On the morning of the next day, all the major Chinese and foreign newspapers in Shanghai reported on the important event of the Sichuan army's capture of Hankou and the cutting off of the Beijing-Hankou line on their front pages.

Declaration: The Sichuan Army once rose and the world was shocked! What kind of army the Sichuan army is, I believe that the Chinese people did not have much impression before yesterday, or some people also classified the Sichuan army as an army that did not enter the stream. However, the Sichuan Army, which had been unknown all along, brazenly marched eastward into Hubei when the national war was about to be decided, and unexpectedly annihilated a mixed brigade of the Beiyang Army and two divisions of the Hubei Army in a battle, successfully cutting off the Jinghan Line, the logistics supply line of the Beiyang Army fighting in Jiangxi, with the result that the 2nd and 6th Divisions of the Beiyang Army were in danger of being wiped out due to lack of ammunition......

National Gazette: **Dictatorship is unpopular, and the Sichuan army carries the banner of the republic!

Zilin Xibao: Wang Haoshan and his son - the rise of the Far East as a new family-style warlord! With the strong rise of the Sichuan army, Wang Haoshan, the marshal of the Sichuan army, and Wang Mo, the young marshal, will surely become the family-style warlords who influence the pattern of the Far East......

Chinese celebrity anecdotes: I have two or three things with Wang Mo, the young marshal of the Sichuan army......

……

Throughout Shanghai, whether it is the streets, alleys, or taverns and teahouses, people are talking everywhere about the Sichuan army that reversed the general trend of the world in World War I, as if they saw with their own eyes how the unknown Sichuan army knocked down the invincible Beiyang Army with one punch, and all kinds of details were secretly boasted in five chapters and eighty times for three days and three nights.

At this time, in the Japanese concession, Sun Yat-sen's apartment was also full of joy.

"The Beiyang ** dictatorship is unpopular in the end, only the republic is the pursuit of 40,000 compatriots, and only the republic is the foundation of the Republic of China to become rich and strong and democratic!" Dai Jitao, the confidential secretary, was holding a copy of the "National Gazette" in his hand, reading aloud to Sun Yat-sen the front-page headline about the Sichuan army cutting off the Jinghan line.

As soon as Dai Jitao's words fell, Zhang Jingjiang smiled with joy on his face: "Sir, I really didn't expect the Sichuan army to be able to capture Hankou in one fell swoop and cut off the Jinghan line. ”

Chen Qimei muttered a little sourly: "I can't be sure that I have taken some shit luck, otherwise with the Sichuan Army, how can I defeat the joint efforts of the Beiyang Army and the Hubei Army!" ”

"Yes, I didn't expect the Sichuan Army to be so strong that it could annihilate a mixed brigade of the Beiyang Army and two divisions of the Hubei Army in one fell swoop." Sun Yat-sen said this. The joy and relief on his face had faded, replaced by lingering worry.

Twisting his brows and thinking about it, Sun Yat-sen turned his head to Chen Qimei and asked, "Ince." Are there any of our party members in Hubei, or any party organizations that are connected to us? ”

"Sir, why do you ask this?" Chen Qimei thought about it after asking, and seemed to guess Sun Yat-sen's thoughts, and replied. "This is basically gone, and even if there are a few of them, I'm afraid it's hard to get in touch. At the beginning, in order to respond to Mr. Yuan's call to overthrow Yuan, the party members in Hubei organized uprisings one after another, but they were all suppressed and killed by Li Yuanhong's little red guy. ”

Zhang Jingjiang asked puzzledly: "Sir, what is it ...... you ask this?"

Sun Yat-sen still looked a little worried, and said softly: "The Sichuan army captured Wuhan, and Hubei fell into the hands of Wang's father and son, and it is difficult to say whether it is good or bad for the great cause of the republic. ”

"This ......" Zhang Jingjiang really didn't know what to say, the close cooperation with the Sichuan Army had just begun, and he was about to turn his face?

Chen Qimei is much more straightforward. said: "Sir, why don't I take hundreds of Qinggang brothers to Hubei now, form our People's Party's Hubei Military Government, and occupy this righteous name first." ”

This set of KMT is the most skillful game, first holding the name of righteousness in hand, then throwing around with official hats, and then borrowing the power of the party, it can blow up a huge force like a balloon in an instant.

In fact, this is similar to the coercion of the ancient peasant uprising, except that the Kuomintang played a more advanced coercion. The result of this is that the members of this force are complex. Interests and conflicts are becoming increasingly intense, either dying in infighting or being swallowed up by external forces.

Hearing Chen Qimei's proposal, Sun Yat-sen was very moved. However, after careful consideration, he rejected this proposal, shook his head and said: "No, it is not appropriate to have any unpleasantness with the Sichuan army for the time being, otherwise the Xia Ru who has just recovered his breath will be destroyed in an instant." ”

"What, does Wang Mo, that little red guy, dare to collude with the Beiyang Army to assassinate Xia if it can't be done?" Chen Qimei has never had a good impression of the Sichuan army, especially Wang Mo, who has a strong army at a young age.

"There's news. The Beiyang Army was preparing to use naval gunboats to transport ammunition supplies to the Beiyang 2nd and 6th Divisions in Jiangxi, and as long as Wang Mo did not do his best to intercept the ammunition transportation of the naval gunboats, it would be impossible for Xia Ru to hold on. Therefore, there must be no unhappiness with the Sichuan army now. After Sun Yat-sen finished speaking, he also warned Chen Qimei with his eyes, for fear that he would cause some uncontrollable mess.

