Chapter 16 second quarter

The uprising failed, and Sun Yat-sen lost his will. He said that the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty seemed to be a protracted war, and it was estimated that it would take another 20 to 10 years. The revolutionaries who lamented the heavy losses suffered by the Huanghuagang Uprising did not expect that the historical drama of 1911 had not yet begun.The plot arrangement of this big drama is: the Huanghuagang Uprising is only a prelude, and the main drama will take place in Wuchang nearly half a year later; the carefully planned Huanghuagang Uprising was extinguished after a day and night of bloody fighting, but the sudden Wuchang Uprising ignited There was a raging fire that buried the Qing Dynasty.

History chose Wuchang. When it came to the Huanghuagang Uprising, Sun Yat-sen and the Tongmenghui launched all the uprisings along the coast of the South China Sea and the southwestern frontier; after failing one by one, the Tongmenghui turned its attention to the Yangtze River Basin in the hinterland of China.In a short period of time, more than 20 revolutionary groups were established in Wuhan, an important city in central China. They mobilized and absorbed a large number of soldiers and grassroots officers in the Hubei New Army. The so-called "New Army" is compared to the traditional Eight Banners Army of the Qing Dynasty and the Xianghuai Army that made great contributions to the eradication of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.The Eight Banners Army has long been abolished and decayed; and in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the once mighty Xianghuai Army was also vulnerable to modern troops.The Qing court accepted the suggestion of Hannagen, a veteran German officer, and reorganized the army based on the German Army. This is the new army.

According to the modern military system, the units of the new army are towns, associations, bids, battalions, teams, platoons, and sheds, which are equivalent to divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, companies, platoons, and squads in today's army.The Qing court planned to build three towns, ten towns, and six towns, and the new army was scattered all over the country. As a result, only fourteen towns and eighteen mixed brigades were built during the Wuchang Uprising. As the biggest capital of their own rule, the Qing government placed high hopes on the new army. Although the finances were not enough to make ends meet, the new army's supplies and equipment and the treatment of officers were not sloppy at all.It's just that the Qing government never expected that the new army, which had worked hard to prepare and train, was completely infiltrated by the revolutionaries and became their own gravediggers.

The Qing court also knew that the minds of the soldiers had changed, but they had nothing to do.When Ruicheng succeeded Zhang Zhidong as governor of Huguang, he asked Zhang Biao, the commander of the Eighth Town, "Honestly, how many revolutionaries are there in your army?" Zhang Biao also answered honestly, "Don't dare." Unbeknownst to the commander, about one-third of it." On the one hand, the uprisings have been defeated repeatedly; on the other hand, the revolutionary forces are spreading like wind and fire.At this time, we know what a historical trend is. Two organizations played an important role before the Wuchang Uprising. One was the Gongjinhui, a peripheral organization of the Tongmenghui, whose head in Hubei was Sun Wu; The charter actually stipulates that the purpose is to "study literature", and the main leaders and backbones are almost all literati who have contributed to the army, the president Jiang Yiwu.

Revolutionary groups were able to form one after another because the Qing government announced in 1906 that it was preparing to establish a constitution. After that, the freedom of speech and association was relaxed. Under the guise of "researching literature", you can pull a group of people to do what you really want to do. These two groups have achieved great success in propagating the revolution and building organizations, but they have not been able to unite.Under the impetus of the Central Federation of the Tongmenghui, the Literature Society and the Gongjinhui decided to eliminate sectarianism and unite against the Qing Dynasty.

At the beginning of 1911, the leaders of the two groups met in secret to prepare for the uprising.Jiang Yiwu, president of the Literature Society, was the interim commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Army, and Sun Wu, a member of the Communist Party’s main alliance in Hubei, was the chief of staff; the organization of the Literature Society, No. 85, Xiaochao Street, Wuchang, was the temporary headquarters, and the secret bomb-making base was located in No. 10 or 4, Baoshanli, Hankou, Russian Concession, presided over by Sun Wu. Compared with Sun Yat-sen's generous fundraising for the Huanghuagang Uprising, the source of funds for the Wuchang Uprising is dumbfounding.First, Juzheng and Jiao Dafeng planned to steal the Golden Bodhisattva from Ximapoda City Temple in Qichun, but failed; then Zou Jiacheng planned to steal his aunt's savings, but failed.

