At the same time as the gunfire at Wushengguan gradually intensified, the horse riding field on the west side of Wuchang Snake Mountain was also very lively.

In the center of the high platform, the soldiers and some military government officials who came to supervise the construction were busy, the wide horizontal bar was quickly pulled up, under the banner was a wide incense table, the incense table was full of all kinds of sacrifices, and there were three cups of Xuanjiu for worship, and the huge emperor Xuanyuan's card was in the center. On both sides of the incense case, the eighteen-star flags and swords, guns, swords and halberds echo each other, and the salute and blessing officials dressed in Hanfu are stepping up to check the sacrificial texts to prevent mistakes.

A moment later, a group of selected and reorganized new troops drove into the parade ground, and the size of the thousands of people took up most of the parade ground, except for a small open space on the right, on which no one dared to set foot easily, because everyone knew who it was left for.

Ma Rong stood behind Li Xiping, kicked the former's heel, and hummed: "Look, it's such a big shelf, and I don't know what kind of bear it looks like when I meet Beiyang." ”

Li Xiping didn't speak, a cold light flashed in the corners of his eyes, the humiliation of Lei Meng that day made him lose face, so that he was also excluded from the military government after he was released from confinement, and had to return to the army, fortunately, Sun Wu took care of him and made him an officer, but the soldiers below all pointed at him and scolded Huai, and this account naturally had to be counted on Yang Qiu.

Just as everyone was waiting anxiously, they heard a dense and neat footsteps outside, and turned their heads to see a soldier in a new mud-yellow military uniform, with an armed belt hanging from his waist and a flying tiger armband on his arm. Unlike Li Xiping and the others, who were talking to each other, these soldiers all kept silent, just carrying Han Yangzao, who had already put on the bayonet, jogged all the way into their positions in order, and after standing firmly, none of them stopped, still standing still in place ().

They were followed by four Maxim machine guns that had been mounted on a wheeled trailer and wrapped in green waterproof gun suits, the huge heavy machine guns aroused a lot of envy, and after the machine guns detoured to the very edge, a row of polished 57mm mountain guns were pulled in again.

"All of them! Attention! Get shot! ”

As Bingwen who led the team shouted, the soldiers of the two companies participating in the review immediately stopped and fired their guns at the same time, and the movements were as uniform as one person, and the Wuchang officers and soldiers around them secretly applauded.

Just as Ma Rong was about to go and chat with the familiar faces in the queue over there, there was a crisp sound of footsteps behind the right army again, and although the sound of military boots hitting the bluestone slab was not as dense as just now, every step was extremely solid. Li Xiping turned his head to look, only to see Yang Qiu, who was wearing the same yellow military uniform, with two pistols tied to his thighs, and the command knife hanging from his waist, had already walked in with several officers, and the compelling momentum made his disdain only turn into a cold snort.

After Wu Zhaolin, the temporary commander of the review, saw him, he hurriedly greeted him and saluted: "Wu Zhaolin has seen Commander Yang. ”

"You don't have to be polite, you are the biggest hero of Shouyi, if you hadn't picked up the burden and led the team to take Wuchang, I'm afraid that the two towns of Hankou would still be trampled under the feet of the Mantars." Yang Qiu smiled slightly, and immediately returned a salute to Wu Zhaolin.

Soldiers usually salute officers, but many people have a good impression of this young commander. Wu Zhaolin secretly admired, although he briefly participated in the Japanese Notification Conference, but he was not a real party member, and being the commander-in-chief of the uprising was also a duck on the shelf, so he was not hostile to Yang Qiu, but appreciated his quick strategy, and said cordially: "If the commander had not decisively taken action to defeat the remnants of Zhang Biao and sent troops to help Wushengguan, I am afraid that I would not have had the opportunity to stand here and speak." ”

"Overthrowing the Manchu Qing Dynasty and supporting the Han dynasty is what our generation of soldiers should do, let's encourage together." Yang Qiu admired Wu Zhaolin more, and said with a smile: "It's a pity that my right army is now short of staff officers like you." ”

Wu Zhaolin's eyebrows jumped, he had never seen people wooed, but he had never seen such a straightforward one, you must know that there are still thousands of soldiers of the Left Route Army here! Although the two armies began to accept each other, the impression left before was still there, and if he answered the call at this moment, it was estimated that he would be arrested by the party as a traitor at night, so he hurriedly avoided it. Yang Qiu smiled and didn't force him, Wu Zhaolin is a talent, but now is not an opportunity, so after introducing him to Fan Liangshan and several other officers who accompanied him, he returned to the front of the queue, and staggered his feet behind his hands like the soldiers.

Not long after, Li Yuanhong, who was dressed in military uniform, appeared in front of the public for the first time under the support of Tang Hualong, Ju Zheng and others, Yang Qiu glanced at Sun Wu, who was almost about to stick to Li Yuanhong's back, and the corners of his mouth pulled an arc. It can be seen that through last night's political exchange, the future leader of the first righteousness and three martial arts finally made a choice.

