Crimson Dawn

Chapter 128 no_name

Pu Guanshui hadn't seen Chen Ke for almost half a year.After they separated in Beijing in 1905, they met again in Anqing in early 1906.That time Chen Ke brought the backbone of the insurance regiment to Anqing for military training.In March, Chen Ke left Anqing with the troops of the insurance regiment.It didn't take long for a major flood.Instead, Chen Ke sent someone to ask Pu Guanshui to write him an official document, to the effect that the insurance group is an organization affiliated to Anqing and is responsible for disaster relief transportation.Governments everywhere are not allowed to stop it.Then the contact between the two parties was basically cut off.A month ago, Pu Guanshui finally received the liaison officer sent by Chen Ke.The liaison officer brought a letter, and Chen Ke asked Pu Guanshui to bring all the surveying and mapping personnel of the Anhui New Army to Fengtai County.

In China in 1906, as long as young people who had studied abroad had seen the world, even if they themselves would not participate in the revolution themselves, they would support the revolution.Pu Guanshui knew that Chen Ke was a revolutionary party half a year ago.As the third in command above the name of the Anhui New Army, the actual fourth in command.Not only did Pu Guanshui not intend to report on Chen Ke, but he also gave Chen Ke enough support.

I have seen the power of foreign countries, and I have seen the decay of Manchu.Most of the young people studying abroad who the Manchu Dynasty tried to train for themselves took the stand of overthrowing the Manchu Dynasty.Pu Guanshui is no exception.

Although he wants to support Chen Ke with all his strength, Pu Guanshui is the leading figure in the Anhui New Army after all, so it doesn't mean that he can leave if he just walks away.After waiting for almost a month, I finally found an excuse.The flood in Anhui, the officials in Anhui knew that it was impossible to rely on Anhui's own ability to relieve the disaster, and these officials also knew that the court itself was unreliable.However, we had to do extra work on the scene. When the flood was over, Anhui Governor En Ming finally proposed to find someone to inspect the disaster area.

This is a hard job, and when the local officials see the officials from the provincial government, they will definitely vomit their bitterness and ask for things.Although Anqing is the provincial capital of Anhui, it is actually a semi-military stronghold on the banks of the Yangtze River, located at the southernmost tip of Anhui.It is simply not realistic to mobilize supplies from Anqing to go north.This tour is just a formality.Moreover, these officials are pampered and pampered on weekdays, and they have to "share the joys and sorrows" no matter what when they arrive in the disaster area.It must be very inconvenient for basic necessities of life.Moreover, these people are at least somewhat conscientious in life, and they feel a little bit uneasy when they think that they eat and drink in the disaster area.So no one volunteered at all.

Pu Guanshui sees this opportunity and speaks to Enming.The priority now is to prevent civil uprisings everywhere.Relief matters can be done calmly after the relief supplies arrive.But Pu Guanshui believed that military officers should be sent to the disaster area to inspect.Assist governments around the world to prevent civil uprisings.

In the officialdom in the late Qing Dynasty, everyone had no intention of doing things at all, and only wanted to be innocent, not meritorious.As soon as Pu Guanshui's suggestion came out, everyone felt that it was right.But which officer to send to whom?Yu Dahong, the coordinator of the Anhui New Army, must not be able to go.The other vice presidents were also unwilling.Pu Guanshui, who had just arrived, was suddenly found to be loyal, brave and reliable, and then he was "entrusted with a heavy responsibility".This result hit Pu Guanshui's arms, and he took the opportunity to select Anhui's technical arms and his trusted soldiers.A total of 100 people were gathered together to patrol and defend together.

It took a few days to prepare, and Pu Guanshui sent two waves of messengers to Fengtai County.Ask Chen Ke to send a fleet to greet him.Since it was a disaster, Pu Guanshui planned to secretly transport more weapons and equipment to Fengtai County in the name of transporting disaster relief supplies.Chen Ke's insurance group cannot manufacture weapons and ammunition.This time, in the name of inspecting civil affairs in various places, Pu Guanshui applied for a batch of weapons and ammunition.He was going to give half of it to Chen Ke.

In the late Qing Dynasty, the officialdom was just a formality. After Pu Guanshui came out with his own troops, he only used the formality to go through the formalities wherever he went.Those people in Anqing didn't care what Pu Guanshui was doing outside.Pu Guanshui had no intention of going anywhere else at all.The destination of the troops this time is Fengtai County.Chen Ke's letter was very polite.It is said that the People's Party now has thousands of people in Fengtai County and urgently needs training in technical arms.Especially the urgent need for surveying and mapping arms.

