Chapter 22

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Inside the Grand Marshal's Office, Acting Grand Marshal and Governor of Guangdong Province Hu Hanming was drinking tea in his third-floor office, pacing to the window to look at the Pearl River scenery.

"I say, Fulin brother, it's a major festival—what are you doing here, and bringing troops?" Hu Hanming pointed at the Yue Army soldiers newly appeared downstairs.

Commander of the Third Army of the Yue Army Li Fulin sat with legs crossed on the chair opposite Hu Hanming's desk, yawning: "It's not like Jiang Kaisheng told me to come, and Central Committee Member Liao urged me several times, saying to come guard the Grand Marshal's Office, so I came to chat with you, this Acting Grand Marshal!"

Li Fulin lived at ease; this March he had been appointed Suppression Bandit Commander, leading the Third Army of the Yue Army to suppress bandits all over Guangdong Province.

In September, he had not followed Commander-in-Chief of the Yue Army Xu Zhongzhi to Shaoguan to join the Northern Expedition, but was left in Guangzhou to defend the rear, after all Chen Jiongming was still entrenched in the Dongjiang area and needed to be guarded against.

Hu Hanming looked at the Dasha Tou Wharf across the Pearl River, crowded with people and cargo moving without cease, a fine scene of economic prosperity; as Acting Grand Marshal, Hu Hanming felt extremely proud in his heart.

"By the way, the Yongfeng Warship was still docked at the Grand Marshal's Office Wharf yesterday—how is it gone today?" Hu Hanming noticed something amiss and asked Li Fulin.

"Oh, borrowed by our Principal Jiang, they say to conduct exchange activities with the Russians' 'Volofsky' communications command ship; he always manages to come up with something new." Li Fulin picked up the newspaper on the desk and began reading.

Hu Hanming snorted coldly: "No wonder you were asked to move troops to defend the Grand Marshal's Office—it turns out the warship assigned to guard duty was withdrawn, and you were sent to station troops to fill the gap."

Li Fulin looked at the newspaper and smiled: "Acting Commander, don't lose your temper; I, a Suppression Bandit Commander and Commander of the Third Army, can't even protect you? Rest assured, Chen Jiongming has made no moves in the Dongjiang these days, but Chen Lianbo's Merchant Corps has been supplying Chen Jiongming with military funds—we need to be careful."

Hu Hanming sat back in his chair, rubbing the teacup lid, looking completely in control: "Merchants, after all, invest on both sides—very normal; everything is within my grasp, merchants can't overturn the sky; we just need to find a way to dig more money out of Chen Lianbo."

Li Fulin closed the newspaper: "Not reading! Four out of ten articles in this paper are about Chen Lianbo, all flattering—'national entrepreneur,' 'philanthropist'... but when they report on us, it's all tax hikes and poor army discipline... His influence is huge."

Hu Hanming took a sip of tea: "Only those with great influence are worthy of being used by me; although the Grand Marshal himself wanted to harshly suppress Chen Lianbo's Merchant Corps, I blocked it, which is why Chen Lianbo willingly raised Northern Expedition funds for me—so people like Chen Lianbo can still be used."

"I'm afraid it might backfire..."

Linglingling~linglingling!

The office telephone rang; Hu Hanming put down his teacup and answered: "Hello, who is it?"

"Acting Commander, this is the City Police Bureau! Rioters have appeared in Xiguan, taking advantage of the workers' and peasants' and students' gathering, and are killing people with knives! Over a dozen casualties already!"

"What!" Hu Hanming stood up: "Who did it! Daring to kill on the Double Tenth Festival—have you found out?"

"No one caught yet; I've already sent police over, no report yet..."

Bang! Pengpeng!

Li Fulin suddenly rushed in front of Hu Hanming and shoved him to the ground.

The telephone receiver slipped off, half-hanging on the table swinging, and from inside came the police chief's voice: "Hello? Hello! Acting Commander, why are there gunshots over there!"

