Chapter 53: How Arrogance is Tempered

  Tianjin Xiao Zhan, Yuan Shikai also gave soldiers a few days off due to the New Year's holiday. The newly arrived German instructor in Dingwu Army did not understand Chinese time expressions and asked Yuan Shikai: "Yuan, is one day equal to one ri?"

  Yuan Shikai replied: "Right, one day is just one day."

  Yuan Shikai, in order to win people's hearts, set up a grand banquet and invited many subordinates such as Xu Shichang, Jiang Guiti, Ren Yongqing, Zhang Xun, Liu Yongqing, Wu Changchun, Wu Fengling, Jiang Chaozong, etc. They were drinking and having fun inside the newly purchased mansion of Yuan Shikai, which was not far from the Xiaogan military camp.

  Unfortunately, fate had other plans for Little Yuan today. Just as everyone was in high spirits and having a great time, the officer left in charge of the military camp, Wang Tongyu, rushed in frantically.

  Yuan Shikai was also slightly drunk. As soon as he saw Wang Tongyu, he smiled and said: "It's Tongyu, you've come just in time! Come on up, have a seat, and let's drink!"

  Wang Tongyu quickly knelt down and said: "General Yuan, something is wrong! Ye Zhikui's men have arrived at the gate."

  Yuan Shikai suddenly came to, half-sobered, and asked: "What's going on?" The crowd that was drinking and playing rock-paper-scissors also stopped their noise, looking at Wang Tongyu with their eyes.

  Wang Tongyu wiped the sweat and replied breathlessly: "The detailed situation is still unknown to me, but it's a fact that a team of Wuwei Army rushed into our military camp with long sticks and big clubs."

  Xu Shichang furrowed his brow and interjected, "Weiting, let's hurry over and get a clear view of the situation before we say anything."

  Yuan Shikai was of the same mind, and before long a large group of drunken men rode military horses towards the military camp.

  A small station, Dingwu Army's military camp, Wu Yimeng led more than 500 old soldiers, riding tall horses, came with a loud noise, the momentum was extremely grand, and the sound of horseshoes could be heard from afar. As soon as they arrived at the gate of the military camp, they stopped suddenly, which can be described as being familiar with the bow and horse, and obeying orders. Wu Dashi pulled the reins forward and shouted to the small soldier guarding the door: "Where is the Dingwu Army's cavalry camp?" The soldiers of the Wu Yimeng army were injured by the people of the Dingwu Army's cavalry, so Wu Dashi asked this way.

  The little soldier had just joined the army and hadn't eaten this bowl of rice for long, he had never seen such a situation before. He trembled with fear, pointing to the tent not far away, stuttering: "R...return to the big man's words, it's over there!" The next day, this little soldier cried and shouted that he wanted to go home.

  Wu Dashan didn't bother to make things difficult for the little soldier. With a single order, 500 cavalrymen instantly charged into the main gate of the camp. There were still many soldiers in the barracks of the Dingwu Army, and when they heard such a commotion, they all ran out of their quarters to see what was happening. When they got outside, they saw that the Wuwei Army soldiers were lined up neatly, exuding an aura of killing intent on the drill ground outside the barracks. They were so intimidated that they didn't dare make any slight movement, fearing that they would stir up unnecessary trouble. These new recruits who had just joined the army couldn't compare to the old soldiers who had been through battles and seen bloodshed. Just in terms of momentum, they were already at a disadvantage.

  Wu Dashi rode his horse straight to the entrance of the largest camp of the Dingwu Army, picked up the large hammer he was carrying, and struck the gate pillar several times with a loud crash. The sound was so loud that it seemed as if the entire camp was about to collapse. The soldiers inside heard the commotion and rushed out in confusion, not knowing what was happening.

  Wu Dashi saw that the people had gathered, with about 400 men and horses standing below him with uncertain expressions. However, no one dared to step forward to ask questions. He loudly shouted: "You bunch of cowards, who among you is responsible today? You injured my Wu Yi military brothers in Tianjin, if you come out and admit your mistake, I can be lenient."

