History is not a straight line, never straight forward, but unpredictable and full of variables. www.biquge.info The Xinhai Revolution in history, a revolution that changed history, relatively few people died, because the many forces involved had a relative human bottom line, which was unprecedented in Chinese history, and the Xinhai Revolution can be regarded as a peaceful transition in this sense.

Similarly, although the revolution that broke out in 1909 showed no signs of easing, those behind the scenes who could really influence the situation had no intention of making a big move.

However, it is necessary to fight a tough battle, and only by understanding the strength of the other party will we sincerely solve the problem by compromise and negotiation; Only by showing their strength can they occupy a more advantageous position in the negotiations.

On the other hand, the attitude of the revolutionary side and the Qing court was very different, not only the Beiyang Army that went south to suppress it was also under the remote command of Yuan Shikai, and there was no enthusiasm, or it was delayed. In the capital, chaos has grown, and people cannot see the appearance of concerted efforts within the Qing court.

At the beginning of the revolution, the Qing court decided to send troops to suppress it, and went from Yinchang. Yin Chang had studied in Germany, studied military affairs, and was an envoy to Germany as an envoy of the Qing Dynasty, but this time he himself retreated, and stayed in Beijing for three days before slowly setting off. In fact, he was timid and reinstated Yuan Shikai in the operation. However, rumors spread from the inside of the Fuxing Society that the Qing court's military salaries in the south were insufficient and there was no capital to continue the war.

The financial constraints of the Qing court were well known, and this news was not all rumors. Therefore, the common people believed in this news very much, thinking that the imperial court had no money. In this case, the money they have in the bank is not safe, and they start to withdraw money from the bank.

It is understandable that the common people should do this. But the most energetic person to withdraw money was ****** Yixuan, and his family took out a huge deposit of at least a few million taels and deposited it directly into the British HSBC Bank. In just two days, several banks in Beijing closed. In the past, you could give silver tickets and banknotes, but now no one asks for them, as long as they are in the ocean. I'd rather carry it a little heavier on my back, but I can buy rice, and rice is getting more and more expensive.

Taking the lead, other officials of the Qing court followed suit, and they did not have the consciousness of helping each other in the same boat and surviving the difficulties together. Not only did they withdraw money, but many people also began to flee.

The Pekingese fled to Tianjin, where there was a concession, which overcrowded the concession. Tianjin is all full. Housing prices have risen sharply, and some Beijingers can't stay in Tianjin, so they live in two places in Beijing, one is the embassy area of Dongjiaomin Lane, and the other is the Liuguo Hotel. Another trend is the flight to Shanghai, where people from all over the country have fled to Shanghai, and housing prices in Shanghai have skyrocketed, and the price of rice has also risen.

Along with this chaos is panic. Rumors are rife all over the country. Many of the news published in the newspapers every day was false, and all of them spoke of the victory of the revolutionaries. In the south, the newspapers were unimpeded, and several newspaper offices that said that the Qing army had won the war were smashed.

Many people heard the rumors, but after a few days, all the rumors turned out to be true. For example, the "fall of Nanchang" written today and the "fall of Wuxi" written tomorrow will become facts in the next week.

chaos, rumors, panic...... The interior of the Qing court presented a scene of fallen trees and scattered trees. The Beiyang Army has already gone south, but the back is already making its own plans; The people are not optimistic about the imperial court, and at this time, many ordinary people remember that they are Han people, and they all feel that there are too few Manchurians, and dozens of Han people fight one. A win seems to be expected.

A former so-called **** big country has no money, to be precise, the treasury has no money. Where does all the money go? There is no doubt that it fell into the pockets of private individuals, and many princes, bailes, and ministers were very rich in their families, but the Qing Dynasty treasury had no money. At the most difficult time, there were only 200,000 taels of silver in the treasury, and many ministries closed their doors one after another because they could not pay salaries, and the branch kept trying to borrow money.

Such an embarrassing financial situation immediately ruined the image of the Qing court. Many low-level officials also wanted to flee, but their salaries were not paid, and they did not even have travel expenses, so they had to go to pawnshops to pawn to make money. If the officials are like this, it is self-evident what kind of conclusions the common people can draw.

In particular, the southern provinces have declared their independence one after another, and whether it is the change of soup by the constitutionalists or the areas under the control of the revolutionary army, anyway, this independent power is like a heavy blow to the head of the Qing court, which is powerful and capable of doing abroad.

