The Qing Empire's Yangtze River Fleet was completely annihilated, and the losses of the Revolutionary Army's Yangtze River Fleet were also considerable.

The gunboat Chu Tong, which fired first, ate more than thirty rounds of artillery shells with a caliber of over 100 mm, causing a fire. The fire was unable to be controlled during the battle, and the captain finally had to order the abandonment of the ship.

Another gunboat, the Chuguan, was seriously flooded and had to be stranded after the battle for subsequent repairs.

The remaining ships were damaged, but damage control was able to handle them on their own.

Four Chu-zi gunboats were left behind to receive the surrendered gunboats and salvage those who fell into the water. Sun Wu took the remaining gunboats and chased the transport ship of the Jiangnan New Army.

Less than ten kilometers away from Jiujiang, Sun Wu caught up with the transport fleet that Zheng Sayazi was escaping from.

Sun Wu asked the signalman to signal for them to stop the ship for inspection.

"Captain, the enemy ignored the signal we sent." A soldier who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old pointed at the indifferent transport ship and said.

"Fire the gun, shoot the warning, send the signal, and the next shot will be to attack the ship." Sun Wu nodded expressionlessly.

The distance just now was a bit far, and the transport fleet was too dense, so he was afraid of accidental damage, otherwise he would just fire a warning.

Yes, for fear of accidental injury, Sun Wu still wanted to accept these soldiers. Among other things, soldiers who have undergone military training are very valuable at this special moment.

And his experience in integrating the Liuchu fleet and the Sihu mineboat fleet also gave him confidence.

boom!

As a deterrent, the 203mm gun on the Sun Wuzuo ship fired a high-explosive shell, which exploded on the right bank in the middle of the transport fleet, stirring up a huge water column.

"Detachment leader, there is no response." The soldier was a little confused.

"Wait a moment." Sun Wu glanced at the soldier.

This child obviously did not meet the age requirement to join the army. He was on the ship when the Liuchu fleet was taken over.

He was originally part of the demobilization group, but he was unwilling to leave. He was clamoring to join the revolution. In addition, he had been on the ship for more than a year and was quite proficient in his business. The revolutionary army was short of manpower, so he stayed.

Because he was younger and smarter, Sun Wu transferred him to his side, planning to teach him some basic naval knowledge first and then send him to school after the war.

However, he talks too much... I don't know how the people in the Liuchu Fleet tolerated him before.

"Wait a while?" Xiao Bing obviously didn't understand the emotion in Sun Wu's words, and wondered why he had to wait a while.

"Report, there is a commotion on several enemy ships." The lookout shouted.

Sun Wu nodded, it was almost time to have a result.

Two minutes later, the white flag was raised on the last transport ship in the fleet, and then many white flags were raised one after another.

"Huh? It's amazing, I say, but why did they take a while before surrendering?" Xiao Bing said in surprise.

Sun Wu was expressionless. At this time, some ships with the white flag raised used rifles and even infantry artillery to attack some ships that had not yet raised the white flag.

"Let them pull over and stop the ship. No one is allowed to get off the ship. The two more seriously injured gunboats are staring at them, and the rest continue south." Seeing that they were almost done fighting, Sun Wucai said.

There is no port here, and they don't have an army. They can only let these people stay on the ship and wait for the army to arrive before reorganizing them.

…

At five o'clock in the afternoon on June 25th, Jiujiang.

At this time, the news of the defeat of the Yangtze Navy Fleet had not yet come, and Jiujiang was still peaceful and prosperous.

"Is this from the Jiangnan water town? It really has a unique charm."

Sun Wu looked at the houses along the coast, which were exquisite, elegant and unique. Of course, more of them were still dilapidated houses, but they were also brick houses.

"Is the detachment leader from the north?" Xiao Bing interrupted in time.

"Yes, my ancestral home is north of the river." Sun Wu nodded.

"Isn't that very close to the capital? Has the detachment leader been to the capital? What is the capital like? I haven't been there yet. Are its walls as high as Jinling City..." The soldier began to cast spells.

"Ahem! I haven't been there either. I've never been to the capital or Jinling. Apart from this, are you familiar with this place?" Sun Wu quickly interrupted Xiaobing's singing.

"Fortunately, when we were the Yangtze River Navy, we would visit Panyang Lake from time to time. I have also been here twice."

"Look, that's the Jiuhuamen Pier. All merchants and merchants stop here. It's the busiest terminal here. Above it is the Jiuhuamen Pier..."

"...You can directly see the prefect's Yamen from Jiuhua Gate..."

"What did you say?" Sun Wu was stunned, thinking he heard wrongly.

"Well, I said the tea cakes at the east end of the city are excellent. Do you want to eat them? Our status is not suitable for buying them!" Xiao Bing looked at his clothes.

He is wearing a thin blue coat with the iron-blooded red star logo printed on it, and his whip has been cut off. I am afraid he will be questioned when he gets off the ship, right?

"No, you mean, you can see the prefect's Yamen directly from the city gate?" Sun Wu looked at the busy dock and fell into deep thought.

Their plan did not intend to attack any city along the river, but to quickly attack Jinling. On the one hand, it was to catch the Qing Empire by surprise and mobilize their pace, and on the other hand, it was also because of the lack of troops.