After Li Yuanhong entered the field, he also immediately saw the right army in a new uniform, and after seeing Yang Qiu standing in the front, he hurriedly walked over in three steps and two steps, and when he saw him walking towards him, Yang Qiu turned around and stood upright from a distance, saluted and shouted: "Mark Yang Qiu has seen Lord Li Du." ”

"Hehe, Chenhua can be regarded as crossing the river, and everyone and I have been looking forward to it for a long time." Li Yuanhong smiled and said, "You are now the head of the branch and the commander of the Right Route Army, so you don't need so many rules." ”

Sun Wu followed behind with a face full of jealousy, not to say a word from Li Yuanhong is equivalent to announcing that he is temporarily powerless against the Right Route Army, just the old fox is full of spring breeze at the moment, how can there be a few days ago The tea and dinner are not bitter! Yang Qiu smiled and said: "Li Du and I have the grace of cultivation, if there is no Li Du, there will be no Yang Qiu today, even the friendship between teachers and students should meet and salute." ”

"Haha Chenhua, today I just found out that your means of leading troops are far inferior to a clever mouth." Li Yuanhong smiled, took the initiative to take Yang Qiu's hand, walked to the middle of the right army to inspect it and nodded in praise: "Not bad, not bad!" There is no weakness before I mixed the name of the association! ”

Yang Qiu knew that the old fox deliberately said that the mixed association was ordering him not to forget to be born, so he hurriedly said: "It's all the hard work of Li Du, Yang Qiu is just sitting back and enjoying the success." ”

"Chenhua, you don't have to be modest, the day before yesterday, Wuchang was chaotic, and the governor was again." Li Yuanhong glanced at Sun Wu and the others, and didn't seem to have forgotten the matter of being under house arrest, and said: "Entangled in mundane affairs, missing the fighter almost made a big mistake, fortunately, you decisively led your troops to defeat the remnants of the four enemies, which is why you have today, you are the real hero of Shouyi ()." ”

Okay! Li Yuanhong's sentence directly promoted from a Manchu hero to a hero of the first righteousness.

"Although Commander Yang is young, he has a good command of the troops and has made great contributions! I think it's better to wait for Hubei to be completely recovered, and he will personally lead the troops to Wusheng Pass to start the Northern Expedition, completely defeat Beiyang, overthrow the Manchu Qing and then make meritorious contributions! Sun Wu, who had already made up his mind to simply take refuge in Li Yuanhong, immediately came up, he didn't believe that the old fox was not wary of Yang Qiu, so he deliberately said: "I think Commander Yang should also have this in mind, right?" ”

Ma Kui and Fan Liangshan and other officers next to him suddenly hated itchy, who doesn't know how brave Beiyang is in the world? I haven't done anything on my side, so I usurped Li Du to let the Right Army go on a northern expedition, this is not deliberately to let the brothers of the Right Army block the guns! Even Ju Zheng frowned, Yang Qiu had ambitions, he believed that it was acceptable to force him to go to the Northern Expedition, but if he said it in public, it could be seen that Sun Wu was really not a person who did big things.

The old fox continued to smile as if waiting for an answer, Tang Hualong didn't know what he was thinking, but the eyes around him were coming more and more, Fan Liangshan and the others were a little anxious, for fear of making a big fuss, but at this moment Yang Qiu suddenly raised his head: "Don't hide it from Minister Sun, Yang Mou is indeed already thinking about the Northern Expedition, and I told the soldiers from the first day I took over, we are soldiers and the National Defense Army!" For the sake of the country, we are ready to die and sacrifice! ”

"We are the Wehrmacht!"

The sound shook the four fields, and hundreds of birds fluttered their wings. With these passionate words, hundreds of soldiers of the right army behind him shouted in unison, and the morale of the left side of the contrast fell sharply.

Li Yuanhong secretly scolded Sun Wu for being stupid, wouldn't mentioning the Northern Expedition on such an occasion make the family wary, and now this call is even more powerful, and he hurriedly waved his hand: "The matter of the Northern Expedition is not urgent, the most important thing now is to defeat Beiyang outside Wusheng Pass first." Ay! The sailor's side. ”

Seeing that the old fox was a little timid again, Ju Zheng also sighed, not knowing whether it was right or wrong for him to support this governor who sighed at every turn, so he had to divert the topic and said: "Everyone is chattering here, and the soldiers are suffering, I think it's better to start, it's not good to miss the auspicious time." Tan Renfeng was also relieved, and hurriedly announced the start of the memorial and the people's army oath meeting, Yang Qiu didn't want to go to the stage, but Li Yuanhong and Ju Zheng both held on, so they had to follow the stage to participate in the worship ceremony ().

Under the watchful eyes of thousands of soldiers and countless people watching from the periphery, Li Yuanhong first personally offered incense, offered animals and drank wine, and then led the crowd to kneel down and bow without crowns, and then read out the sacrificial text that had been prepared long ago.

