Black Flag Army

In March 1916, Cai Dongpo led the Anti-Yuan National Protection Army to win a great victory in Xuzhou and Naxi in eastern Sichuan. The National Protection Army defeated Zhang Jingyao and Cao Kun's Beiyang Army of more than 30,000 people with only 8,000 people. After the news spread, anti-Yuan uprisings all over the country responded one after another, and the momentum spread like wildfire. Especially in the south, the revolutionary parties became active one after another. The governors of Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi and other provinces announced that they would join the Anti-Yuan National Protection Army. Even Long Jiguang, the governor of Guangdong appointed by Yuan Shikai, announced his opposition to Yuan under the pressure of the internal and external armies.

Zhang Jingyao, the commander-in-chief of the Beiyang Army, was unwilling to accept defeat, so he called in the strongest 16th Mixed Brigade to counterattack Xuzhou in an attempt to reverse the defeat. Lu Jianzhang once said that his 16th Mixed Brigade could fight one against five, and the brigade commander Feng Jishan was a well-known "Three-Storey Tiger" in Beijing. Cai Dongpo had lived in Beijing for a long time, and of course he knew the strength of Feng Jishan and the 16th Mixed Brigade. When he heard that the 16th Mixed Brigade was coming, he was also very nervous and prepared to concentrate all his forces to fight a decisive battle with the other side. However, Feng Jishan did not want to work for Yuan Shikai, who claimed to be an emperor. He sent his chief of staff Jiang Hongyu to secretly contact Cai Dongpo, preparing to fight back and join the Anti-Yuan National Protection Army.

Cai Dongpo was overjoyed upon hearing the news, and immediately announced the appointment of Feng Jishan as the commander of the Fifth Division of the National Protection Army, and the 16th Mixed Brigade was reorganized into the Fifth Division of the National Protection Army. After the news came out, the rest of the Beiyang Army was terrified and fled Sichuan one after another. Cai Lao Hu was already terrible, and with Feng Lao Hu, how could they fight? Feng Jishan's defection against Yuan became the last straw that broke the camel's back. Yuan Shikai was forced to announce the abolition of the monarchy and the restoration of the presidency. However, the uprisings in various places did not even let him be the president, and continued to launch attacks to force him to step down completely.

After the 16th Mixed Brigade became the 5th Division of the National Protection Army, almost all officers were promoted to a higher level, and Wu Chunlei was promoted from battalion commander to regiment commander. Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Cai Dongpo's condition suddenly worsened and he was forced to resign for treatment. The successor commander-in-chief did not trust Feng Jishan at all, cut off the food and salary supply of the 5th Division, and mobilized the army to drive them out of Sichuan.

At this time, Shaanxi Governor Lu Jianzhang encountered a rebellion by his subordinate Chen Shufan, and urgently asked Feng Jishan for help. Feng Jishan had to lead his troops back, and the Fifth Division was restored to the 16th Mixed Brigade. Before they arrived in Xi'an, Lu Jianzhang was forced to resign as Shaanxi Governor in order to rescue his captured son Lu Chengwu, and gave Shaanxi to Chen Shufan.

On the morning of May 3, 1916, Liu Zhendong and Leng Hanbing walked into Di Xiong's office. Liu Zhendong was wearing the uniform of the Justice Army, and his shoulder straps had been changed to the rank of colonel. Before the last expedition to Wubusu, Zhu Anbang was promoted from regiment commander to deputy commander of the second brigade. Everyone felt sorry for Liu Zhendong and thought he should be promoted more. Di Xiong also thought Liu Zhendong had made great contributions, so he promoted him from lieutenant colonel commander of the first brigade to deputy commander of the first brigade with the rank of colonel, and concurrently served as the commander of the special service battalion. Di Xiong planned to train this special service battalion as a special force in the future.

Di Xiong asked Liu Zhendong, "Brigade Commander Liu! How is the training of the special forces battalion going?"

Liu Zhendong was perked up after hearing this and asked excitedly, "Commander! Are there any new operations? The special forces battalion has been training for three months and the results are very good. The boys are fully capable of participating in the operations."

Di Xiong asked, "Have you read today's newspaper?"

Liu Zhendong said: "Are you asking about the internal struggles in the Beiyang government after Yuan Shikai abolished the monarchy? It was just a dog-eat-dog thing, I didn't see it."

Leng Hanbing said: "Boss Di should not be talking about this, it should be about Lu Jianzhang being driven out of Shaanxi."

Di Xiong said: "Leng Hanbing is right. The corrupt official Lu Jianzhang was driven out of Shaanxi, but he took away property worth 30 million taels, which filled more than 500 carriages."

Liu Zhendong asked: "Commander, do you mean to take this ill-gotten wealth and use it to pay for the resettlement of refugees?"

Di Xiong said: "That's exactly what I meant, but because of Feng Jishan, you can't rob him directly. I will let the Xi'an Intelligence Group under the Intelligence Department send people to bribe the advisers under Shaanxi Governor Chen Shufan, and let the advisers persuade Chen Shufan to send people to rob. If Chen Shufan refuses, let the Zhengzhou Intelligence Group in Henan bribe the advisers of Henan warlord Liu Zhenhua and let Liu Zhenhua do it. Liu Zhenhua was born a bandit and will definitely not refuse. Then you can rob them."

