In the end, Li Zhun agreed to Li Donghan's request. This was something that could not be helped. The new army could not do anything to them just because the warships were wandering on the sea.
In fact, without the support from the shore, the fleet had already become an arrow at the end of its flight. Because of the sudden incident and the urgent order, many warships had not been replenished with supplies.
Things like cannonballs and coal were used up with each use. When they were finally used up, those powerful warships could only float weakly on the surface of the sea, becoming turtles in a jar.
Li Zhun was very clear about these things, so after thinking about it, he gave the order to surrender to the fleet.
Otherwise, once the new army attacked, these warships would inevitably be damaged. These were the hopes of the Chinese navy, and Li Zhun wanted to keep them.
The current situation was also an important reason for Li Zhun's determination. Hubei had already succeeded. After the success in eastern Guangdong, it was really possible to bring about a revolutionary wave in the entire China.
The ruling power of the Qing Dynasty in the north was too strong, so it was hard to say. However, many places in the south were flooded with revolutionary parties. It seemed that the situation was really going to change.
Li Zhun himself would not join the revolution, but he had to consider the overall interests of the navy. Temporary surrender was the best choice.
I hope the navy can develop vigorously in the future!
After receiving Li Zhun's order, Li Donghan heaved a sigh of relief. It would be best if he could take over the entire navy. This would also leave a foundation for his future development of the navy.
The most important thing was that it would allow him to quickly suppress the resistance in the City of Flowers and then directly deal with Long Jiguang's 26 towns.
When they returned to Huacheng, it was already night time. Li Donghan held a high-ranking military officer meeting that night. It was held in the General's Mansion in Huacheng, which was now used by Li Donghan as a temporary headquarters.
Apart from Jiang Fangzhen and the eight battalion commanders, there were also the team officers who attended the meeting. These were all Li Donghan's confidants. Otherwise, he would not have promoted them to such positions.
The loyalty of the generals was the guarantee of controlling an army! As for why his subordinates would be loyal to him, affection was one of the reasons.
But the most important thing was that you could bring them benefits. For example, people like Chen Chengyun were basically promoted to their current positions by Li Donghan from an unknown junior.
Therefore, Li Donghan could bring them benefits in terms of status. This was the basis of their loyalty to Li Donghan.
And today, they could even rebel with Li Donghan for the same benefit!
They were young soldiers, and they had the moral integrity of the revolution.
However, it could not hide their determination to fight for benefits. They risked being beheaded to rebel. The soldiers were doing it for the few pieces of ocean and for a better life in the future.
As for the officers, they were hoping for more spiritual benefits, the glory that came from a change in status.
Now that the uprising had succeeded, it was time to share the benefits. Li Donghan needed to let them see the benefits so that they would be more loyal to him.
"Commander, fellow officers! After a day of fighting, our army has basically eliminated the enemies in the city. The city is now under our control!”
"In the battle of the north drill ground, our army defeated the patrol camp, killed more than 1,000 people, and captured 4,526 people, including Tashan, the leader of the patrol camp!”
"Most of the city's patrol camp has been captured, and a small number of them have fled. The navy had already surrendered completely. The warships had docked, and the navy soldiers had already been detained!”
At the beginning, Jiang Fangzhen gave a general introduction of the situation. In general, there was no organized resistance force in the City of Hua.
Fengshan committed suicide, and Zhang Mingqi was arrested and then killed. The deaths of these two people also indicated that the power of the Qing court in Huacheng was shattered. No one had the prestige to resist Li Donghan.
There were only 26 towns left that could pose a threat to Li Donghan. However, Li Donghan doubted whether Long Jiguang would still march towards Flower City under such circumstances.
He was a smart person. Seeing the current situation in the country, he could only rely on the strength of his 26 towns to fight with Li Donghan. The best outcome would be both sides suffering.
Li Donghan wanted to see how Long Jiguang would choose. As long as Long Jiguang did not leave Wuzhou, Li Donghan did not want to bother with him for the time being. Huacheng had just been pacified, and Li Donghan still had a lot of things to do!
After a day of fighting, it was time for Li Donghan to reward him. Didn't these subordinates follow him for this? Li Donghan naturally could not disappoint them!
"Now, our revolution is already half successful. It will only be considered a real success after we defeat the twenty-six towns. In order to eliminate the twenty-six towns and complete the Eastern Guangdong revolution, I have decided to change the army!”
Hearing Li Donghan's words, everyone subconsciously straightened their bodies. They knew that Li Donghan was going to reward them according to their achievements. Although it was said to be a restructuring of the army, it was actually a distribution of power for them. It was related to their future status.
"Our army is officially reorganized into the Chinese Revolutionary Army. I will be the commander, and Jiang Fangzhen will be the chief of staff!”Li Donghan said in a deep voice.
This was naturally what they should do. No one had any objections! Moreover, after the independence of East Guangdong, they naturally could not continue to be called the 49th Association. They needed an independent title to draw a clear line with the Qing government!
The following was the real order that involved the distribution of power among Yang Hongyu and the others!
" The entire army will be reorganized. The standard will be changed to a regiment. The standard will be called the regiment commander, the commander will be changed to the battalion commander, the team will be changed to the company, and the team officer will be the company commander."
"The 1st Battalion of Section 98 will be expanded into a regiment with Yang Hongyu as the regiment commander. The Second Battalion was expanded to the Second Regiment, with Wu Qiang as the Regiment Commander. The 3rd Battalion was expanded to 3rd Regiment, with Chen Li Gang as the Regiment Commander!”
"The 1st Battalion of the 97th Section will be expanded into the 4th Regiment, with Shen Chengyun as the Regiment Commander. The 2nd Battalion was expanded to the 5th Regiment with Chen Jianghe as the Regiment Commander. The 3rd Battalion was expanded to the 6th Regiment with Zhang Zhenpeng as the Regiment Commander!”
"Change the cannon emblem to a cannon regiment. Cheng Ziyi will be the regiment commander, and Ma Zheng will be the deputy regiment commander!”
Li Donghan ordered in a deep voice. Basically, he promoted the original team by one level. Yang Hongyu and the other leaders were promoted to the team leader, which was the previous standard.
Such an order made them very happy. The reason why they could not expand the number of cannons was because there were not enough cannons. They could only wait and promote their official positions first.
As for his subordinates, he naturally needed to recruit and expand them on a large scale. The strength of only one association was not enough for Li Donghan to stabilize the east of Guangdong and then dominate the Central Plains.
He needed more strength, and this was only the first phase of the expansion. After the troops had fought a few battles and become familiar with the situation, Li Donghan would continue to expand.
In the coming years, it would be a period of war for warlords. Without tens of thousands of people under them, you wouldn't even be able to get out of eastern Guangdong!
(To be continued)
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。