In addition to Wang Zhanyuan and Lu Yongxiang, the commander of the Beiyang Army, there were also some generals of the Hubei New Army and the commander of the patrol battalion defending Hanyang, and Li Yuanhong, the co-commander of the 21st Mixed Association of the Hubei New Army, was their mastermind and the highest-ranking officer among the Qing generals present.

However, as a senior officer of the Southern New Army, Li Yuanhong could not command the Beiyang Army, in the eyes of Wang Zhanyuan and Lu Yongxiang, every word that this short and fat southern officer said was planning for himself, and at the same time letting the Beiyang Army go to death, plus the local accents on both sides were very strong, and communication was inconvenient, no, for a counterattack plan, the two sides almost threw their hats and left.

"Your soldiers are soldiers, but Lao Tzu's soldiers are not soldiers? Your Hubei soldiers are responsible for defense, but you asked Lao Tzu's Beiyang Army to fight back, what kind of heart do you have? Lu Yongxiang pointed at Li Yuanhong's nose and almost cursed.

"Zijia, don't be so impulsive, you have something to say." Wang Zhanyuan's temper was slightly better, but he was also very dissatisfied with Li Yuanhong's counterattack plan. "But, Song Qing, you have to make it clear, why can't your soldiers rush ahead? We Shandong people are all straight men, and some words go around and around, and we can't understand them. Now there are less than 1,000 people left in the Beiyang Army, even if we are asked to die, we have to be made to understand our deaths. ”

Wang Zhanyuan's words were loaded with guns and sticks, Li Yuanhong didn't hear them, but he still suppressed the fire in his heart, and said as calmly as possible: "Zichun, I mean, my Hubei soldiers are unreliable!" If we tell them to rush ahead, if we kill them and pull the corners, none of us will be able to escape. The Hubei New Army, which has more than 10,000 people in Taihu, has all voted for the thieves, who can guarantee that the remaining soldiers have no thoughts? I won't hide it from the two of you, a few days ago I caught a few people in the army, all of whom ran back from Taihu Lake, and they spread rumors in the army to incite the morale of the army. In the past few days, all my soldiers have not looked at each other correctly, if it weren't for the pressure of bullets from the officers and flag soldiers, and the tight control of ammunition, I am afraid that before you cross the river, this Hubei New Army will rebel again. The 21st Mixed Association under my original command mutinied in Taihu Lake, and now those who remain here are several battalion leaders of the original Eighth Town, and I can't command them. ”

"And you're going to keep fighting back? You're not going to stick to it? Don't you understand this? Did you buy your top from King Qing? Lu Yongxiang patted the table and stood up.

Li Yuanhong also turned his face and said, "How did Li's official hat come about, I don't need to say it!" The current situation is in front of us, the Jinghan Road bridge has been destroyed, the traffic is cut off, even if the reinforcements arrive in time, they have to walk more than 100 miles, not to mention the rebel gunboats to intercept it! Looking at the rebels again, they have just occupied Hanyang, their foothold is not stable, and the fortifications have not been completed, so it is a good time for us to launch a counterattack! Now that it is dark, the rebel gunboats cannot open fire, it is convenient for us to attack at night, as long as we concentrate our forces to recapture Hanyang, defeat the rebel forward, and frustrate their spirit, their military spirit will inevitably be shaken, so that our army can have a glimmer of life, and can take the opportunity to withdraw to Hankou to hold on, or wait for Hankou reinforcements to cross the river, otherwise, sit here and wait for death! ”

"Night Strike! Night raids are a taboo for soldiers! You're still a new army. Lu Yongxiang slapped the table so much that it almost fell apart, and the foreign oil lamp on the table also jumped up.

Wang Zhanyuan also said: "Zijia's words are right, now our morale is not high, and it is not possible to launch a night attack." In addition, the news from the foreign warship said that this rebel army marched all the way west from Jiangxi, and only left a few men and horses in Qizhou and Huangzhou, and no troops were sent to garrison other small places, and tens of thousands of troops rushed to Wuhan in a swarm, why? It's just to bluff and take Wuhan in one go! This is a desperate gamble, if they can't take Wuhan in one go, they will become a rogue and can only go west to Sichuan. ”

"What does Zichun mean?" Li Yuanhong was a little confused.

