Black Flag Army

Cao Siying asked in confusion: "There are only tens of thousands of bandits in the eastern part of Mongolia, and the regular army has only one division. Moreover, their forces are scattered all over the place, making it difficult to form an effective resistance. With the strength of our army, how can we not defeat them with ten divisions? Why is this?"

Wu Ziyu calmly analyzed, "You can't just limit yourself to the Mengdong Division that you see in front of you. Once the war starts, the other three provinces controlled by the Black Flag Army will definitely send reinforcements to support them. Today's Black Flag Army is no longer comparable to the past. Their front-line troops, that is, the field army, have a huge number of 500,000. Add to that the second-line security divisions and patrol divisions, the third-line county security regiments, and the fourth-line township self-defense forces, and the total force exceeds one million. Their strength far exceeds that of the Anhui faction. We must not be complacent and arrogant just because we defeated the Anhui faction. Compared with them, we are still far behind."

Cao Qirui asked doubtfully, "Can the second- and third-line troops also fight? They shouldn't be that powerful, right?"

Wu Ziyu shook his head slightly, recalling the past, and said slowly: "When the five provinces encircled and suppressed the Black Flag Army, I sent a regiment disguised as bandits to attack one of their border outposts, called Chagan Outpost. At that time, I just wanted to test the combat effectiveness of the Black Flag Army. There was only one company of second-line security troops stationed at that outpost, but the result was unexpected. We attacked for a whole day, not only failed to capture the outpost, but also suffered heavy casualties, with casualties reaching one-third. Just in the evening, the other side actually rushed over a third-line county security regiment. This security regiment was very smart. They went around behind us to launch an attack. As a result, my regiment was surrounded by the enemy and was wrapped tightly like a dumpling. In the end, even the regiment commander was unfortunately killed, and only less than a hundred people escaped alive."

Cao Zhongshan's eyes widened as he asked, "Even the second and third line troops are so strong? Aren't the troops you sent out the elite ones?"

Wu Ziyu frowned and responded, "They are indeed not my elite troops, but a ragtag army. However, they have also received several months of rigorous training, and their combat effectiveness is much stronger than the county-level security teams in the inland areas. According to those who escaped, the firepower of that security company was extremely strong, with more than a dozen light and heavy machine guns, and even equipped with mortars, rockets and other weapons and equipment. They fired frantically, as if bullets did not cost money at all. And that security regiment was also very fierce and brave, and dared to risk their lives in the bayonet fight. After the front soldier was stabbed to death, the follow-up personnel were not afraid and immediately rushed forward again."

Wang Kemin said: "No wonder they were able to defeat the Japanese and Russian armies. This Eastern Mongolia Province is indeed unbeatable!"

Cao Qirui said angrily, "Isn't that too cheap for those guys? Mengdong Province is a vast area of ​​800,000 square kilometers. Are we just going to give it to those bandits for no reason? Besides, there are so many candidates waiting for these positions! We even accepted the gift money, so we have to give them an explanation, right?"

Li Yanqing responded confidently, "This is easy. We can send alternate officials to Mengdong Province to serve. The same goes for Beiting Province. Congress has not yet recognized that these two provinces belong to the bandits. We can use this as a bargaining chip, promise to recognize that Mengdong Province and Beiting Province are under the jurisdiction of the bandits, and send people to serve as officials. Just like we sent 800 people to Shaanxi to ask Yan Xiangwen for an official position last time, this time we can send another 800 people to Mengdong Province and Beiting. If they dare to refuse to accept it, it will be a blatant defiance of the Beiyang government's orders. At that time, we only need to order the major newspapers in the capital to criticize them, accusing them of being arrogant and trying to split the country, and completely ruin their reputation."

Wu Ziyu laughed and said, "The current warlords rely on their strength to rule a region. Who cares about reputation? When President Yuan was in power, the newspapers called them bandits. Did they care? No matter how you scold them, it cannot change the fact that they are heroes who recovered the lost territory of the Qing Dynasty. When the Anhui clique was in power, they sent 500 candidate officials there, but none of them were hired. This is useless."

