Black Flag Army

Cha Jingfeng smiled and said, "I was captured by you guys in the beginning. Aren't you afraid that I will take the opportunity to escape? Or surrender to the Japanese and betray the Tianjin Intelligence Group?"

Cha Jingfeng was not as pretty as Bian Zhimei and Ji Yuji, but her voice was sweet and tender, which made the men feel comfortable.

Di Xiong smiled and said, "You said that because you have a problem with the body search just now! Since we let you enter the intelligence school, we fully trust you, but the rules must be followed. I hope you can understand the difficulties of the people below."

At this time, Tian Mengxue knocked on the door and came in, putting a thick stack of information on the table and said, "This is the information of various forces in Tianjin, mainly the information of Tianjin Green Gang and Black Dragon Society. Most of the territory in Tianjin is controlled by the Green Gang, and the Black Dragon Society is mainly in the Japanese Concession in Tianjin."

Di Xiong asked, "Is Kawashima Naniwa still the leader of the Beijing Black Dragon Society?"

Tian Mengxue said, "I was just about to report this to you. Guan Qier sent me information that Kawashima Naniwa was just dismissed from his position as the chairman of the Beijing Black Dragon Society by the Japanese General Association yesterday. His replacement came from Fengtian, named Yoshida Ryozo. Kawashima Naniwa left Beijing last night and boarded a ship back to Japan. When he left, he also took away the 'gift' given to him by Prince Su, Prince Su's youngest daughter, seven-year-old Xiangan. Kawashima Naniwa called her 'little fresh fish' and gave her a Japanese name, Kawashima Yoshiko."

After hearing this, Di Xiong's expression changed and he said seriously, "You must remember the name Kawashima Yoshiko. Ten years later, she may become the biggest rival of your intelligence department."

Tian Mengxue shook her head and said, "She's just a seven-year-old girl. Is it necessary to pay so much attention to her?"

Di Xiong sighed and said sadly: "If she grew up with Prince Su, she would become a mediocre woman, but if she grew up with Kawashima Naniwa, the leader of the Black Dragon Society, she would become a sinister, cunning, despicable and shameless female devil."

After reading the information, Cha Jingfeng agreed to go to Tianjin to serve as the head of the intelligence team. Di Xiong gave her a few more instructions, and then Cha Jingfeng said goodbye and left.

Tian Mengxue said: "Guan Qier also sent a piece of information. A few days ago, Hong Tianlie led the Flying Eagle Gang to attack the capital police chief Yuan Chenggui in a hotel. The operation failed and three people died. Yuan Chenggui was slightly injured and two bodyguards died."

Di Xiong was shocked and said, "Hong Tianlie is fooling around. Who told him to do this? It's hard for the small Flying Eagle Gang to protect itself in Beijing, and he actually provoked Yuan Chenggui. The police department will definitely retaliate next. He is courting death!"

One morning in March 1913, in the lobby of the Shanxi Governor's Mansion in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, when chief strategists Zhao Daiwen and Jia Jingde walked into the gate, they saw from afar Governor Yan throwing things and swearing, his face was blue, and there were several broken cups on the ground. Several servants were so scared that they knelt on the ground and dared not say a word.

Zhao Daiwen laughed and said, "Who made the governor angry?"

Zhao Daiwen had been a teacher at Shanxi middle schools and universities for a long time. He was more than ten years older than Yan Xishan. Yan Xishan still respected him very much and always addressed him as a teacher. He rarely got angry with him. Yan Xishan picked up the two torn telegrams on the table and handed them to Zhao Daiwen, saying, "Teacher! Baotou was lost. Wang Jinmao, that idiot, gave a messy command. A brigade was defeated by a regiment. The food, cloth, and money we stored in Baotou all became the spoils of the Baotou Patrol Regiment. The Patrol Regiment transported a large amount of supplies to Zhang Shaozeng. Zhang Shaozeng's strength increased greatly. Suiyuan is now in danger. We have always regarded Suiyuan as a logistics base and the last retreat, so we stored a large amount of supplies in Baotou. Once Baotou was lost, we suffered heavy losses. Teacher, how can I not be angry?"

