The wind and rain are mixed, and the turbid waves are swaying on the shore.

Above the Han River, two floating bridges connect the north and south sides. As the wind and waves rise and fall, the teams on the floating bridge are endless. Although they are wearing various clothes and holding various weapons, they are singing the same song in their mouths.

"When will you wake up after a thousand years of dreams? Who will sleep in the countryside? The land of the East Asia will sink. Listen to a song of lyrics... Don't let go of your time, and your old age will be sad. You will chase Japan, Europe and the United States, and the world civilization will begin in sequence."

This is a song that the soldiers of the Republican Army like to sing. Now not only the soldiers are singing, but the Revolutionary Guards are singing, and even the people in Wuchang and Hanyang cities have gradually learned this song.

It is said that this is a lyric composed by several overseas students. It was written by people from the Qunzhi Academy and sung in the new army of Hubei. However, in the past, they could only sing secretly in private, but now, everyone can sing openly.

Zhao Bei stood beside an anti-aircraft shelter at the bridge, wearing a rubber-surfaced raincoat and a bamboo-weave hat. His sculptures were motionless, quietly watching the team that looked not neat at all across the Han River to reinforce Hankou. Some of them were wearing straw raincoats, some held oil-paper umbrellas, and a few were wearing foreign raincoats that the Beiyang Army could only wear.

Lan Tianwei and several staff officers stood beside Zhao Bei, wearing various raincoats. The boots on most people's feet were not waterproof, and they were already wet inside, and their feet were cold and cold. But since Zhao Bei had not changed their boots, they had to continue to fight.

The rain was really not the same. It lasted from yesterday afternoon to today. Although it was just a drizzle, it affected the Hankou Battle. Due to the lack of suitable rain gear, some soldiers caught a cold and fell ill due to the rain. Although the Hankou Battle only lasted for one day, non-combat reduction was almost overwhelming. Many patients were lying in the tent with high fever, but they could not even cover the dry military blanket.

After a fierce battle yesterday, more than 10,000 Qing troops entrenched in the Chinese territory of Hankou have been eliminated. Chen Kuilong, the Supreme Commander of the Qing army, and the acting governor of Huguang, has led the remnants to a intersection at the junction of the British Concession and the Russian Concession. With several barricades, they resisted stubbornly. Because they were backed by the concession, the Revolutionary Army was worried that the shells would fall into the concession and led to joint interference from the great powers, so they have not yet made up their minds to use cannons. The hundreds of Qing troops are still defending there. However, so far, it has been the last Qing army stronghold in the Chinese territory of Hankou. It is only a matter of time before the conquest is conquered. The main battle in Hankou can be said to have ended.

In view of the experience and lessons of the Xinhai Revolution in history, Zhao Bei decided to transfer all the main forces to Hanyang and Hankou, and directly stuck on the Qing army's way southward attack. In any case, he had to defend the two places and use Hankou as Hanyang's shield. At the same time, the Republican Army also distributed a small amount of troops led by Yang Wangpeng, and attacked Jingzhou along the Yangtze River. Because according to the information obtained from the prisoners, all the elite troops stationed in the Eight Banners of Jingzhou had been transferred to Wuchang and destroyed here, so Jingzhou's defense was empty, and the prefectures along the way were also weak due to reinforcements from Wuhan, reducing the resistance to march. As long as Jingzhou was occupied, the gate to Yichang Prefecture would be opened, and the country of Tianfu in Sichuan was not far away.

After the news of the revival of Wuchang came out, the associations and green forests in various parts of Hubei raised flags and rebelled in response to the Republican army. So far, De'an Prefecture and Anlu Prefecture in the north of Hanyang Prefecture have announced the revival, and all counties under the jurisdiction of Wuchang Prefecture in the south have also fallen into the hands of the Revolutionary Guards. Qing officials either "anyway" or were awarded the title, and red flags were raised in front of the government offices in various places.

Faced with a great revolutionary situation, Zhao Bei decided to strike while the iron was hot and push the front line to the area of ​​Zhenkou, where he established the first line of defense to block the Qing army going south. According to the Ming-code telegram intercepted yesterday and combined with the analysis of the news from the concession, the Qing court had officially established a general grain station in Xinyang, Henan. The Qing army went south and attacked Wuhan in two groups. The troops of Wu Zhenhan from Jiujiang were blocked by Wu Zhenhan on the east side, so they could ignore it for the time being, but the Qing army coming from the north could take a train to attack Hankou directly from the entrance. Therefore, if you want to defend Hankou, the first line of defense should be placed at the entrance.

The staff advised to continue to advance northward, cross Wusheng Pass, and establish multiple defense lines along the railway to block them layer by layer, but Zhao Bei repeatedly considered and rejected this suggestion, because that would make the front line too long, the logistical pressure was too great, and the flanks were too exposed. Moreover, if Jiujiang could not stop the Qing army on the east route, then the Republican army could quickly retreat from the entrance, defend the second line of defense in Hankou, and defend Hanyang.

"Chief of Staff Lan, have the people sent to buy rain gear come back?" Zhao Bei asked Lan Tianwei beside him.

"Not yet. The British Concession made it clear that their neutral position would not change at all, and rain gear was also a military item, so they could not provide it." Lan Tianwei said. "According to the commander-in-chief, people have been sent to the German Concession, but there has not been a reply yet."

