The night was long, the wind was cold, and the river wind sent a few long whistles, and then everything fell silent again.

The winter in the south is always very difficult, here is not better than the north, there is dry and cold, here is damp and cold, and the residents here do not have the habit of sleeping on the kang, every winter, going to chuang and getting up is a painful thing, plus there is no entertainment in this era, so most of the people have rested after dark, and it is dark outside the city of Hanyang, only the patrol's horse lantern is still flashing on the street.

Unlike the dark and dreary city of Hanyang, the Hanyang Arsenal on the north side of Gusan is brightly lit, and some of the workers in the factory have returned and are working overtime under the leadership of the foremen to repair the plant and equipment, as well as the damaged guns and cannons sent by the revolutionary army.

In addition to the support for the revolution, the good overtime treatment was also one of the sources of their enthusiasm, in addition to the overtime pay, there was also hot rice porridge tumbling in the pot, and each person was given a sheepskin jacket, which was much lighter than the big cotton jacket.

There are also four big characters written on the sheepskin jacket: Iron and Blood Republic. If nothing else, just for these four words, we have to make more guns and ammunition for the revolutionary army, overthrow the Manchu Qing, not to mention anything else, the cumbersome big braid can be removed openly, and the workers who were scalped off and crushed by the machine because of this braid in previous years can also rest in peace.

While the workers were working in the factory or in the open air, Zhao Bei, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Revolutionary Republican Army, was not idle, but was wearing the same sheepskin jacket and leaning on the iron stove in the headquarters, discussing important issues concerning the future of the revolution with several revolutionary comrades.

Although Wuchang and Hanyang have been restored, the tasks of the revolution are still arduous, such as the rectification of military discipline, the restoration of the market, the stability of the people's minds, the negotiations with the foreign authorities in the concession, the tactical reconnaissance of the Qing army in Hankow, and the support and response to the revolution in the neighboring provinces...... There are many affairs, and Zhao Bei has to worry about them, although he has the assistance of the General Staff, it is better for him to handle some things personally, at least he can avoid detours. Therefore, Zhao Bei had almost no free time on this day, and he didn't even have time to go to the top of Guishan Mountain to see the scenery, point out the rivers and mountains, and excite the text.

Fortunately, the Japanese gunboats did not fire in retaliation, otherwise, he would have been even more busy with all fours, although it was strange about this, but Zhao Bei was not afraid, but some looked forward to an artillery battle with the Japanese gunboats, maybe the Japanese were planning some conspiracy, but he was already ready to deal with it, and the Yangtze River basin has always been regarded as a forbidden place by the British, even though Japan and Britain have formed an alliance, but I believe that the British government will not be stupid enough to let the Japanese engage in the Yangtze River Basin, in the eyes of the British, Japan is as a wolf dog and exists, Its task was to keep an eye on the Russian Empire in the north and to contain the increasingly presumptuous German Far East, rather than to go south to fight the British, which was a prerequisite for the British alliance with Japan, without which the Anglo-Japanese alliance would not exist.

The telegraph was "ticking and ticking" in the headquarters, and several telegraphers sat in front of the telegraph and carried out routine contact with the Jiujiang side, because the cable telegraph from Jiujiang to Wuhan was intermittently connected, and there must be someone on duty in front of the wireless telegraph, but because the radio station in this era had a short communication distance, the Jiujiang radio station was actually located in Qizhou, and according to the agreement, the two sides would contact each other every six hours, so that Zhao Bei could keep abreast of the situation of the Jinjipo fortress in Jiujiang at any time. In the past few days, Zhao Bei was busy with the westward expedition, Wu Zhenhan of Jiujiang was not easy, the Qing gunboats had launched several attacks on Jiujiang in a row, although they were repelled by the revolutionary army because of the lack of land cooperation, but the Jinjipo fortress also lost two fortress guns, and no one was sure how long it could stop the Qing army.

"The current revolutionary situation is very good, and we should take advantage of the victory to pursue and recover the whole of Hubei as soon as possible. In the past, I did underestimate the strength of the national revolution and overestimate the vitality of the Manchu dynasty, and my understanding of the revolutionary situation was too pessimistic. But now, I feel that we should strike while the iron is hot and overthrow the Manchus in one fell swoop. Zhao Bei picked up a roasted peanut from the edge of the stove, threw it into his mouth, and said while chewing.

