Black Flag Army

Di Xiong said righteously: "Why shouldn't we intervene? Whenever it comes to the unity of the country and the integrity of the territory, we will definitely take decisive action! I clearly remember that in the distant year of 1912, a separatist storm broke out in the Outer Mongolia region, and Hang Daduo was one of the culprits of this separatist farce. However, the turning point of fate always comes suddenly. The Tsarist emperor died a violent death, and the country of Tsarist Russia fell into chaos. Without a strong backing, these separatists were like dogs that had lost their homes, and were bullied by horse bandits. At the same time, they were also worried, fearing that they would be wiped out by us. Therefore, under the advice of special envoy Chen Yi, they chose to surrender to the Beiyang government. Now, seeing that Beiyang has fallen into the quagmire of civil war and the Anhui government has collapsed, they think they have seized the opportunity and set off a wave of rebellion again."

Lan Jinping said angrily, "We will never trust a capricious guy like Hang Dado, even if he surrenders! He has committed many evil deeds, and it would be too easy for him to be shot!"

Bian Zhimei gritted her teeth and agreed, "That's right! After catching him, he should be buried alive or skinned alive, so as to quell the public anger!" When Bian Zhimei thought about how she had been abused by Hang Dado's three hateful sons, she felt so angry that her teeth were itching.

Soran, who was standing by, was very surprised when he heard this and asked, "My master doesn't have any deep hatred with you, right? Why did you kill him in such a cruel way?"

Di Xiong said with a gloomy face, "You won't understand the reason even if I tell you. You take these things back intact and tell your master to arrange his affairs after his death as soon as possible. Make sure to make your last words clear to your family, so that they won't be caught off guard and regret it! Although we will never do such inhumane things as burying or skinning him alive, we will definitely have to try peanuts. Considering that he was once the prime minister, I will take special care of him and send a sharpshooter to execute him, to ensure that he will be killed with one shot, so as to avoid him suffering more pain in vain due to a missed shot."

Soran looked at the indifferent expressions of these people in front of him, feeling very puzzled and disappointed. He sighed and said, "Some of the jewels given to you are priceless! Don't you even want to take a look at them? If these jewels fall into the hands of others in the future, you will definitely regret it!"

After hearing this, Di Xiong replied with a firm look in his eyes: "We will not regret it, because for us, the interests of the country are always above everything else! Personal gains and losses are insignificant compared to the safety of the country. If we give up our principles and bottom line for these so-called treasures, then we will become sinners of the country and the nation."

Seeing that he could not persuade Di Xiong and the others, Soran could only turn around and leave dejectedly. Looking at his receding back, Di Xiong secretly sighed in his heart: "Although this Soran is willing to be a lackey, he is also a sensible person. I hope he can understand soon that the real wealth is not those superficial jewels and gems, but the inner perseverance and faith."

Di Xiong said to his secretary Yang Lushuang, "Go out and send a telegram to Zhang Lingyun, the commander of the 8th Division stationed in Darhan. Order him to lead his troops to attack the eastern province of Mengdong, with the goal of Kulun City! We must rescue the Beiyang Army there. Then order the Air Force Commander Gu Yuan to send a transport squadron to airdrop weapons and ammunition to Zhe Qixiang's troops, so that they can hold out until reinforcements arrive. Then send a bomber brigade to assist Zhang Lingyun's troops in attacking the Mongolian army and horse bandits."

Lan Jinping said, "I heard that the Beiyang Army has very poor military discipline and has raped women and robbed civilians in Kulun. Do we really want to save them?"

Di Xiong turned to look at Lan Jinping, his eyes showing a hint of dissatisfaction, but he still patiently explained: "They did commit many unforgivable crimes, but this should be mainly attributed to those high-ranking officers, especially the former commander-in-chief Xu Shuzheng. Ordinary soldiers are not guilty of much, and now as Chinese soldiers, they are bravely defending national interests. They are isolated and helpless, fighting ten times their number with one, and fighting a desperate battle with the rebels who are several times their number, and would rather die than surrender. Just for this reason, we have the responsibility and obligation to save them!"

Wu Zhong said: "Although the Beiyang Army has poor military discipline, they are our army after all. We cannot sit idly by and watch them be annihilated by the enemy. Moreover, if the Mongolian army and horse bandits occupy Kulun City, it will pose a serious threat to the security of our border areas. Therefore, no matter what, we must rescue the trapped Beiyang Army."

Di Xiong paused, then continued, "Of course, we cannot tolerate the Beiyang Army's violations of discipline. After the rescue operation is over, I will order an investigation and serious punishment of those involved. At the same time, I will strengthen discipline education for the entire army to ensure that similar incidents do not happen again." After that, he looked at Yang Lushuang again and urged, "Go send a telegram quickly. Time is running out. There is no time to waste!"

