On March 31, Gong Peng personally went to the headquarters of the Fifth Division of the Xiang Army and specially invited twelve officers from the Fifth Division for a banquet, saying that he had something to ask of them. What these twelve officers had in common was that they all personally participated in the killing of Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin.

  In the eyes of these officers, Gong Peng was just a small-time hoodlum in their jurisdiction, and inviting them to dinner was merely a way of seeking protection. Anyway, life in the military camp was boring, and it had been almost half a year since the assassination of the governor, but they hadn't seen any consequences for themselves, so their initial unease and worry had long been forgotten. They readily agreed and promised to arrive on time. As for the meeting place, it was set at the elegant room on the second floor of the Tian Tai Tea House.

  Run to the friendly army's defense zone to capture the friendly army officer, this is undoubtedly a very special task, and the high risk and difficulty have determined that the person in charge of capturing must not only be reliable but also capable. Wang Zhenyu thought for a long time and decided to let Ma Xicheng and Zhao Dongsheng lead more than 30 people from his guard to execute, requiring them to act quickly, decisively, and withdraw immediately after success.

  After dispatching the guards, Wang Zhenyu immediately convened a meeting at the brigade department with Yang Wanguo, Song Xianfu, Xu Yuanquan, Hao Bing and Wan Yaohuang. Such a big thing can't be done without making an announcement. After all, no one knows what kind of reaction Mei Xin from the Fifth Division will have. If things really go south, they need to make preparations for a fight on their own side.

  "Be careful, Comrade Commander, such a big move involves so many aspects and the consequences will definitely be severe." Unexpectedly, Deputy Commander Yang Wanguo, who usually agrees with everything, was the first to raise an objection today.

  Chief of Staff Xu Yuanquan also frowned: "Commander, Changsha has five divisions. If we suddenly take action against Mei Xin's officers, what if it causes a strong backlash? Also, are we going to deal with the Fifth Division alone or the entire Fourth Division together?"

  Xu Yuanquan didn't object, and based on his understanding of Wang Zhenyu, he roughly guessed that opposing it would be useless. The people responsible for capturing him probably all went out. Today's meeting was just a courtesy call; having this idea in mind is not as good as asking clearly, thinking carefully if there are any loopholes, and making up for them as soon as possible.

  Song Xianfu and Hao Bing were not quite clear what the situation was, but in the past six months, they had become accustomed to resolutely executing whatever orders the brigade commander gave, and the night before, they had been severely criticized by the brigade commander, so they didn't dare to make a sound.

  Wan Yao Huang then asked Wang Zhen Yu what was the purpose of such actions?

  Wang Zhenyu looked at the tense expressions of his subordinates, thought for a moment, and decided to tell them the truth. He told everyone present about the current predicament of his uncle's clan and the news he had learned from Zhao Hengyu, leaving everyone in shock.

  "Traveler, are you saying that the Fourth Battalion, apart from us, has already heard Aunt Tan's words and Commander Wang has become a lone stick?" Yang Wangu asked in surprise.

  Xu Yuanquan was even more shocked "Impossible, Traveler, you are a revolutionary hero, how can they make decisions for you!? What do they want to do?"

  Everyone was even more confused after hearing the truth, you said one word and I said another...

  Wang Zhenyu raised his hand, and the travel department immediately fell silent. Everyone stopped talking and quietly looked at Wang Zhenyu. Consciously or unconsciously, Wang Zhenyu has now been regarded by everyone as the core of the Menghu Travel.

  "I know that many things, everyone can't understand or think clearly. In fact, this is very normal. Take the killing of Jiao Doucheng and Chen Doucheng for example, up to now I still don't understand it. But these are all unimportant now." Wang Zhenyu's tone suddenly rose "What's important now is that if we don't take some action, don't teach some people a lesson, and let them know our strength, then the Měng Hǔ Lǚ will become history soon. And I, as well as everyone present, our future will also come to an end."