In the end, it was resolved like this: Liu Gong, the president of the Gongjin Association, gave him five thousand taels of silver and asked him to go to Beijing to buy an official position.Mr. Liu is not interested in buying an official, but he is not very happy when someone suggests that he hand over the five thousand taels of silver to fund the uprising.So several members tricked him into copying the revolutionary propaganda materials by himself. After the copy was completed, Peng Chufan got it and threatened him that if he didn't donate the money, he would use this as evidence to denounce him to the government.Liu Gong was angry and funny, so he had to hand over the money.Before the uprising, it was agreed that the military government of Hubei would be established after the victory, and the governor would be his.

On September 14, more than 60 key members of the Literature Club and the Gongjinhui discussed the uprising plan at the Gongjinhui No. 11, Yanzhi Lane, Wuchang, and decided to start the Mid-Autumn Festival on October 6. The reason why the Mid-Autumn Festival was chosen is because since Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan Dynasty, "killing the Tartars on August 15th" has been circulating among the people. A detailed plan, where to fight first and then which to fight, doesn't matter if you don't explain it, because the Wuchang Uprising almost didn't happen, and it couldn't be carried out according to this plan.It can also be seen from the previous Huanghuagang Uprising that "the plan did not change quickly", not only in the economy, but also in the military revolution.

Within an hour of the meeting to prepare for the uprising, the plan was all but leaked. A few soldiers saw off their comrades who had returned home for vacation, drank and guessed, yelled, and were scolded by the platoon leader.After the platoon leader finished scolding and left, these soldiers fired three empty cannons into the sky to vent their anger.This was originally a trivial matter of drinking and causing trouble, but there are so many partisans in the army, and they also vaguely know that there will be actions in the near future. When they heard the sudden cannonball, they couldn't help talking about the uprising.A crowded place like a barracks is the easiest place to spread the word. The news of "the uprising is about to start" quickly spread from the army to the society, so that the news of the "Mid-Autumn Uprising" was published in Hankou's newspapers!

Ruicheng, the governor of Huguang stationed in Wuhan, heard the news and hurriedly called to report to Beijing, while strengthening his guard.He ordered that the Mid-Autumn Festival be celebrated one day earlier, moon cakes will be distributed on August 14th, and the holiday on the Mid-Autumn Festival will be cancelled. The hearts of the organizers of the uprising are already hanging.Next, the uprising was imminent, but the army led by Jiang Yiwu, the commander-in-chief of the uprising, was going to Yueyang. Could Jiang say, "I will lead the uprising on October 6, and I won't leave"?The leaders of the Tongmenghui, Huang Xing and Song Jiaoren, did not arrive in Wuhan on time.The interim headquarters had to decide: postpone the uprising and hold it on October 11.

