On November 1, the Qing court had no choice but to announce the dissolution of the imperial cabinet and appoint Yuan Shikai as the prime minister's cabinet. Yuan Shikai re-entered the center, high-spirited, immediately ordered Feng Guozhang to lead the Beiyang Army to attack the position of the ** army in Hankou, on the same day, the ** army suffered heavy casualties, in order to preserve the vitality had to retreat to Hanyang, Hankou was lost.

On November 3, Huang Xing was inaugurated as the wartime commander-in-chief of the military government of the Republic of China, and the headquarters was located at the Zhaozhong Temple next to the Guiyuan Temple, and the troops opened a defensive line on the south bank of the Han River to engage in a "tug of war" with the Qing army.

Yuan Shikai's trick of holding the Qing court hostage, Xiao Zhenlei had already seen it clearly, and the loss of Hankou did not discourage other ** party organizations such as the Iron and Blood Salvation Party and the League, and uprisings were still going on in various places.

As early as mid-October, after the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising, Xiao Zhenlei, Xu Shaozhen, Chen Qimei, Zhang Jian, and other leaders of the iron-blooded National Salvation Party, the League, the Constitutionalist, and people without party affiliation held urgent consultations to discuss the matter of responding to the Wuchang Uprising in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. It was unanimously decided to launch an uprising in Suzhou and Shanghai on November 3, followed by simultaneous uprisings in Jiangning and Zhejiang, overthrowing the Manchu rule in East China in one fell swoop.

On the morning of November 3, Xiao Zhenlei summoned all the 23rd Mixed Association of the New Army to close the 45th standard station in Suzhou City, and told the success of the Wuchang Uprising in front of all the officers and soldiers, and then said: "The Qing Dynasty has become angry and resentful, unpopular with the people, the people of the whole country have long been overwhelmed, and its destruction is already a certainty, this is the trend of the times, and we can not be left behind in the 23rd Mixed Association of the New Army, the 21st Town and the 40th Town of the New Army under the leadership of the Iron and Blood Salvation Party, and only by launching an uprising to overthrow the Manchu Dynasty, Only then can a new country be rebuilt, and only then can we get rid of the complicated and excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes that are pressing on the common people, and enact new laws, so that the peasants can have land to plant, and the workers can have something to do to feed themselves and their families. To build a new country, it is necessary to break the old social order and establish a new order, and we must resolutely destroy all enemies who stand in the way of our goal. The second battalion marched eastward to recover the front line of Changshu, Zhangjia and Jiangyin; Sanying Guangfu Prefecture, Wuxi, Taihu Lake. The 45th standard marched to the northwest, and the first battalion recovered the first line of Yixing, Suyang, and Gaochun; the second battalion of the official mansion Lishui and Jintan; The third battalion is in the area of Jurong and Danyang. All the officers and soldiers of the 40th Town marched to Jiangning, and the other troops stayed in Suzhou and were ready to reinforce all parts of the country at any time! ”

"Yes!"

Xiao Zhenlei waved his hand: "All units set off - the first company of the guard battalion followed me into the city of Suzhou, and the battalion commander Ma Xiaoshuang led the second company and the third company and other directly subordinate troops to attack the patrol battalion."

"Yes!"

The various departments set off one after another and quickly, Xiao Zhenlei took a company of the guard battalion to the governor's yamen, and the governor's yamen was next door, at this time Cheng Dequan got the news early in the morning, and ordered people to arrange fortifications around the governor's yamen to prepare to defend to the end.

The troops arrived at the governor's yamen and stopped not far away, Xiao Zhenlei looked at the opposite fortification with a telescope, and shouted: "Call two mortar squads to come over and fire a few shots at the opposite fortification!" ”

"Yes, sir!"

The mortar squad was quickly transferred, and after finding a good position to set up the mortar, the two squad leaders ordered a test firing, each cannon fired one shell, and four shells fell in front of the governor's yamen and behind the fortifications, and a violent explosion occurred, and the defending Qing soldiers were so frightened that they urinated and hid everywhere. After calibrating the impact point, four shells were fired again, and this time, without exception, all four shells hit the target.

Xiao Zhenlei waved his hand to the commander of the first company of the guard battalion: "Attack!" ”

The commander of the first company immediately drew his command knife and pointed forward: "The first company is attacking-".

