Black Flag Army

Division Commander Zhang Lingyun waited for Bian Zhimei to come out of the living room before he stepped forward and asked, "Director Bian! After retaking Kulun City, the next step is to retake Sayinshanda and Wunduerhan. I plan to send one regiment to each, but some brigade commanders think that we should send one brigade to each, otherwise we may not be able to capture it. However, we only have three brigades and one artillery regiment in total. Dividing too many troops will bring danger to the defense of Kulun. After all, only more than 10,000 of the 50,000 enemy troops were killed or captured, and the rest just escaped and may counterattack at any time. I would like to ask Director Bian's opinion."

Bian Zhimei looked at the map on the wall and said, "Before leaving Bei Tang, the commander-in-chief said that there are five places in Eastern Meng Province that must be taken down as soon as possible. In addition to Kulun, Sayinshand and Wunduerhan, there are also Wuile in the north and Zhongqian City in the east. Troops must be sent to control them. The defense of these four cities is weak, so sending one regiment to each city is enough. However, we must guard against ambushes by Mongolian bandits during the march. After taking down these five cities, we will gradually advance to counties, townships and villages. It doesn't matter if we don't have enough troops. Bei Tang will have more than 30,000 second-line troops coming over, all of which are drawn from security divisions in various places."

Zhang Lingyun frowned and said in a deep voice: "Is the commander-in-chief trying to completely control the Mengdong Province? How can the Beiyang government agree to this? I heard that the relationship between the newly appointed Zhili government and our army is quite tense!"

Bian Zhimei's eyes were firm, and she responded without flinching, "Eastern Meng Province is a place we captured after a bloody battle, and we should have full control over it. So what if the Zhili government has a bad relationship with us? It's just a war at most! When the Anhui warlords were in power in the past, we also experienced countless battles. Now our army has an army of 500,000. Even the millions of Bolshevik troops of Tsarist Russia do not dare to provoke a war easily. How dare the Zhili government's troops come here to die?" Her voice was full of confidence and courage.

Sun Xiaotie, who was standing by, couldn't hold back his excitement and said loudly, "In the past few years, Mengdong Province has been under the rule of the Beiyang government, but the people have been living in misery and poverty! Not only that, there are constant invasions from the White Bandits outside, and rebellions from the Mongolian army inside. This situation has lasted too long! We should have taken back Mengdong Province long ago! This time the Mongolian nobles rebelled and established their own country, which is a great opportunity for us to take back Mengdong Province! Otherwise, if we let it continue to develop, the people will probably flee this place. Six years ago, Mengdong Province still had a population of hundreds of thousands, but now it has less than 100,000 people. Moreover, most people gather in a few cities such as Kulun and Sayinshand. Many other places are empty, without a single person to be seen."

At 9:30 in the morning, Cao Zhongshan rushed into the Presidential Office with a furious look on his face. As he had not been notified in advance, the Office Director and Secretary of the External Office tried to stop him, but they were violently pushed to the ground by the strong guards around him. The female secretary let out a piercing scream as she fell.

At the same time, his younger brother, Zhili Governor Cao Siying, also followed him into the inner hall. At this time, President Xu, who was processing documents at his desk, was startled when he saw them suddenly break in, and hurriedly stood up nervously.

Cao Zhongshan slammed a telegram onto President Xu's desk, then shouted at him harshly, "That damned bandit Di Xiong actually dared to send troops to occupy Mengdong Province! What qualifications does he have to do this? This is simply an open rebellion! I beg the President to issue an order immediately, and let our Zhili army go out to suppress and quell this unrest!"

President Xu showed an awkward smile on his face. He tried to make his tone more tactful and said, "Inspector Cao, do you have some misunderstandings? This time, the Mongolian nobles in Eastern Meng Province rebelled. They openly raised the Mongolian flag and launched a crazy attack on the Beiyang garrison. General Chu Qixiang had no choice but to send a distress signal to Beijing, and as the president, I naturally had to find a way to rescue them. At that time, I asked the governors of the four neighboring provinces to send troops to help, but what was the result? No governor responded to my call! Only Governor Di of Beihai Province resolutely sent troops and successfully rescued Chu Qixiang and more than a thousand officers and soldiers. So, how can this be considered a rebellion?"