  The soldiers of the cavalry troop looked at each other, speechless, and in their hearts they were all shouting: Who was it that provoked this disaster, to the point where even our camp had to be dismantled? The officer on duty saw that he was almost the highest-ranking official here, so he had no choice but to force himself to step forward and respond: "Sir, please calm down, we can discuss this matter, why not have sir come in and drink a cup of tea to calm down first, then we'll slowly investigate what happened?"

  Wu Dashan's eyes snapped open, and he shouted: "Cut the crap! I didn't come all this way to drink tea and eat with you guys! Make it quick, either hand over the person or...!" Wu Dashan suddenly turned around and loudly asked the soldiers behind him: "Brothers, what do you think we should do?"

  The soldiers behind Wu Yi shouted in unison: "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

  Wu Dashan raised his hand and stopped the shouting. He stared at the whistle officer and said, "Have you heard the voices of my brothers?"

  The officer secretly wiped a sweat and hastily replied: "Sir, please wait for a moment, the little general will hand over immediately." Then he stood in front of him and shouted angrily: "Who among you offended the brother of Wu Yi's army today? Hurry up and come out to kowtow to this lord and admit your mistake. Otherwise, if we investigate later, the crime will be added one more level. Quickly, who is it?"

  In the cavalry, there were more than 40 soldiers who had been beaten by Wu Yi's army today and were too afraid to speak out. Relying on their numerical superiority, they bullied Wu Yi's army badly today, but now they regret it so much that they wish they were dead. Seeing the officer asking questions, they looked at the menacing Wu Yi army in front of them again. Can this situation be resolved by admitting guilt? Confess and get leniency, resist and go home for the New Year, who has the courage to stand up now? Instead, there are many people who shrink back and sneak away quietly.

  The officer saw that he had shouted for half a while and no one responded, and couldn't help but break out in cold sweat. He turned around to see Wu Dashan's tiger eyes staring straight at him, and his liver and gallbladder were shattered. With some panic and fear, he said: "Sir, this... has nothing to do with me." After finishing speaking, the officer ran to one side at the speed of a Boeing 747.

  Wu Dashan had long been impatient, seeing this situation, he waved his big hand and roared: "Since no one dares to stand up, brothers, let's go, let them see the power of our Wu Wei Army, not these useless people can compare with us, just leave them a last breath."

  After finishing speaking, Wu Dashan led the soldiers of the Dingwu Army cavalry to charge forward. It wasn't until then that those soldiers came back to their senses and saw the Wuwei Army soldiers fighting fiercely like tigers out of a cage. Some were scared and shouted loudly, urinating in their pants, while others fled in all directions. There were also some who bravely resisted and fought back. However, these new recruits couldn't compare to Wu Dashan's troops, who had come from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. In no time at all, the soldiers of the Dingwu Army cavalry were beaten until their faces were blue and swollen, crying out in terror. Some lay on the ground, whimpering, while others knelt down and begged for mercy one after another. Meanwhile, the soldiers from other battalions of the Dingwu Army stood far away, pointing and whispering to each other, some even laughing loudly, without showing any intention of coming forward to help.

  When Little Yuan led a group of generals into the camp, they saw this situation and couldn't help but shout in anger: "How dare you not to stop for General Ben! Who gave you the guts to come here and be wild!"

  The soldiers in the other barracks saw Little Yuan leading his superiors back to the camp, and they all made a whooshing sound as they drilled into their tents and disappeared into the vast crowd, lest they get burned by association. In an instant, only Wu Dashan's rowdy men and horses were left on the drill ground in front of the barracks, along with the cavalrymen lying on the ground.

  Wu Dashan had already heard Yuan Shikai's shouting, but pretended not to hear it. He directed the soldiers to conduct another intense drill of the Dingwu Army troops before slowly gathering his men and suddenly rushing towards Yuan Shikai and others.

  Yuan Shikai's face changed greatly, what are these people trying to do, do they want to rebel? On the one hand, he hastily ordered several generals to return to their camps and gather their troops, while on the other hand, he secretly guarded against them, ready to flee at any moment.

  The valiant soldier Ma's momentum was like thunder, rushing straight to the front of Yuan Shikai and others, clearly seeing the panic in their eyes. Only then did Wu Dashan give a loud order, suddenly stopping the horses. This move was played beautifully, scaring those high-ranking officials so much that they were all wide awake.