Yang Lushuang nodded and quickly turned away. Di Xiong looked at her back and prayed in his heart that the rescue operation would be successful. He knew that the road ahead was full of difficulties and obstacles, but as the commander-in-chief of the Black Flag Army, he had no choice but to move forward bravely and fight for the country and the nation.

Xian Yuji asked: "There are more than 50,000 rebels and bandits. Can Zhang Lingyun defeat them with just one division?"

Di Xiong said: "The Eighth Division is a veteran division, not a rookie division. It is more than enough to deal with more than 50,000 rabble, not to mention there is a battalion of 36 bombers to help them."

The current Black Flag Army field force has 40 divisions with about 500,000 troops. In the past six months, 20 divisions have left the Beihai Province recruit camp and entered the three armies. Among them, four divisions are supplementary divisions without numbers. After entering the first and second armies, they were immediately disbanded and incorporated into the original old troops to make up for the previous casualties and retirements. Now the First Army has increased to 15 divisions. After they have sufficient troops, they defeated the 50,000 British colonial troops attacking Suiye City. Commander Zhang Shusheng also took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, destroyed the British airfield, and almost took down Kabul, the largest city in Afghanistan. In the capital Tingzhou City, Wu Chunlei served as the commander and blocked the attack led by Deng Nijin himself. After more than ten days of crazy attack, the White Guards were forced to retreat, leaving behind more than 30,000 corpses.

The Second Army was increased to thirteen divisions, and Feng Anbang was still the commander. After Deputy Commander Liu Ruming went to fight guerrilla warfare in Tsarist Russia, Division Commander Zhang Zhongzhi was promoted to deputy commander, and another division commander Zhu Anbang was promoted to chief of staff. The Third Army stationed in Beihai Province had the smallest number of people, only twelve divisions, and Di Xiong was still the commander of the army. After Subuda was killed, the commander of the Seventh Division Wu Guozhu was promoted to deputy commander, and the commander of the artillery division Wang Shitou was promoted to deputy chief of staff, acting as the chief of staff Lan Jinping who had been absent for a long time. Like Di Xiong, Lan Jinping would only follow Di Xiong into the army to give advice when the Black Flag Army was in the most dangerous situation.

Jiang Hongyu once expressed strong dissatisfaction and protest to Di Xiong regarding Lan Jinping's long-term absence from his post. He believed that as an important general in the army, Lan Jinping should always stick to his post and perform his duties.

However, Di Xiong had a different view. He explained, "Lan Jinping's talents are not limited to the military field. She also has outstanding abilities and experience in company management. As the major shareholder and vice chairman of Beihai Group, she needs to participate in the management of more than 100 companies under it. The operation and development of these companies are inseparable from her wisdom and decision-making. If she is trapped in the military for a long time, it would be a great waste of talent! After all, the prosperity of Beihai Group cannot be supported by Tuo Qingyun alone."

Di Xiong's point of view seems to have some truth. Lan Jinping's talent in the business field is indeed not to be underestimated, and her participation may bring more opportunities and development to the company. However, Jiang Hongyu still insists that military affairs are of vital importance and cannot be neglected because of other matters. The difference of opinion between the two sides makes the issue more complicated.

Lan Jinping was also dissatisfied. She frowned and said to Di Xiong with a face full of resentment: "I'm just an ordinary person! But what about you? You actually treat me like several people to order around! You removed me from the positions of general manager of Weili Group and president of the bank. I naively thought that I could finally relax a little. Who knew, now it's much more tiring than before! I have to manage all of these more than a hundred companies. Sooner or later I will be exhausted to death! And the position of chief of staff was also forced on me by you! Every time the war was at its most dangerous moment, you would drag me into the army without hesitation. If one day I really died on the battlefield, you would be the culprit!" She became more and more excited as she spoke, and her voice unconsciously rose eight degrees.

Di Xiong could only smile bitterly and said helplessly: "This is all my responsibility! The main reason is that our three northern provinces are so short of talent, and you are a jack of all trades with strong abilities in all aspects, so you have to work so hard. But when those young talents graduate from school and gradually mature, you won't be as tired as you are now. I will give you three salaries as compensation."

Lan Jinping responded with a smile: "Who would care about your little money? I am a major shareholder of Beihai Group. I can get millions of dollars in dividends every year. Do you think I would care about your meager salary?"

