1890 King of Southeast Asia

The artillery fire lasted all night. People hid at home, shivering and praying that they would not be accidentally injured, listening to the fierce explosions.

At two o'clock in the morning, the artillery fire finally subsided, and the fierce shouting and killing sounded again.

The passionate young people shouted "Revolution!" and rushed to every corner of the three towns.

Until dawn, the Qing Empire failed to organize an effective resistance. The revolutionary army occupied all important places and traffic arteries in the city.

"Baoxiang, why are you back? How is the front line? What are you holding in your hand?" Sun Zairen's eyes were bloodshot, looking at Jiang Baoxiang who ran back excitedly.

"Commander! This is the pseudo-Qing dog's Huguang Governor, Ruicheng's dog head!" Jiang Baoxiang's condition was no better than Sun Zairen's. Because of excitement, his face was even sickly red.

PS: I made a mistake. The Governor of Huguang was Ruicheng, and the Minister in charge of railways was Duanfang.

"Ruicheng?! Are you sure this is Ruicheng?" Sun Zairen's surprise was overflowing on his face, and he even didn't dare to believe it, and reconfirmed.

"Confirmed! Jin Zhaolong has seen this thief. We also asked the yamen runners of the Governor's Office to identify him. There is no mistake! This head is Ruicheng's!" Jiang Baoxiang was extremely sure.

When he got the head, he couldn't believe it. He kept confirming it and even returned to the battlefield to catch the officials and yamen runners of the Governor's Office and let them identify it.

The terrified look of the officials and yamen runners confirmed that they killed Ruicheng and cut off his head.

"Good! Good! How did he die?" Sun Zairen clenched his fists excitedly.

"This dog thief is quite lucky. During the first wave of shelling last night, he was sleeping in his concubine's room. When the shelling sounded, he slipped out of the tunnel." Jiang Baoxiang grinned.

"The tunnel leads directly to the train station. He should have wanted to escape by train, but he never expected that the train station was also our target of attack." The smug expression on Jiang Baoxiang's face was about to overflow.

"As soon as he entered the train station, the artillery team fired at the train station. The train was damaged, and the old dog was also killed by the shells. The lower half of his body was gone."

"The flag battalion wanted to rush over, but was shot by machine guns. The rest of them lay on the ground and surrendered." Jiang Baoxiang handed the head to Sun Zairen's guard, holding his braid.

Although Sun Zairen had experienced many battles and killed people, it was the first time he touched a corpse like this. He was surprised at first, and after confirming it, he felt a little uncomfortable.

"Rui Cheng has done many evil things in his life, and now he deserves it. But it's not good to run around with a head.

Take it down and take pictures to keep as evidence. After the war, collect the bodies and bury them together." Sun Zairen waved his hand, feeling a little tired.

After these words came out, Jiang Baoxiang's excitement suddenly stagnated.

"Commander, I think it would be better to hang the head of this thief on the tower, firstly to deter those Qing Empire officials who took advantage of the chaos to escape, and secondly to announce to everyone that the governor has been executed, which will boost morale." Jiang Baoxiang said dryly.

He came with the head happily, just to hang it up, intimidate the enemy and boost morale.

This is actually a very effective way, because the governor is the highest military commander in the local area, representing the emperor, who is high above.

The governor was killed. In the eyes of the officials and soldiers under the Qing Empire, the revolutionary army was extremely cruel; but in the eyes of everyone else, it was a sign of victory.

"We are not the Qing Empire, we are civilized people, we are the revolutionary army, we don't do the Qing Empire's tricks, otherwise what is the difference between us and the Qing Empire?

Spread the news that Ruicheng has been executed, and I allow them to lay down their arms and stop resisting. Those who resist stubbornly will be severely punished!" Sun Zairen shook his head.

"This... is!" Jiang Baoxiang thought about it and nodded.

Just as Sun Zairen said he was going to take a rest, he saw a man riding a horse rushing to the entrance of the temporary headquarters.

"Commander?! Commander! Show mercy!" Li Songqing's horse was stopped, so he jumped off the horse and rushed towards Sun Zairen.

Before he could get close, Sun Zairen's guards took action and stopped him.

"Captain Li, what happened? Why are you so panicked? Are there problems with those officers?" Sun Zairen asked hurriedly.

Last night, Li Songqing took the officers to drink, and when they were drunk, the revolutionary soldiers rushed in and disarmed them all and detained them.

Sun Zairen didn't understand why Li Songqing was panicking, but Li Songqing was only responsible for this matter, so Sun Zairen immediately thought that the officers had run away.

"No, no, no, they were all locked in Chunmanlou and didn't leave at all." Li Songqing panted.

"Commander, killing prisoners is not good! Our army has just been established, so why not let them off the hook? This will also help dispel their fighting spirit and reduce pressure for the future." Li Songqing shouted loudly.

Sun Zairen was stunned. Killing prisoners? How could he not know?

The scale of the incident that could make Li Songqing rush here must be large. If it was just killing prisoners out of anger on the battlefield, it would not be like this.

"Commander, I know." Seeing Sun Zairen's confused face, Jiang Baoxiang whispered in his ear.

"They wanted to attack the flag camp at the railway station. There were about 600 people, dozens of them died, more than 400 surrendered, and the rest were missing.

