Zhao Bei looked at the Anqing messengers, and there were two people who were very familiar, they were officers of the staff of the Anqing Rebel Army, and when he opened the letter, it was Xiong Chengji who wrote it.

After reading this letter, Zhao Bei understood why Zhang Yukun and others who went to contact the 33rd standard of the Jiangsu New Army did not have news for a long time, it turned out that they successfully instigated the uprising of the new army of the standard and did not advance to the west according to the plan, but turned around and went to the east to join the Anqing rebel army, this is not that Zhang Yukun and others disobeyed Zhao Bei's military order, it was really that they couldn't control the soldiers under them, most of those soldiers were from Jiangsu, and they were Lazhuang Ding to join the army, so they were in a hurry to return to their hometowns, so they went to Anqing with those few leaders of the uprising who had no prestige, Intending to cross the river to attack Jiangning, even Xu Shaozhen, the commander of the ninth town in Jiangsu, could not restrain the troops, and Wang Shizhen, the Beiyang general who was originally in charge of the 33rd standard, fled to a Qing gunboat shortly after the uprising began, and fled to the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, without giving full play to his strength as a "dragon of the Beiyang".

After the 33rd Standard Uprising, all the way eastward, in the area of the mouth of the Luoma River, met the Republican Army detachment that returned to Anqing with artillery, so the two armies merged, abandoned the ship and landed, and returned to Anqing from the Jixian Pass in the north, Zhao Bei's handwritten letter to Xiong Chengji was also successfully sent to the Dadu Governor's Mansion, from this letter, Xiong Chengji learned the direction of Zhao Bei's march, so he hurriedly sent someone overnight with a handwritten letter to Xiaochikou.

In the letter, Xiong Chengji did not attack Zhao Bei's unauthorized westward advance, but rather agreed with his bold strategy, and encouraged him to continue to expand the results of the war, advancing to Hubei and Hunan, so as to deal with Anqing, and also told Zhao Bei that due to the Qing gunboats bombarding the city wall for several days, Anqing was no longer defensible, and he was about to lead his troops to the north to assault, abandon Anqing, and attack and occupy northern Anhui, because the Guangfuhui was about to launch a large-scale uprising in the Jiangnan region, Xiong Chengji planned to build a barrier for the southern uprising, and drag the main force of the Qing army in Anhui.

Since Xiong Chengji did not know whether Zhao Bei had led his army to capture Jiujiang at the time of writing, he also pointed out in the letter, emphasizing the importance of the Jinjipo fortress.

"Your name is Xue Zixiang, right?" Zhao Bei asked one of the messengers.

"The commander-in-chief has a good memory." The man nodded. "I didn't expect you to capture Jiujiang so quickly, and before we came, we were worried that we wouldn't be able to find you. Originally, we didn't see you leading the autumn exercise troops to return from the uprising, and we all thought that your action to instigate the uprising failed, but we didn't expect you to pull the troops to the west, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. ”

"Xiong Dudu wants to give up Anqing, this is the right decision. Please tell Xiong Dudu that our army must attack westward as soon as possible to deal with the Anhui rebel army. ”

"We can't bring this message. Xiong Dudu said, told us to stay by your side and give you advice. Xue Zixiang said.

"Since it is Xiongdudu's will, then you will stay in my staff." Zhao Bei nodded quietly, and at the same time became vigilant, this is clearly an undercover agent sent to him, he must be guarded against, but at present, he is fledgling, and the banner of "Restoration Society" is still somewhat useful, so it is better to be cautious.

"Wu Zhenhan!" Zhao Bei shouted.

"Here!"

"In order to deal with the Anhui rebel army, the reorganization plan of our troops can only be delayed. It is necessary to march west as soon as possible and take Wuhan. Zhao Bei sighed, now that time is pressing, no matter what, we must take the Hanyang Arsenal as soon as possible, otherwise, the ammunition of the rebel troops will not be able to support a long-term battle, and since Xiong Chengji has planned to abandon Anqing, then the Qing gunboats can free up their hands to gather and attack Jinjipo, and there is not much time left for him.

Now that the rebel troops have rested here for two days, their morale is high and they are full of energy, and they have been replenished with many high-spirited recruits.

"We can't delay, we must set off on the expedition to the west immediately. Baishan, the defense of Jiujiang City will be handed over to you, and I will leave you some more cannons. In addition, in order to prevent the cable telegraph from being destroyed by the enemy, I will leave you a wireless telegraph machine to contact at any time. In any case, you have to defend Jiujiang City and Jinjipo Fortress for me for at least a month! If we occupy this place, we will block the passage of the Qing gunboats to the west, and we will be able to ensure the safety of our westward expeditionary army. Zhao Bei patted Wu Zhenhan on the shoulder.

