After the battle, the town of Huangnigang was full of devastation, the houses collapsed, and the flames soared to the sky, although most of the Qing troops were stationed outside the town, but the fighting in the town was also fierce, and the most shells were encountered. Although Zhao Bei had already ordered to protect the safety of the townspeople as much as possible, in the battle, there were still civilian casualties, the streets and alleys were full of cries and shouts, and the corpses on the streets were all over the place, both soldiers and civilians, and some of the wounded and undead were still lying in the pile of corpses and groaning, rendering the dark night even more terrifying and desolate.

Zhao Bei stepped on the ruins, under the escort of the guards, from the only street in the town to the center of the town, looking at the corpses on the street, he was in a heavy mood, and immediately ordered to treat the wounded and shelter the refugees, but now there are more important things that he needs to deal with, and these trivial matters can only be handed over to the new army that has just revolted.

When he stopped in front of an ancestral hall, the ancestral hall was full of new officers and soldiers who greeted him, all holding torches and lanterns.

Zhao Bei had changed into the military uniform of the Anqing New Army before entering the town, and he hurriedly returned the salute at this time, but his footsteps did not stop, and he stepped straight on the steps in front of the ancestral hall, and his shiny riding boots glowed in the light.

"The Eighth Town of the Hubei New Army, the 21st Mixed Association, and the Ninth Town of the Jiangsu New Army, all the officers and soldiers of the uprising welcome the vanguard officers of the Revolutionary Army! My name is Yang Wangpeng, Zilun, the 21st Mixed Association Secretary! Yang Wangpeng took a step forward and said, and then introduced a few people around Zhao Bei.

"This is Bai Wenwei, a revolutionary comrade from the Ninth Town, and he is a cadre of the League. This is Xiong Bingkun, he is the head of the Eighth Town Engineering Battalion, although he did not join any revolutionary organization, but his heart is revolutionary, and the field telephone through the iron bridge was erected by him and people braving the rain of bullets. ……”

"Well done! Revolution is the need for enthusiastic young people like you! Not afraid of hardship, not afraid of death, this is called revolution! Zhao Bei was not polite, put down his raised hand, glanced at these rebel officers and soldiers standing in the corridor, shook hands with one of them, greeted each other, and carefully looked at those historical celebrities.

"It's too dark outside. Let's go in and talk! ”

Zhao Bei led everyone into the ancestral hall, where two tables of eight immortals had been placed in the hall, and they were placed together, with a large-scale military map spread on them. It's just that the space in the ancestral hall is limited, and there are only so many more than 20 people who follow up.

Zhao Bei stood still at the table, glanced at the map, then raised his head, turned to face these rebel officers and soldiers, and said: "Everyone, we will work together to successfully revolt and capture the puppet Qing governor and admiral, which is really a great achievement for the revolution!" Now we must immediately reorganize our ranks, and then move westward, advance into the depths of the enemy, and expand the influence of the revolution! ”

"Swinging westward? We don't go to Anqing? Bai Wenwei stood up and asked. Now that the ground in Jiangsu is empty, there are only some old troops of the patrol battalion, and the combat effectiveness is not worth mentioning, so it is better to take the opportunity to march east to Anqing, join forces with the Anqing Righteous Army, take advantage of the gap, and conquer Jiangling in one fell swoop. ”

Zhao Bei glanced at him, shook his head, and said, "No! We don't go to Anqing! ”

"Don't go to Anqing? However, Xiong Dudu said that once he instigated an uprising, he would pull the troops to Anqing. A bespectacled staff officer reminded that this person's name is Zhang Jiyang, a native of Jiangsu, and a member of the Liberation Society, who followed Zhao Bei to instigate the uprising of the New Army in Qiucao, and was Zhao Bei's deputy, in fact, there were more than a dozen officers from Hubei and Jiangsu who came with Zhao Bei, and they all played an important role in the uprising.

Zhao Bei said: "The plan can't catch up with the changes! The current situation is very clear, Anqing is isolated on the Yangtze River, and is in the heart of the Manchu rule, the reactionary forces are very rampant, although there is no accurate information, but the uprising has been going on for several days, according to common sense, the Qing army must have begun to assemble in the direction of Anqing, under the heavy artillery attack, Anqing can hardly hold on. If we want to respond to Anqing and win the victory, we can't go to Anqing, but to the west! Fighting all the way and completely disrupting the strategic deployment of the Qing army. So, we don't go to Jiangsu, we go to Hubei! ”

Most of the Hubei officers agreed with this proposal, but the Jiangsu officers were worried and there were some differences for a while.