Lan Tianwei and Zhang Jiyang and others next to him have already been shocked by his speech just now, looking at the revolutionaries, people who can talk about the First Sino-Japanese War from the end of the Ming Dynasty to the First Sino-Japanese War in one breath like him really can't find a second one, that is a feeling that everyone is drunk and I am sober. Although everyone is involved in the revolution and has read a lot of revolutionary pamphlets, they have never systematically understood the whole process of the rise and fall of the Manchu Dynasty, especially the establishment of the Eight Banners and its development history, which is even more refreshing.

Of course, this is thanks to Zhao Bei's identity as a traverser, but also thanks to the history books and historical fiction novels he has read, and even more "thankful" of the Qing Dynasty's ability to tamper with history. After the fall of the Qing Dynasty, this history was slowly excavated by later historians.

"The reorganization of the troops must be stepped up, the revolutionary enthusiasm of the Revolutionary Guards is very high, and it is necessary to select a part of the elite and integrate them into the regular troops to expand the revolutionary forces, so that the Northern Expedition can be carried out at an early date, first, to recover the Central Plains, and second, to disrupt the rear of the enemy in front of Hanyang, to defend Hanyang, to defend the arsenal, and even to cut off the Jinghan line." Zhao Bei pointed to the military map on the coffee table and drew a few lines with a pencil.

"Along the Han River to the north, you can quickly advance to the south of Henan, that is, the heart of the Central Plains, occupying Henan, it is equivalent to using a knife against the throat of the Qing court, entering, you can attack Shanxi, retreat, you can defend Tongguan, the strategic location is very important."

Putting down the pencil, Zhao Bei raised his head and glanced at the few people around the map, and said: "So, your tasks have been very heavy in the past few days, especially Chief of Staff Lan, now the revolutionary army is uneven, and it is in urgent need of rectification, and the original military justice department under your staff is a little unable to cope with it, so it is necessary to delegate power to all troops, and military judges must be sent to the grassroots level to seriously and seriously rectify military discipline." In addition, Shi Ren, your current affairs propaganda team must also be formed as soon as possible, and folk rap artists must be organized as soon as possible, especially those young students with revolutionary enthusiasm, regardless of whether they are men or women, must be organized, armed, and form a propaganda team, go deep into the streets to enjoy, widely publicize, mobilize, and use straightforward vernacular and drama to propagate our revolution, we must not only propagate revolutionary principles in the army, but we must also let all the common people and gentry understand what 'revolution' is. To use a new phrase, this is called 'mobilizing the masses in depth', and it is necessary to mobilize the revolutionary enthusiasm of the masses and enthusiastically support the revolution. ”

Zhang Jiyang lifted his glasses and said, "Commander-in-chief, rest assured, our current affairs lecturers have recruited more than 500 people, and they have been sent to various units to carry out propaganda and agitation in accordance with the slogans written by the commander-in-chief. In addition, can the commander-in-chief take some time to write down the history of the Eight Banners that he just talked about? There were too many errors and inconsistencies in the previous pamphlets, and when the commander-in-chief said just now, I was stunned to realize that the real history was like that. ”

Zhao Bei said: "I will take the time to write some simple textbooks, but complex things can't be written now, I have more important things to do, and the compilation of history books is not a one-person capability, after a while, we will organize a team to write modern history, I am the editor-in-chief." By the way, Stone Man, you go get some printing presses and get ready to print leaflets, I just discussed with the head of the arsenal, they are preparing to make a kind of propaganda cannonball, and when the time comes, your leaflets will be useful. ”

Zhang Jiyang hurriedly ran to find the printing press, but as soon as he walked out of the door, the guards outside the door shouted: "Report! Mr. Sun Wu asks to see! ”

"Let him in." Zhao Bei put away the map, and the people sitting around the coffee table also dispersed, gathered around the fire and muttered quietly.

Sun Wu walked into the house, dressed in a military uniform and shiny riding boots, but the weapons had been confiscated by the guards, and he wore a military hat without a cockade on his head, but it was Li Yuanhong's hat.