The telegram contained only a few simple words: Do not penetrate deep into Hubei. This is Yuan Shikai's order, of course Duan Qirui obeyed, what this telegram meant, Duan Qirui can guess a little. Today's imperial court is crumbling, the rule of the Manchus can not last long, and now there are two strongest forces in the land of China, one is the Zhenguo Party, and the other is the Beiyang of our palace protectors, with the new army of six towns, and the new army of the other three towns is also under construction.

It must be one of these two forces to replace the Qing Dynasty! It depends on who can gain the upper hand in this complicated situation, and it is not allowed to go deep into Hubei; indeed, now is not the time to fight hard with the national army, and the most important thing is to obtain the greatest benefits from the change of dynasty.

The third town stopped marching and was stationed in the Guangshui area of Hubei, and the imperial court ordered the fourth town stationed in Machang in Zhili and the fifth town stationed in Jinan to march to Lianghu, but Wu Fengling, the commander of the fourth town, and Wu Changchun, the commander of the fifth town, both received a secret order from Yuan Shikai and were not allowed to move half a step. The intention of blackmailing the imperial court was clearly revealed, and in the face of the offensive of the national army, the imperial court had to continue to rely on Yuan Shikai, a white-eyed wolf.

Yuan Shikai's actions made the imperial court, especially the Empress Dowager Cixi, extremely angry, and at the same time felt that he had completely lost control of the imperial government. Two years ago, more than two-thirds of the 40 million taels of military loans borrowed from Britain as collateral for the construction rights of a number of railways were used on Beiyang and Yuan Shikai.

Cixi scolded a "dog minion" in the deep palace, and she didn't know whether to scold Lu Liang or Yuan Shikai, maybe the two together. Of course, being scolded will not lose flesh, nor will it make the situation more favorable. On October 1, in addition to the fighting in the three towns of Wuhan and the fighting in the Guangshui area, there was also a large-scale fighting. As in the other two places, the battle here was not easy for the Eighth Town, and the 16th Infantry Co-Commander Deng Chengpao led the 31st Standard to engage the 9th Town from Jiangxi in the Liuyang area.

Thanks to the appropriation of the imperial court and the wealth of the Jiangnan region, as well as the pressure of the revolutionary party, the Liangjiang region was able to form two new military towns in a short period of time, and as for more new armies, they did not appear in Wei Guangtao's mind. Xu Shaojiao, the commander of the Ninth Town, is the same as Wei Guangtao, he is a hardcore royalist, and he is a traitor to put it mildly! This man led more than 10,000 people from the Ninth Town to cross the border between Hunan and Jiangxi with great momentum, and had a fierce battle with the 31st Standard of the Eighth Town.

The 32nd standard stationed in Changsha quickly reinforced Liuyang, but unfortunately the two standards added up to an infantry association, and in the case of firepower and the quality of soldiers and officers, the number of people became the decisive force. Moreover, at this time, it had not yet experienced the baptism of World War I, and most of the army was groping for how to build fortifications and how to use heavy machine guns, not to mention the China that was forgotten by the world.

Changsha must not be lost, once the ninth town occupies Changsha, the Guangdong-Hanzhou railway will be cut off, and Hubei is in danger! The General Staff of the Nationalist Army decisively decided to let the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division of the 1st Army get off in Changsha, and then quickly reinforce the Liuyang area. It was a little closer to the departure point of Canton, and when night fell, the 3rd Infantry Regiment finally arrived in Changsha. The dark night was the dividing point of the situation, from the eighth town and some of the soldiers of the National Army being suppressed and beaten by the three more new troops, to finally starting the counterattack the next day.

The counterattack began in Liuyang, where the fighting was only a little later than in the three towns of Wuhan, and Changsha was too close to Jiangxi for the ninth town to enter Hunan territory without too long a march. Therefore, Deng Chengpao's 16th Infantry Association fought the hardest, and what supported them to hold on was the news that the Nationalist Army would soon come to support.

Therefore, when the 3rd Infantry Regiment arrived in Liuyang on the evening of October 1, under the leadership of its commander Lu Bu, it immediately took over the 16th Infantry Division, which was on the verge of collapse. According to statistics, in one day's battle, Xu Shaojiao ordered the Ninth Town to launch five attacks like crazy, and the position of the 16th Infantry Association was in a mess by artillery bombardment, and the defense line was constantly broken through and recaptured. The lack of artillery made Deng Chengdi overstretched, and the infantry association with only 18 mountain guns could not withstand the blows of more than 50 artillery pieces in the ninth town. The infantry of more than 4,000 people suffered losses of more than two-thirds, and it was not so much a miracle that it was more like a soldier's life to hold out until now.