Zhao Bei turned around and watched the soldiers crossing the bridge go away. Many of them didn't even have oil paper umbrellas and just rely on a hat to hide the rain. There was no way. Now the concession declared armed neutrality and refused to provide any "military supplies" to both sides of the war. Although the General Staff tried his best, they still could not meet the revolutionary army's demand for rain gear. Just now, Zhao Bei had sent Zhang Jiyang back to Wuchang City and mobilized the people to raise funds for rain gear and rubber shoes. The current affairs propaganda team did a good job these days. In addition to selling grain at a affordable price, they cracked down on unscrupulous merchants and yamen. The revolutionary sentiment of the people in Wuhan is high, and I believe there will be something to gain. However, this is a temporary measure after all. A regular modern army cannot be separated from reliable logistics support. A military bedding factory has sketched a sketch in Zhao Bei's mind.

"Commander-in-Chief, Jiujiang urgently reported!" A cavalry rushed over and strangled the horse in front of Zhao Bei. He didn't even put the horse on his back and handed Zhao Bei a piece of paper.

There are a few lines of words written on the paper:

"In the afternoon of this day, five Japanese gunboats passed through Jiujiang in a column, and nine Qing warships mixed with them also forced to pass. The Ministry of Justice may accidentally attack the Japanese fleet, which will lead to interference from the great powers. It failed to timely order the bombardment with giant artillery, and only blocked the fortress. Two Qing torpedo boats and one baggage ship. The Qing ship took the opportunity to bombard the artillery with heavy artillery. The remaining giant artillery of Jinjipo were destroyed, and the Jiujiang city wall was also bombarded. Fortunately, the Qing army was still far away and could not attack water and land. Jiujiang seemed to be able to defend for a few more days. The Ministry of Justice vowed to live and die with the city! After destroying Jinjipo, the Qing army's gunboats and Japanese ships rushed through the blockade line and headed towards Wuhan at high speed. There were large ships and giant artillery in the middle. The Western Expedition Army should not be taken lightly. In addition, the Ministry of Justice was derelict in this battle, and was ashamed of the commander-in-chief and the revolution. I would like to punish myself! Ministry of Justice, Wu."

Zhao Bei handed the telegram to Lan Tianwei and others, and everyone looked at each other.

The Revolutionary Army has always tried its best to avoid direct force confrontation with the great powers to avoid external interference and affect the revolutionary cause. However, Wu Zhenhan's telegram shows that even if the Revolutionary Army does not provoke the great powers, the great powers will take unilateral action.

Although Zhao Bei had long said that if foreign warships dared to fire, the revolutionary army would immediately fight back, but it was of great importance after all, and judging from the telegram, the Japanese fleet did not seem to have fired, which was indeed difficult for front-line generals like Wu Zhenhan to make up their minds.

Not everyone is determined to fire at the great powers.

Of course, firing artillery at the great powers is also risky. What is the purpose of this Japanese fleet blatantly covering the Qing army fleet? Is it because of the artillery shooting incident in the Hanyang Steel Plant?

Everyone fell into deep thought.

"The Qing army came so quickly. The imperial edict was issued yesterday, and today it destroyed Jinjipo." A adviser sighed.

"But this seems to be a separate operation of the Navy, and the Army is still behind. Otherwise, if water and land advance together, Jiujiang might have fallen." Lan Tianwei said.

"The Navy wants to seize credit. With the cover of Japanese warships, I want to give us a single shot." Zhao Bei touched the hilt of the commander's knife, looked at the rolling river surface, and said quietly: "Five Japanese gunboats and six Qing army gunboats. Everyone, the visitors are not good."

"The First Army of the Qing Army is strong. If you pounce on Jiujiang, Wu Zhenhan may not be able to defend it." Lan Tianwei reminded.

"Call back to Wu Zhenhan." Zhao Bei let go of the hilt of the knife and raised his hand. "First, Jiujiang does not have to stand firm. All the remaining troops retreat south. Use Hunan to help the Ganjiang River to go up. The entire army gathered to attack Nanchang, the provincial lunar city. No matter whether Nanchang can be taken or not, the entire army must advance westward and march towards Hunan within two days of arrival in Nanchang, and support the rebels of the Communist Advance Association to restore Hunan. Second, the loss of Jinjipo is special, not the fault of the commander. Wu Zhenhan is loyal and brave, and his soldiers are rewarded with their lives. He has made a lot of efforts to restore Wuhan. Here is a telegram, and the officers and soldiers will reward them together!"

A staff officer recorded the content of the telegram, and after Zhao Bei checked and stamped it, he handed it over to the cavalry and brought it back to the headquarters.

Lan Tianwei asked, "Can you still go to the Chingkou? Jiujiang cannot defend it, so the Qing army on the east side can advance westward and head straight to Hankou."

Zhao Bei turned around and walked into a tent with everyone. A staff officer took out the map.

Zhao Bei pointed to the map and said, "Don't go to the brigade. The front line is too long and the flanks are too exposed. The supply line is easily attacked by enemy ship artillery fire. The Hankou area was originally low-lying and there are many lakes of all sizes, which is beneficial to defense. Then, engineers will be stationed at Zhanggong Dike. If necessary, the earth embankment can be blown up to block the Qing army. However, this matter is of great importance. I will issue the blasting order myself, and it must be a handwritten order!

In addition, mobilize railway workers to remove the railway tracks along the way. Even if the Qing army enters the entrance, they have to come over with their legs. All the removed railway tracks are sent to the arsenal for steelmaking. We will set up a front-end command in the area of ​​the foreign merchant racecourse to defend the second line of defense and order the artillery to set up the cannon position on the west side of the concession. If the Qing army's gunboats want to fire, they will also have to worry about where the shells will fall. In addition, we will send people to the arsenal to see if we can make a mine that can be hidden under the water. This mine structure does not need to be too complicated, and it can be detonated with wires. While the Qing army's gunboats have not yet opened, we will lay these mines on the waterway. No matter which warship it is, as long as we fire at our Republican army, we will blow it up!"
Chapter completed!