  Wang Zhenyu stood up and walked around the table in a circle.

  "From Hankou to Nanjing, and now to Changsha, my brothers and I have come a long way together. I, Wang, am deeply grateful and want to say thank you to everyone here. To those who are afraid and want to leave, I won't blame you or stop you, and I'll even give you travel expenses. But I, Wang, have made up my mind to take down the great banner of the Hu Lao Huo Brigade. I will not allow any outsiders to ride on our brothers' necks and shit."

  Wang Zhenyu pressed down on Xu Yuanquan's shoulders, who was just about to speak: "The Hu Ben Brigade is a collective, not my personal Wang something. Now we're strong and powerful, but we don't have a solid backing, so it's no surprise that others are making decisions for us. But does that mean we should just surrender? Brothers, as long as the guns are in our hands, we can't be weak."

  "We not only need to take action, but also make it big, so that those who are in high positions and feel good about themselves know that our Tiger Troop is not easy to mess with." Wang Zhenyu's words were concise and set the tone for the next course of action. Clearly and unmistakably telling everyone present that whether or not to take action was no longer necessary to discuss, it would be better if everyone just talked about how to take action.

  Xu Yuanquan and Yang Wanguo exchanged a glance, and then everyone's gaze turned to Wang Zhenyu, who had just sat down. Standing up, they said in unison: "Willing to follow the captain, go through fire and water, die a thousand times without regret."

  Wang Zhenyu hehe smiled, and his breath was suddenly full.

  After that, things became easier. After unifying their thoughts, everyone began to plan how to deal with the Fifth Regiment. Poor Mei Xing couldn't imagine that a small traveling group would so openly and grandly plan to eliminate an entire regiment, which was simply absurd and fanciful.

  Everyone is a professional soldier, and soon they came up with a feasible plan. The first step was for Wan Yaohuang to personally lead the reconnaissance company in disguise to investigate the location, number of people, combat effectiveness, etc. of each unit of the Fifth Division.

  At noon that day, Wan Yaohuang and others disguised themselves as merchants from other places to conduct reconnaissance in the area of the Fifth Division's jurisdiction in the east of the city. With the cooperation of He Jian and Gong Peng, the deployment situation of the Fifth Division was basically understood by him.

  Mei Xian's fifth division was formed on the basis of the original Hunan New Army 52nd Brigade, because at the beginning, Changsha was completely under its control, so whether it was personnel or equipment supplies, this department was once the best in the Xiang Army.

  The troops were quickly expanded from over 2,000 to 9,000 and also went on an expedition to the Baoqing Prefecture area, suppressing the counter-attack of the loyal remnants of Zhang Chen's forces.

  However, the good times were short-lived. When Wang Longzhong led the 7,000-strong Hubei and Hunan army back, Mei Xing, intimidated by their reputation earned in Wuhan, foolishly chose to lead his troops out of Changsha and flee to Xiangtan.

  This move allowed Tan Yankai to successfully turn over a new leaf, transforming from a puppet governor to the de facto ruler of Hunan.

  When Tan Xiangxian led his troops back to Changsha again, Lin Hu's department in Hengyang also entered Changsha. Together with the first division trained by Tang Jiyao and the two divisions reorganized from the Aid-Hubei and Hunan Army, Changsha changed from Tan Xiangxian's one-house dominance to a situation where five divisions coexisted.

  Mei Xin's days also became difficult, first and foremost was the delay in paying military salaries, which greatly affected the morale of the troops. In order to maintain the army, Mei Xin had no choice but to divide his four regiments within the city's eastern district to defend on their own and raise their own military salaries. As a result, the discipline of this army became a joke, and the civilians in the defensive area were extremely dissatisfied with this situation.