Cao Zhongshan said, "Zi Yu! I know you are resourceful, but did you overestimate the strength of the black bandits this time? Although they have hundreds of thousands of troops, the area they defend is also large, more than three million square kilometers, plus the Mengdong Province, it is four million square kilometers. The maximum number of troops defending Mengdong is no more than 50,000. We have finally seized the power of the Beiyang government. If we don't fight them, I will not be able to swallow this breath! We mobilized 200,000 troops to fight. I don't believe that we can't take Mengdong Province. As for new aircraft, we can buy them from Americans. I heard that their aircraft are cheaper than those of the British. This time we confiscated a lot of property from corrupt officials of the Anhui faction, so we can just use some of them to buy them."

Cao Siying said with a firm face: "Brother, what you said is very true! Regardless of the outcome, we have to fight first. Looking back at the fierce battle with the Anhui warlords, we did not have a 100% chance of winning, but didn't we win in the end? Now the Black Flag Army is just a local armed force, and we represent the government of the entire country! How dare these local forces openly confront the power of the whole country?"

Wu Ziyu sighed and stopped talking.

On the morning of February 15, 1920, in Lushun, the sun shone through the thin clouds and fell on the towering and majestic building of the Kwantung Army Headquarters. The clock pointed to 8 o'clock, and the director of the Special Affairs Department of the Kwantung Army Headquarters, Do Qiu Dongren, stepped into the door of the commander's office on time. Commander Tachibana Shoichiro was concentrating on reading an important document at this time. When he heard the door open and footsteps, he just raised his head slightly and signaled Do Qiu Dongren to sit down with his eyes.

After Du Qiudongren sat down, Tachibana Shoichiro gently closed the file in his hand, then slowly took out a thick bundle of Japanese yen banknotes from the drawer, handed it to Du Qiudongren with a smile, and said, "This is the bonus for your secret service department's successful killing of the Justice Party Mozhe last time, a total of one million yuan. You can share it with your subordinates! Although we failed to kill Di Xiong or Leng Hanbing, we were able to kill Bai Xiuling, the president of the Zhengqing Society, and the officers of the Army Department are also very satisfied with this."

Du Qiudongren took the heavy bundle of banknotes, and an indescribable joy surged in his heart. He knew the importance of this operation and the risks it faced, and this bonus was the best affirmation of their efforts. He stood up and bowed deeply to Tachibana Shoichiro to express his heartfelt gratitude.

This bundle of Japanese yen has a denomination of 1,000 yen each, totaling 1,000.

Du Qiudongren happily said to Tachibana Shoichiro: "Thank you, Commander!"

Tachibana Shoichiro said solemnly: "Ono Ryunosuke and his men died heroically, which is extremely regrettable. The Beitang Intelligence Group and the Kulun Intelligence Station have also been wiped out, but we must not retreat because of this. You must quickly send out new intelligence personnel and make sure to kill Di Xiong and Leng Hanbing, otherwise this operation will never stop! This task is undoubtedly extremely difficult!"

Du Qiudongren responded without hesitation: "I will definitely carefully select the most outstanding agents and send them to infiltrate Kulun and Beitang, and do my best to rebuild that vital intelligence station." His eyes were firm and courageous, as if he was ready to face all difficulties.

After finishing the official business, Du Qiudongren stood up respectfully, with a flattering smile on his face, and carefully asked the commander if he had free time in the evening. His tone was extremely sincere, and his words were full of earnestness. He expressed the hope that he would have the honor to invite the commander to the Camellia Hotel to drink wine together. Then, Du Qiudongren approached the commander with great interest, lowered his voice and revealed: "The hotel has recently introduced a group of geishas from Japan, all of whom are extremely beautiful! Especially there are two geishas among them, their looks are simply so beautiful that they can shame the moon and the flowers, and their dancing skills are superb and unparalleled in the world. Commander, you may as well go and enjoy their performance, which is guaranteed to feast your eyes and satisfy you!"

Tachibana Shoichiro was a man who was greedy for women. When he heard about such a beautiful geisha, his heart immediately became itchy and burning with desire. He could not wait to agree and said that he was very willing to go to the Camellia Hotel for a drink after get off work tonight and enjoy this rare opportunity.

As night falls and the lights come on, it is seven o'clock in the evening. At this moment, the Camellia Hotel in Lushun is bustling with people. As one of the largest hotels in the city, it is welcoming waves of customers and its business is booming.

In the hotel's spacious parking lot, a luxury car slowly stopped. After the car door opened, a man in military uniform stepped out of the car. He was dignified and tall, surrounded by dozens of vigilant guards, like a moon surrounded by stars. This highly anticipated person was none other than the Commander-in-Chief of the Kwantung Army.

