Chapter 23

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Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

"Cough cough! What?" Chen Lianbo choked on his own cigar smoke: "Where did so many people come from!"

"This... this subordinate doesn't know." The messenger soldier shook his head, looking somewhat at a loss.

"Chen Gongshou, didn't you say the Grand Marshal's Office had only a hundred-plus guards?!"

"Ah... this, when we reconnoitered the day before yesterday there were indeed only a hundred-plus guards plus one warship, but last night that warship left, and this newly arrived thousand soldiers probably didn't come via the Pearl River waterway, otherwise our eyes and ears would surely have discovered them..." Chen Gongshou speculated.

"Which unit are these thousand soldiers from? Have you found out clearly?" Chen Lianbo asked the messenger soldier.

"This subordinate doesn't know either, the detachment leader himself doesn't know who they're fighting..."

Chen Lianbo was furious for a moment: "A bunch of good-for-nothings, eating my grain for nothing, not a single one reliable when things happen!"

"Commander-in-Chief, please calm your anger, our brothers can handle suppressing bandits, but to really fight like soldiers would be too hard on the brothers..." Chen Gongshou soothed from the side.

Chen Lianbo waved his hand: "If we delay the big matter, none of us will survive!

Tell the two detachments on the south bank of the Pearl River, at any cost, we must take the Grand Marshal's Office, two against one, how can we not win?!

On this side of the north bank of the Pearl River, let our brothers firmly guard Xiguan, this is our Imperial General Headquarters, anyone who dares enter, kill on sight without exception! By the way, surround the Police Bureau too, and occupy Guangzhou City first!"

Chen Gongshou asked cautiously: "Should we inform the persons in charge of HSBC and Taikoo Shipping, and have them contact the British Empire's Hong Kong Fleet?"

Chen Lianbo fondled the cigar in his hand: "Wait a bit, the British aren't too willing to directly come forward. If we take the Grand Marshal's Office, everything will be settled; if we can't take the Grand Marshal's Office, then we'll ask their fleet for help."

Guangzhou's most prosperous Xiguan Street Market, at this moment barricades had been built at every intersection, Chen Lianbo's Commercial Corps Joint Defense Army occupied the buildings, controlling the various streets.

Some police officers from the Police Bureau came to inspect the situation, but were also shot and wounded or driven off by the Merchant Corps.

A detachment of the Merchant Corps Self-Defense Force rushed out of Xiguan toward the City Police Bureau, the Merchant Corps were numerous and powerful, and the police officers fled in panic, surrendering Guangzhou City to the Merchant Corps.

At this time within the city, besides the Merchant Corps Self-Defense Force, there were no other armed forces left; Chen Lianbo's two-pronged attack plan had already succeeded halfway, now all that remained was to capture the leader first by capturing the king, to seize Acting Grand Marshal Hu Hanming.

However, at this time on the Grand Marshal's Office wharf, the Merchant Corps daredevil squad riding in speedboats had been completely wiped out, with over a hundred corpses floating on the Pearl River.

South of the Grand Marshal's Office, a fierce battle was underway.

Li Fulin led his own thousand-plus Yue Army troops and fought two thousand Merchant Corps troops who had come to launch a sneak attack.

South of the Grand Marshal's Office, villages, fields, and river networks crisscrossed, with few urban buildings, exactly good terrain for Li Fulin and the Merchant Corps to fight in the wild.

"Damn it, luckily the Grand Marshal's Office was chosen on the south bank of the Pearl River, separated from the main urban area by the Pearl River's natural moat, otherwise the Merchant Corps' tens of thousands would have directly captured Hu Hanming!" Li Fulin cursed while raising his hand to fire at the Merchant Corps Self-Defense Force in the distant paddy fields.

"Commander, these two thousand aren't easy to deal with either, after all they have the numerical advantage!" a staff officer shouted.

Li Fulin laughed loudly: "Can't you tell? These Merchant Corps Self-Defense Force are just a rabble, basically fighting in a chaotic mess. Let the Second Battalion and Third Battalion flank them from left and right; we'll pin down the Merchant Corps troops here, push out the Grand Marshal's Office's heavy machine guns, and let them know what real fighting is!"

"Yes!"

The thousand men Li Fulin brought instantly split into three columns: one moved toward the left front, one toward the right front, and one remained in the middle to pin down the Merchant Corps troops.

Two wheeled Maxim Heavy Machine Guns were pushed to Li Fulin's side; these were the only heavy weapons in this battle.

"Go! Push this heavy machine gun onto the left slope, the field of fire there is open; push the other one to the right, forming crossfire!"

When the Maxim Heavy Machine Gun sounded, hot bullets whistled with the wind, and many soldiers of two Merchant Corps detachments fell at once.

The Merchant Corps soldiers scattered in the paddy fields, using the field ridges as cover, occasionally raising their hands to fire a shot.

The captain of the first detachment was a scar-faced man, nicknamed Scar, originally a local ruffian; because he was ruthless, sparing with words, and dared to wield a knife, he had been won over by Chen Lianbo to manage the wharf.

