So, essentially those coup rumors on Chinese blogs that the Party went to so much trouble to suppress were true, even though it seems that the Bo supporters stood down before any actual shooting erupted.
If Bo's supporters can pull a stunt like this in Beijing, just imagine what they might be capable of in Chongqing.
Zhou Yongkang was China's Interior Minister. You may have heard of the expression Interior Ministry troops. Basically, Zhou had an army of paramilitary police (1m People's Armed Police) at his disposal. However, to mobilize the key military leaders for a coup would have taken a lot more time just for horse-trading. Zhou's timid response indicates that he wasn't willing to go all the way, which was probably another reason why he was kept on in the Politburo Standing Committee (which comprise 9 of China's most powerful pols, including Xi Jinping, Wen Jiabao and Hu Jintao). Still, if gunfire had broken out, I suspect Zhou would have had no choice but to win or die trying.
About twenty years ago I met a Chinese student who claimed to be the daughter of a Red Chinese leader who’d revolted against the central authorities and had control of the local forces in his province. He’d sent her and the family to the US for their safety and she was studying finance. I always thought her story interesting, like the Gov. of Arizona in open armed conflict with DC, but didn’t think it was really true or fully accurate. Now I think she very much might have been telling the truth.