At Anqing Wharf, sailors were suspended in mid-air by cables, and braved the cold wind to clean up the seaweed and shells attached to the hull. Bags of expensive British charcoal were carried onto the warship, replacing the crushed coal that could only burn black smoke but could not produce steam.

The two cruisers Hairong and Haichen, the eleven gunboats, one torpedo boat, one transport ship, and one hospital ship, except for the heavy cruiser Haiqi that visited the Americas, the entire Yangtze River fleet was placed on the riverside.

Chai Dongliang stood at the bow of the Hairong, greeting the officers of the Navy Division with a smile on his face, and praised them for abandoning the darkness and turning to the light, but his heart was bleeding!

As a pseudo-military fan, Chai Dongliang knew for the first time that the boiler of a warship could not be burned with any coal. Now that China is isolated from north to south, the coal from the Luan mine cannot be supplied, and the local coal in Anhui is not suitable for warships, so Chai Dongliang has to spend a lot of money to buy imported Welsh white coal from foreign companies.

I can't afford it!

The officers and men of the navy gathered at the dock and stood straight and saluted. Tang Qianming changed into a blue-black admiral's dress, the golden buttons were shining, and his black and red face was shining, looking particularly energetic.

"Governor, except for the Haiqi, the Yangtze River Fleet is all here, Cheng Biguang is a person who knows everything, I believe that if he knows that we have joined the revolution, he will definitely return from the Americas!" Tang Qianming pointed to the fleet, and his words were three points of humility but seven points of pride.

Lu Kai and Fang Qingyu didn't have enough eyes to see, they saw the Chinese fleet for the first time, and they always felt that they couldn't see enough.

"Governor, since the sailor has joined the revolution, he naturally wants to contribute to the revolution, but the brothers have not been paid for more than two months, can the governor send some rewards to calm the hearts of the brothers?" Tang Qianming took advantage of the excitement and said.

As soon as he heard this, Chai Dongliang had a big head, and he couldn't wait to tell him directly, don't mention money, mentioning money hurts feelings!

There are only 1.5 million taels of silver in the treasury of the full house, and the Guanghua Bank is used to prepare for the Guanghua Bank to clean up the mess and appease the local people, although it is a loan to them, but after all, the real money is taken out, and the ten battalions in Anqing and Wuhu have more than 4,000 new troops, military salaries, food, and clothing, and the monthly expenses of more than 30,000 yuan of Longyang, and the bullets and gunpowder required for training and target shooting are not counted, and the clerks of the Military Advisory Office have also streamlined a lot of people, just to save a few salaries. Some machines and equipment have been added to the Anqing Machinery Repair Institute, and the money has been sent to the foreign bank, which is more than 100,000 yuan.

There are places everywhere where money is used!

Chai Dongliang couldn't wait to put a mahjong mask on his face, so he simply tied up meat tickets to the big households in Wuhu and Anqing and forced them to take out the money.

"Governor, are there any difficulties?" Tang Qianming saw that Chai Dongliang was speechless for a long time, and said tentatively.

Chai Dongliang cut the meat in pain, but his face was relaxed: "What did Commander Tang say?" Brothers have suffered so much, since you have come to join my Anhui Revolutionary Army, this is your home! Twenty yuan a month for officers and ten yuan a month for soldiers, and they will be paid today! ”

Tang Qianming said excitedly: "The brothers came to the end of the road to join the governor, and if you do not give up and take them in, in the future, Brother Shui will shed his blood and die for the governor!" ”

Chai Dongliang patted them on the shoulder and said: "Don't talk about this, take a good rest for a few days, I will replenish the shells and gunpowder for you, and the boiler will also be scraped, and there will be time to reuse you in the future!" ”

Gao Ming hurriedly walked from a distance, the mille-feuille shoes were one foot deep and one foot shallow, stained with fresh soil.

"Governor, Duke Ke (Huang Xing, Zi Keqiang) and Song Gong (Li Yuanhong, Zi Song Qing) jointly called, saying that Hanyang has been broken by Feng Yi Guozhang, and Wuchang is in danger, please send troops to rescue him no matter what!" Gao Ming looked really anxious, and he was sweating profusely.