Yang Wangpeng stood up and said, "Don't make any noise!" Listen to the orders of the pioneer officer! We agree with the decision of the pioneer officer! ”

Zhao Bei walked behind the table, raised the command knife, pointed to the map, and said: "Anqing, on the verge of the Yangtze River, and our revolutionary army has no warships available, but the Qing army can rely on the Yangtze River moat to bombard Anqing with gunboats, so I think Anqing must not be defended!" Even if we rushed overnight, there was nothing we could do, we only had field artillery and mountain artillery, which had a short range and weak power, and could not confront the Qing gunboats head-on! Instead of sitting in Anqing, it is better to move westward and develop in depth to Hubei and Hunan, firstly, to obtain supplies, secondly, to contact the local party armed forces, expand the ranks, to respond to Anqing in the east, to disrupt the deployment of the Qing army, and more importantly, to expand the influence of the revolution! If we make trouble in the west, the Qing army will inevitably divide a part of its forces to pursue and suppress me, so that the Qing army will lose sight of one and the other, while I will take the opportunity to avoid the real and attack the weak, and take the Qing court by surprise! If we can occupy one or several large cities, we will keep the fire for the revolution, and even if Anqing cannot hold it, the revolutionary army will not be completely defeated. Revolution is an adventure, but it is by no means an all-or-nothing gamble! So, comrades, the next step of our army's march is to the west! ”

Zhao Bei put down the command knife, put his hands behind his back, stood behind the table with a big face, raised his head and glanced at everyone, and said: "What do you have any opinions about this plan of mine, just say it bluntly, the three stinkers are Zhuge Liang, the revolution is not my business alone, everyone is qualified to participate." The comrades in Jiangsu have concerns, and I can understand that, after all, your hometown is in Jiangsu, and now the Manchu Qing Dynasty has no way, and the world is suffering, who doesn't want to save the villagers and elders in their hometown first? However, we revolutionaries should take a long-term view and not just limit ourselves to immediate interests, because revolution is originally a plan for the overall situation. ”

Everyone looked at each other, and finally turned their eyes to Yang Wangpeng, the leader of the Qunzhi Society.

Yang Wangpeng stood up and said: "The battle plan of the pioneer officer is to attack the east and the west, and encircle Wei to save Zhao, it is indeed clever, I have no opinion!" The Qunzhi Society resolutely supports the decision of the pioneer officer! ”

The eyes of everyone turned to Bai Wenwei, who now actually plays the role of the leader of the Jiangsu army, and his opinion can be said to represent the opinion of the Jiangsu New Army.

Bai Wenwei pondered for a moment, raised his head and said, "I support the decision of the vanguard officer, let's go west!" ”

"Good. Since everyone has no opinion, then, let's go back and straighten out the troops, and early tomorrow morning, we will immediately move westward! Zhao Bei picked up the command knife and hung up his belt back.

"Report! Officers are needed to reorganize the troops, so please send reliable subordinates to command us. Yang Wangpeng's chest straightened.

Zhao Bei smiled slightly and asked, "How many people have been collected now?" ”

Yang Wangpeng said: "At present, there are more than 10,000 people in our control, and more than 10,000 people have not yet been collected. However, during the battle, most of the old officers refused to participate in the uprising, and some of them were killed by us, and others were captured alive by us, and there is currently a serious shortage of officers. ”

Zhao Bei pondered for a moment and said: "Yang Wangpeng, the people of your Qunzhi Society have contributed a lot, and these vacant officers will be nominated by your Qunzhi Society, and I will also send some other people to assist you." He glanced at Bai Wenwei on the side, and said: "The Jiangsu troops are still under the command of Jiangsu officers, but in consideration of the stability of the troops and the unity of military orders, the commanders of each town are appointed by me. ”

"We? To be an officer? Yang Wangpeng and the others looked at each other. To say that I don't want to be an official is false, and it is certainly a bloody impulse to carry out the revolution with my head in my head, but if I can take this step to ascend to the sky and return to my hometown, it is also a beautiful thing. However, if they were to be officers immediately, they would be a little weak-hearted, after all, they were all small soldiers now, and they were all only in their twenties.

"The love and trust of the pioneer officer, we will appreciate it. But firstly, our status is low, and secondly, we are too young, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the public. "Yang Wangpeng took a step forward." The opinion of the rank department was that it was better to select some of the old officers who were willing to make a revolution and let them continue to lead the old department, while we could send comrades to monitor the vicinity of them. Zhang Biao, the commander of the Eighth Town, was a die-hard member of the Pseudo-Qing Dynasty and could not be used, but Xu Shaozhen, the commander of the Ninth Town, sympathized with the revolution and was once the general office of the Fujian Military Academy, and was familiar with military affairs, and many officers in the army were his students. In addition, the former Eighth Town Infantry Brigade 16th Association 32nd Standard Commander Lan Tianwei is a member of the League, studied in the Japanese Army Non-commissioned Officer School, after returning to China in Wuchang General Ben School to teach, qualifications, prestige are unmatched, this time to the south to watch the exercise as a referee, and took the initiative to lead the old department to respond during the uprising, the revolutionary enthusiasm is very high, it seems that he can lead the Hubei uprising troops, as the eighth town commander. ”