"Rest assured, Commander-in-Chief! With me, Jiujiang and Jinjipo will not be lost! Wu Zhenhan said.

"Don't say it's so full, the main force is marching westward, your strength is insufficient, I don't expect you to hold Jiujiang, I just hope you delay it for a few more days, and when we take Wuhan, this Jiujiang can be abandoned, our strength is insufficient, and we can't take care of too many places now." The key to defending Jiujiang is Jinji Slope, and some troops must also be placed at the mouth of the small pond on the opposite bank. Zhao Bei said.

"I am afraid that the gunboats of the Qing army will follow the warships of the great powers, and if they accidentally hit the warships of the great powers, I am afraid that they will cause trouble. If this is the case, to fight or not to fight? Lan Tianwei on the side reminded.

"It's right!" Zhao Bei thought about it and clarified his position. "Now in the dry season of the Yangtze River, the powerful warships can't come in, even if they want to retaliate, they have to wait until after the spring flood, and by that time, we have already taken Wuhan. However, try not to take the initiative to provoke the warships of the great powers, which requires you to train your artillery, and by the way, find some people, make some simple mines with iron barrels and wires, and shoot them visually, and lay them under the surface of the river, which can also play a blockade role. In fact, what I am most worried about is that the Qing army will attack by land and water, in that case, it is difficult to say how many days Jiujiang can be defended. ”

"The armed forces of the local congresses are coming from southern and western Jiangxi, and they will arrive in a few days, and the strength of the army should not be a big problem, the key is weapons." Wu Zhenhan said.

Zhao Bei nodded and glanced back: "Chief of Staff Blue!" ”

"Here!" Lan Tian Wei answered.

"Pass my order, all the officers and soldiers of the first echelon of the Left Concord and the second echelon and the task force of the Revolutionary Guards pack up their bags, the baggage team should hurry up to make dry rations, and continue to collect winter clothes and recruit laborers, the baggage must be loaded tonight, the shipwrights, sailors, and baggage soldiers are on standby on the ship, and all the troops going out will rest early tonight, and they will set off early tomorrow morning! In addition, inform Zhu Daniu and let him lead the special operations battalion to board the two gunboats first, and then select some Hubei soldiers to join, the best staff officers in the headquarters will pick out a few to be sent, and the special operations battalion will wait for my order on the gunboat. ”

……

In the early morning of November 28, 1908, the main force of the Republican Army swore to march westward at Gantang Lake in the west of Jiujiang City, with a total of more than 50,000 regular troops and revolutionary guards, escorted by two gunboats, along the Yangtze River and land side by water, and marched westward.

He was accompanied by more than 2,000 sailing ships.

A cannon sounded, the boatman and oarsman raised the anchor and hung the oars, thousands of sails raced, and hundreds of boats competed for the current.

Behind the buttocks of the rebel troops, there were also gunboats of all kinds, all flying the flags of various countries, and for a while, it felt like an international fleet. After the change of banners in Jiujiang, the great powers sent gunboats to the river near Jiujiang, nominally to protect their own interests in China, but in fact to monitor the movements of the rebel army, the most unfriendly to the rebel army were the British gunboats, those two British Ladybug-class gunboats from time to time rampant in the fleet, the muzzle of the gun pointed back and forth, extremely arrogant.

For these "followers", the rebels did not show weakness, all kinds of cannons on the ships were stripped of their armor, machine guns were also loaded with pointed heavy bullets, and some light boats were filled with fire to act as fire attack ships, in case the other side fired, the republican army will not hesitate to counterattack.

Looking from afar, there are many sails on the Yangtze River, and red flags are hunting.

Zhao Bei stood at the bow of the "Chuguan" gunboat, personally commanded the ship's guns to aim at the British gunboat, surrounded by his guards, the cold wind was cold, his face was as resolute as a rock, facing the cold wind like a knife, looking at the mighty fleet, his heart fluctuated.

"History will be written by me! Wuhan, I'm coming! ”

……

The British did not fire a cannon in the end.

The republican army marched forward with great triumph, marching up the river from Jiangxi to Hubei, all the way like a bamboo, successively recovering Qizhou, Huangzhou and other important towns along the river, and the front of the army was directed at Wuchang.

For a while, the whole world was shocked, the Qing court was terrified, and the revolutionary situation was prosperous.

(Keep canvassing, keep canvassing.) ）