The plan fell through again. On October 9th, when Sun Wu was leading people to make bombs, Liu Gong's younger brother Liu Tong wandered in with a cigarette in his mouth, wanting to appreciate Lao Sun's bomb-making art.After smoking, Liu Tong confusedly used a gunpowder basin as an ashtray, and casually threw the cigarette butt into it.Suddenly there was a bang, and the flames shot up, burning Sun Wu's face to the ground.Everyone hurriedly lifted Sun Wu and ran out, the fire was out of control, and attracted patrols from the Russian Concession. The uprising list, flags, and proclamations left in the house all fell into the hands of Russian patrols. Jiang Yiwu, the interim commander-in-chief of the uprising who accompanied the army to attack Yueyang, returned to Wuchang this morning, and received the bad news at noon: the list of uprisings fell into the hands of the Russian patrol, and it was time to send it to the governor of Huguang!Jiang Yiwu immediately ordered: At 12 o'clock that night, all the troops inside and outside the city will act together under the banner of the Nanhu Artillery Brigade firing! It is hard to say whether this order was sent outside Wuchang.After receiving the uprising list, flags and proclamations from the Russian Concession, the governor of Huguang, Rui Li, immediately ordered the closure of the gates of the three towns in Wuhan; in addition, the army stopped all going out and vacations, and strengthened control. At 12 o'clock in the evening, the agreed gunfire did not sound, but the door of the uprising headquarters was shot loudly. When I opened the door, I saw: Qing soldiers! The uprising did not start, and the headquarters was almost wiped out in one fell swoop.Liu Fuji, Peng Chufan, Yang Hongsheng and more than 20 people were arrested. Time entered October 10, 1911. The morning of this day was bloody, and Liu Fuji, Peng Chufan, and Yang Hongsheng were beheaded in front of the Superintendent's Office. Twenty-five-year-old Peng Chufan from Echeng, Hubei was tortured standing up, his head fell to the ground but his body did not fall; 28-year-old Liu Fuji from Changde, Hunan, was scolded constantly during the trial, and before he died, he shouted: "My compatriots, get up quickly, and give me back my land! "Yang Hongsheng, a 26-year-old native of Xiangyang, Hubei, heard the sentence and said: "Okay! Kill as you want! You slaves will soon follow Lao Tzu!" When he died, he shouted: "Long live Sun Yat-sen! Long live the surviving comrades!" This made the heroic spirit of the entire feudal empire tremble, and became the harbinger of the victory of the Wuchang Uprising. The governor of Huguang, Ruicheng, who has fully grasped the situation, deployed to arrest people according to the roster.At the same time, Ruicheng sent a telegram to the Qing court in Beijing, triumphantly reporting that the rebellious party that attempted the "August 15th Uprising" had now been dealt with by him. On the streets of Wuchang, the military and police arresting the revolutionary party ran rampant, and the city was shrouded in white terror; three heads were hung high for public display, and blood was still dripping.The revolutionaries in the new army were so nervous that their faces were pale. Since the roster fell into the enemy's hands, it would only be a blink of an eye for the claws of arrest to come over!Just wait to be caught and die? Survive from death, stand up and attack!Everyone is thinking this way in their hearts, there is no headquarters, no organizational leadership, and spontaneous communication is going on secretly in the army. On the night of October 10, Tao Qisheng, leader of the second platoon of the rear team of the Eighth Battalion of the Hubei New Army Engineering Corps, brought two guards to the barracks.Tao Qisheng's younger brother, Tao Qiyuan, took a revolutionary stand. He felt that something big was about to happen, so he told his brother to run away, and casually said that Jin Zhaolong, who was in his brother's platoon, was a revolutionary.Unexpectedly, Platoon Leader Tao was very loyal to the Qing Dynasty and came to arrest Jin Zhaolong. Tao Qisheng first called out Jin Zhaolong with a pleasant face, and then his face sank: "My boy, you are so courageous that you dare to rebel! Bind up!" Jin Zhaolong, who was bound by the guards, struggled and shouted to the surroundings: "If you don't do anything, when will you wait?!" Can't wait any longer!Cheng Dingguo, a revolutionary soldier next to him, dragged his gun hard and hit Tao Qisheng on the head, bleeding profusely; The first shot of the Wuchang Uprising pierced the dark night sky. The revolutionaries and class leader Xiong Bingkun who rushed over after hearing the news met Tao Qisheng who was seriously injured and fled in embarrassment. Xiong Bingkun also drew his gun and shot him. These two gunshots were the starting point of the Wuchang Uprising.The revolutionaries in the new army, who were like ants on a hot pot, jumped up excitedly: "Uprising, uprising!" The curtain of the Revolution of 1911 officially opened.