Chapter 196 Iron-blooded offensive policy

At noon on January 10, the Second Division of the Revolutionary Guangdong Army arrived in Baisha Town as scheduled, which already belonged to the Shaoguan area.

The First Battalion broke into Baisha Town in an offensive manner, and encountered no resistance throughout the whole process. There was an old army patrol stronghold in the town. After discovering the Revolutionary Army, they decisively abandoned their weapons and surrendered without any hesitation. They also led the way for the Revolutionary Army and directly surrounded the mayor's yard.

Yesterday during the day, Baisha Town had received news that the revolutionary Guangdong army went north. The mayor sent eight telegrams to Shaoguan that night, asking what the magistrate of Shaoguan should do. Shaoguan magistrate also kept asking the patrol admiral Wu Xiangda, and at least gave a word. However, the patrol battalion did not give any news all night, and the magistrate did not know how to reply.

As a last resort, the mayor of Baisha Town fled early this morning and fled.

The battalion commander of the first battalion, Liang Hongkai, kicked open the gate of the mayor's house. There were no one in the yard except two gatekeepers who stayed to see the house. All valuable furniture had been moved away, and only an empty shelf was left in the huge yard. Liang Hongkai did not make things difficult for the two gatekeepers. After asking the mayor's whereabouts, he requisitioned the entire courtyard as a camp office.

Liang Hongkai issued two orders, the first was to block the entrance of the town, strictly prevent and be wary of the enemy's situation; the second was to send scouts to Qujiang north of Baisha Town to inquire about the dynamics of the Shaoguan patrol camp. From the people of Baisha Town, he found out that a patrol camp was stationed in Qujiang. Qujiang is the south gate of Shaoguan, only twenty miles away from Baisha Town.

Baisha Town is a good frontline position. The tributary of the North River of the Pearl River is just across the middle between Baisha and Qujiang, forming a natural barrier. Wu Shaoting estimated that when the army was at the city, Wu Xiangda would definitely surrender, because with the combat effectiveness of the 3,000 patrol battalions in Shaoguan, he was no match for the Revolutionary Army in any case. The Revolutionary Army had cannons and heavy machine guns, and could even transfer several light warships along the river and head north to Shaoguan City.

In the afternoon, Wu Shaoting led the special agent camp to Baisha Town, where he set up a frontier command post.

After the communications soldiers set up the radio, Wu Shaoting immediately sent a telegram to Shaoguan City, asking Wu Xiangda to surrender immediately, otherwise the revolutionary army would launch an attack tonight. Although the telegram was said to be an attack tonight, after the telegram was sent, he immediately arranged for two gunboats to go north with the army to tentatively fire a few guns at Qujiang, and at the same time recruited nearby civilian ships and transported two battalions of troops across the river.

Wei Rucong, the commander of the First Regiment, personally crossed the river to command the battle.

The sun had not yet set, and the Second Battalion successfully raided Qujiang. A patrol battalion in Qujiang surrendered without fighting.

The staff officers of the Baisha Town Front Command Post and the First Division were wondering when it was now. Wu Xiangda had no reaction at all. Fighting was not like fighting, and surrendering didn’t look like surrender. What tricks should he use?

"Did Wu Xiangda escape quietly?" Xu Haiying said thoughtfully.

"There is a possibility. But you have to wait to know the exact news. Even if Wu Xiangda escapes, there are people from Shaoguan County Government, at least you have to give an answer." He Fuguang said in contemplatively. But as soon as he finished speaking, he changed his words, "I think there is no need for Wu Xiangda to escape. If he just escapes like this, he will have nothing."

Xu Haiying nodded and said, "Yes. Is Wu Xiangda still hesitant now?"

He Fuguang sighed slightly and said, "It seems that this is the case. It seems that these people still do not trust the revolution. It seems that in the past ten days, only our province in Guangdong has been making any movement!"

At this time, Wu Shaoting, who had been looking at the Shaoguan map, spoke: "Even if there is movement in Guangdong, there is nothing wrong with it? Guangxi, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, all the troops in these four surrounding provinces remain unmoved. Even if there is no uprising at this time, it will not threaten us. We just need to slowly push the revolution away, and sooner or later it will shock the whole country."

Xu Haiying asked: "President, then what should we do next?"

Wu Shaoting did not answer Xu Haiying's words directly, but said: "Send a telegram to ask when Mo Qingyu's group will arrive in Baisha."

Xu Haiying was a little confused, but she still did it.