Liu Zhendong said: "I understand. Let them rob each other. This way, Feng Jishan's face will not be hurt, and the money and property will be obtained. In the end, it is Chen Shufan or Liu Zhenhua who will bear the infamy and hatred. The commander is really resourceful!"

Liu Zhendong wanted to say sinister and vicious, but when the words came to his lips, he changed them to resourceful.

Di Xiong said: "We have issued lottery tickets and opened salt mines. The current refugee resettlement expenses are enough, but Outer Mongolia is more than one million square kilometers, and more than 300,000 refugees are still too few. We need to introduce more refugees and train more troops, which costs a lot of money. Pan Dutong in Suiyuan cut off the refugee channel. If we want to accept refugees again, we can only kill him. The next plan is to recapture Beihai Lake, which is also a fierce battle. Once the war starts, money will be spent like water, so we need this ill-gotten gains. Although it sounds bad to rob the thieves, we can't care."

Liu Zhendong said: "I understand! When will we act? Do I need to bring all the special forces battalion with me?"

Di Xiong said: "Yes! I will send a transport plane to take you there, with fighter planes to escort you, and bombers to assist if necessary. The specific time will depend on the news from the Intelligence Department."

After Liu Zhendong left, Di Xiong said to Leng Hanbing: "I originally wanted to upgrade the Justice Army to division level and appoint Zhang Zhenyang as the major general division commander. Because you are investigating his bribery and nepotism, this plan has fallen through. Now this matter has been investigated for more than a month. What is the result?"

Leng Hanbing said: "The conclusion so far is that there is insufficient evidence. Zhang Zhenyang did promote some of his cronies, but this is human nature. After these cronies were promoted, they were competent in their new positions. As for accepting bribes, it is even more far-fetched. He only accepted some local specialties and inexpensive small gifts, which is completely in line with the exchanges between people. It is too exaggerated to say that he accepted bribes. Therefore, further investigation is needed."

Di Xiong said: "Who provided the reporting materials?"

Leng Hanbing said: "Lan Jinping provided it to Gu Xingzhi. Now it seems that it may be that Brigade Commander Zhang opposed Lan Jinping in the Wu Chunfeng incident. Lan Jinping was dissatisfied and retaliated against Brigade Commander Zhang."

Di Xiong said angrily: "This Lan Jinping is a very smart woman. She didn't use her intelligence to deal with foreign enemies, but she started to deal with her own people. I haven't dealt with her in the last loan fraud incident. It seems that I have to have a good talk with her. You don't need to investigate this case anymore. All the materials are sealed."

Leng Hanbing said, "I see. Gu Xingzhi from our Supervisory Department is also responsible for this case. She has been too close to Lan Jinping recently. I will severely criticize her when I return and deduct her bonus for half a year."

Di Xiong said: "If this robbery is successful, one tenth of the seized money will be given out as a reward. In other words, more than 300 people in the special forces battalion will share 3 million dollars. Are you interested in participating? If you participate, as one of the leaders, you can get 20,000 dollars, which is higher than the reward for the last assassination of Hioki Masu."

Leng Hanbing said: "The bonus is a small matter. Raising funds for the Justice Party is my unshirkable responsibility. However, Bai Xiuling is about to give birth and needs my care. I have to give up this operation. I hope you will forgive me, Master."

Di Xiong said: "It is human nature to care about your wife's fertility. How can I blame you? Since you have given up, I will ask Li Fei to join!"

Li Fei's wife Fu Yuzhu fell seriously ill last month and spent a lot of money on medical expenses. She was in urgent need of money. When she heard Di Xiong say that the bonus was 20,000 silver dollars, she agreed without hesitation.

After returning home, Li Fei saw his wife beating their nine-year-old son, Li Xiaofei. Li Xiaofei was in the fourth grade of Zhengqing Primary School. His academic performance was poor and he failed the exam. Fu Yuzhu was furious and beat him with a clothesline. Li Fei tried to persuade him for a long time but it was useless. Until Li Fei said that he could get a bonus of 20,000 silver dollars for participating in this action, Chuan Yuzhu's eyes lit up and he temporarily let Li Xiaofei go. After Li Xiaofei escaped, Fu Yuzhu asked, "Is there really a bonus of 20,000 silver dollars?"

Li Fei said unhappily, "How could it be false if Di Juzi said it himself?"

Fu Yuzhu said, "When I heard you became the police chief, I was quite happy. I thought you could make a lot of dirty money every month, but I didn't expect that you only get a few dozen dollars in salary. I heard that Ma Hong, the chief of the Beijing police station, took thousands of dollars in dirty money every month. Look at Lu Jianzhang, he was the governor of Shaanxi for less than two years and made 30 million dollars. There's really no comparison! Although I can get 20,000 dollars this time, I have to risk my life for it."