"What I mean, not only can we not fight back now, but we also have to continue to shrink our troops, stick to the arsenal, and wait for Chen Zhitai to transfer troops to reinforce us. Just now, Chen Zhitai called, saying that he had sent a telegram to Anlu Mansion and De'an Mansion to transfer some more defense battalions there, and as long as we stayed in the arsenal for a few days, those defense battalions would almost arrive. ”

Li Yuanhong shook his head disapprovingly, and said: "If the rebels gain a firm foothold in Hanyang, with our little soldiers, it would be good to be able to hold for two days, and we will not be able to hold on to the reinforcements." ”

Lu Yongxiang sneered: "It turns out that you also know that we have few soldiers, so you still want to launch a night attack?" ”

"It is precisely because of the lack of troops that it is necessary to survive in the death, taking advantage of the unstable foothold of the rebels to kill a horse gun. Although the rebels were numerous, most of them were rabble, and as long as one was defeated, many often retreated together. ”

"Bang!"

Lu Yongxiang patted the table and stood up, raised his hand to point at Li Yuanhong's nose, and scolded: "Survive in death? Hum. If you want to die, you die, Lao Tzu will not accompany you! No matter how rabble the rebels are, there are also two towns and new armies in them, do you think they are decorations? ”

Wang Zhanyuan hurriedly came out to be a peacemaker and said, "The two of you are not impatient. Counterattack is not good, don't say that the Hubei soldiers are unreliable, that is, reliable, our Beiyang Army can not move lightly, now our shells are blown into ashes in Liujiamiao, only the ammunition on the cart is left, although there are a lot of old guns, but the shells are filled with firecracker fire, it is good to hear, but it is not good to fight. As for the night attack, it is really risky, and now that this kind of morale launches a night attack, do you think we don't have many deserters? Now we can only wait and see what happens, the telegram just now said that Chen Zhitai has gone to the concession to negotiate with the foreigner consul to see if we can borrow a few foreigner gunboats, once the foreigner nods and there is gunboat cover, it is not too late for us to launch a counterattack. ”

"Foreigners? What kind of thoughts foreigners have, we can't be unguarded. Li Yuanhong snorted and didn't insist anymore. For the situation of his troops, he knows better than anyone else, what he said to Wang Zhanyuan and Lu Yongxiang just now is not to scare them, since learning that the Jiujiang Revolutionary Army has marched westward, the Hubei New Army has obviously shown a precursor to mutiny, if it is not for the decisive measures taken, I am afraid that this army would have been reversed long ago, at present, there are more than 2,000 people in the Hubei New Army defending Hanyang with the Beiyang Army, more than half of which are concentrated in the area of the steel medicine factory, in order to monitor the army, Chen Kuilong, the governor of Huguang, has already mixed some flag soldiers in it, but how useful is it, No one has a bottom.

"Why don't we gather the troops on Turtle Mountain and stick to the arsenal and the ironworks?" Before Wang Zhanyuan could finish speaking, a staff officer rushed outside the signing room, and as soon as he stepped through the door, he shouted: "Qintai...... The piano platform is under storm! ”

"What?" Several people felt quite troubled, the Qintai and Guishan became horns, and they responded to each other, once the Qintai was lost, Guishan was isolated.

Walking out of the signing room, a few people listened attentively, the direction of the piano platform was indeed the gunfire, the dark night was torn apart from time to time by the flash of the shell explosion, the "boom" explosion sound like spring thunder, which made people feel shocked.

"What are you doing? Call Kameyama and adjust the artillery to stop the attack! Lu Yongxiang shouted angrily.

"It's such a dark day, I'm afraid that I will hurt my own people by mistake......" Before the staff officer finished speaking, he had already received a solid slap from Lu Yongxiang, so he had to cover his cheeks and run towards the telephone room, but before he could enter the door, another officer rushed out of the telephone room, shouting as he ran: "Guishan has been attacked by the enemy at night!" Request support! ”

"Support? Support a ball! Where did Lao Tzu get so many soldiers? Several battalions were thrown into the city of Hanyang. Lu Yongxiang was furious.

"Mobilize Hubei soldiers. Li Xietong, you can't hesitate any longer! Wang Zhanyuan said.

Li Yuanhong said gloomily: "The Hubei soldiers are guarding the factory, not to mention whether they can get to Guishan in time, even if they can arrive, won't the arsenal and the iron factory be guarded?" ”

"Exploded! The arsenal is blown up! The arms and ammunition in it were also blown up. Wang Zhanyuan gritted his teeth and said. The Hanyang Arsenal not only stored newly made guns and ammunition, but also stored a lot of munitions accumulated over the years, all of which were transferred from the Wuchang Chuwangtai Armory by the Governor of Huguang before the war.

"No! The Hanyang Arsenal is the people's fat and people's ointment for the people of Hubei Province, if it is blown up, don't say that the people do not agree, even the Hubei New Army will not carry out the order. Besides, where to get so many zha medicines? Li Yuanhong shook his head again and again, looked in the direction of Guishan, and sighed. The battle has come to this, and in my opinion, it is fortunate that the Hubei New Army does not rebel. ”