Almost at the same moment when the three towns were launched, the first and second regiments launched a surprise attack and invaded Changsha City.

Because the new eight towns mobilized the new army from Hunan, and because of insufficient fiscal revenue, the new army has not been rebuilt.

The original patrol camp was also beaten to pieces during the activities of Sun Zai and Huang Keqiang last year, and it was finally left to the 11th Town to clean up the mess.

After the withdrawal of the 11th Town, there were only a few newly-built patrol battalions in Changsha, with only three to four thousand people.

We had just experienced chaos, and with so few people in such a big city, our defenses were extremely empty.

So much so that the first and second regiments took control of most of the city in just half a day.

However, the Chengye New Army was defeated by the New Army. Without the cooperation between the inside and outside of the New Army, Hunan Governor Yang Wending was not caught immediately. After the first regiment entered the city, he successfully organized two battalions.

The two sides engaged in a street battle. After the attack was blocked, the revolutionary army mobilized artillery battalions and advanced bit by bit. It took two days and hundreds of houses were destroyed before they took initial control of the city.

On June 4, the general staff moved north and passed through Changsha.

"The first regiment suffered more than 200 casualties, and the second regiment also had nearly a hundred casualties. The two companies have lost their combat effectiveness. In the future, unnecessary street fighting must be avoided as much as possible." Huang Zhengfang sighed after receiving the casualty report.

"Street fighting, the casualties are acceptable. How about letting a group maintain order and go out of the city to clear the place, rotating every half a month?" Chen Jiayin nodded expressionlessly.

After all, the quality of these soldiers is not that of Nanhua soldiers. It is already good to be able to complete the mission with these casualties in street fighting.

"How much available power has been gathered?" Chen Jiayin took out a cigarette.

"There is no progress yet. Before we entered the city, we contacted so many people, but no one really assisted us when we attacked the city.

After the Qing Empire's rule collapsed, all kinds of ghosts and monsters came out and claimed to be the revolutionary party." Huang Zhengfang also took out cigarettes and lighters.

Sparks popped out from the flint and ignited the cotton thread. Huang Zhengfang ignited it first for Chen Jiayin, then for himself, and took a nice sip.

"Never mind the ghosts and monsters, pull up all the ones that can be used, and leave the ones that can't be used alone," Chen Jiayin reminded Huang Zhengfang.

"That's the problem. There are almost no children from good families." Huang Zhengfang smiled bitterly and took out a list.

"It can be confirmed that they are club members, but except for a very small number of students, most of the rest are gang members, and these gangs are not very clean," Huang Zhengfang said.

"Huh! I don't have a good reputation, but I have a big appetite. I really dare to ask for anything." Chen Jiayin looked at the list and snorted coldly.

Huang Zhengfang's mission is to recruit and train troops, expand the ranks, and alleviate the shortage of soldiers in the revolutionary army. The best source of soldiers is undoubtedly the revolutionary party members buried within the enemy's army.

You can trust it and you can use it immediately.

So when Huang Zhengfang entered the city, he posted a notice announcing the identity of the revolutionary army and began to recruit troops openly.

Unfortunately, things went against expectations. The recruitment office spent a whole day recruiting, but only a few hundred students came. They had not reached the point of exhaustion and had no need to overdraw their future, so they blocked the students back.

Of course, the enthusiastic students will definitely disagree. In fact, they have been incorporated and their current position is as an external temporary worker for the publicity unit under the Government Affairs Department, temporarily responsible for grassroots publicity work.

It is most suitable to let energetic students do this.

More often than not, there are gang members who use the name of the Revolutionary Party. They say they are willing to contribute to the revolution, but in fact they want money, guns, and officials, but they are unwilling to contribute any of them.

The euphemistic name is: "Brothers are together and have feelings for each other. Hundreds of us are organized into a battalion. I will be in charge and the second in charge will be in charge... We brothers work together and are more powerful than gold!"

To put it bluntly, they are a group of speculators who are very ambitious and want to develop in the direction of warlords.

"The liquidation operation is suspended. According to this list, we will quickly prepare to arrest and suppress, clean up the unsteady ones, and solve this unstable factor." Chen Jiayin returned the list to Huang Zhengfang.

"Yes!" Huang Zhengfang said loudly.

…

The time goes back to June 3, the third day when the revolutionary army officially attacked the city.

Regardless of whether it was the Three Towns or Changsha, the revolutionary army cut off the telegraph lines for external communications before attacking, so the Qing Empire could not receive the news immediately.

It was not until June 2 that the British in the three towns contacted the British Consulate in Jiujiang via radio, and the news was not forwarded to the United Kingdom.

On June 3, Zhu Erdian informed Prince Qing of the news. Prince Qing was shocked and approached the regent Zaifeng.

After all, he was the only one with military power in Mangui's hands.

"Bastard! Bastard!" Zaifeng threw the telegram in his hand, and the soft paper flew into the sky. Many ministers quickly caught it...or picked it up.

"According to the news from Wuxue, changes have indeed taken place in the three towns. I have informed the governors and governors' yamen to impose martial law immediately." Prince Qing said calmly.

At first they didn't quite believe it and wanted to verify it, but the three towns didn't call back. Not long after, Wuxue also sent a telegram, saying that they had received a group of defeated soldiers. The defeated soldiers said that there had been changes in the three towns and that they had been occupied by the revolutionary army.