  Before the pale-faced Yuan Shikai could speak, Wu Dashan loudly shouted, taking the initiative: "Who are you, daring to stop me from arresting the criminals who attacked my Wuyi Army soldiers?"

  Yuan Shikai listened, his nose was almost crooked, looking at the soldiers who had fallen to the ground, secretly thinking: "Is this how you catch criminals?" However, he didn't fully understand the situation and could only say: "I am Yuan Shikai, the commander of the Dingwu Army. You people are lawless, privately breaking into the military camp, and recklessly fighting, aren't you afraid that the imperial court will blame and punish you for your crimes?"

  "Wu Dasan shouted: 'My Wu Yi army is not to be trifled with, stop talking about this and that here, I only know your soldiers injured my soldiers, you say what to do!'"

  Yuan Shikai heard this and, being a wicked person who informs on others first, could no longer tolerate it and was about to take action.

  The cavalry commander, Ren Yongqing, who was standing beside him, had already learned about the situation from the sentry officer. He first instructed the medical staff to come forward and treat the wounded, then took a step forward and said: "Cui Ting, let's calm down for now, turn big things into small ones, and small things into nothing. Now that Ye Zhikui has gained power, it seems that our side also has some fault in this matter. If things get out of hand, I'm afraid neither you nor Ye Zhikui will benefit from it. Moreover, such a shameful thing cannot be widely publicized."

  Xu Shichang also came forward to persuade: "Cui Ting, when doing great things, can you just show off your bravery? The person in front of you is obviously a fool, why bother to treat him with the same courtesy, it will only get yourself angry."

  Yuan Shikai had to swallow his anger and said with a furious face: "My troops have defeated yours, now your troops have also defeated mine. Let's just call it quits today and owe each other nothing!"

  Wu Dashan pouted, humming: "You're still sensible, like a human being. Otherwise, I'd beat you up too. Alright, today's fight has vented my anger and made me feel much better. Brothers, let's go!" The 500 men loudly shouted and left, before leaving, Wu Dashan intentionally or unintentionally slammed his fist on the pillar of the camp again, and the camp finally collapsed with a loud crash.

  Yuan Shikai heard Wu Dashan's words when he left, looking at the collapsed camp, his lungs were about to burst with anger, his face changing unpredictably, fortunately, he was deep in city governance, and finally let out a long sigh, ordering the handling of subsequent matters.

  However, after listening to the report of the incident from his subordinates, he found out that there were two or three thousand soldiers standing by watching the commotion in the camp, and Yuan Shikai was so angry that he smashed two or three teacups.

  Yuan Shikai and Ye Zhikui both intended to suppress the matter, but due to its severity, some rumors still leaked out. Other military commanders who learned of the incident hastily ordered that from now on, they should not easily provoke the soldiers of the Wuwei Army. After this incident, the soldiers of the Dingwu Army often thought back to the scene that day and remembered those cavalrymen with bruised noses and swollen faces who were still punished, which made them feel uneasy and fearful of the Wuwei Army. Whenever they saw soldiers from the Wuwei Army, they would take a detour to avoid them.

  Ye Zhiqi wrote a letter the next day, had someone bring gifts to Yuan Shikai's place, saying that he himself was not good at commanding Wu Dashan, often made mistakes and offended people, and asked Yuan Daren to forgive him. Yuan Shikai also replied with a letter, saying that his soldiers had made mistakes before, hoping that Ye Shaoshuai would not hold grudges against old Yuan, everyone is a good comrade of the Qing Dynasty, and in the future they should support each other and contribute to the beautiful life of the Qing Dynasty. Those who didn't know the inside story saw these two being harmonious and couldn't help but feel surprised, thinking that indeed friendships are forged through battles, should I order my soldiers to fight with Wuyi Army?

  …………

  That brother is generous, so he rewards Little Bug with some encouragement. Hmm, why does it feel like I've become a beggar on the street? Hehe, but at least I've put in my heart and blood, which is better than those who just beg for food. So Little Bug shamelessly asks for a reward.