"Also, the cultivation of scouts is very important. Modern scouts are equivalent to ancient scouts, they are the eyes and nose of the army, and even the strength or weakness of scouts can largely determine the outcome of the battle. On the battlefield in Hubei, the scouting ability of the Northern Army was clearly superior to ours, otherwise we would not have been unaware of such an important thing as the setting up of heavy machine guns at the Bogu Academy. It was precisely because they were blocked for too long at this position that they suffered such heavy casualties at Yudao Gate."

  Wang Zhenyu is very much in agreement with this. His own grandfather was a deputy platoon leader of the reconnaissance company of the 47th Army: "What qualities does an excellent scout need?"

  "Bravery, loyalty, cleverness, good at disguise, good at analysis and judgment, with excellent individual combat skills. These are all the qualities a qualified scout must possess..."

  After talking with Wan Yao-huang, Wang Zhenyu gained a lot. The only thing that puzzles him is why such a talented person did not leave his name in the history of the Republic of China?

  Actually, Wang Zhenyu didn't know that Wan Yaohuang was just nameless in history textbooks. In fact, he was a historical figure, and during the Wuchang ceasefire, Li Yuanhong had already escaped from Wuchang. At that time, it was this young staff officer Wan Yaohuang who made a decisive decision, chasing for 40 miles overnight, taking the seal of the governor's office from Li Yuanhong and signing the ceasefire agreement. His courage and decisiveness can be seen from this. As for his later obscurity, it wasn't that he had run out of talent, but rather that he was not in the right place at the right time, and didn't have the right master. This also proves the saying: "A thousand-mile horse is often found, but a Bole is hard to find."

  This 70-ton small passenger ship, because it was sailing downstream, had a speed of 16 knots, which is equivalent to 28 kilometers per hour. As a result, including the time spent replenishing supplies at the dock, it took just over a day to arrive at Nanjing Xiaguan Wharf.

  Wang Zhenyu and Wan Yaohuang, Ma Xicheng, Zhao Dongsheng and others got off the boat and met the personnel from the Nanjing Army Department who were in charge of receiving them. The troops were arranged to be stationed and a batch of supplies was immediately dispatched, but there was no silver pay. Wang Zhenyu, who was not short of money, didn't care about this, but also inferred from this that the financial resources of the Nanjing side were tense to what extent.

  Arrived in Nanjing, the whole army entered their quarters, busy with cleaning and hygiene. Wang Zhenyu did not immediately receive an audience with Huang Xing, but only registered at the Ministry of the Army.

  It was already February 1912, and a piece of great news came from Beijing: the wise and powerful Xuantong Emperor had officially announced his abdication. The north and south were finally united as a republic. Suddenly, firecrackers and drums filled the sky, and the entire city of Nanjing became lively and bustling. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians chose to temporarily forget their recent hardships and celebrated this joyful news with all their hearts. (Indeed, it was good news - the emperor had fallen, and everyone was no longer considered a rebel, so their lives were guaranteed.) In most people's eyes, all the suffering in this country came from that damned Qing Empire. Now that the emperor had abdicated, better days were ahead. At the barracks of the First Division, Wang Zhenyu stood on the balcony, coldly watching his subordinates wildly celebrating on the parade ground. Although he knew from his later years that the emperor's abdication was not the end of suffering but rather the beginning of a new round of hardships, he wasn't foolish enough to come out and pour cold water on everyone at this moment. On the contrary, he had just ordered the cooks to add an extra dish tonight to celebrate this great victory.

  Since the emperor was gone, the plan for the Northern Expedition was naturally cancelled as well. Wang Zhenyu immediately became idle and began to pay attention to the situation in his home province of Hunan.

  Strictly speaking, after Tan Yankai became the governor of Hunan, he faced a very complex situation in Hunan. Various forces were eager to try their luck, and in this chaotic situation, a crucial point was that Tan Yankai himself did not have control over military power, simply put, he lacked reliable military protection.

  It was under such extremely unfavorable circumstances that Tan Yankai's extraordinary abilities were revealed.

  Don't look at Tan Popo, who is only thirty years old, but his wrist is alive and his city is deep. He first reached a mutual understanding with the Tongmenghui, sent people to comfort the families of Jiao and Chen, both governors who were killed. At the same time, he thanked Mei Xing for supporting him to take office, appointed him as the commander of the 5th Division of the Hunan Army, and the governor of Changsha. As for the troops left by Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin, Tan Yanqing naturally had a way to deal with them. First, under the pretext of assisting the revolution in Hubei, he successively transferred these troops to the front line in Hubei. Before leaving, he also instructed each department to be brave and sacrifice for the revolution, without looking back.

  To put it bluntly, you all die in Hubei and never come back.

  For the remaining dissidents in the province, Tan Yankai borrowed power to kill, instructing Mei Feng's troops to openly slaughter. Through covert enticement and open suppression, both measures were taken simultaneously, quickly eliminating local forces such as the Baoqing Military Government Division.

  As for Wang Long bringing his troops back to settle the score, it was even more wonderful. Tan Yanqing first used Wang Long's prestige to scare away Mei Xun, who was entrenched in Changsha and controlled him. Then he appointed Huang Yuanming, the former commander of the 49th Regiment, who was not in Changsha during the revolution because he participated in the autumn exercise, as the head of the Military Department of the Military Government. After Huang Yuanming ran to Wang Long's place and gathered his old troops with his former prestige, he told everyone that they did not dare to act rashly again, and Wang Long ultimately lost the opportunity to compete for the position of governor.