Chai Dongliang was unhurried, lit a cigarette and said with a smile: "Far water can't quench your thirst!" ”

"Governor, the capital of Wuchang, if the whole country is shaken, the good situation of the revolution will be ruined!" Gao Ming begged bitterly.

Why is this old guy so concerned about the affairs of Wuchang? Every time Wuchang came to an urgent telegram, he was anxious like burning his butt!

"That's it, call Kegong back, and I'll let the navy go to him to relieve the siege!" Chai Dongliang pointed to the fleet below.

Gao Ming was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "I'll send a telegram to Wuchang!" ”

"Slow!"

"What else does the Governor command?"

Chai Dongliang took a puff of cigarette, lightly spit out a smoke ring and said: "The soldiers and horses have not moved the grain and grass first, you know the financial situation of our Anhui Military Advisory Office, where will the money for the troops be raised?" ”

He is telling the truth, now the finances of the Anhui Military Advisory Office are on the verge of bankruptcy, there has been only a source and no input, the Wuhu Industrial Park has just started construction, it is impossible to produce output in a short period of time, Guanghua Bank has just opened, credit has not yet been established, and it is impossible to have a large amount of input immediately. Chai Dongliang is neither willing to blackmail rich businessmen nor loot small people, how can he not be poor!

"Governor, what do you say? This is already burning eyebrows! ”

Chai Dongliang said with a smile: "You send electricity to Kegong and Song Gong, and ask them to give me a 500,000 yuan opening fee." ”

"Five hundred thousand? That seems like a bit more, right? Gao Ming didn't expect Chai Dongliang's appetite to be so big!

Chai Dongliang said with a smile: "It's not much, there are three million in the treasury of Wuchang, and Jiangxi and Hunan will each give Wuchang another one million, which is five million!" We're only a tenth, not much! ”

Gao Ming was stunned for a moment, Chai Dongliang was far away in Anqing, how could he know so much about Wuchang's financial situation?

"Go ahead, just draft a telegram according to this meaning, and ask him to send money from the HSBC Bank in Wuchang!" Chai Dongliang waved his hand.

Gao Ming glanced at Chai Dongliang again, and saw that he didn't have the slightest room to turn, so he had to trot away.

Lu Kai couldn't help smacking his tongue, and whispered to the other party Qingyu: "Let's all supervise the real thing, even Huang Keqiang's autumn wind dares to fight, I'm afraid that even Mr. Sun's bamboo pole will have to be knocked in the future!" ”

Fang Qingyu said expressionlessly: "Our governor will not drown gold and silver, and he has no money if he has no money!" Why don't you fill the boiler and burn it as charcoal? Or fill the barrel as a cannon to blow up Feng Guozhang? ”

・・・・・・ Dividing Lines・・・・・・

Wuchang military and political axe

Snake Mountain has the famous Yellow Crane Mountain, the Yellow Crane Tower on the mountainside is the most famous landscape in Wuchang, Li Bai once recited here: "The ancients said the Yellow Crane Tower in the west, and the fireworks went down to Yangzhou in March".

At the north end of the Racecourse at the southern foot of Snake Mountain, a two-story red Western-style building is covered by the mountain, which is particularly enchanting. It was originally the building of the Hubei Administrative Bureau, and now the plaque of the Wuchang military and political axe is hung.

Several soldiers with loaded guns stood at the door on duty, but their expressions were a little nervous, and the sound of slapping the table from the second floor could be heard clearly at the door.