However, due to the active efforts of the revolutionary army, the recovery of Shanghai, the main base of the Qing navy, the surrender of the navy stationed in Shanghai to the revolutionary government, and finally the declaration of independence of Anhui, there was no place to supply the entire lower reaches of the Yangtze River except Nanjing, and the supply of coal and grain to the warships in the middle of the Yangtze River was also difficult.

At the same time, Tang Xiangming received a secret letter from his brother Tang Hualong, saying that the revolutionary military government valued him very much and intended to make him the chief of civil affairs of Gui or Fujian provinces, urging him to "make meritorious contributions to the uprising, and make it too early and not too late."

Zhang Yibo, second mate Yang Qingzhen, third mate Gao Youqin, and others of the "Haichen" ship; Jin Zhuozhang, chief electrical officer and Chen Shiying, gunnery officer of the "Hairong" ship, He Weisheng, second officer Sha Xunling, instructor She Zhenxing, and others of the "Haichou" ship also made extensive contacts.

Under such circumstances, Tang Xiangming led the ships "Hairong", "Haichen", and "Haichou" to pull anchor and reach Jiujiang. All ships lowered the dragon flag of the Qing Dynasty and hoisted the white flag to signify their submission to the revolution.

In this way, the defense line of the Yangtze River was very strong, and a situation in which the revolutionary forces and the Qing court crossed the river almost took shape.

Immediately afterwards, the Society issued a letter to the people of the whole country, expressing its determination to carry the revolution through to the end, and invited representatives from the independent provinces and Shanghai to rush to Guangzhou to attend the preparatory meeting of the provisional government and discuss state affairs.

On the same day, Wu Luzhen, in the name of commander-in-chief of the revolutionary army, issued an order in Wuchang, calling on the armies of the independent provinces to quickly stabilize local order, to ensure the safety of the people, to prohibit dumping and mutual attacks, and to settle the matter through consultation after the establishment of the provisional government.

At the same time, it also issued a circular on joint operations to the provincial military governments, hoping that the provincial military governments would have the money, strength, and personnel to reinforce the Wuchang military government and jointly strike at and eliminate the reactionary forces loyal to the Qing court.

The Jiangxi junta was the first to respond. First, the army of the First Association was dispatched to reinforce Wuchang; The Hunan Military Government also quickly made a decision, and the first batch of more than 1,700 troops to aid Hubei was led by Wang Longzhong to set off by boat from Daximen Wharf, and representatives from all walks of life went to the riverbank to see off hundreds of people. In addition, the Guangdong Military Government sent the mixed Third Brigade from Zhang Ji Village to set out to aid Hubei in the war. The Zhejiang Military Government organized the Northern Expeditionary Army and decided to go north. The Songhu Revolutionary Army with Li Xiehe jointly attacked Jiangsu and recovered the southern capital, thinking that Wuchang was a countermeasure.

The revolution is spreading and developing, and the situation can be described as very good.

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“…… The important foundation of the entire revolutionary movement is American, whether it is financial support, revolutionary ideals, political system, or revolutionary spirit, all come from the United States; The United States should be fully aware of this...... The revolutionary movement represents the firm determination of the Chinese people to fight for republicanism. While it is doubtful whether it will succeed, nothing can stop the efforts of the people...... And. There are more and more signs that the momentum of the revival will be unstoppable, including the Jiangsu-Zhejiang consortium, the Nanyang Chinese family, and some chaebols in their own countries are supporting it. ——Excerpt from "Telegram from U.S. Minister Jia Leheng to the U.S. Government"

"The future of the Manchu Qing Dynasty is really dark, and the people of the country are not convinced...... When our country encounters the danger of the lives and property of the British, we should do our best to protect them, but no matter what we do. You can't go beyond that even a little bit...... This move of the revolutionary army was in good order. And he respects the interests of outsiders very much, which is very different from such chaos in the past...... Chen Wenqiang, head of the Renaissance Association, yesterday sent a call on the consuls of various countries stationed in Shanghai, hoping that the governments of various countries would recognize the revolutionary army as a belligerent group, and revealed that the provisional government of Guangzhou had been recognized by the independent provinces and would unify and coordinate the revolutionary actions of the southern provinces. Restore social order as soon as possible. On the same day, Song Fuhua, the leader of the Renaissance Society, hosted a banquet in Guangzhou for representatives of business groups from various countries, welcoming them to invest in Guangdong, Hunan, Guangxi, Yunnan, and other areas under the actual control of the revolutionary army, and distributing the development program and industrial and commercial policies of the Guangdong military government. American businessmen were active and interested in the upcoming construction of the Liuzhou Iron and Steel Plant and the soon-to-be-expanded Hainan Rubber Plantation......" - from the telegram of British Minister Juerdian to Foreign Secretary Gray