"Someone is attacking the Grand Marshal's Office!" Li Fulin shouted.

Hu Hanming was clearly flustered: "Really... fake?"

Li Fulin looked speechless, pointing at the shattered window: "Can't you hear the gunshots, and don't you see the window shot to pieces!"

"What should I do... what should I do... truly audacious... truly audacious!" Hu Hanming muttered.

Li Fulin, a soldier long experienced on the battlefield, immediately half-crouched and moved to the window, poking half his head out to check the situation below.

Only to see dozens of dock laborers and several speedboats suddenly appear on the Grand Marshal's Office Wharf, raising guns and exchanging fire with the Grand Marshal's Office guard soldiers.

On the Pearl River, more than twenty steamships and speedboats were racing toward the Grand Marshal's Office Wharf, all carrying armed men with live ammunition, with no markings on them, indistinguishable from ordinary civilians.

"Report to the Commander, over five li south, more than two thousand Merchant Corps troops have been discovered, advancing toward the Grand Marshal's Office!" A soldier ran upstairs to report enemy intelligence.

"Courting death, and even playing a two-pronged attack!" Li Fulin gritted his teeth, furious inside; he estimated the armed men attacking the Grand Marshal's Office numbered over two hundred, with another two thousand flanking from the south.

As Commander of the Third Army of the Yue Army, this time guarding the Grand Marshal's Office, he had brought a thousand soldiers; most were now stationed on the open ground south of the Grand Marshal's Office, ready to reinforce the wharf at any time.

"Acting Commander, stay hidden here safely; I'll take men down to quell the disturbance!" Li Fulin drew the pistol at his waist and hurried downstairs.

Xiguan Street Market, due to the rioter killings, the gathering crowd quickly dispersed, people fleeing Xiguan in all directions, and a sizable stampede occurred in the process.

Xiguan Chen Mansion, headquarters of the Commercial Corps Joint Defense Army; Chen Lianbo was on his Western-style building, using a monocular telescope to watch everything happening in Xiguan.

Deputy Chief of the United Defense Headquarters Chen Gongshou hurried upstairs, cupping his hands: "Good news, Chief, our army is attacking on two fronts."

"One side disperses the workers' and peasants' groups in Xiguan; the United Defense Corps has taken over Xiguan and built street barricades."

"On the other side, a two-hundred-man death squad of our Merchant Corps launches an attack on the Grand Marshal's Office from the northern water; two detachments totaling two thousand men, carrying guns, attack the Grand Marshal's Office from the southern land; that Acting Grand Marshal Hu Hanming will soon be captured by us!"

Chen Lianbo lit a cigar: "Very well, capture the thief first by capturing the king; seize Hu Hanming, and Guangdong Province will be our world!"

"Not bad; your Merchant Corps, my Village Militia, united total over ten thousand men; in the city, the only force worth our notice is Li Fulin's Third Army, just over four thousand men; three against one, and we're still afraid we can't beat them?!" Chen Gongshou counted on his fingers, carefully calculating, looking extremely smug.

Chen Lianbo exhaled a mouthful of cigar smoke: "It's not calculated that way; Li Fulin has to watch Chen Jiongming and won't easily send troops into the city; the Grand Marshal's Office guard is only about a hundred men, and last night the warship docked at the wharf left; our forces attacking the Grand Marshal's Office, compared to his Hu Hanming, are twenty against one! Hahaha."

Chen Gongshou pointed toward the southwest, at the Grand Marshal's Office across the Pearl River, and boasted: "Right right right, I studied Sun Tzu's Art of War all last night; he said: therefore in the use of troops, ten to one surround, five to one attack; our two thousand men, each spitting one mouthful of saliva, would drown the Grand Marshal's Office!"

"Not good, Chief, Vice Chief; inside the Grand Marshal's Office, there are fully over a thousand common soldiers hidden; our United Defense Corps is engaged in fierce fighting around the Grand Marshal's Office!"