A middle-aged man with a round face, a French-style beard, and a general's uniform slapped the table and roared: "This defeat is all caused by the army's failure to listen to the command and not follow the battle plan!" ”

A thirty-year-old young man on the opposite side jumped up from his chair and slapped the table in front of him: "Huang Xing, don't be a fool!" I told you a long time ago that Xingou is the throat of Caidian, and Caidian is the gateway to Hanyang, so let you defend it with heavy troops, but you just won't listen! Feng Guozhang, the clear dog, really attacked the east and the west, storming Caidian and Xingou, but you put heavy troops on the front defense line of Hanyang, and there were only two battalions on the flanks! Now that the battle has been lost, you will blame us? ”

"Huang Xing, do you know how to fight, how many Hubei brothers have killed us by blindly commanding? Where's your Hunan Xiangyi Association? Listen to the sound of a gunshot and run back to Hunan! ”

"Who are you not good at, learn from Xiang Yu what kind of 'ruined boat', dismantle the pontoon bridge, but the brothers don't even have a way out, and more people drowned in the river than were killed by the Beiyang Army!"

There was a table in front of each of the people present, and the sound of slapping the table resounded through the room!

In the corner of the room, Li Yuanhong was secretly a little proud in his heart, when Huang Xing arrived in Wuchang, everyone regarded him as a savior, and his own governor was left aside. In order to show his courtesy corporal, Li Yuanhong also built an altar to worship the generals, and personally taught the defense and arrows! As a result, the No. 2 leader of the Alliance, who had a great reputation but couldn't fight, met Feng Guozhang, a fierce general who was born in the Martial Arts Academy and had followed Nie Shicheng in North Korea and himself, and was defeated.

Li Yuanhong had long seen that Huang Xing's plan was not working, and he had reminded him, and Sun Wu and Sun Yaoqing, the head of the Wuchang Military Command Department, who slapped the table with Huang Xing face to face, repeatedly reminded Huang Xing to pay attention to the flanks. But this uncle didn't listen to him at all, and now he lost the battle but passed the blame to his subordinates, and suddenly committed public anger.

Huang Xing was still regarded as a savior a few days ago, and the Wuchang New Army rode around to unfurl the banner, with three big characters on it: Huang Xing arrived! It seems that as soon as he arrived, the Beiyang Army was wiped out, and as a result, Hankou and Hanyang were lost, and the Beiyang Army occupied Guishan, erected artillery, and even the Governor's Mansion in Wuchang was torn off the roof by shells!

Looking at the excitement in the room and the blind command of Huang Xing, Li Yuanhong felt that the time had come for him to come forward to clean up the mess, and hurriedly came out to make peace with the mud: "Everyone, now that the battle has been lost, everyone is in a bad mood!" But the overall situation is still good! The bloodless blades of Nanchang have been recovered, the whole of Jiangxi has been in the hands of the Kuomintang, Anhui has also been recovered, and several provinces have been recovered one after another recently, Shanxi has been isolated from the north and the south, the Beiyang Army has been difficult to take care of, and the Manchu Qing Dynasty has gone to six or seven! Kegong is anxious for a while, and everyone still has to work together to overcome the temporary difficulties in front of us! ”

Sun Yaoqing ignored him, slapped the table and shouted, "Then what now?" Feng Guozhang has prepared hundreds of large and small boats by the river, and he is about to cross the Yangtze River! Now that we have lost our troops, we will not be able to fight against the Beiyang Army at all! ”

Li Yuanhongpi asked with a smile: "Kegong, what is your opinion!" ”

Huang Xing was very depressed, the battle of Hanyang, the Wuchang New Army and the Beiyang Army intersected with each other, every inch of land and every inch of blood in hand-to-hand combat, when the battle was at its most intense, Xiang Yixie, his fellow townsman, fled back to his hometown regardless of himself, which made the Hubei generals completely lose confidence in themselves. At that time, Huang Xing was extremely sad and angry, and he wanted to commit suicide several times, but he was stopped by the soldiers around him.

Huang Xing thought about it and felt powerless, so he had to sigh and say: "For the sake of today's plan, it is better to give up Wuchang, pack up the remnants of the army and go downstream, join up with the Southern Revolutionary Party, and attack Nanjing together!" ”

"Smack!" Zhang Zhenwu, deputy head of the Military Command Department, took out his own pistol, slammed it on the table and shouted: "Whoever dares to say that he abandons Wuchang is Han Annihilation!" No mercy! ”

"Well, that's good!" The whole audience stood up, and the applause was thunderous for a while, and Li Yuanhong also applauded, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud!