About half an hour later, Mo Qingyu's delegation replied to the telegram, saying that they had already traveled fifty miles south of Baisha Town, and would be able to meet with the First Contract in a few hours. After learning about this situation, Wu Shaoting showed a cold smile on his face. He had already had an idea in his heart, but he had not said it out.

At the same time, the gunboat on the Beijiang River sent a telegram, which was sent by Wei Rucon from Qujiang to the warship and forwarded to Baisha Town. Wei Rucon said that the first battalion and the second battalion had occupied Qujiang County. In 20 minutes, it could launch an attack on Shaoguan City and ask for the next combat instructions.

Wu Shaoting analyzed calmly, and then ordered: "Let the First Battalion and the Second Battalion do not need to attack Shaoguan for the time being, and order the two ships Jingsui and Zhenhai to bombard Shaoguan City without restrictions."

Everyone in the command post was a little surprised. Unlimited bombardment of Shaoguan City, did the president and Wu Xiangda have any deep hatred?

At first, I didn't think there was anything special about sending troops to Shaoguan this time. Anyway, it was a sure battle. Shaoguan was definitely not the opponent of the First Division of the Revolutionary Guangdong Army, so everyone thought that as long as you threaten Shaoguan, Wu Xiangda would surrender sooner or later. But now when hearing this order, it seemed that the president's plan was not that simple. This attitude was to have a tough battle with Shaoguan.

After Deng Keng ordered the telegram to be sent, he came to Wu Shaoting and asked curiously: "President, are you planning to intimidate Shaoguan or do you really want to fight?"

"Of course I have to teach Wu Xiangda a lesson." Wu Shaoting said calmly.

"A lesson?" Deng Keng showed concern. He always believed that it was best to surrender the entire province of Guangdong Province without bloodshed. After all, the revolution had just succeeded, so we should win more recognition from people rather than bullying the weak.

"We have entered the stage of siege now. Don't think that our First Division is not fighting if it doesn't leave the province. Think about it carefully. Today is January 10th, and it has been ten days since Guangzhou's liberation. But until today, how many counties and towns have taken the initiative to change flags and flags? Even if Foshan, Zhongshan and Jiangmen are doing their best to express their support for the revolution, I dare to bet with you that these three places still have not been hung with the blue sky and white sun flags, and still have not lost their braids." Wu Shaoting said in a leisurely manner.

Deng Keng believed this, and he could confirm this by passing Qingyuan County a few days ago.

Wu Shaoting continued: "Why can the Guangzhou Revolutionary Government be established? This is the inevitable result of the trend of the times. Why is there no movement in the province and even the whole country except Guangzhou? This is because everyone is still doubting! These doubtful people don't know how long our Guangzhou Revolutionary Government can last, how much strength we have, and whether it can be a big uproar!"

Speaking of this, he deliberately paused, changed his tone and concluded: "So, we must have a battle so that people in China and even the world know that our determination to revolution, our fierce revolution, and our iron blood!"

Deng Keng quickly became excited when he heard this. He said, "President, do you have to fight to the end regardless of whether Shaoguan surrenders or not?"

"Haha, when the Revolutionary Government was officially established on January 3, the province had already issued a power supply. On the day we went to warn Shaoguan three days ago. Just this morning, that was the last ultimatum. No matter what the reason for the Shaoguan County Government is, since it has turned a deaf ear to our ultimatum, it is already a statement." Wu Shaoting explained.

"What the president said is very true, they are all their faults." Deng Keng nodded in agreement.

"So, let the brothers let go of the fight tonight, killing the enemy or capturing one person will reward the Ocean for five yuan, and capturing officials will be rewarded by level. However, after entering the city, you must not disturb the people. This is my only requirement." Wu Shaoting said in a hurry.

When Deng Keng saw Wu Shaoting take out a reward to attack, he felt a little worried. This would be very likely to lead to a massacre! But he didn't say much in the end. He believed that Wu Shaoting's resolution was reasonable, and the revolutionary army must fight a battle that the world remembers.

Of course, Deng Keng's idea is indeed consistent with Wu Shaoting's idea. The slightly different thing is that Wu Shaoting lets warlords across the province know that the outcome of opposing him is the same as Shaoguan. Even if the entire territory of Guangdong Province is restored, it is only a nominal restoration. Places such as Zhaoqing and Xin'an still have the role of self-respecting. At most, these indicate that they surrender to the revolutionary government, but in fact they are still doing their own things.
Chapter completed!