Although she said so, Lan Jinping would still conscientiously and responsibly carry out the orders and tasks issued by Di Xiong. Because she knew very well that if the Beihai Group, which provided financial support to the Black Flag Army, really went bankrupt due to poor management, then her annual dividend of millions of dollars would not be guaranteed, and even her life might be threatened. After all, her fate had long been closely linked to Di Xiong's fate and firmly tied together.

Under the afterglow of the setting sun, the Beiyang Army camp in Kulun City looked particularly desolate. The originally solid camp walls had been blown to pieces, with huge gaps everywhere. In these gaps, the bodies of officers and soldiers from both sides piled up like mountains, which was shocking. However, despite this, the tattered five-color flag of the Beiyang Army still fluttered in the wind, as if telling of their tenacity and indomitable spirit.

Brigade Commander Chu Qixiang stood on the top of the city wall, looking solemnly at the tens of thousands of rebels outside the city, feeling helpless and sad. He sighed deeply, turned to the regiment commander Gao Zaitian beside him and said, "If the three border defense divisions were still there, even if only one division was left, these Mongolian bandits would not dare to be so rampant. Commander-in-Chief Xu was so focused on the civil war that he completely ignored the threat of the Mongols!" His words were full of worries about the situation and dissatisfaction with the decisions of his superiors.

Gao Zaitian nodded silently, agreeing with Chu Qixiang's opinion. He knew that facing such a large rebel army, it was simply a pipe dream to defend the city with their existing forces. The strategic mistakes made by the Beiyang Army's top brass put them in such a difficult situation.

Chu Qixiang's eyes flashed with determination. He knew that he was shouldering the heavy responsibility of defending the country. No matter how many difficulties and dangers there were ahead, he was determined to lead the soldiers to fight to the end. He held the telescope tightly in his hand, continued to observe the movements of the rebels, and thought about how to deal with them.

At this moment, the whole Kulun city was filled with a tense atmosphere, and everyone realized the cruelty of this battle. But under the leadership of Chu Qixiang, the Beiyang Army soldiers did not retreat. They held their posts and prepared to meet the coming storm.

Gao Zaitian gnashed his teeth and cursed: "These Mongolian rebels are ungrateful wolves! In the past few years, it has always been our Beiyang government that has provided them with military pay and food. They gave us as much as we gave them, and we never treated them differently. But who could have thought that they would be so ungrateful and turn against us at any time! Today, they launched eight crazy attacks, causing us to suffer heavy losses and only have more than a thousand people left. These beasts are simply crazy!"

Another regiment commander, Zhu Xusheng, asked with a worried look on his face: "Brigade Commander! Is the news that the Mongolian soldiers outside are shouting on the loudspeakers true? I heard that in Beijing, Lord Duan and Commander-in-Chief Xu have stepped down? Doesn't that mean that no one will come to rescue us? The soldiers keep asking me this question, and I really don't know how to answer them?"

Brigade Commander Chu Qixiang said: "Even if there is no reinforcement from Beijing, the Black Flag Army in the west will definitely come to rescue us, because they are also Chinese."

Gao Zaitian said with a gloomy expression: "How could they come to save us? There have been many fierce battles between the Beiyang Army and them, and even high-ranking officials such as the former governor of Suiyuan were assassinated. And I also heard that their Justice Party leader, Mohist Hong Tianlie, was also murdered by the Beijing police. With such a deep hatred, the two sides have long been at loggerheads!"

However, Chu Qixiang firmly retorted: "It is precisely because they are members of the Justice Party that it is their unshirkable mission to uphold justice and eradicate evil! Several of their leaders are people who care about the interests of the country. If they are indifferent to this, then they do not deserve to call themselves the Justice Party!"

At this moment, the long-awaited roar finally came from the sky, as if it was the voice of salvation for everyone. In the towering clouds, twelve planes shining with silver-white light gradually emerged. They were like a group of steel birds of prey, descending from the sky with a powerful and majestic momentum.

Chu Qixiang reacted almost immediately. His voice trembled with excitement as he shouted, "Brothers! The Black Flag Army is here to rescue us!"

This sentence was like a flash of lightning that pierced the sky, instantly igniting the passion of the entire camp. The officers and soldiers of the Beiyang Army in the camp cheered and jumped for joy, and their voices merged into a deafening ocean. Many people were so excited that tears welled up in their eyes, and Chu Qixiang's own eyes were wet, and his heart was filled with endless emotion and relief.

These soldiers have experienced countless hardships and difficulties, and now they finally see the dawn of hope. The arrival of the Black Flag Army has rekindled their desire to live and made them feel the warmth and strength from their comrades. At this moment, all the fatigue and fear were thrown behind them, replaced by full joy and gratitude.