Fang Xiaoru sat on a horse, holding the binoculars of the American Navy in both hands, set up in front of him, and carefully observed the Henan patrol camp under the hillside through the gaps in the trees.

Wuchang is the throat of the Yangtze River, the key point of the whole country, known as the thoroughfare of nine provinces. In the past 20 years, after Zhang Zhidong's painstaking management, Daxing Industry, Hanyang Arsenal, Hanyeping Iron and Steel Company, etc., are all unique heavy industries in the Qing Dynasty. If Wuchang really fell into the hands of the revolutionaries, I am afraid that it will not be as simple as the Hongyang Rebellion.

Therefore, the Qing Dynasty immediately dispatched troops to gather all the new Beiyang troops that Yuan Shikai had trained in the small station, and organized them into three armies, with one army to guard the capital, and the other two armies went south to Wuchang.

It will take time for the Beiyang New Army to assemble. The newly built War Department of the Qing Dynasty ordered the governor of Henan, Bao Di, to urgently transfer Zhang Xiyuan to lead two battalions of soldiers and horses of the Henan patrol battalion as the vanguard and enter Wuhan.

This is why Cai Jimin, Xiong Bingkun and Fang Xiaoru hurriedly led their troops and horses all the way north without waiting for the completion of the army.

They wanted to be the first to block the Manchu Qing Dynasty's troops, and try not to burn the flames of war to Wuhan, so as not to destroy this important industrial town and cultural new city in China, and let Zhang Zhidong's efforts in Wuhan for more than 20 years be spent in vain.

Fang Xiaoru carefully observed the Henan patrol battalion under the hillside. He knew how much he had to do with his soldiers. Although the other two roads are known as Jingluo, in fact, there are people in the party along the road, at best, they are shocking, but they must be safe. But he is very different here, and he will face the elite journey of the Manchu Qing Dynasty when he goes north. If you are not careful, you will be defeated and killed, and you will lose the whole game.

Xu Shaobin rode on a horse, guarding Fang Xiaoru's side, vigilantly watching the movements around him. At the time of Wuchang's uprising, Xu Shaobin was among the soldiers and horses of Fang Xiaoru's way, following Fang Xiaoru to fight along the road through the Ziyang Bridge Wangfukou, and killed from the back door of the governor's office to the front door.

That night, Fang Xiaoru commanded Ruoding, was skilled in swords and horses, and could take the lead, loving soldiers like brothers. Let Xu Shaobin, a brave warrior in the army, admire him from the bottom of his heart.

This time, Fang Xiaoru came out to observe the enemy's situation, so he took the initiative to ask Ying and escorted him.

Their Northern Expeditionary Army encountered the Henan Patrol Battalion, and it was now the third day. In the past three days, both sides have deliberately kept a low profile and tried not to disturb anyone.

At the beginning, Xiong Bingkun thought that Zhang Xiyuan intended to surrender, so he sent an envoy to lobby. That Zhang Xiyuan really agreed very happily. But it only delayed the time of surrender again and again, until the fourth day, when Zhu Chongzhen's strict order came:

"Twenty-five days ago, we will go to the martial victory pass! Miss, slash! ”

Fang Xiaoru put down the binoculars, thought carefully for a while, and did not say hello, so he silently beat his horse back to the camp.

Why did Zhang Xiyuan ignore the strict orders of the War Department, repeatedly delayed, and even did not hesitate to use such a trick as a fake surrender? Because he also knew that in his camp there was a revolutionary party; But he didn't know who this revolutionary party really was and how many there were. If the war starts rashly, a person suddenly runs out of the camp and shouts: "The Qing army is defeated!" "That's the Battle of the Rivers. If someone suddenly turns the muzzle of the gun and gives him a shot, then he himself will be loyal to the Qing Dynasty. But if the official achieves his position, who will want to be loyal? Unless the head is gone.

In desperation, Zhang Xiyuan had no choice but to wait silently, waiting for the arrival of the Beiyang New Army. He knew that if there was still an army in the Qing Dynasty, it was purely without revolutionaries, it must be the Beiyang New Army. Because the Beiyang New Army is Yuan Shikai, no, it should be said that it is that person's private army.

On this day, Zhang Xiyuan, as usual, carefully wrote a letter to the Han army in Wuchang opposite, the content was still the same as the previous two days, saying some conditions such as grain and grass officials and lords, and telling the Han army that he would surrender in a few days. In fact, he already knew that the Fourth Town of the Beiyang New Army stationed in Tianjin was almost at the Xinyang camp. He doesn't need this kind of method anymore. Zhang Xiyuan saw that it was already dusk, so he called his guards and sent the letter to the Wuchang Han army opposite.

Seeing the guards disappear far from sight, Zhang Xiyuan shook his head with a wry smile, and was about to turn around and go back to his tent, when a few crows suddenly "quacked" in the distance.

"What a fucking obscurity!" Hearing the crow's cry, four or five soldiers cursed in the distance.

Zhang Xiyuan also made a "bah", a mouthful of thick phlegm flew out and fell to the ground, "What is it called!" ”

This time, somehow, the guards came back a little late, and they were still drunk, saying that the Wuchang Han army was very happy to know that the co-unification would come down in a few days, and they all opened a wine jar to celebrate there, and many people were very drunk. Even the guards were many drunk.