"Yes, the prefect's Yamen is very big, and the surrounding houses are quite short. You can see the Yamen at a glance." Xiao Bing nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. He was already thinking about how to buy tea cakes.

Sun Wu touched his chin. If he could directly identify it with his naked eyes, the distance shouldn't be too far. Moreover, Jiujiang City was not very big and would not exceed the range.

And in terms of military strength, doesn't there happen to be a Jiangnan New Army First Association? Even if it is recruited, it will not be available immediately. It is better to let them get a certificate of nomination.

"Turn and go back!" The more Sun Wu thought about it, the more feasible it became, and he directly ordered the fleet to turn.

But it's getting late today, so we can only wait until tomorrow...

…

The next day, Sun Wu let all the captured New Army soldiers off the ship, but they were not allowed to carry any weapons.

Then, there is the reorganization.

Find the revolutionaries among them, whether they are real revolutionaries or not, promote them to lead the army, and send people from the revolutionary army to serve as deputies.

In the end, out of the 7,000-strong Jiangnan New Army's First Concord Artillery Mark and Mabiao, almost 6,000 people joined the ranks of the revolutionary army.

The rest are all flag camp soldiers.

The reorganization took three days, and these 6,000 people were organized into three regiments. The officers below the regiment were all selected from the new army and those sent by the revolutionary army, even the platoon leaders.

Hmm... Of course, with such a reorganization, don't even think about maintaining combat effectiveness. It would be nice to be able to get together during a war.

On June 30th, Sun Wu lost patience and gathered all the people who had just been recruited to hold a meeting.

"I know that many of you have no choice but to commit yourself to our army. Now I will give you a chance to stand up and I will let you leave." Sun Wu stood on the stage, and a severely distorted song came from the loudspeaker.

sound.

"I only count down. After ten times, I will treat you all as revolutionary soldiers who are committed to the revolution! Ten, nine, eight..." Sun Wu continued to count down.

The countdown was completed, and the final count came out to more than 200. Of course, it was not that they had a desire for revolution, but that the military pay offered by the revolutionary army was too much for them to refuse, so they paid it.

That's right, in the past few days of reorganization, Sun Wu has already paid out the first month's salary and Guangfu salary, using Nanhua banknotes.

Specifically, it took three days to organize, one and a half days to distribute money, and another half to registration.

"Leave your weapons, military pay, and all military belongings and stay aside. When the battle is over, we will let you go." Sun Wu glanced at these people.

"The rest, according to the revolutionary army's wartime subsidy system, each soldier was subsidized eight days per month during the war. Dayang is inconvenient to carry, so it is still settled with Nanhua banknotes..." Sun Wu waved his hand.

The officers sent by the revolutionary army in each battalion began to receive subsidies, and the soldiers received a minimum of three yuan and seven cents South China banknotes.

The exchange rate is 2.2 to 1.

According to the tradition of the Qing Empire, the strength of foreign currencies in the Qing Empire is higher than that of the currency's own country.

Especially in the prosperous Jiangnan, foreign currencies are more popular than silver. You can easily exchange the same amount of silver at major shops. If you meet someone to buy it, you can also raise the price.

"The money has been distributed, and after taking the money, you have to do something. I, the leader of the Jinling Detachment of the Revolutionary Army, order you to attack Jiujiang!" It took more than half an hour to distribute the money, and Sun Wu gave the order.

"As you command!"

"Long live the revolution!"

"Attack Jiujiang!"

People who got the money were shouting. Although it was noisy, their morale was high.

The Chinese army has a special tradition. Soldiers have a very low status and they all work for money.

In the general army, once the money is in place, morale and combat effectiveness will rise. If the pension system can be improved, the combat effectiveness will be fierce.

Just like the original why Master Yuan can sit firmly on Diaoyutai? Because the six towns of Beiyang are strong in combat and loyal.

…

On the afternoon of July 1st, when Jiujiang was filled with gunpowder smoke, Sun Wu sent a battle report to the headquarters of the revolutionary army in the three towns on the waste of the Jiujiang magistrate's office, asking them to send people to take over.

That's right, in just one day, they captured Jiujiang Fucheng, an important town in the south of the Yangtze River.

The attack went very smoothly. Although the prefect of Jiujiang had learned the news and launched a defense, he only had half-inflamed green soldiers in his hands.

Sun Wu sent infantry to attack from the land in the west city. After containing some of the enemies, he raided Jiuhua Gate and used fierce artillery fire to disperse the resistance of the green camp soldiers.

Then the telephone line was led to the Jiuhuamen city gate building, and under the command of the artillery observer, a violent bombardment was carried out on the prefect's Yamen.

The prefect was sitting in the yamen according to tradition when a burst of artillery fire came and he was buried under the ruins of the yamen.

The news that the Jiuhua Gate was broken and that the prefect was dead spread quickly. The Green Camp defending Jiujiang had no intention of fighting, so they took advantage of the situation and fled from the two southeastern directions where there was no attack by the revolutionary army.

That night, Sun Wu found all the middle and low-level officers in the temporary headquarters to arrange the next task.

"The troops reorganized from the Jiangnan New Army are designated as the 7th, 8th, and 9th Regiments. They will stay in Jiujiang for training until the three towns send people to take them over."
Chapter completed!