The commander walked steadily towards the hotel door, and the director of the secret service department, Do Qiu Dongren, and the hotel's female owner Tian Mayumi, who had been waiting here, stood at the door to greet him respectfully. Although Tian Mayumi was already 40 years old, the years had not left too many marks on her, but made her more mature and charming. She was smiling, and her delicate face was as beautiful as a blooming flower.

Tian Mayumi came forward and said in a sweet voice, "Commander-in-Chief, your presence here is a real honor to our store!" Her voice was melodious and pleasant, like the singing of a nightingale. The commander nodded slightly in response, and walked into the hotel lobby with Tian Mayumi.

The commander and Tian Mayumi are old friends who have known each other for a long time, and they have a very close relationship. The commander did not hide his love for Tian Mayumi. He stretched out his hand and gently pinched her delicate face, then asked with a smile on his face: "I heard that you have recently added two geishas with beautiful looks and superb skills? Is this true?" Although Tian Mayumi was kneaded so wantonly by the commander, she did not dare to resist at all. She smiled cautiously and replied: "How dare I deceive the commander! Director Qiu is also very clear about this matter and can testify for me. As long as you, the commander, go in and take a look yourself, you will naturally understand."

After entering the spacious and bright lobby of the hotel, the commander walked steadily and powerfully to the best box seat on the second floor. He sat down calmly, and next to him was Du Qiudongren, who smiled flatteringly and carefully. The tall and mighty guards with serious and stern expressions surrounded the commander like stars surrounding the moon, always keeping a high level of vigilance.

After a while, a young and beautiful waitress came in with a pot of fragrant Japanese sake and several plates of exquisite and delicious sashimi. After the waitress placed these things gently on the table, she bowed and left.

At this moment, the stage opposite was already bustling with activity. A group of beautiful geishas were singing and dancing. Their graceful dancing and melodious singing made people feel as if they were in a dreamlike world. The commander was really attracted by this wonderful performance. He closed his eyes slightly, smiled, and couldn't help but beat the rhythm with the singing.

After the performance, the commander sat there with a feeling of unsatisfied, his eyes still lingering on the stage he had just left, as if he was still immersed in the wonderful performance. Suddenly, he turned to Director Du Qiu and said, "Call the geisha in white to drink with me!"

Hearing the commander's words, Director Du Qiu was overjoyed. He knew that the white-dressed geisha the commander was talking about was one of the two beautiful geishas, ​​while the other was wearing blue. In fact, Director Du Qiu himself valued the blue-dressed geisha more, but he had been secretly worried that the commander would have the same vision as him and also fancy the blue-dressed geisha. Now, the commander chose the white-dressed geisha, which made him feel very fortunate.

So Director Du Qiu couldn't wait to go downstairs, find the female boss and go into the dressing room behind the stage with her. When they pushed open the door, two beautiful geishas were sitting in front of the mirror removing their makeup. Director Du Qiu walked up to them without hesitation and said to them: "The commander has ordered you to drink with him."

Originally, the commander only wanted to ask one of the geishas to accompany him, but Director Du Qiu took this opportunity to abuse his power for personal gain and asked both of them to come. He secretly thought that this would not only satisfy the commander's request, but also give him more opportunities to get close to the blue-clothed geisha he liked. At the same time, he also believed that with two beauties accompanying him, the commander would be very satisfied.

The female boss Yumi Sanada looked at the two geishas who were dawdling in front of her and couldn't help but get furious. She shouted in a stern voice: "Why don't you two take off your makeup quickly! Do you want to keep the commander waiting?" The two geishas were so frightened by her shouting that they trembled all over and began to remove their makeup in a hurry.

After a while, the two hurriedly removed their makeup, changed into new clothes and walked out. They followed Director Du Qiu to the commander's side, and the geisha in white sat down gracefully in front of the commander. When the other geisha in blue was about to sit down next to the commander, Director Du Qiu suddenly hugged her and pressed her to sit next to him. Then, Director Du Qiu's restless hands began to grope in her arms, and the blue geisha opened her eyes wide in shock and looked at him with horror, but because she was timid, she never dared to resist.

Director Du Qiu was very pleased with himself when he saw this, and his behavior became more and more unscrupulous. At the same time, the geisha in white was not spared either, and she was hugged tightly by the half-drunk commander.