Zhang Xiyuan's heart moved after hearing this, the Beiyang New Army will come soon, and Yin Chang, who led the troops, if he knew what he had done in the past few days, I am afraid that he would not be able to explain it. If you take advantage of the drunkenness of the Wuchang Han army tonight, steal a battalion, build a contribution, and meet Yinchang in the future, it will be easy to deal with.

After thinking about it, Zhang Xiyuan called the pipe bands of the two battalions and his henchmen and team officers, and arranged it like this. Speaking of pride, a few people laughed by candlelight.

Coincidentally, this night was really a beautiful night, with dark clouds covering the moon and the autumn wind howling, which was really suitable for killing people and setting fires.

In the first half of the night, there was nothing to say, but it was almost midnight, in the Henan patrol camp, a while of all the Suosuo, after a while, I saw a team of people and horses, about five or six hundred people, with a number of people, horses wrapped their feet, quietly out of the camp, and attacked the Wuchang Han army in the distance.

This scene, how familiar it is, it is simply a remake of the Three Kingdoms, it is really ridiculous. I really don't know what has changed in this land of China over the past thousand years!

This way, led by Zhang Xiyuan's henchman Zhao Heming, took enough guns and bullets, and they all wanted to take advantage of the war to make a good profit. The rules in the army, during the war, can not help but loot, this point, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, is the same.

This Zhao Heming, who is full of martial arts, has been in a panic for a few days, and he can't wait to immediately take down the Wuchang Han army on the opposite side and establish the first contribution to counterinsurgency. He had already inquired clearly, and the people leading the troops on the other side were only a few positive eyes. What can a few eyes do?

Just as he was riding on his horse, he was proud, when suddenly there were a few crisp birdsongs on the side of the road, obviously, not a crow, but nothing, but he couldn't think of it for a while.

Actually, you don't have to think about it.

Because after these birdsong, on both sides of the road, the sand and grass flew, and in the shadows of the trees in the distance, the branches rattled, and not far away, a trace of fire suddenly appeared, and then turned into a flash of firelight, flew into the sky, and exploded in the air, but it was a beautiful meteor!

Meteors are extremely gorgeous, but they are fleeting. But some things, after they disappear, will come back, such as the fire of the muzzle, such as the bullet that passes by. While it is tempting that when they are gone, they will not come back, but that often backfires.

As soon as Zhao Heming saw the flag and arrow fireworks exploding, he knew that it was not good, and immediately shouted, "Not good!" This was followed by a cry of "Run!" He turned his horse and tried to run backwards.

Where did it come from!

I saw that under the sand and grass roots on the side of the road, countless figures suddenly turned out, and suddenly the fire flashed, followed by countless flying fires, slashing through the night sky, "bang", shattered in the patrol camp among the people, the fire was like a plague, even if it was splashed a little bit, it would quickly burn out, and in less than a while, dozens of people were burned all over the ground, screaming again and again.

Because of this firelight, on the road, it was as bright as day, and all the soldiers who came to rob the camp in the Henan patrol camp tonight were in this firelight, and the Wuchang Han army hidden in the dark saw it clearly. So the Han army was like a target, and pulled the trigger again and again, but between a few breaths, the Henan patrol battalion suffered heavy casualties, and Zhao Heming, who led the army, was hit by several shots as early as the first round of gunfire, and fell to the ground.

How can such a battle be fought? In the midst of the gunfire, everyone in the patrol battalion raised their guns with both hands and shouted loudly: "Everyone is Han, and Han people don't fight Han people!" We surrender! We surrender! ”

After these shouts, the gunfire really died down, and after a while, it actually stopped. I only heard a voice in the darkness say coldly: "If you want to surrender, put the gun on the side of the road, go to the other side, and squat down with your head in your hands!" ”

Hearing that they could live, everyone still thought a lot, and hurriedly threw away the gun in their hands, and even the bullet magazine was removed and thrown aside.

But he said that Zhang Xiyuan couldn't sleep anymore since Zhao Heming led the people, thinking that he was overexcited, but when he came to sleep, he was a little frightened. So he dressed himself and paced outside the camp to look carefully to the south. After a while, a fire rose in the distance, but strangely, there was no earth-shattering sound of fighting.

Zhang Xiyuan thought that he had a plan, but suddenly saw a flag arrow fireworks exploding in the air in the distance, and a brilliant meteor bloomed! Seeing this meteor, Zhang Xiyuan screamed, hurriedly turned back to the camp, and went straight to the stable.

At this time, don't run yet, what are you waiting for!

It's still the same sentence, where did it come from. Listening to a shout outside the camp gate, countless torches were thrown in, but along with the torches, dozens of them came in.

The rest of the people woke up in their sleep, and before they could wake up, they heard the sound of horses' hooves running like thunder in the distance, and countless people shouted:

"Shoot or kill!"

However, after taking a few breaths, a few people pulled down the curtain of the door, marched in with their guns, and shouted at the soldiers who had not yet dressed:

"Shoot or kill!"