If it is a bureaucrat with no technical knowledge, even if he has a good relationship with Chen Ke, he will not be happy to see such a letter.After reading this letter, Pu Guanshui was not only not unhappy, but felt a sense of confidant.After studying in Germany, Pu Guanshui deeply understood the significance of surveying and mapping to a modern army.Pu Guanshui was very satisfied with Chen Ke's professional attitude.However, there are less than 20 people in the Anhui New Army who understand surveying and mapping, and the other 80 people are artillery, communication soldiers, and grassroots officers.Pu Guanshui hopes to use these people as the backbone to conduct comprehensive training for the insurance group in Fengtai County.

After setting off from Anqing, Pu Guanshui was full of thoughts about how to build an army according to his own ideals. As the deputy commander, Pu Guanshui still had official authority.Like the European army, Pu Guanshui advocated strict military governance.None of the soldiers following him dared to speak loudly.Although he didn't dare to speak, the strange coming and going of the soldiers proved that something happened outside.Because the soldiers were standing on one side of the ship's rail, the ship was tilted a little.

Pu Guanshui glanced at the soldiers outside the small window, and said to the guards beside him, "Go out and see what's going on."

The guard went out, and soon returned to the cabin with a disturbed face, "Pu Xietong, someone outside threw himself into the water."

"Oh?" Pu Guanshui was a little surprised, if there were dead bodies in the river, it would be nothing unusual.However, he survived the flood tenaciously, but drowned himself after the disaster.This kind of thing was beyond Pu Guanshui's expectation.No wonder those soldiers ran outside.He stood up and walked out of the cabin.As soon as I got out of the cabin door, I saw soldiers standing on one side of the ship with gloomy faces.Pu Guanshui pushed aside the densely packed soldiers blocking him, and then he saw it.

I saw a few people in ragged clothes on the edge of the river. At this time, they had been left behind by the boat. The distance was relatively far, and their dirty faces could not be seen clearly.It can probably be distinguished from the figure and hairstyle that there is an adult couple, and the others are children.The family's clothes were in tatters, probably because they hadn't been changed after the flood, and the clothes were completely dirty and soaked.The holes and tears made the clothes flutter in the river wind.The family tied their waists to the same long rope. While holding the child and crying bitterly, the man and woman swayed and walked towards the middle of the river without stopping.The water gradually submerged their legs, their waists, and their chests.The child didn't know the parents' purpose of doing this. Pu Guanshui saw the child being held by the mother and even wiped away tears for the mother.The older children watched the water getting closer and closer to them in a panic.

Suddenly, the child screamed, "Father, mother, I don't want it. I don't want to die!" Shouting and struggling, Pu Guanshui saw the parents pause, and the man let out a sharp cry With a human howl, he hugged the struggling child and plunged into the chest-high river.Then the family disappeared into the muddy river.

This was the first time Pu Guanshui saw someone committing suicide by throwing himself into the river, and he was dumbfounded watching all this.I didn't even understand what was going on at all.Seeing the family sinking in the water, there was a deep sigh floating among the soldiers.

"Quick, quick, go and save them." Pu Guanshui finally stammered.

"My lord, what should we do after we save them?" the artillery officer in charge asked Ba Yougong, "We don't bring much food, so save them for a while, then what should we do? Take them? How long can we take them?"

These words reached Pu Guanshui's ears, Pu Guanshui, who was usually shrewd and capable, did not understand what these words meant and what was going on for the first time.

Seeing Pu Guanshui just staring blankly at the place where the family threw water, Ba Yougong, a 40-year-old artillery officer, couldn't help persuading him: "My lord, three families have already thrown water on this road. Since the whole family was forced to throw themselves into the water, there must be no way out. Now that we have rescued them, what will we feed them? Our boat can accommodate these 100 people. When we came out, we didn’t bring much food. It’s enough for us to eat for less than two months. If we rescue them, we don’t have enough food for them, and they will still die after eating the food. If we want them to live until next year, we will give all the food to these dozen people. We have nothing to eat. This is a disaster area, and it is not easy for us to raise food. My lord, you can do whatever you want, but we really can't save them."

After hearing these words, Pu Guanshui barely understood.Ba Yougong was right, but Pu Guanshui had never seen such a tragic situation.The great ambition to make a difference that was still in the chest a few minutes ago disappeared in an instant.

"Save them! Go save them now!" Although Pu Guanshui tried his best to roar, but something unspeakable oppressed his chest, making his voice low and trembling.

