The constitutionalists were not required to take an active part in the revolution, but only to adopt a cooperative attitude, or at least not to be an enemy, after the revolution had begun. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Speaking of the constitutionalists, although they are weak in terms of possession of force, their prestige in the localities and their strength in industry and commerce are not trivial. Most importantly, they exist within the system.

The reason why a system becomes a system is a social mechanism that is caused by the collusion and intricacy of interpersonal relationships, which affects the whole body. It is quite difficult to shake the outside and affect the nodes of social relations that make up the system. However, if an internal shake changes a node of social relations within the system, a diffusion effect will be formed, leading to changes in the entire system. Whether the revolution is difficult or easy depends entirely on whether the people in the system have the will to do so.

It's like a room, people outside the house want to wake up the people in the house, shouting through the walls, doors and windows, the effect may not be great, but the people inside the house want to do this very easily.

And the fall of the Qing Dynasty was not due to the military, but to politics. It was defeated by the political reforms it had already initiated, but it foolishly blocked the way to political reforms, causing most of the constitutionalists to "politically despair" of the Qing court. At the critical moment, of course, it will join forces with the revolutionaries, and the momentum of the revolution will be determined at this point.

Of course, if the external revolutionary forces are strong enough and the change of regime is already obvious, then the constitutionalists are also moving closer to the times and fighting for their political rights with cooperation and support.

Chen Wenqiang adopted a two-pronged strategy, on the one hand, to force the Qing court and make the constitutionalists "politically desperate" or dissatisfied as soon as possible; On the one hand, the revolution was vigorous and unstoppable, prompting the constitutionalists to choose sides.

The precautionary measures he is advocating now imply these two meanings. One is to expand the petition movement, and the other is to demand that the constitutionalists adopt a cooperative attitude as much as possible after the revolution has really broken out.

Ultimately. The influence of constitutionalism at the local level can make the social order stable as soon as possible, or even change peacefully; At the same time, because most of the constitutionalists are gentlemen and businessmen, they are most afraid of social turmoil and the safety of their own families. Therefore, Chen Wenqiang wants to achieve this purpose. It's not that hard.

As far as the situation at that time was concerned, many constitutionalists were also stepping on two boats, and even if they did not participate in the revolution for the time being, they could not offend the revolutionary party; There is even support money, and I am happy to see it happen.

Not only did these constitutionalists choose to ride the wall, but even the officials of the Qing court, and even those who were high-ranking officials. For example, the end of the party lost money to the revolutionary party to buy his life, and Yuan Shikai generously gifted the killer of the revolutionary party......

This is quite a strange phenomenon. To say that the Manchu Qing in history seemed to be a thriving scene a year ago. But who would have expected it to be overthrown a year later? Just as several uprisings of the League in history ended in failure, a very fortuitous and inadequately prepared rebellion in Wuchang opened the prelude to the overthrow of the Qing court.

Does it mean that everyone with eyes can see that the Qing court is a big tree that has decayed into the sky? Chen Wenqiang believes that this is not the case. The reason may be related to the nature of the Chinese, or traditional thinking.

Leave a line in everything, and see each other in the future; Stepping on two boats, the left and right can meet the source; Wherever the wind blows, the man falls. So-called famous sayings and aphorisms like these. It imperceptibly affects the behavior of Chinese people. Of course, there was also the deterrence of assassinations by the revolutionary party. and disappointment with the corruption and incompetence of the Qing court.

The precautionary shots on the constitutionalist side have been given, and Chen Wenqiang is relieved. His stay in Shanghai was precisely to communicate with all parties, to test or fight, to determine the strategy to be adopted in the southeast after the revolution. and the forces to be mobilized.

Since Chen Wenqiang did not have the idea of fighting the Beiyang Army to the death and preventing the country from falling into long-term turmoil, he must strive to create a situation of confrontation between the north and the south. In other words, it is not enough to achieve revolutionary victories in the southwest, Wuhan and Shanghai, if Nanjing can be recovered. is a more definite sign.

At that time, the Qing Dynasty troops in various places on the outskirts of Nanjing included more than 10,000 people in the Ninth Town of the New Army led by Xu Shaozhen, about 6,000 people in the Jiangfang Battalion, about 6,000 people in the patrol battalion, 2,000 Qing soldiers in Xuzhou Town, 2,000 people in the Supervision Guards, 3,000 soldiers in the Banner Battalion, and a total of more than 30,000 troops.

Obviously, the Qing court attached great importance to Nanjing, a city of great political significance. But the Qing court certainly did not expect that the New Army would not be their loyal guardians, but would be gravediggers. Nearly half of the seemingly abundant troops were raised at once, and the flag battalion's food and salary were wasted, military discipline was corrupted, and combat effectiveness was low, so there was nothing to worry about; The most combat-effective are only the more than 10,000 people of the river defense battalion, the patrol battalion, and the supervising guards.

In this way, as long as the New Army defects and the Shanghai Revolutionary Army helps, it does not seem too difficult to recover Nanjing.

Of course, this is only calculations and planning on paper, and there are many other decisive factors in the war, as well as a lot of contingencies. What Chen Wenqiang had to do was only to tilt the favorable aspects in favor of the revolutionary army as much as possible, but it was impossible to ensure that everything would be carried out as smoothly as planned.

As for the military, Chen Wenqiang has always admitted that it is his weakness, and with such self-knowledge, he must of course invite experts to preside over it. Just as when the revolution was launched, the military commanders of each theater were basically determined, each performing his own duties and doing his best. For military operations in Shanghai, Nanjing, and even in the southeast, the headquarters also arranged military commanders, and sent reconnaissance personnel in advance, so Chen Wenqiang did not have to worry too much.

………….

"What a big place!" Listening to the sigh of the comrade next to him, Zhang Xiong responded vaguely and continued to concentrate on the manufacturing bureau in front of him.

The buildings were indeed very large, with concrete walls more than two people high. There are corner towers on all sides, and on the upper floors are Makqin heavy machine guns, which reflect a faint light in the lamplight. There were also several soldiers from the Shanghai military camp standing at the gate, leaning on their rifles and yawning lazily.

"What's going on inside?" Zhang Xiong frowned, it seemed that it was not easy to attack this manufacturing bureau with the characteristics of a fortress.

"There is a long alley in this bureau, and there are a few gray buildings. The soldiers of the Shanghai military camp were guarding inside, and there were five or six machine guns......"

Zhang Xiong nodded lightly, although it is difficult, it is not indestructible, there is still a way. First, it can cooperate with the inside and the outside, and strive for the guards to defect anyway; The second is to attack fortified positions with heavy weapons, such as artillery.

"Let's go, go back and draw the details, and then discuss it carefully." Thinking of this, Zhang Xiong felt that he had almost observed, so he stood up, "What's not clear, I'll come back tomorrow during the day, anyway, there is still plenty of time." ”

There was plenty of time, but as the backbone of the military in the merchant group, Zhang Xiong hoped to make a contribution with the armed forces of Shanghai. The southwest is in full swing, and his heart is also impatient.

………… (To be continued.) )