Master Yuan, start!

"That's right!" Liao Zhongkai clapped his hands in celebration and pointed to the South Gate not far away, saying, "Come on, watch me open this gate for the revolutionary army!"

Guangzhou City has walls and city gates, but because Guangzhou is the largest trading city in Lingnan, the boundary between the city and the outside world has become increasingly unclear in recent commercial activities.

Guangzhou is a rare city in China that still leaves a gap two horses wide open in the second half of the night for nighttime traffic.

As for the "rebel army" that Yang Quyun mentioned, they were not ordinary civilians, but soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army who were transported to Hong Kong by ships.

These National Revolutionary Army soldiers were not ordinary soldiers, but "special forces" formed by Yuan Xiangcheng's orders from various military regions.

In terms of individual combat capability, they are stronger than ordinary National Revolutionary Army soldiers. They are even more superior to the Guangzhou defenders who have not experienced the baptism of war for a long time.

Their weapons may not be as advanced as those of the Huai Army defending the city. They have no cannons or machine guns.

However, no one expected, not even Yang Quyun himself, that things would go so smoothly.

In the middle of the night, the rebel troops easily broke into Guangzhou city from the south gate with the help of Liao Zhongkai, an insider.

The South City area was the first to fall into chaos. Countless lights and shouts were heard, begging for mercy, shouting for killing, and crying were quickly drowned out by the sound of gunfire.

Guangzhou is a densely populated city. Although the Lingnan Huai Army possesses heavy firepower, there are no artillery storage points everywhere in the city. Instead, they are concentrated in the arsenal on the southern foot of Baiyun Mountain in the north.

The rebel army acted very quickly. After receiving support from Liao Zhongkai and others, they split into two groups. One group rushed to the Lingnan Xinghan Grand Marshal's Mansion at a very fast speed, while the other group rushed to the north of the city, intending to obtain heavy weapons.

At this time, Li Hongzhang had just finished drinking the black chicken soup that his concubine in Guangzhou had simmered for three hours, and was sleeping soundly.

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The people responsible for defending the Governor's Office were Li Hongzhang's personal soldiers who were brought by him during the suppression of the Nian Rebellion. There were about 500 of them, and they were a group that was absolutely loyal to Li Hongzhang.

However, more than half of the guards were sent by Li Hongzhang to the front lines in Hunan and Jiangxi to serve as "supervisors" of the so-called "three tumors" of the 0c% Nine.

There are only more than 200 people living near the Governor's Office now.

After the riots broke out in the south of Guangzhou, they quickly spread throughout the city. Local hooligans took the opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

The vast majority of Guangzhou residents suffered at the hands of these criminals who took the opportunity to cause chaos. They were either robbed of their money or had their wives and daughters bullied.

After hearing the shouting and gunshots, the guards of the Governor's Mansion quickly gathered around the Governor's Mansion and were on high alert.

Dozens of guns opened fire at the same time, and just one round of volleys scared the scoundrels who were trying to take advantage of the situation into panic.

However, these gunshots could scare away the hooligans, but they could not scare the National Revolutionary Army who had already entered the city.

Several cannons retrieved from the camp at the southern foot of Baiyun Mountain were set up at the street corner. After being stuffed with shells, they fiercely bombarded the gate of the Lingnan Xinghan Governor's Mansion.

While Yang Quyun was bombarding the area with artillery shells, he asked Liao Zhongkai to make a speech to the Governor's Mansion, attacking them both physically and psychologically.

"The police force in Guangzhou City has declared the restoration of order. Everyone in the Governor's Mansion must immediately lay down their weapons and surrender!"

"boom!"

From time to time, shells flew into the Governor's Mansion, shaking the wooden bungalow to the point of collapse.

The roar of artillery fire did not wake up Li Hongzhang, but it suddenly woke up Li Hongzhang's second son Li Jingshu, who was sleeping in the side room.

He was shocked when he heard the familiar voice of Liao Zhongkai!

"They are coming! The National Revolutionary Army is coming!" Li Jingshu hurriedly put on his clothes and ran into Li Hongzhang's bedroom shouting.

"They're...coming?" Li Hongzhang slowly opened his eyes as Li Jingshu rocked him, but he had no idea what was happening.