A large number of soldiers suddenly rushed to the governor's yamen with rifles, after a few shells exploded, there were no more Qing soldiers left in front of the yamen, the soldiers cleared a few Qing soldiers at the door and rushed to the gate of the yamen, under the command of a squad leader, seven or eight grenades were thrown into the yamen, with a series of explosions after the sound of the soldiers, the soldiers rushed into the governor's yamen in one fell swoop, and soon there was a sparse gunfire in the yamen, and soon the gunfire stopped.

The correspondent of the first company of the guard battalion ran out of the yamen and reported to Xiao Zhenlei: "Sir, my company has fully controlled the governor of the yamen, and more than 30 people, including the governor Cheng Dequan and officials of Jiangsu, have all been captured!" ”

"Let the commander of the first company immediately collect the prisoners and routs of the Qing court soldiers, leave a platoon outside the guards here, and the others will be pulled to the street to patrol, issue a notice to the people, and immediately correct the law on the spot if there is a robbery while the fire is burning!"

"Yes, sir!"

Xiao Zhenlei called the captain of the gendarmerie brigade and ordered: "Immediately give orders to the military police squadrons and squads of all units, send troops to patrol the towns that have been recovered, and severely punish those officers and soldiers who violate military discipline. ”

"Yes, sir!"

Jin Yunju, the staff officer of the 23rd Mixed Association, has been transferred to the First Army of Beiyang as a staff officer, and Xiao Zhenlei's 23rd Mixed Association does not even have a chief of staff, so he has to do many things himself. He summoned the adjutant of communications and sent someone to invite Zhang Jian, a member of the constitutionalist faction, to discuss the establishment of a military government in Jiangsu.

Xiao Zhenlei took the guards and some people from the staff office into the governor's yamen and began to clean up some rooms for office. Soon after, Zhang Jian and some businessmen from Jianghuai rushed over.

"Hahaha, General Xiao succeeded in reviving the state in one fell swoop, it's really gratifying, congratulations!" Zhang Jian laughed and walked over to say, and other business people also bowed their hands and said goodbye.

Xiao Zhenlei said with a smile: "Rejoicing and rejoicing, Guangfu Prefecture is a fortunate thing for our entire Jiangsu people, from now on, the people of Jiangsu will be free from the oppression of the Qing Dynasty, and under the leadership of the industrial and commercial tycoons, they will live a happy and healthy life!" ”

Zhang Jian waved his hand and smiled: "Eh, the general's words are wrong, we are just businessmen, how can we lead the people to live a good life?" At most, give them some work to do, we have to lead the people to live a good life under the leadership of the general, everyone, I don't know if the old man is right? ”

When everyone heard this, they echoed: "Yes, yes, yes!" What Ji Zhi said is very good! ”

Xiao Zhenlei smiled slightly, but did not speak, these people really deserve to be mixed up in the business field all year round, they would never say these words before, but now they will come when they open their mouths.

He instructed the guard battalion to arrange people to serve tea to the representatives of the Jianghuai industrial and commercial circles, and prepared to discuss with these bigwigs on the establishment of a military government, and after the tea came up, Xiao Zhenlei smiled and stretched out his hand: "Everyone, please drink tea, let's talk about things while drinking tea, due to the urgency of time, we will no longer stick to the form, and now we will start to discuss the establishment of a military government, I propose the establishment of a military government in Jiangsu, with a governor and a deputy governor, and six departments under it, including military administration, civil affairs, justice, procuratorate, finance, and foreign affairs. What do you think? ”

When everyone heard this, they talked about it, and these bigwigs had no opinion on the establishment of the military government and their subordinate departments, and a small part of them were people from the Iron and Blood Salvation Party, and the other was people from the constitutionalists, the number of these two parties was about the same, and a small part of them were people from the League and other ** organizations, and these people were talking about who would be the governor and deputy governor.

Zhang Jian coughed twice at this time and said: "Everyone, everyone, I recommend General Xiao to be appointed as the governor of Jiangsu, General Xiao is not only the 23rd mixed association of the new army, but also the leader of the iron-blooded National Salvation Party, has a very high reputation among the people, and is young and promising, I think that General Xiao is in line with the wishes of the majority of businessmen and people as the governor of the Jiangsu Military Government!" ”

"Yes, I agree!"

"I agree!"

For a while, some of these people stood up to express their support, the Iron and Blood Salvation Party and the Constitutionalist people agreed, although some people from other ** groups also wanted this position, but they also knew that their organization had no foundation in Jiangsu, so they could only reluctantly agree, although the people of the League were also extremely unwilling, but in the case of the majority of the people, there was no way to oppose it.