"The imperial government, since the beginning of the riots in China, has adhered to the principle that this is an internal matter of China, and that the Chinese must first establish order on their own. However, in the event of an unavoidable intervention, according to the Imperial Government, such interference should only be carried out by the general Powers in which China has an interest, after consultation. In any case, we wish to avoid individual countries acting alone in order to obtain special benefits. —Excerpt from the Report of the German Foreign Minister Qi Moumen

"In the present situation, for the sake of our country's interests, we should exchange views with the Tokyo Cabinet as much as possible on the issue of China, so as not to miss the appropriate opportunity to strengthen our position in China...... It is recommended that China adopt a neutral and wait-and-see attitude for the time being, hoping that chaos and anarchy will spread in China, so as to prevent China from having a strong government that can actively take steps to strengthen its control over Mongolia, Manchuria and Xinjiang. —From "The Acting Foreign Minister of Russia Presents to the Tsar"

"Not only in Manchuria, on the one hand, it is necessary to maintain the status quo and prevent encroachment, and on the other hand, to seize the opportunity to seek to promote Japan's interests; In addition, the whole of China will have to adapt to the situation and seek Japan's dominant position. If China's internal hostilities continue to develop, the Japanese government considers it necessary to consider intervening. However, if such a measure is to be taken, it must be agreed by the United Kingdom, and in the event of a major problem, both countries will be jointly responsible. ——Excerpt from "Japanese Prime Minister Saionji Gong Looking at the Emperor and Folding"

Although the great powers did not agree for the time being to consider the revolutionary army as a belligerent group, after consultation. However, a strict neutrality proclamation was issued, and it was decided to place all the tax revenues of the Chinese customs under the General Taxation Department, so as to prevent the revolutionary army from diverting the customs duties as guarantees for foreign indemnities and foreign debts to military expenses, and at the same time, it also announced the cessation of all loans to the Qing court.

Another important reason why the great powers were able to adopt a neutral position in general was the increasingly fierce contradictions and struggles in the European countries, as the French Foreign Minister said: "Even if the policy of intervention is necessary for the situation, the interests of Europe require that all countries unanimously adopt a conservative policy in China."

Japan has a relatively strong tendency on this issue, and although it also said that it would adopt a "neutral stance," at the request of the Qing government, the Japanese government decided that Japanese businessmen would provide arms to the Qing government. It feared that once the new regime replaced the Qing government, it would take action against Japanese expansion. At this time, however, Japan's strength had not yet made it rampant enough to regard Asia as its exclusive stage. Therefore, in the face of the opposition of the great powers, they did not dare to act rashly alone.

Now, the revolutionary army has temporarily relieved the worries of the intervention of the great powers, but the tiger on the opposite side, the Beiyang Army, is still showing its teeth and claws, and a major war is inevitable.

A series of explosions shook the land, the smoke of fire obscured the clear sky, the shrill whistle of cannonballs came and went, and the storm of the great battle finally blew on the position in front of Wusheng Pass.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

Clusters of firelight burst out from the position, kicking up smoke and dust that soared into the sky, shrapnel flew sideways, sand and wood chips flew everywhere, and the red-hot air currents and gunpowder smoke choked people.

Wu Luzhen gently lowered the binoculars in the shelter department, and glanced at the large group of officers watching the battle around him, everyone had seen such a fierce artillery fire for the first time, many people looked horrified, others pretended to be calm, but it was really strange that they were not shocked in their hearts.

Li Yuanhong's eyes rolled, the exercise was an exercise, and it was the first time he had seen such a real battle, and he was shocked, and said with a strong smile: "This artillery fire is indeed fierce enough, but there are only a small number of infantry in the first trench of our army, and there are artillery bunkers every thirty meters, and the top is covered with a thick tree, and it is also covered with two feet of soil, which should be completely able to resist the 75 mm artillery bombardment." ”

"And there are a lot of one-man anti-artillery holes in the trenches, as long as the soldiers do not run in panic and protect properly, they will not incur unnecessary injuries." Wu Luzhen took over the words in a timely manner and continued to relieve the psychological pressure on the officers who watched and studied the battle, "Now the front-line position is defending the First Brigade of the First Mixed Association of the Chinese Revolutionary Army, led by the fierce general Deng Yulin, and the Beiyang Army will be attacked head-on. ”

"The Beiyang Army has ascended to observe the balloon." A staff officer put down the binoculars, handed them to the officer next to him, and passed them down in turn to watch.

In the distance, a huge gray object slowly rose, like a bleak moon without a glimmer of light.

………… (To be continued.) )