President Xu paused and continued, "Inspector General Cao, you can't believe those false words! General Di's righteous act is witnessed by all. If such behavior is regarded as rebellion, who will dare to stand up and save the country from danger in the future?" As he spoke, he watched Inspector General Cao's reaction, hoping to calm the other party's doubts and dissatisfaction.

Cao Siying, the governor of Zhili, said angrily, "Even if he was suppressing the rebellion, he should have retreated to Beihai Province according to common sense after the rebellion was over. But now, not only did he not retreat, but he dispatched more troops into the eastern part of Mengdong and occupied all the cities! Does the eastern Mengdong province belong to them? They can occupy it if they want? He has already occupied three provinces, is he not satisfied? This is too greedy!"

Cao Zhongshan slammed the table and stood up, saying angrily: "We went through untold hardships to defeat the bastards of the Anhui clique army, and finally pulled Xu Shuzheng off the throne of the governor of Eastern Meng Province. But now, this little fox Di Xiong wants to take advantage of the opportunity to reap the fruits of victory. Who does he think he is? The position of governor is already in short supply, and I have several brothers who have fought through thick and thin but still failed to get this position!"

President Xu was very angry and thought: You, Cao Zhongshan, are not Cao Cao. Why should the position of military governor be given to your brother? But he dared not say it out loud. After the failure of the Anhui clique, the military governors of most provinces in the country were replaced by people from the Zhili clique. For example, the governor of Shaanxi was replaced by Yan Xiangwen, and the governor of Hubei was replaced by Xiao Yaonan. Jin Yunpeng, the prime minister of the Anhui clique, also defected to Cao Zhongshan and saved his position as prime minister. In the National Assembly, the Zhengxue faction supported by the Zhili clique defeated the Anfu faction of the Anhui clique and became the largest faction in the National Assembly, because many Anfu clique members defected to the Zhengxue faction.

President Xu said righteously: "How can it be said that General Di went to pick peaches? When your Zhili troops defeated the Anhui army, Beihai Province did not send troops to Mengdong Province! Instead, it was after the Mongolian nobles in Mengdong Province joined forces with the White Bandits to launch a rebellion, and Chu Qixiang led the few thousand people who were almost killed. When the situation was extremely critical, their Black Flag Army sent troops to rescue. At that time, your Zhili troops did not even send out a single soldier!"

Zhili Governor Cao Siying was furious. He widened his eyes and shouted angrily, "Why do you always speak for that gangster, old man? Did he give you some benefits? Or do you simply don't want to be president? Humph, I'm warning you, there are many people who want to be president, and we can replace you in a minute!"

At this time, there were several screams and the sound of tables and chairs falling to the ground from the outer hall. Cao Zhongshan was startled and was about to ask what happened, but he saw Shi Jingting, the head of the presidential guard, walk in, walked straight to Cao Siying, and said righteously: "Cao Siying, you are so brave! How dare you insult the president like this! Do you think you can change the president of the Republic of China whenever you want?"

Cao Siying was speechless after Shi Jingting's rebuke and stood there not knowing what to do. At this moment, the atmosphere in the whole room became extremely tense, as if an invisible pressure was shrouding everyone. The president, who had been silent all the time, sat quietly in his chair, watching everything happening in front of him expressionlessly.

At this moment, Cao Siying woke up as if from a dream, realizing that he had just made a huge mistake. He was actually frightened. His face became hideous and distorted, and he cursed viciously: "Who do you think you are and what qualifications do you have to talk to me like this? Let me tell you, I know you are old man Xu's confidant, and in my eyes you are worse than a dog! Today I will let you know the consequences of offending me!" As he said that, he suddenly reached for his waist, wanting to pull out his pistol to scare the other party.

However, Shi Jingting was one step faster than him. Shi Jingting flashed in front of Cao Siying like a ghost, and swung his fist at Cao Siying. This punch was powerful and heavy, with the force of thunder, and Cao Siying was caught off guard. With a muffled "bang", the gun in Cao Siying's hand was instantly knocked out and fell to the ground far away.

Then, Shi Jingting took advantage of the situation and grabbed Cao Siying's right hand and twisted it hard. Cao Siying screamed miserably and collapsed to the ground as if struck by lightning, with tears and snot streaming down his face in pain. At this moment, he no longer looked arrogant and domineering, but was like a lamb to be slaughtered.

Shi Jingting's eyes were as cold as a knife, and his voice revealed endless majesty: "How dare you draw your gun in front of the president? Are you tired of living?"