"They can't fly. They were fighting in Ganzhou and Hengzhou the day before yesterday, and today they've run to Guangzhou?"

Li Jingshu hurriedly shouted, "Dad, they are faster than flying. At least when they fly over, they make noises. But the National Revolutionary Army has sneaked into Guangzhou without anyone noticing and is now shooting at the Governor's Office!"

"Police, where are the police in Guangzhou? Why aren't there any signs of movement?" Li Hongzhang didn't understand why the police force he had high hopes for didn't have any warning at all.

"Dad, there are still police officers here. Liao Zhongkai is leading the rebellion!"

"Liao Zhongkai is rebelling?" Li Hongzhang's eyes widened. "Where's Huang Xing? What does Huang Xing do for a living? Why can't we see him?"

"I don't know, Dad. I don't know. No one outside has told me about it."

Li Jingshu straightened his messy hair and said in panic, "Huang Xing has probably joined the rebellion. Let's run, run!"

After saying that, Li Jingshu hurriedly looked for his boots in front of the bed, intending to put them on Li Hongzhang and then run away.

Li Hongzhang never expected that the situation would be so serious.

He seemed still asleep. He grabbed Li Jingshu's hand and asked, "Where are the Lingnan New Army stationed near Guangzhou? Move them into the city, and the chaos will be quelled in no time!"

"Dad, it's already this late, and the Guangzhou garrison is still here!" Li Jingshu patted his head and said anxiously:

"Have you forgotten that you sent them to Shunde the day before yesterday to support the battle on the front line?

We're lucky to have 1000 people left in the city, and even if we mobilize troops now, it's too late; the enemy is already at the gate!"

Li Hongzhang was shocked when he heard this. After a moment, he seemed to wake up and said to himself with some bitterness: "Yes, I sent troops to guard the north the day before yesterday. I signed the transfer order myself."

"Dad, don't hesitate, let's go!" Li Jingshu was very anxious and now he just wanted to leave this place of trouble as soon as possible.

But Li Hongzhang in front of him did not move.

"Let's go, where are we going? Are we really going to Vietnam?"

Li Hongzhang answered to himself, not knowing whether he was asking himself or his son.

The artillery fire outside the mansion continued, and the sound of doors and windows being shattered by shells could be heard from time to time.

Li Hongzhang stood up barefoot, pulled out a large piece of rice paper from the desk next to him, spread it out, looked at Li Jingshu and said:

"My son, grind ink for your father!"

"What?" Li Jingshu rubbed his ears. He thought that the sound of artillery fire was too dense and he had misheard it. He couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"I said, grind the ink for me!" Li Hongzhang said sternly, and said 0 again.

Li Jingshu heard it clearly this time. Looking at Li Hongzhang's determined eyes, he could only suppress his restless heart, add water to the inkstone, pick up the inkstone and start grinding.

After a while, Li Hongzhang took the brush, dipped it in ink, and began to paint on the rice paper.

While Li Hongzhang was vigorously splashing ink inside the house, the sound of artillery fire outside the Governor's Mansion became increasingly frequent.

Just as he finished writing on the paper and put down his pen, a cannonball landed squarely into the house, blasting Li and his son to death with their skin and flesh intact.

"I have been toiling in the carriage, and yet the horse is still saddled, when I am faced with the danger of death I realize how difficult it is.

For three hundred years, the country has been in decline, and the people are suffering eight thousand miles away.

The autumn wind blows, the sword brings tears to the loyal minister, the setting sun brings flags to the general's altar.

The overseas situation has not yet subsided, so please do not take it lightly."

When everyone in the Governor's Office gave up resistance and announced surrender, Yang Quyun led his men to Li Hongzhang's bedroom, only to see this suicide poem.

Of course, there are also the broken arms and limbs of Li and his son.

Chapter 416: Post-Death Trouble

January 1898, 1, the 15rd day of the lunar year of the Dingyou year.

Just three years into the Republic, we welcomed the traditional New Year's Eve.

On the Ganzhou front line, early in the morning, the dawn is just beginning to break.

After getting the latest intelligence from the telegraph room, Ming Ye, the former head of the Red Search Section of the Social Revolutionary Party's Intelligence Search Section, hurried to the combat command room where Yuan Xiangcheng was.