But Xiao Zhenlei stood up and said: "Everyone, thank you for your kindness, Xiao knows that he is young, talented, and lacks qualifications and prestige, so he can't take on this big responsibility, I am appointed by Cheng Dequan, the former governor of Jiangsu, and I am willing to serve as the deputy governor." Everyone, listen to me, although Cheng Dequan is a Manchu official, he has never objected to us, and even secretly supports it, otherwise, how can the 23rd Mixed Association of our New Army train with peace of mind? Moreover, Cheng Dequan is quite prestigious among many gentry and squires, if he is appointed as the governor, presumably other gentry and squires who are interested in the Manchu Qing Dynasty will also turn to **, so the situation in Jiangsu will be completely different, and there will be peace everywhere, which is very different from the situation of a mess after the soldiers and horses in other provinces! ”

When everyone heard this, they bowed their heads and discussed, Xiao Zhenlei's words undoubtedly touched everyone a lot, and then someone stood up and said: "General Xiao has a broad heart, and the amount of tolerance is comparable to that of the four seas, I can't wait, since General Xiao has proposed that Cheng Dequan will be the governor, I support the general!" ”

"I support it too!"

Zhang Jian sighed in his heart that Xiao Zhenlei was old and spicy, you must know that the position of governor is not easy to do, in this situation, there are still many people from all walks of life who support the Qing court, there are many people who support the party, and there are many people who support the constitutionalists. Xiao Zhenlei gave up the position of governor to Cheng Dequan to attract firepower from all directions, and he himself became the deputy governor to grasp military power and financial power, accumulate strength, reputation and qualifications, and it was really a good calculation.

After determining the candidates for the governor and the deputy governor, everyone began to discuss other positions in the military government, not surprisingly, Xiao Zhenlei concurrently served as the director of the military administration, and only he could sit firmly in this position, and others were just an empty shelf, and then Xiao Zhenlei proposed some people to be candidates for various positions, and several key positions, such as inspection, justice and finance, were appointed by people from the Iron and Blood National Salvation Party, and recommended Zhang Jian as the director of the Department of Civil Affairs, but Zhang Jian did not accept it. Xiao Zhenlei thought that he might want to get a high position in the upcoming Republic of China government, so he chose to give up the post of director of civil affairs, and Xiao Zhenlei was not reluctant to appoint a constitutionalist figure as the minister of civil affairs.

The reason why Xiao Zhenlei wants to separate the judicial, foreign, financial, and procuratorial departments from civil affairs is because the iron-blooded National Salvation Party does not yet have enough officials to hold government posts, and these are extremely important departments, and they can only be relieved if they are in their own hands.

The matter of dividing up the political interests came to an end after the meeting, and those who had obtained positions were full of joy to go to the departments where they were about to take up posts.

Then Xiao Zhenlei asked Cheng Dequan to be brought over, and said to Zhang Jian: "Mr. Ji Zhi, I will persuade Cheng Dequan to take the position of governor later, and you have to come out in person!" ”

Zhang Jian nodded and said, "Old man, do your best!" ”

Soon Cheng Dequan was brought over, and when Zhang Jian said that he was invited to the post of governor, he understood the plan of Xiao Zhenlei and Zhang Jian, which was nothing more than to use his name to pacify Jiangsu, in order to survive, Cheng Dequan had to agree, and cooperated with the telegram to the whole country to announce the independence of Jiangsu and establish the Jiangsu Military Government.

This is only a superficial form, in fact, within the whole province of Jiangsu, the Qing court officials in all prefectures and counties are very clear that the most powerful person in Jiangsu is Xiao Zhenlei, so the vast majority of Qing court officials chose to defect to Xiao Zhenlei after the arrival of the rebel army, and many officials applied to join the Iron and Blood National Salvation Party, it is not so easy to join the party, this is to go through a strict investigation. But no matter what, these officials all know that they must now hold Xiao Zhenlei's thigh tightly to be safe.

After Jiangsu declared independence, Jiangning was extremely shocked, and on the beach, Xiao Zhenlei had already made arrangements, no need to worry, what he was worried about was that Jiangning, Xu Shaozhen's troops would be able to revolt on time, you must know that Zhang Renjun, the governor of Liangjiang, and others had already been on guard against Xu Shaozhen, and the Jiangning patrol battalion and the Jiangfang battalion had been greatly supplemented in terms of strength and weapons, whether Xu Shaozhen had the opportunity to revolt was the problem that Xiao Zhenlei was most worried about, and he was worried about Xu Shaozhen's hesitant character, In this kind of character, it is going to kill people at a critical moment. R1152