from Japan. Armament was not standardized, but was better in that respect than either before or later. Most of the infantry were armed with either the standard 1896 Japanese Type 30 rifle or the Mauser 7.9 mm. The 1911 Revolution The events of the revolution demonstrated that the Beiyang Army, which formed the core of the 36-division New Army, was absolutely the dominant military force within China. Controlling the fragmented loyalties of its formations was the key to political power in post–1911 China. The insurrection that actually set off the 1911 Revolution took place in Wuchang on 10 October. Four days later, the Qing court organized the New Armies in the north, and particularly the Beiyang Army, into three forces: the First Army, which would be sent to fight at Wuchang under the command of Army Minister Yinchang, the Second Army, which would act as a reserve force and would be sent to the front as needed, under the command of Feng Guozhang, and the Third Army, which would defend the capital, under Zaitao. The First and Second armies consisted of about 25,000 men each, or two divisions. The First included elements from the second, fourth, sixth divisions of the Beiyang army, which were the Qing government's crack troops, trained by Yuan Shikai. Their order of battle in October 1911 was as follows: 1st Army (Yinchang, later Yuan Shikai) 4th Division (Wu Fengling, later Chen Guangyuan) 7th Brigade (Chen Guangyuan) 8th Brigade (Wang Yujia) 3rd Brigade (Wang Zhanyuan) – of the 2nd Division 11th Brigade (Li Chun) – of the 6th Division 2nd Army (Feng Guozhang) 5th Division (Zhang Yongcheng) 5th Brigade (Lu Yongxiang) – of the 3rd Division 39th Brigade (Wu Zhenxiang) – of the 20th Division, which was formed in January 1910 2nd Mixed Brigade (Wang Ruxian, later Lan Tianwei) – formed from 2nd and 4th Divisions 3rd Army (Zaitao) 1st Division Capital Guards (Zaifeng, Prince Chun) – Manchu bannermen trained by Yuan Shikai, under the prince-regent's direct command The Second Army was never formed as a functional military unit as a result of mutiny, and thus never was sent to the front to assist the First Army. The formations were abolished in early December 1911. On 12 October Yinchang was ordered to take two Beiyang Army divisions (the First Army) down the Beijing-Hankou Railway to suppress the uprising at Wuchang. He attacked the revolutionary army commanded by