drill ground to assemble, and personnel from various regiments who were left behind rushed out, wanting to rise up and enter the city together with the revolutionaries.
Sun Guoan had received Tie Zhong's order to surround and bombard the 8th Route Army, but he was already powerless.
Ironically, his orders were no longer effective, and he was extremely angry. He sent another telegram to Sun Guoan of the 32nd Division, urging him to quickly pursue and suppress the 8th Artillery Regiment. The telegram read: "If your division can eliminate the 8th Artillery Regiment, I will report to the commander-in-chief and reward you heavily. If you hesitate and do not advance, you will be punished." Sun Guoan had no choice but to dispatch Officer Chu Ying, who led a hastily assembled team of soldiers to pursue the 8th Artillery Regiment.
Chu Ying led the troops to the Wu Tai Gate outside the Zhonghe Gate, and did not dare to move forward. He only ordered the troops to fire towards the city at this location. Not far from here, Ma Rong was defending, heard the sound of gunfire, knew that the Qing soldiers had come to make trouble, immediately led his men to charge towards Chu Ying's side. The revolutionary soldiers were incredibly brave, charging forward bravely, and killed Chu Ying's troops in a row, making them retreat repeatedly.
Chu Ying was already timid, and the revolutionary party members in the team took advantage of the opportunity to instigate some soldiers to mutiny, making it impossible for Chu Ying to control the situation. He had no choice but to lead the remaining defeated soldiers back to the 32nd Regiment's barracks. As soon as they arrived at the barracks, they encountered the soldiers of the 32nd Regiment who were going to respond to the uprising in the city under the leadership of Sun Changfu, and the soldiers of this team also followed suit. Chu Ying saw that if he stopped the soldiers from rebelling again, his life would be in danger, so he had no choice but to escape alone.
The 8th artillery battalion entered the city smoothly under the cover of Jin Zhaorong, Ma Rong and Xu Shaobin. After entering the city, they immediately closed the gates according to the order of the uprising, placed the four large cannons on the city wall of Zhonghe Gate, and fiercely bombarded the Qing army's camp outside the city. Suddenly, flames rose in the Qing army's camp, cannon fire rumbled, wherever the shells hit, walls collapsed and houses fell, dense rows of Qing soldiers fell to the ground. The incomplete bodies of the Qing soldiers, the groans of the wounded soldiers, the uncertainty of the situation, and the great psychological panic greatly shook the Qing army's line of defense. Suddenly, they blocked the two battalions of Qing soldiers who were ordered to enter the city to suppress the revolution.
At the same time, in the city's governor's office, the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable for the revolutionary army.