Seeing Huang Xing eating deflated, he was happier than eating bee feces!

Everyone's eyes were spewing fire, and they looked at Huang Xing angrily, in the hearts of the generals in Hubei, giving up Wuchang to attack Nanjing was actually running away! The generals' families are all in Wuchang, and they ran away, and the whole family fell into the hands of the Qing army, so can there be a good one?

Someone whispered: "There are two legs under the word Xing, can't you beat and run?" ”

Sun Yaoqing jumped directly onto the table and said: "Wuchang is the capital of the first righteousness, if it is abandoned, it will inevitably shake the good situation of the whole country, make the hearts of the people in the provinces cold, and the revolution is likely to collapse!" If Wuchang is lost, the enemy is located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and Nanjing will be threatened at all times even if it is defeated! Then we won't become the second Hong Xiuquan, waiting to be cleaned up! ”

Huang Xing was speechless for a while, and after a while, he said angrily: "Then what do you say to do?" ”

Seeing that the time was ripe, Li Yuanhong cheered everyone up and said: "I have already sent a telegram to the governor of Chai Dudu in Anhui, asking him to send troops to relieve the siege, Anqing has ten battalions of new troops, and there is also an internal repair station, and there is no shortage of weapons and ammunition!" If there are these thousands of new forces to help, breaking Feng Guozhang is just waiting for leisure! ”

Huang Xing said disdainfully: "He? I don't know how many telegrams I've called him! Did he send a single soldier? So far, it's only 50,000 taels! ”

When it came to this, everyone was silent, Chai Dongliang, the so-called special envoy of Sun Wen, even Huang Xing had never heard of his name, and everyone guessed that it might be the pseudonym of a revolutionary comrade. But he repeatedly sent him telegrams, but he always shirked in every possible way, did not send troops to live or die, and was in a hurry, taking out 50,000 taels of silver perfunctory!

The conference hall, which had been slapping the table and slapping the bench just now, fell into a deathly silence, and everyone felt that the end was coming.

"Li Du Governor, Anhui Chaidu Governor telegram! He sent thirteen ships to support us! ”

This shocking sound shocked everyone, Li Yuanhong looked back and saw that it was Gao Chuguan, a staff member of the Governor's Mansion, who stumbled into the venue with the telegram translation.

"Soldiers? What warship? ”

"Governor, the Yangtze River Naval Division has been exhausted under the command of the Governor of Chaidu, and the Governor of Chai Metropolitan has ordered all the warships of the Naval Division to reinforce us, and Wuchang is saved!"

Li Yuanhong looked up to the sky and laughed: "The sky is endless! There is a Yangtze River sailor, see why Feng Guozhang crossed the river to fight Wuchang! If he has the ability, he doesn't need a boat to fly across the Yangtze River! Then he hurriedly said: "Quick, send a telegram to Chai Dudu, thank him for his high righteousness!" ”

Gao Chuguan hesitated for a moment and said, "But Chai Dudu still has one condition!" ”

"Don't say one, even a hundred! Say, what conditions does he want? Li Yuanhong now regards Chai Dongliang as the last straw.

"Governor Chaidu, please allocate 500,000 yuan to him for the opening fee!"

"Half a million?" Everyone gasped.

Wuchang has been fighting for more than a month, and even if there are mountains of gold and silver, they are almost gone, and the Governor's Mansion will be less than a million! gave Chai Dongliang, and all the people's troops gathered in Wuchang drank the northwest wind?

"Give it to him, tell him that as long as the siege is lifted, we will give the money!" Li Yuanhong gritted his teeth and said fiercely.

"Chai Du Du said, please give it now, transfer the account from HSBC!"

Li Yuanhong and Huang Xing didn't expect Chai Dongliang to be so desperate, if he didn't give cash, he would die and not be saved!

"Give, give now!"

Chai Dongliang, these 500,000 Long Yang will be kept for you to buy a coffin! Li Yuanhong secretly gritted his teeth!