Li Fei said, "The Justice Party's government is a clean government. How can it be compared with the corrupt officials of the Beiyang government? Even if I want to be corrupt, I dare not! The Supervisory Office has informants in the police station. The informants are omnipresent. I have changed three or four deputy directors and patrol captains. The predecessors were arrested by the Supervisory Office for committing crimes. The Supervisory Office Director Leng Hanbing is nicknamed 'Cold-blooded Devil'. If you fall into his hands, you will be unable to survive. I heard that there is another female section chief named Gu Xingzhi under him who is even more terrifying. She is nicknamed 'Lai Junchen among women' and is a cruel official who likes to torture prisoners."

Fu Yuzhu said: "Isn't Lai Junchen one of the four cruel officials of the Tang Dynasty? I heard that the book "Luozhi Jing" which introduces torture was written by him."

Three days later, one morning, Di Xiong received intelligence from the Intelligence Department. Chen Shufan rejected the counselor's advice, thinking that since Lu Jianzhang had been driven out of Shaanxi, it would be too much to rob him of his property. However, Liu Zhenhua, the commander of the Zhensong Army in Henan, accepted the counselor's advice and personally led a brigade of more than 3,000 people to attack Lu Jianzhang's convoy entering Henan, posing as bandits. Although Lu Jianzhang's escort team also had more than 1,000 people, they were still defeated by the Zhensong Army, which had more people than Lu Jianzhang. Liu Zhenhua not only robbed all of Lu Jianzhang's property, but also the five concubines he had taken in Shaanxi. These five concubines included Hongmei and Baimei, the two favorite concubines that Lu Jianzhang had robbed from Zhang Yunshan. Zhang Yunshan was so angry that he vomited blood and died.

After receiving the intelligence, Liu Zhendong and Li Fei led the special agent company to set off that afternoon. Di Xiong and Wu Zhong personally went to the airport to see them off. Liu Zhendong smiled and said, "The commander is a leader of the Justice Party and the chairman of the Beihai Group, but he only has one wife. He is too miserable. I heard that Hongmei and Baimei, who are being fought over by several warlords, are both stunning beauties. How about we snatch them away this time and give them to the commander as concubines?"

Di Xiong said, "Let me correct your statement first. We are not going to rob them, but to rescue them. If there is a chance, we will rescue those five poor women and let them choose their own way. Hongmei and Baimei's ex-husband Zhang Yunshan is dead. If they have nowhere to go and are willing to come to Beitang, it would be fine to bring them to Beitang."

Watching the six transport planes and twelve fighter planes take off, Wu Zhong said worriedly, "I heard that the Beiyang Aviation Bureau also has dozens of planes, and the Japanese garrison also has planes. They may intercept our planes! Isn't it too risky for us to do this?"

Di Xiong said: "Ban Chao, the Marquis of Dingyuan in the Han Dynasty, once said, 'You can't get a tiger cub without entering the tiger's den.' How can you get 30 million in property without taking risks? The ancients said: fame is achieved by riding a horse, and wealth is sought through risk. Only by taking a gamble can you have a hope of success. If you don't dare to gamble, you don't even have a little hope. The Beiyang aircraft are second-hand goods discarded by foreign countries. They pose no threat to us. As for the Japanese aircraft, they are mainly used to protect the garrison and Japanese expatriates. They will not be easily dispatched to Henan."

Beitang City is too far away from Zhengzhou, Henan, so they had to refuel several times along the way. After refueling twice in Outer Mongolia, they refueled again in Baotou, which was a temporary gas station controlled by the Baotou Intelligence Station. Finally, they refueled again at the Yanchang Oil Mine in Shaanxi. That was because the guards of the Yanchang oil depot were bribed by the Xi'an intelligence group. After refueling, they were finally able to fly to Zhengzhou. It was already night.

The transport planes and fighter jets were parked in an open space outside Zhengzhou City, which was a temporary airport found by the Zhengzhou Intelligence Group. They used torches to communicate with the air force. After getting off the plane, the special forces battalion, fully armed, headed straight for Liu Zhenhua's old nest, Zhengzhou City.

"Brigade Commander Liu! You must move quickly. If you can't move any property, just give up!"

Gu Yuandao, the captain of the Black Hawk squadron who personally flew the fighter jet for escort.

Liu Zhendong said: "Don't worry! I won't keep you waiting too long."

Thanks to the guidance of the Zhengzhou intelligence group, the special forces battalion did not take the wrong path and went directly to Liu Zhenhua's residence and warehouse, where they were discovered by the alert sentries, and gunfire broke out immediately.

Liu Zhenhua was sleeping with the stolen Hongmei in his arms when he was awakened by the sound of gunfire. He asked loudly, "What's going on outside? Who is shooting?"

The captain of the guard came in and reported: "A strangely dressed army attacked our mansion. They are not numerous, but their firepower is fierce. Dozens of machine guns opened the way, and there were mortar attacks. They broke through the front door and entered the front yard. Our guard battalion is resisting. The commander had better leave the mansion and take shelter."