The relationship between Ba Yougong and Pu Guanshui is pretty good. Seeing the young Pu Guanshui so excited, he would have obeyed the order normally, but this time he couldn't help persuading him again: "My lord, those people They are already so skinny that we will die if we leave them where they are besides picking them up on the ship. But we really don’t have any space on the ship. Before I come out this time, I will be in charge of loading the ship. I have packed food. There is really no room. My lord, you are doing this out of mercy, but it only makes them suffer even more before they die."

In all fairness, this is already a heartfelt statement.The victims threw themselves into the river after despair, and it was only a moment of pain.But saving them, but not saving them to the end, is just prolonging the suffering of these victims.On the contrary, it is better to let them die now and suffer less.But Pu Guanshui didn't show appreciation at all. He raised his arm and pointed at Ba Yougong's nose, "Order to save people!" Pu Guanshui finally roared angrily.

Worker Ba You gave a long sigh, and shouted to the back of the boat: "Pu Xie has an order to rescue the family who fell into the water."

Not only the boat where Pu Guanshui was on was full of soldiers watching the excitement, but also the boats behind were also full of soldiers watching the excitement.After Ba Yougong finished shouting, the boats behind had passed the place where the family threw themselves into the water, and they continued to shout. On the boats further behind, some soldiers had already taken out their hooks and fumbled wildly in the water, and finally got the family out of the water. The family came to the rescue.

After a while, the boat behind called out, and the family was rescued not long after drowning.No one is dead.After hearing the news with a livid face, Pu Guanshui took a long breath and prepared to go back to the cabin.But suddenly remembered something, he turned around and said to Ba Yougong: "If you see someone throwing water again, save them. Take them away."

When Ba Yougong heard this order, his face changed a little, "My lord, where are we going to take them? If you really want to save them, you have to take them back to Anqing. If you resettle them on the spot, Governments around the world will not take these people seriously. If you go forward, you are afraid that the local government will throw them out. These people are still dead. If you save such a group of people, you can’t really save them. Your life. And the local government will blame you for troublesome things. Why is this necessary?"

Pu Guanshui didn't answer immediately, he closed his eyes, but opened them again after a while.He knew that what Ba Yougong said was right, such a simple life-saving, really saved a moment, but could not save a lifetime.

The young man's Xietong's chest was heaving, and his face was as gloomy as a thick dark cloud before a thunderstorm. "Take them to Fengtai County. Fengtai County has already said that it will send a boat to pick us up. Let's squeeze together, and when the boat over there meets us, we will put people on the boat over there."

"Fengtai County? This flood, Fengtai County is in the center. If the periphery of the flood is like this, why should they be fine?" Ba Yougong was already angry at Pu Guanshui's "nonsense", and his words were already Very dissatisfied.

"A friend of mine is in Fengtai County, and I believe him. He said Fengtai County is fine." Pu Guanshui replied.

Hearing this, Ba Yougong also lost his temper.Ba Yougong is a veteran officer of the Anhui New Army, but he has never been promoted. After Pu Guanshui arrived in the Anhui New Army, he vigorously supported technical arms, artillery, and surveying and mapping troops.However, these types of arms are not very likely to fall into the eyes of other officers of the Anhui New Army, so Ba Yougong voted for Puguan Shuimen.Seeing the young Xietong talking about "nonsense", Ba Yougong was also very angry.He said loudly: "Master Pu, we saved at least 300 people along the way. Not to mention whether the boat can carry these people. How much surplus food does your friend's family have? It can feed 300 people until next summer harvest! And when your friend invites you to come over, I'm afraid you'll have to rely on you to help him. He, he's probably a mud bodhisattva crossing the river, and he can't protect himself!"

Pu Guanshui was not angry, he looked at Ba Yougong calmly, "Ba Guandai, my friend said that tens of thousands of people in Fengtai County are fine..."

"He's just talking nonsense!" Ba Yougong lost his patience and interrupted Pu Guanshui directly.

"My friend is in charge of Fengtai County. Since he said it's okay, then it must be okay. According to what I said, if you see someone who throws water, he will rescue me." Pu Guanshui didn't want to say anything more, After saying this, he went straight back to the cabin.

Sitting in his seat, Pu Guanshui only felt that his mind was in chaos.He rested his left elbow on the table and pressed his left hand to his forehead.The warm breath gently blew the edge of the palm.Ba Yougong's words just now echoed in Pu Guanshui's mind.

"My lord, you can save them for a while, but you can't save them forever."

"My lord, if your friend is a mud bodhisattva crossing the river, you will not be able to protect yourself."

"Fengtai County is at the center of the flood, and they will be fine if their spleen function is damaged!"