Because the flag people have been bullying the market for a long time, bullying men and women, and treating human lives as worthless, the flag camp is the best among them, and the soldiers are extremely dissatisfied with them." Jiang Baoxiang weighed every word.

In fact, this was also what he was about to report just now, just after the proposal to hang Ruicheng's head.

But Sun Zairen interrupted the process, so he didn't have time to say anything.

"More than 400 people?" Sun Zairen frowned.

If there were only a dozen or 20 people, he would have pretended not to see them. Bullets have no eyes on the battlefield, and soldiers are together day and night. It is human nature to avenge their comrades.

But 400 people at once have a very bad impact. Even if they deserve to die, they can't do it.

It's not for the so-called reputation, but the army can't kill people to vent their anger. If that happens, the army will easily lose control.

"So, this matter will stop immediately, all prisoners will be detained, and then, one by one, those who have committed crimes and have conclusive evidence will be dealt with according to the law! This matter will be handed over to you?" Sun Zairen looked at Jiang Baoxiang.

"Yes." Jiang Baoxiang breathed a sigh of relief, with mixed feelings.

In his opinion, it was completely unnecessary to do so, but since Sun Zairen asked, he would do it! Anyway, he had to kill according to the law.

"This... Thank you, Commander..." Li Songqing bowed his hands blankly. This was different from what he imagined!

He said this on purpose. On the one hand, he wanted to say something good to the Banner Camp. Even if the Qing Empire fought back, he would have an excuse.

On the other hand, he wanted to avoid suspicion. The most important thing was to lose the military power in his hands, even if it was nominal.

He wanted to take this opportunity to let Sun Zairen remove his position as the army commander. Otherwise, he was afraid that someone would take a fancy to his position that day, and the surrendered general would not have a good ending.

"Go back. You can release those officers by noon. Reintegrate the 21st Mixed Brigade to maintain combat effectiveness. The war is still to come." Sun Zairen nodded.

He would not abandon Li Songqing. First, this person's ability is good. The 21st Mixed Brigade was managed in an orderly manner by him, and the soldiers also loved him.

Second, Li Songqing had a very high status in Huguang. He had promoted the two factories of ordnance and steel and medicine, and also managed the four bureaus of silk, linen and gauze, which were all important foreign-oriented industries in Huguang. He was also responsible for reforming the military system, commanding the Six Chu Fleets and the Four Lakes Torpedo Boats, and actually controlled the Yangtze River Navy.

It can be said that Li Songqing was in power during the Zhang Nanpi era, and had contact with all walks of life, and had great influence.

Putting him in this position is a benchmark that can attract more people who are wavering or will waver in the future.

Although these fence-sitters are all about who is stronger, if they can be successfully incorporated, why should they use the already insufficient force?

Moreover, if they are dealt with, it is equivalent to dealing with the local area, which is equivalent to having half of the mass base. At least before the defeat of the revolutionary army, there is no need to worry about a fire in the backyard.

If Li Songqing is removed at this time, what will others think? Will they still trust the revolutionary army?

At two o'clock in the afternoon, with the last gunshot, the three towns were finally firmly controlled by the revolutionary army, and Sun Zairen also fell asleep.

...

Sun Zairen slept, but some people did not, such as Lin Pingzhi.

After all, Sun Zairen was just a figurehead. There was a staff department for fighting and a government department for management. Sun Zairen was not enough to shoulder all of them.

Many times, it was Lin Pingzhi who communicated and managed, such as receiving the Yangtze River Navy Fleet.

"These ships are simply a model of waste!" Sun Wu cursed at the gunboats in front of him.

"On the 700-ton hull, there are two old 120mm rapid-fire guns, two 76 guns, and eight boilers that only provide 1,300 horsepower. It's hard to believe that this design came out in recent years." Sun Wu looked at the two chimneys that occupied a huge area and was extremely speechless.

"It's better to have it than not. Although the design is relatively backward, it is enough to use on the Yangtze River." Lin Pingzhi stopped Sun Wu from saying anything more.

These ships were ordered before the Russo-Japanese World War II when the relationship between Japan and Qing was still good. Zhang Nanpi chose the Japanese offer for the sake of cheapness.

Of course, it was not that they were sold cheaply, but that the Japanese accepted payment in ore, while Nanhua provided loans.

There was not much difference between the miners and slaves in the Qing Empire, and the cost of ore was not high, so Zhang Nanpi chose to pay with ore.

"With twelve gunboats, even if the Beiyang Fleet rushed in, we can still hold it." Sun Wu looked at the sailors on the ship who had just cut their braids and were still confused, and nodded to Lin Pingzhi.

"Brothers, my name is Sun Wu, the commander of the Yangtze River Fleet of the Revolutionary Army. I have six gunboats under my command, but they are not this kind of water gun. The smallest one is also fifteen cannons!"

"Now that the revolution has been initially successful, I announce that I will take over the Six Chu Fleet and the Four Lake Torpedo Boat. From today on, we are brothers who eat from the same pot!"

Well, everyone was still in a daze and had no reaction.

"To celebrate the initial success of the revolution, the war zone headquarters agreed to pay one month's restoration salary."

Well, they all became more energetic. Anyway, people like this join the army for money, not for serving the country with loyalty.

For two taels and seven cents of silver per month, what's the point of risking your life?

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