To be able to fight like this, Lu Bu also had to express his appreciation, the new army in the late Qing Dynasty was a combat unit, the soldiers had clean backgrounds, no bad habits (not counting in the later period), a strong revolutionary consciousness, and a high will to fight. He held Deng Chengpao's hand, supported his tired body, and said: "Deng Xietong, leave the rest of the battle to us, you rest for a night, and the Third Infantry Regiment will fight a counterattack tomorrow morning!" ”

"Hehe, Commander Lu, you can't take the enemy lightly!" Deng Cheng laughed a little helplessly, and Lu Bu's words made him feel insulted - why did he fight so hard, and a national army infantry regiment with less than 3,000 people dared to say that he would fight back?

Most people were not used to Lu Liang's subordinates, or many officials in the revolutionary government and army, who were straightforward in their words and never tactful. Of course, these genetic people don't understand the world, and they don't worry about offending people. Lu Liang is very satisfied with this, and he wants to spread this style, and it is best to form an atmosphere of doing practical things and telling the truth in the whole society. In the eyes of the outside world, these people are inevitably living too hard, they don't drink, they don't socialize, they don't have any ups and downs, they don't have romance, it's just too boring. This has also been a disappointment to many people who have tried to unite their families through marriage to officials and officers - none of them have been successfully combined so far, and the steel base has not given genetic people fertility.

"That's not the case, Deng Xietong, you see, the enemy has shown fatigue after a day's attack. The defense on both flanks was also no longer so tight, and they did not know about the arrival of the 3rd Infantry Regiment. On top of that, the infantry regiment arrived with eighteen 105-mm howitzers, 36 Type 92 infantry guns, plus enough squandering shells that would be the killer weapon of our counterattack. ”

"Then listen to the arrangement of Head Lu. Also, I'm very worried about the situation in the three towns of Wuhan, does Commander Lu know the battle situation over there? The fighting was tense and there was no time to send telegrams to ask. Deng Chengpu asked.

Lü Bu said: "Understand a little, the armed forces organized by Gu Hongming in Wuhan were ready to start an uprising at first, but they were suppressed by Li Yuanhong's independent mixed association and 2,000 soldiers of the National Army. In the process, more than 4,000 people from the Seventh Town unexpectedly landed on the river bank on passenger and cargo ships, escorted by British warships, which caught us by surprise. Fortunately, at the beginning, they did not divide their troops, but all attacked the Wuchang Railway Station, and after being successfully sniped, Li Xietong quickly mobilized soldiers to reinforce the railway station, and now the situation in the three towns of Wuhan has stabilized. The Third Town of Beiyang did not take the opportunity to attack after defeating Zhang's troops, but stayed in the border area. This is also the reason why we were able to get off in Changsha first and reinforce Liuyang. It is expected that the First Division of the First Army of the Nationalist Army will be able to enter Wuhan at about 8 o'clock tomorrow morning, and the Second Division of the First Army will also arrive in the Wuhan area tomorrow afternoon. ”

"So, the key to the battle is whether we can hold this place?"

"Yes, once Liuyang is broken through, Changsha is likely to miss, and the Guangdong-Hanzhou Railway will be broken, so it will be passive."

The battle of October 1 attracted the attention of everyone, from the Empress Dowager Cixi to the Princes Baylor, from the governors to the soldiers of the New Army, from the wealthy gentry to the citizens of Xingdou. It was the fateful battle of China, and the situation on the first day was a mixed blessing for the imperial court, but overall it was optimistic.

Therefore, between the eyes of the court officials, the change in the battle situation surprised them. The news of the Liuyang fiasco quickly spread throughout the government and the opposition, and there were more people trying to find a way out.

In the early morning of October 2, 1903, Lü Bu led the 3rd Infantry Regiment around the right flank of the 9th Town and lurked. That night, the scouts sent by Lu Bu recorded in detail the coordinates of the artillery positions in the Ninth Town -- the enemy had no sense of guarding against infiltration, and the camp was mixed with different types of troops, dressed in different costumes, and even many of the people were young and strong, which created conditions for the scouts to infiltrate.

Xu Shaojiao paid a heavy price for his carelessness, and ten minutes after the shelling began, more than half of the artillery positions in the Ninth Town had disappeared. More advanced artillery charges, more advanced high-explosive shells with more advanced artillery, this is the king of war! The Ninth Town, without strong fortifications, was doomed to heavy losses, and since the armed uprising, how many troops have been planted in front of the artillery of the Nationalist Army, until now it has not attracted the attention of the enemy, and it is more appropriate to describe the Qing army as covering their ears and stealing bells.

In the camp of tens of thousands of people, the soldiers could not find the officers, the officers could not find the soldiers, and the people were constantly thrown into the air by the explosions, and the blood and stumps fell down. On the artillery position, dozens of artillery pieces were scattered, and finally, a high-explosive shell hit the arsenal made of wooden sticks and firewood, and triggered a violent explosion.

Xu Shaojiao was more unfortunate than those arms and ammunition, during the first round of shelling, a mischievous shell actually hit Xu Shaojiao's tent directly, and Xu Shaojiao lost his life in his sleep without pain.