But after arriving, he was told by the staff that Yuan Xiangcheng had gone to the front-line camp to comfort the soldiers.

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Upon hearing this, Ming Ye could only wrap himself tightly in his military coat and rush to the front line in the cold wind. He wanted to report the latest situation in Guangzhou City to Yuan Xiangcheng as soon as possible.

It had been more than twenty days since Yuan Shikai arrived in Ganzhou, but the expected scene of "the President personally coming to the city and Ganzhou being captured in a few days" did not appear.

On the contrary, the Lingnan Huai Army, relying on the advantages of mountains and rivers and the pass, as well as the continuous supply of personnel and military equipment from the south, defended the city more and more resolutely.

Unfortunately, it was winter now, and the National Revolutionary Army suffered heavy losses in transporting food and military equipment from the rear to the south. As a last resort, the front-line commander Feng Guozhang had to give up the idea of ​​a quick victory and decided to first wipe out the small groups of bandits north of Ganzhou and pacify the four temples in Jiangxi and Tongwei, and then make a final decision.

Most of the soldiers in the National Revolutionary Army were from the north. Even if there were some from the south, most of them were from the Huai River area. There were very few soldiers from south of the Yangtze River.

Fighting thousands of miles away in the south, they were already experiencing some acclimatization problems. In addition, they had been unable to capture Ganzhou City for a long time. Seeing that the slogan of reaching Guangzhou City before the New Year had become a luxury, the soldiers in the army gradually relaxed their pent-up energy and decided to spend the New Year peacefully first.

After all, for Chinese people, the biggest festival of the year is the Chinese New Year.

No one wants to be missing an arm or a leg before the New Year.

Under such circumstances, after Yuan Shikai arrived in Ganzhou, he naturally had to do something to comfort the army.

Therefore, going to the front line to comfort the combat soldiers in person became the only option.

Looking back at all dynasties, there are very few rulers who can lead their troops to war in person.

This does not include those who nominally "led the army in person" but actually just left the capital for a stroll, stayed hundreds of miles away from the front line, and listened to reports from afar.

After excluding those people, there are only a few rulers who can personally go to the front line as the head of a country.

Therefore, the fact that Yuan Shikai could brave the artillery fire, including his own artillery fire, and personally rush to the camp in front of Ganzhou City was a great surprise to those soldiers who had lived under the feudal rule of the Qing Dynasty.

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There is no need to personally distribute military salaries to the soldiers of the National Revolutionary Army one by one.

There was no need to order people to arrange traitors among the soldiers and shout slogans such as "eat Mr. Yuan's food, wear Mr. Yuan's clothes, and work for Mr. Yuan."

Yuan Shikai's mere appearance caused a commotion among the soldiers on the Ganzhou front.

Fortunately, in order to cover up the arrival of Yuan Shikai, Feng Guozhang ordered the artillery unit on the Ganzhou front to bombard Ganzhou City fiercely, pretending to attack the city and cutting off the defenders' plan to launch a surprise attack.

However, Yuan Shikai was not worried about his own safety. Amid the sound of artillery shells, he walked slowly in front of the line of National Revolutionary Army, his feet on the ground.

With every step forward, the soldiers' gazes shifted a little.

"Hello, comrades!"

Yuan Xiangcheng looked at these young people who were covered in dust and dirt at the front line but whose eyes were full of vitality, and nodded with satisfaction.

When the National Revolutionary Army soldiers lined up in formation heard Yuan Shikai call them comrades, they couldn't help but tremble, as if they had been greatly encouraged.

The term "comrade" has always been used in the National Revolutionary Army to refer to soldiers who have joined the Social Revolutionary Party.

If someone is called a comrade, it means that he is an active member of the party and is recognized by the political instructor.

Today, how can we not be excited to be personally addressed as “comrade” by President Yuan Shikai and the chief instructor of the Socialist Revolutionary Party?

The three-member grassroots system of soldier representatives, political instructors, and military commanders was strictly implemented and enforced after the National Defense Army was renamed the National Revolutionary Army.

Today's National Revolutionary Army is the only army in the world that attaches equal importance to military education and ideological education.