On the other side, Cao Zhongshan had hoped that the four expert guards he brought with him could help him, but he shouted several times but no one responded. It was obvious that the guards outside had also encountered a strong enemy and were probably in danger. Thinking of this, Cao Zhongshan felt a surge of fear in his heart and his body trembled involuntarily.

Cao Zhongshan shouted at President Xu with an angry face: "Good! You are so cruel! Tell your people to let my brother go immediately! We are leaving now!"

President Xu sighed helplessly, turned to Shi Jingting and ordered: "Forget it, let them go!" The Cao brothers were so aggressive and arrogant just now, but in the blink of an eye, they left the scene in disgrace like defeated roosters.

That evening, Cao Zhongshan summoned his confidants to a meeting in his mansion to discuss the revenge plan. Among the participants were Zhili Governor-General Cao Siying, Zhili Governor Cao Qirui, advisers Wang Kemin and Li Yanqing, and the number one general and deputy inspector of Zhiluyu, Wu Ziyu.

Cao Siying said angrily, "We obviously won the battle, but we still have to endure his humiliation? Absolutely not. We must teach him a lesson! We will directly mobilize a brigade of troops tomorrow. I don't believe that we can't defeat a mere presidential guard regiment with the strength of a brigade. Tomorrow night is the best time for us to take action. We will capture the presidential palace in one fell swoop, kill that hateful old man Xu, and then support Big Brother to ascend the presidency. Then, we will send troops to Mengdong Province, expel all those hateful black bandits, and arrange our own people to serve as military governors and governors."

Wang Kemin expressed a different opinion. He said: "Xu Juren is a man of high moral character. If we kill him rashly, it will probably have a negative impact on our reputation! In fact, as long as he obediently hands over the presidential seal and signs a letter of resignation, we can spare his life!"

Li Yanqing said solemnly: "The Presidential Palace Guard is not an ordinary force! They are not only well-trained and well-equipped, but more importantly, they have five bombers sent by the gangsters! The pilots of these bombers are also members of the gangsters. It can be imagined that their combat effectiveness must not be underestimated. This battle will not be easy!"

However, Cao Qirui was not afraid at all. He responded confidently: "So what if they have planes? We have planes too! The Beiyang Government's Aviation Department has more than a hundred planes! Now all these planes are under our control. How could we be afraid of their few planes?" His eyes were firm and courageous, as if he had seen the dawn of victory.

Seeing Wu Ziyu remained silent, Cao Zhongshan felt a little confused, so she asked, "Ziyu, why don't you speak? Don't you have any ideas? Why don't you speak them out?" Wu Ziyu sighed deeply, a trace of worry appeared on his face, and he slowly said, "Well, it's not that I don't want to say it, but what I want to say may not sound good, and I'm afraid it will make everyone unhappy!"

Hearing this, Cao Zhongshan smiled slightly, patted Wu Ziyu on the shoulder and comforted him: "Ziyu, we have been good brothers for many years, just say whatever you want to say! I believe no one will blame you. As long as what you say makes sense, we will seriously consider it. Don't worry, I will never be angry!" His tone was firm and sincere, making people feel his trust and support for Wu Ziyu.

Wu Ziyu pointed at the map on the wall and said, "Although Beitang City, the headquarters of the Black Flag Army, is far from Beijing, Daranza is not far from Beijing. The Black Flag Army Air Force there is also very powerful and has defeated the attack of the Japanese Air Force. President Xu saved the life of the Black Flag Army Commander-in-Chief Di Xiong. If the attack on the Presidential Palace fails to take it down within three hours, a large number of Black Flag Army planes will swarm in, and our brigade will be wiped out by them. With the combat effectiveness of the Presidential Palace Guard Regiment, it will definitely be able to hold out for more than three hours."

Cao Qirui said angrily: "Wu Ziyu is just trying to boost others' morale. We also have planes. We are not afraid of them. The worst that can happen is that we will have an air battle."

Wu Ziyu said: "Most of the aircraft of the Aviation Bureau are second-hand old aircraft purchased from abroad. There are not many new aircraft. Because the foreign devils bully us because we can't build aircraft, the price of new aircraft is very high, one costs 100,000 yuan. The Black Flag Army has all new aircraft built by themselves. If we use the aircraft of the Aviation Bureau to fight them, we will definitely lose! As for wanting to take over Mengdong Province from the Black Flag Army, it is simply a dream!"