  Secondly, there is a serious political isolation, the result of five coexisting armies, and Tan Yanqing is no longer in control. This is still a minor matter, after all, he still has an army in his hands, and Tan cannot do anything to him. However, the hostile emotions of the other three armies towards him are troublesome, which really makes Mei Xing headachy. Gan Xin Dian is easy to deal with, this person belongs to the type of wall grass, Wang Longzhong is Chen Zuoxin's old subordinate, this can be tolerated, after all, most of the actual power in the hands of the fourth army commander has been bought by Tan Yanqing, and it's hard to stir up trouble. But Lin Xiumei is enough to make him afraid, during the Hunan recovery, Lin Xiumei was under Jiao Chen's command as a staff officer. When Mei Xing rebelled, Lin Xiumei fled back to his hometown in Anfu County (now part of Lintong) overnight, and then relied on his family's power to gather some of Jiao Chen's old troops in the Hengyang area and formed an army. Tan Yanqing thought about stabilizing the situation and transferred this army to Changsha through Cheng Qian, appointing Lin Xiumei as the commander of the second army of Hunan.

  Mei Xing now somewhat regrets his actions at the time, not killing Jiao and Chen. He himself would have just been demoted from office, but after killing them, he found himself in a very awkward and dangerous situation. With just one misstep, it could be a place where even death would bring no burial. One word: difficult!

  On the night of March 31, at the Tian Tai Tea House in the eastern part of Changsha City. Gong Peng hosted a banquet to entertain twelve officers from the Fifth Division of the Xiang Army. Everyone was drinking and eating, chatting about everything under the sun, including women. In short, it was a very enjoyable evening, and soon these officers were addressing He Jian, Gong Peng, Ma Xi Cheng and others as brothers, sworn brothers in wine and meat.

  After the third round of wine, the officers began to boast about their own exploits as usual, showing off their bravery. He Jian, disguised as Gong Peng's friend, listened while eating, and after roughly confirming that everything was correct, Ma Xi Cheng got up and excused himself to go to the toilet.

  As soon as he walked out of the elegant room, Ma Xicheng took out a pack of cigarettes issued by the military officer, lit one, and took a light puff. He thought about Jiao and Chen, both of whom were heroes of a certain level, but were actually harmed by this group of bastards who were not as good as pigs and dogs. What kind of heavenly justice is this? Ma Xicheng couldn't help but feel a little angry, and ended up choking himself. He coughed several times, then nodded towards Zhao Dongsheng on the first floor.

  Zhao Dongsheng immediately took people with shotguns upstairs and kicked in the door of the private room.

  Republic of China Year 1 April 1st, Western Fool's Day, Hunan Army Fifth Division Headquarters.

  "General, something is amiss!" Mei Xin's chief of staff had come to see him early in the morning.

  Mei Xiang was still a bit drowsy: "What's wrong?"

  The chief of staff said "This morning I went on an inspection tour and found that twelve officers were missing."

  Mei Xiang said "I guess they went somewhere to drink flower wine, no big deal."

  The Chief of Staff said "What a coincidence! These twelve were the ones who had taken action against Jiao Dafeng and Chen Zuoxin in the first place!"

  Mei Xian immediately sensed something was off as soon as he heard it. His life experience told him that all coincidences were inherently inauspicious, and there must be a problem here.

  At this time, the deputy officer rushed in: "It's bad, commander, something big is wrong"

  "What's the hurry so early in the morning?" Mei Xiang said angrily.

  The deputy officer hastily closed his mouth, endured for a moment and then spoke: "Our division's officers were taken to the North Gate Iron Buddha Temple to be shot."

  On the morning of April 1, Wang Zhenyu obtained the confession he wanted through severe torture and interrogation. He then ordered that the twelve captured murderers be taken to the North Gate Iron Buddha Temple for execution by firing squad, with the execution site being right in front of the tailor shop where Chen Zuoxin was murdered.

  The whole Changsha was stirred up instantly, and the poor tailor's shop really couldn't continue to do business. Everyone said that there was a strong murderous aura here, and the ghosts did not disperse.