“…… As soon as the righteous voice moved, all the people worked together, and the soldiers were bloodless to overcome Wuchang. The spirit of my heaven and earth, mountains, rivers and seas, and ancestors is really presence! Yuan Hong rose up, with the inheritance of Tianma, with decades of collective efforts to call out the bloodshed, can not be done, this is beyond the reach of manpower! In the coming days, we will collect and prepare, that is, when we spread the Quartet, drive the desert north for a long time, hang our Han people, and annihilate them Manyi, so as to stand on the same level with the countries of the five continents, and build a republic with a good heart! ”

The sacrifice is generous. The words are flying, especially the sentence "Yuanhong throws himself up, to inherit Tianma" so that Li Yuanhong's little eyes began to flash, and when Tan Renfeng awarded the golden seal sword and officially swore in Li Yuanhong as the governor and commander-in-chief of the People's Republic of China, the parade ground suddenly applauded, and the soldiers raised their rifles and shouted "Long live China!" "Long live 40,000,000 compatriots!" "Long live the Governor of Rituk!".

"Hehe, really, what nonsense, I'm not the little doll in the Forbidden City." Seeing that the gift had been completed, everyone shouted long live Li Du, Li Yuanhong was red with excitement, and when the voice stopped, he suddenly grabbed Yang Qiu: "Chenhua, I heard that it is He Xi who is in Wusheng Pass at this moment?" He is also the old man of my mixed association, a few years ago, the autumn exercise of Taihu Lake also injured his body, and the weather in the mountains and wilderness cooled faster, according to your opinion, the governor sent a association to take over, and then sent a association to Xiaogan and Macheng to protect, in case Beiyang broke through the customs is not better?

The fire in Yang Qiu's heart suddenly flickered, and the aftermath of the ceremony lingered, and this old fox began to weaken himself! Fortunately, he had already prepared, and said with an unmoved expression: "Chen Hua Dai He Xi thank Li Du for his concern, the pressure on his side is indeed very great, and it is also appropriate to send an assistant to support." ”

He only said support but did not agree to take over, Li Yuanhong didn't care, and immediately struck while the iron was hot and began to reorganize the troops.

The leading troops on the Wuchang side are the original Eighth Town of the New Army and a small part of the 21 Mixed Association, although Sun Wu presided over the past few days in the government affairs and military orders are extremely chaotic, but the pace of recruiting soldiers has not been delayed, just sit down and take out the list that has been prepared ().

Li Yuanhong originally had his own ideas, but it was not good to turn his face with Sun Wu at the beginning, but he immediately raised his eyebrows after just a few glances at the list, because the selection of this officer to the troop establishment was almost the same as he thought, and the eight towns veterans accelerated the total number of recruits into four associations, respectively, by Wu Zhaolin, He Xifan, Cheng Bingrong and Zhang Tingfu, the old officers who were inclined to him, were appointed as co-commanders, plus two horse standards, two artillery and engineering, baggage and military police. Xiong Bingkun, Deng Yulin, Yang Zaixiong and Luo Hongsheng stayed behind to be responsible for the subsequent four recruit associations, and the most surprising thing was that this plan actually incorporated Jin Zhaolong and Ma Rongyi, who were hostile to him and radical in thought, into the death squad, and this proposal couldn't help but make Li Yuanhong look at Sun Wu.

This look made the latter ecstatic, knowing that his list was effective, he immediately said: "There are four associations for those who are ready to fight, and after the follow-up four associations are built, there will be enough eight associations, plus the right route army, even if Beiyang enters Hubei, it can be resisted." ”

Seeing that everyone was overjoyed, they all said that the Qing army was vulnerable, but Li Yuanhong did not dare to underestimate it, in fact, whether it was Zhang Biao's remnants or the patrol camps in various places, he didn't look at it, only the Beiyang Army that was constantly marching into Xinyang, Henan Province made him very worried.

After all the officers were appointed, Li Yuanhong immediately ordered Wu Zhaolin to take the First Association to aid Wushengguan, the Second Association to Xiaogan and Macheng to liberate the two places, and the Third Association to garrison Qingshan. The remaining Fourth Association should immediately join the Right Route Army to join the Small Northern Expedition according to Sun Wu's intentions, but was blocked by Ju Zheng and Tang Hualong, and he didn't expect these two people to join forces to speak to Yang Qiu, so he had to order the Fourth Association to go to Jiangxia and Xianning to learn from the Right Route Army's northward march to completely liberate all Hubei areas south of the Yangtze River, and at the same time let the chief of staff Zhang Jingliang be fully responsible for military supplies.

Seeing Zhang Jingliang take over the appointment with a happy face, Yang Qiu really had the urge to put a gun, but in the end, he still pressed it hard, to put it mildly, he still needs this "Han Army Banner Man"!

"Tomorrow, the armies will be drawn up! If there is a delay in the military aircraft and does not listen to the dispatcher, the military law will be engaged! After everything was arranged, Li Yuanhong seemed to have resumed his posture as an assistant commander, and before everyone could reply with a loud shout, Zhan Dabei had already rushed in in a hurry: "Oh no, the sailor full of Tartars has arrived in Yangluo!" ”

Li Yuanhong's shoulders collapsed suddenly, and the newly rising ambition was like being splashed with ice water.