"Send troops! Send troops immediately! These slaves have rebelled against heaven and come back!" Zai Xun shouted.

"Prince Ning, please be patient. We don't know the specific situation yet. I have ordered the surrounding provinces to send people to check. We can only make a decision after we have a clear investigation." Prince Qing reassured.

"Ruicheng is not someone who lives and dies with the city. If something goes wrong, he will definitely run away. Let's wait for news from him!" Zaifeng also nodded, agreeing with Prince Qing's statement.

In the war with Nanhua last year, three of the eight new towns were injured and one was disabled. It has not recovered yet.

How big is the scale of this rebellion? How strong is it? Only by knowing this can we decide how many people to send to counter the rebellion.

Of course, logically speaking, they shouldn't wait foolishly, but apart from waiting, they don't have many feasible options.

The remaining forces of the many forces abandoned by Beiyang shrank outside the pass. The second, third, and fifth towns all shrank outside the pass. The fourth town garrisoned Shanhaiguan, and the sixth town garrisoned Shandong.

Beiyang is sandwiched between Japan, Russia and the Qing Empire, acting as a buffer force for the Qing Empire - this is what Zaifeng wants to see.

However... because Shanhaiguan is occupied by Beiyang, it can actually be seen as the power of Beiyang tigers dominating the mountains and forests. They can send troops southward at any time to threaten the capital.

You can even send troops from Shandong at the same time to attack from the north and the south.

Therefore, the Qing Empire's vigilance against Beiyang has not decreased, and has even increased.

Don’t Master Yuan know? He knows that this is what he chose, but he has no choice. If he gives up military power, he is equivalent to giving up everything.

In this case, Zaifeng might give him a cabinet minister position and bribe him. When Xu Juren also joins the cabinet, Beiyang's political power will return and he can naturally give up military power.

In other words, the military power will be unified, and Mr. Yuan will be appointed as the Minister of Defense or something...

Therefore, at present, the Qing Empire does not dare to spread the new eight towns with confidence, and at least two towns must be left.

"Princes, regents, and slaves, I have something to say." Tie Liang heard their words and stood up quickly.

"Tell me, we are all one family, there is no need to be formal." Prince Qing replied with a smile.

In contrast, Zaifeng just smiled reluctantly, while Zai Xun had a stinky face.

"Last year, during the riots in Hunan, the Chu army was depleted and unable to maintain its strength. The Eleventh Town went south and easily put down the rebellion. Why not let the Eleventh Town take action this time too."

"Firstly, Town Eleven has been stationed in three towns and is relatively familiar with them. Secondly, Town Eleven easily put down last year's rebellion. This year there is another rebellion, and Town Eleven is sent out again, which can scare some villains.

." Tie Liang said with his body arched and his head lowered.

"This..." Prince Qing was about to drag him away.

"Okay! As expected of Tie Liang, he really knows the military affairs, and he and I thought of going together." Prince Ning Zai Xun cheered loudly, turned to Zai Feng and said,

"Brother Wang, even Tie Liang thinks that the rebellion should be put down immediately. I think it's better to lead the troops south! I will take the 11th and 12th towns to wipe out Huguang and let them see the end of the rebellion!"

Zaifeng was stunned when he heard this, and then smiled bitterly.

Every battle led by Zai Xun was a huge defeat, and the reason was all due to Zai Xun's command. However, he was not self-aware, and always wanted to lead his troops out to achieve success.

You are already a prince, what's the use of meritorious service? And you have to win to be considered meritorious, right? You always lose, and you only have this little wealth...

"I think what Prince Ning said is not unreasonable. We should let the world see what the end is!"

Unlike Zaifeng, Prince Qing thought for a while after hearing this, and then nodded in agreement.

"Then let the Eleventh Town send troops south to find out information about the rebels." Zaifeng understood as soon as he heard this.

Zai Xun wanted to lead his troops to fight, bring the prestige of defeating the rebels, wash away his shame, and perhaps improve the court's prestige, but countering the rebellion was the court's business and could not improve anything.

What Prince Qing wanted to do was to use some cruel means to attack the rebels and those related to the rebels, set an example and shock the world.

Zaifeng thinks this method is good. Those who rebel should be killed. Not only the participants, but also relatives and friends should be killed. In this way, people who want to rebel in the future will be more awake, right? The burden on the court can also be lighter.

"Then, according to the regent, who should be the better minister to counter the rebellion?" Prince Qing looked at Zai Xun, then stared at Zai Feng motionless.

"Ahem! Well..." Zaifeng glanced at Tie Liang, then shook his head.

It was so easy to suppress it, there was no need to give him a chance.

"Prince Qing, how about ordering Duan Fang to be the Minister of Countering the Rebellion, acting as the Governor-General of Huguang, and leading troops south to quell the rebellion?" Zaifeng's eyes lit up and he said.

"Yes!" Prince Qing's eyes lit up and he nodded.

"But Duan Fang is now the Governor of Zhili and was transferred to the Governor of Huguang. Will there be any complaints?" Prince Qing asked again.

"How about the Imperial Envoy, if you can mobilize the troops and horses from the surrounding provinces?" Zaifeng thought for a while.

"Yes!" Prince Qing smiled.
Chapter completed!