Subsequently, several people discussed the latest changes in the war situation in the provinces, especially He Haiming, a member of the Kuomintang in Nanjing, organized part of the troops of the 1st and 8th Jiangsu Divisions, seized control of the city of Nanjing, and re-declared the independence of Jiangsu.

After the Sichuan army captured Wuhan and cut off the Jinghan line, the situation in the southern provinces showed signs of recurrence, and KMT members ran around in all directions with the intention of reorganizing the anti-Yuan forces.

……

Wuhan, Hanyang Guishan Fort.

"These turtle sons, do you think that with the support of foreigners, you can show off your might? I'm a fairy board, open fire, fire to Lao Tzu! Li Xudong looked at the arrogant naval gunboats on the river, and angrily shouted that the batteries should open fire.

Meng Qiuyuan, the commander of the first battalion, hurriedly dissuaded: "No, regiment commander!" Not to mention that there are foreigner gunboats over there, we can't start a war rashly, if we really fight, these dozen 57mm mountain guns and six 75mm Krupp howitzers in our batteries are not the opponents of those two foreign gunboats and four naval gunboats at all. ”

You must know that the two foreign gunboats alone have a total of 4 114mm main guns and 6 76mm secondary guns, plus 12 3-inch guns on the four naval gunboats, maybe one or two salvos can raze the Guishan Fort to the ground.

"If you can't beat it, you can't beat it, even if you die, you have to bite these turtle sons hard! Lao Tzu just can't see these turtles blocking the Yangtze River waterway to show off their might! Li Xudong's forehead was bruised, which showed the anger in his heart.

"Think twice, regiment commander, since we have already sent someone to report to the young marshal, let's be patient for the time being, and wait for the young marshal's order." Meng Qiuyuan persuaded bitterly, personally, he also wanted to fight with those gunboats on the river, but he also knew that the stakes were very high, and he had to wait for the young marshal's order.

The incident occurred this morning when two battalions of the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Division of the Sichuan Army were preparing to cross the river to control Wuchang, when four naval gunboats suddenly arrived, forcibly blocked the Yangtze River channel, and opened artillery on the Sichuan soldiers to deter and prevent the Sichuan army from crossing the river.

Just as Li Xudong was about to order the Guishan Fort to launch an artillery bombardment on the four naval gunboats, two foreigner gunboats suddenly rushed to join the side of the naval gunboats, turned their guns to the Guishan guns, and fired a cannon to warn and deter.

Colonel Cotter, commander of the river squadron of the British Far East Fleet, stood on the deck of a gunboat, dressed in a neat military uniform, with a cup of coffee in his hand, and tasted the precious Blue Mountain coffee he had painstakingly purchased.

"What nice weather, isn't it, Captain Green?" Colonel Cotter smiled faintly, and the gunboat captain James who was standing beside him. Allan. Green chitted easily.

Captain Green put down the binoculars that were observing the situation of the Guishan battery and said, "Your Excellency, the Chinese seem to have locked most of the artillery on the battery to us, do you need to destroy them?" Based on the construction of the battery, I believe that with only three rounds, no, two rounds of shelling, all their artillery can be completely destroyed! ”

Colonel Kurt smiled disdainfully and said, "Captain Green, I appreciate your conscientiousness. However, do you think the Chinese would dare to fire on the gunboats of our British Empire? Even if they dare, would they be able to pose a threat to our gunboats with those toy-like guns? ”

Speaking of this, Colonel Cotter remembered what Minister Juerdian had said to him before he came: "On the Yangtze River waterway, the British Empire is the real master, and the British Empire can do whatever it wants!" Just a local Chinese warlord, there is no need to have any scruples about them! If the Sichuan army dares to attack the gunboats of the British Empire, you have the right to launch the maximum possible counterattack. The majesty of my British Empire cannot be violated, Colonel Cotter, understand? ”

Thinking of this, Colonel Kurt said again: "That's it, Captain Green, the secondary gun fires another warning!" Also, tell the Chinese in flag language that the authority of the British Empire on the Yangtze River does not allow anyone to be offended! ”

The British gunboats quickly lowered their muzzles and aimed in the direction of the Turtle Hill Battery.

Boom -

With a loud roar, a cannonball slammed into the position below the Guishan Fort, and the earth and rocks flew up, and a cloud of gunpowder smoke rose into the air.

The smoke and dust cleared, and a large crater tens of centimeters wide appeared on the ground, demonstrating the great power of the British gunboat's artillery.

"Bastard! Lao Tzu fought with him! ”

Seeing the appearance of the foreigner gunboats unscrupulously firing their guns and demonstrating, Li Xudong was so angry that the roots of his teeth were about to bite blood, and he slammed his fist on the cement fortifications of the fort.

"What, you want to overturn the foreigner gunboat?"

An extremely familiar voice came, Li Xudong turned his head to look, and exclaimed in surprise: "Young marshal!" ”

"Young marshal!" "Young marshal! ”

When the soldiers of the Sichuan Army in Guishan Fort Mountain saw Wang Mo coming in person, they immediately had the backbone of their hearts, and they all saluted Wang Mo with excited expressions.

"Brothers, don't worry, it's not a foreigner's gunboat, it's nothing remarkable!" Wang Mo looked very unimpressed with the foreigner gunboats, and then pointed to the transport team outside the fort and said, "Look at the artillery I brought to you, specializing in ironclad gunboats!" ”

Li Xudong and the Sichuan artillerymen in the fort followed the direction pointed by Wang Mo, and the scene they saw shocked all of them.

Ten guns they had never seen before, the huge muzzles, the long barrels, all made them stunned.

What kind of cannon is this? (To be continued.) )