After the Commercial Corps Joint Defense Army was established, he was appointed captain of the first detachment, commanding over a thousand men.

Scar was good at brandishing his knife and acting tough, but in a field battle of several thousand men, once fighting began he was at a loss.

Seeing that the Yue Army's bullets across the way were killing many of his men, Scar realized: the Grand Marshal's Office couldn't be taken!

"Brother Scar! The troops across the way are shooting too accurately, the brothers can't hold out!" a soldier came to complain.

"Can't hold out? This time we've really played it big; we're rebelling!" Scar hid behind a field ridge, somewhat regretting it.

The second detachment captain, Wuji, ran over: "Scar, a group of real soldiers has come around our right side. I've figured it out now—these soldiers first punch you in the face, then kick you in the waist, then drag you away; we'll all end up dead here!"

Tat-tat-tat-tat~

Maxim Heavy Machine Gun bullets came flying, churning the field's dirt high into the air; some unlucky Merchant Corps soldiers were mowed down by a string of bullets, never to rise again.

"Brother Scar, people have surrounded us on the left too! We're about to be encircled!"

"I really must have been full of myself to follow Chen Lianbo out here to rebel... Brothers, stop fighting, run quickly!"

Scar threw down his gun, immediately bent at the waist and slipped away.

Wuji was not to be outdone, taking a few lackeys and fleeing to the rear.

Neither detachment captain issued a retreat order; they only told those around them to run. In the end, only over two hundred escaped, and the rest were all captured by Li Fulin.

Li Fulin looked at the captives covering the ground, had no time to rejoice, and first returned to the Grand Marshal's Office, where he met Acting Grand Marshal Hu Hanming.

"Chen Lianbo has launched military operations on both the north and south banks of the Pearl River: attacking the Grand Marshal's Office on the south bank, occupying Xiguan Street Market on the north bank, besieging the Police Bureau, occupying Guangzhou's main urban area—he really is rebelling!" Hu Hanming was still shaken.

Li Fulin nodded: "Thanks to Principal Jiang sending me to the Grand Marshal's Office, otherwise the Grand Marshal's Office would have been taken by the Merchant Corps! The Merchant Corps' main force is in the main urban area; I have to watch Chen Jiongming and defend the Grand Marshal's Office, and can't spare troops to suppress the rebellion. Hurry and notify the Imperial General Headquarters of the army and navy in Shaoguan, and truthfully report the situation here to the Grand Marshal!"

Changzhou Island, Whampoa Military Academy.

On the wharf, five warships were setting off from the shore.

Four of them belonged to the Practice Fleet directly under the Army and Navy Grand Marshal's Imperial General Headquarters, with the flagship Yongfeng Warship; one was a Russian Communications Command Ship that had transported arms for the old Russians a few days earlier.

Political Advisor Paul Ting stood on the Yongfeng Warship, commanding the fleet to speed eastward, blockading the Humen Waterway, to prevent the British Empire's Hong Kong Fleet from entering the Pearl River to back Chen Lianbo.

Wu Instructor brought Li Zhilong and Student Team Four aboard the Yongfeng Warship, setting out with the fleet;

Principal Jiang, meanwhile, brought Student Team Two and Student Team Three to remain at Whampoa Military Academy, ready at any time to enter the city and suppress the Merchant Corps Self-Defense Force.

On the Yongfeng Warship, Li Zhilong was extremely excited; with the support of Paul Ting and Wu Instructor, Li Zhilong was able to enter the Yongfeng Warship's command room to study, putting to use the knowledge he had learned at the Yantai Naval School.

"Mr. Paul Ting, do you think the British Empire's Hong Kong Fleet will sortie?" the instructor asked the old Russian's political advisor Borodin.

"I don't know. I only know that once their warships sortie to support Chen Lianbo, we absolutely cannot sit by and do nothing. Notify all warships to hoist the Red Flag without exception!"

At the Shaoguan Army and Navy Headquarters, the Grand Marshal was observing the military exercises of Whampoa Student Combat Team One, praising Jiang Xiangyun and He Zhonghan without ceasing.

"Good! Good! If the Northern Expedition Army takes the Whampoa Student Army as its standard, what need to fear that the realm will not be pacified!" The Grand Marshal led the applause, expressing his approval of Jiang Xiangyun and the others' exercises.

Central Committee Member Wang Weiyuan held a telegram and walked to the Grand Marshal's side: "Grand Marshal, a telegram from Guangzhou: Chen Lianbo has rebelled!"

"What?" The Grand Marshal was first shocked, then shook his head with a wry smile: "I bet wrong. Chen Lianbo simply refuses to live in peace. The Northern Expedition is likely difficult to continue..."

"Then what do we do next?" Wang Committee Member frowned tightly.

"Send the Hunan Army back to reinforce, along with the Whampoa Student Army. This time, we must thoroughly disarm the Merchant Corps!"