  Tan Yanqing used his connections to effortlessly resolve a huge crisis. Afterwards, Tan Yanqing also found Chen Qiang, the former commander of the 2nd Battalion of the original 49th Brigade who participated in the autumn exercise, and appointed him as the commander of the 8th Brigade of the 4th Division of the Xiang Army, taking over half of Wang Long's troops.

  Tan Yanqian is now pulling connections everywhere, finding familiar people, and preparing to form a more reliable army.

  These were all written by Lu Diping to tell himself, Lu Diping was a straightforward person who told himself that he had also accepted Tan Yanqing's pull and many of the officers under Wang Shichang had already been pulled over.

  Wow, this Auntie Tan really knows how to build relationships! Wang Zhenyu couldn't help but exclaim after finishing the letter.

  There is a saying that fits the national condition very well: how high an achievement a person can attain has little to do with ability, but mainly depends on what level of people you can get to know.

  It's just pulling strings, I can do it too.

  Wang Zhenyu had this idea, and immediately let Ma Xicheng and Zhao Dongsheng send out invitations everywhere. Now that he is a lieutenant general in the army, he still has some face when inviting people to dinner.

  Someone invited him and someone ate, plus Wang Zhenyu was generous with his hands, spoke well and was very pleasant to like, so there were more people who came to support him.

  There are two people who often come here and are very familiar with Wang Zhenyu.

  One was the third army commander Wang Zhi-xiang, a straight-laced person from Hebei province, over 50 years old. Before the revolution, he was the governor of Guangxi province, in charge of the troops and horses in the Guilin area. Later, through the persuasion of his brother-in-law Liu Ren-jun from Hunan province, he joined the revolution and became the deputy commander of Guangxi province. However, he did not get along with another deputy commander Lu Rong-ting, and was forced to bring his troops to Nanjing to prepare for the Northern Expedition. Unexpectedly, the Qing emperor abdicated, and the Northern Expedition was cancelled. Now, returning to Guangxi is not allowed by Lu Rong-ting, so he stays in Nanjing, but the military stipend is not even enough to give one cent. Faced with the mouths of his 10,000 soldiers who need to eat, Wang Zhi-xiang feels at a loss for what to do. That's why he comes here every day to drink with Wang Zhen-yu.

  Another one is the head of the 20th Brigade, Tian Yingkui, a fellow Hunanese and old acquaintance of Wang Zhenyu. He's thirty-five years old, and it turns out that he's a descendant of a military family. When it comes to the bandits in western Hunan, everyone might know about them, but actually, these people weren't originally bandits. Their formation has historical reasons. During the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Tian Xingxu from Fenghuang, Hunan, who is also Tian Yingkui's father, led his troops into the Xiang Army and then followed Zuo Zongtang to Xinjiang to fight against Russia. After a series of battles, he became the governor of Guizhou. Like the Chuai Army under Feng Zicai, Tian Xingxu had the Gan Army, which wasn't disbanded by the imperial court but continued to exist as a militia group. Later on, it became an armed force in the local area. The famous Gansu Ma Family Army was also formed in this way. Therefore, the origins of the bandit forces in western Hunan weren't actually bandits, but rather the remnants of the Qing dynasty's Gan Army militia (temporary workers without official status). However, after liberation, due to their resistance against the rough reorganization by the southern cadres, they took the "wrong path" and opposed the people's government. Naturally, according to their political orientation and propaganda needs, they became bandits who ate human flesh and drank human blood. By the way, the Gan Army also produced a famous writer named Shen Congwen, but that's not worth mentioning here.

  This guy Tian Yingkui was the third in line, liked to keep an eight-character beard, and was nicknamed Tian Hu Zi. He didn't live for a few years before his father died, and his mother spoiled him, belonging to the kind of person who didn't learn well from a young age. Later, he entered the Hunan Military Academy through connections, but was expelled for beating up foreign teachers, so he had no choice but to go abroad to study in Japan, where he was assimilated into the revolutionary party. After returning to China, Tian Yingkui actually became Wang Zhenyi's teacher at the Army Primary School, but Wang Zhenyi doesn't remember having such a teacher, anyway, the two are now wine and meat friends.

  When attacking Nanjing's Yuhuatai, Tian Sanlang volunteered to be the vanguard and achieved a great feat. Huang Xing appreciated him and appointed him as the commander of the 20th Division.

  Tian Yingzhu liked Wang Zhenyu, this straightforward and refreshing little fellow villager, and even warmly invited Wang Zhenyu to smoke opium with him, saying it was top-grade Yunnan soil, very rare. Scared, Wang Zhenyu was stunned, did this revolutionary also have a drug habit?

  But thinking about it, it's understandable. Just like the second-generation officials and rich kids of later generations who liked to take drugs for thrills, the aristocratic class at the end of the Qing dynasty was also fond of opium smoking. After all, only those with power and influence dared to indulge in such expensive habits. One notable example is Liu Kunyi, the governor-general of Liangjiang. This dignitary was a brave general in his youth but became an opium addict in old age. During the First Sino-Japanese War, he was ordered to lead the Xiang Army to fight against Japan in Northeast China. However, his addiction was severe, and he spent most of his time in a daze, only able to attend to official duties for a few hours a day. This was truly a case of a lion turning into a pig, with this leader commanding the Xiang Army, which was once a proud force. The outcome was predictable. With such an incompetent commander, the Xiang Army naturally had no achievements to speak of in Liaodong and could only suffer defeat after defeat at the hands of the Japanese. In the end, Liaodong fell, and all that was left for the people of Hunan was to lament and regret the mistakes of their fellow provincials.