These words are by no means Ba Yougong's prevarication, Pu Guanshui knows this very well.He irritatedly wiped his face with the palm of his hand.That's right, the fringe areas of the flood are already so terrifying, how can Fengtai County, which is located in the center, be safe and sound.Although Pu Guanshui admired Chen Ke very much, Chen Ke was just a mortal. How could he keep Fengtai County safe and sound?Could it be that Chen Ke is lying to himself?

Before seeing the whole family throwing themselves into the river this time, Pu Guanshui actually had no idea of ​​the severity of the flood.In fact, he didn't care about it at all.Just not far from Anqing, it was already so bad.What Chen Ke said did not disclose the disaster situation in Fengtai County at all, I am afraid that the real situation is far from what Chen Ke said.Pu Guanshui knew that Chen Ke had prepared for disaster relief this time, so he asked for official documents.But Pu Guanshui didn't believe that Chen Ke could really do anything big.If so, I'm afraid what Ba Yougong said is really possible.

Suspicious of Chen Ke's thoughts, all kinds of ideas came out one after another.But amidst the many doubts, the memories of Chen Ke's relationship with Pu Guanshui kept reappearing.The Chen Ke who could talk deeply about military development with Pu Guanshui, the Chen Ke who wrote the song "The New Beiyang Army is Advancing" in a flash, and the Chen Ke who led the backbone of the insurance regiment to Anqing to receive military training.In dealing with Chen Ke, Chen Ke is always cautious, modest and responsible.By no means a lunatic who bullies others.As for the book "Inheritance of Chinese Culture and the Rise of Materialism" written by Chen Ke, every time Pu Guanshui reads it, he feels full of admiration.If such Chen Ke really encountered difficulties, how could he not tell the truth.Why should he lie to himself?

On the one hand, it is the trust in Chen Ke's past, and on the other hand, it is the worry about reality.Pu Guanshui's mood was extremely chaotic, and he could no longer recall the idea of ​​how to build a new type of army.

Sure enough, as Ba Yougong said, in five days, more than 300 people encountered their families throwing themselves into the river.Pu Guanshui ignored Ba Yougong's advice and insisted on saving them all.Seeing that the government fleet was saving people, he knelt down and begged for food.Even more people threw themselves into the river to be saved.Pu Guanshui encountered such a situation, but he didn't dare to mention the matter of landing.The fleet sailed day and night.Fortunately, the victims were generally in poor health and could not keep up with the speed of the boat, so at least no one deliberately threw water in front of them in hopes of being rescued.However, the fleet originally planned to transport 100 people suddenly crammed in another 300 people.There wasn't enough space at all, and Pu Guanshui had to live with other people.But since the request to save lives was put forward by himself, Pu Guanshui also accepted it.

Pu Guanshui didn't think about building an army anymore, he asked everywhere to rescue the victims.These victims who have the backbone to throw themselves into the river are not bad people.The prolonged hunger made these people skinny and dying.After eating a few meals of porridge, I recovered a little bit of strength.Faced with the savior and high officials of the imperial court, the victims repeatedly kowtowed to express their gratitude, while weeping and complaining about the situation of the disaster.Since the continuous heavy rain for [-] days, the disaster area in Anhui has been really miserable.The depth of water on flat ground is several feet.The people had nowhere to escape.These victims are struggling to survive until now, but seeing that they can no longer live, they have no choice but to choose to commit suicide by throwing themselves into the river.

Listening to all kinds of horrific human tragedies in the flood, the young Pu Guanshui couldn't help but burst into tears.Among the soldiers and officers of the new army gathered next to him, there were quite a few who couldn't help but burst into tears.Most of them are locals from Anhui, and many of them have family members in the disaster area.Thinking of the terrible things that happened to my loved ones too.They were heartbroken one by one.Those who spoke were crying, and among those listening, the disaster victims also burst into tears when they remembered what happened to them.The officers and soldiers of the new army could not help but burst into tears.The whole boat cried together.Many new soldiers even plucked up the courage to cry and beg to go home and have a look.

If it was before, Pu Guanshui would not only verbally reprimand the soldiers who asked to go home, but he would still punish them physically.But now, listen to the crying pleas of these soldiers.Pu Guanshui said with a livid face, "I haven't been to Fengtai County yet. I'll see it when I get to Fengtai County."

At noon on the sixth day, Pu Guanshui's fleet finally met the insurance group's fleet.Looking at the four red flags with sickles and axes fluttering on the bows of the big black boat, Pu Guanshui felt hope and worry at the same time.After each flag was raised, the two fleets converged.

Chapter 128 no_name

Chapter 128 no_name, to URL