Zhao Daiwen read the telegram carefully, and then handed it to another strategist Jia Jingde to read. Then he asked, "I have never heard of this patrol commander Zhang Zhenyang before. How did he suddenly appear and defeat the security brigade? Even if Wang Jingan is incompetent, the brigade commander and several regiment commanders were selected by us. They are quite capable. How could they be defeated so badly? No matter how powerful Zhang Zhenyang is, he is only one regiment!"

Yan Xishan said: "Zhang Zhenyang used to be the cavalry platoon leader of the 20th Regiment. Together with Zhang Zhijiang and Zhang Shusheng, he was known as the Three Zhangs of the Cavalry. He was an old subordinate of Zhang Shaozeng. After the 20th Regiment was reorganized into the 20th Division, the new division commander Pan Juying carried out a purge and drove away all of Zhang Shaozeng's old subordinates. Zhang Zhijiang and Zhang Shusheng joined Zhang Shaozeng. Zhang Zhenyang disappeared for a while, and somehow he became the commander of the Baotou Patrol Regiment."

Jia Jingde said: "According to the intelligence I received, this Baotou Patrol Regiment is not Zhang Shaozeng's direct force, but is only affiliated with him. It is actually controlled by Di Congmo, chairman of Beihai Group. Di Congmo paid them higher salaries than other troops, equipped them with twelve infantry guns, and invited German instructors to train them, so their combat effectiveness is very strong. Commander Wang Jingan also received such intelligence, but did not take it seriously. Therefore, Wang Jingan is responsible for this unexpected failure. The garrison commander of Suiyuan should be replaced."

Zhao Daiwen said, "Baotou was lost at the end of December last year. How come they only sent the telegram now?"

Yan Xishan said: "It is said that the telegraph office in Suiyuan is under the control of Zhang Shaozeng, so the message cannot be sent. There is no telegraph office in Ulanbucha, so we can only send people to Datong to send the message. The two groups of people we sent were robbed and killed by horse bandits. The third group, a cavalry platoon, arrived in Datong."

Jia Jingde said, "It is also possible that Zhao Chengyuan and Wang Jing'an were afraid of your punishment, so they delayed reporting it. Now you are sending people to transport the tax silver, so they reported it because they could no longer hide it."

Zhao Daiwen said: "Now that Song Changde of the White Star Party has been assassinated, both the North and the South are mobilizing troops, and a war is imminent. The Yuan Shikai government will not pay attention to Shanxi. We can dispatch more troops to reinforce Suiyuan and take back Baotou."

Jia Jingde said: "Shanxi's military strength is not much. If they are transferred to Suiyuan, Shanxi will be empty."

Yan Xishan said: "Baotou must be recaptured, but the number of troops sent cannot be too large to avoid alerting the enemy. We cannot allow the Beiyang Army and other warlords to take the opportunity to attack Shanxi. The number of troops sent cannot exceed two brigades, and we must act with caution."

Jia Jingde said: "Governor, Guisui currently has only one security brigade. It is still a bit stressful to retake Baotou relying on their strength alone. I suggest that the security brigade in Ulanqab be transferred to Guisui. Although that brigade is not strong, it can at least delay time. Since we want to retake Baotou, then Di Congmo's regiment must be eliminated. I think it is enough to use two brigades to deal with Zhang Shaozeng's three regiments. I don't think it is necessary to transfer more troops from Shanxi."

Zhao Daiwen then said: "If the governor is still worried about those two brigades, then I suggest sending two more brigades to attack Baotou. Of course, these two brigades must be regular brigades, and guard brigades or security brigades cannot be sent. In this way, there will be three brigades attacking Baotou. Even if Zhang Shaozeng abandons Guisui and sends those two regiments to rescue Baotou, using four brigades to fight against their one brigade should be more than enough. Maybe we can even get rid of Zhang Shaozeng in one fell swoop!"

At this time, the regular troops of the Shanxi Army had a total of only more than 15,000 people, organized into two divisions, each with two brigades. Yan Xishan served as the commander of the First Division, and Wen Shouquan served as the commander of the Second Division.

After listening to this, Yan Xishan laughed and said, "You are right. If Zhang Shaozeng dies, it will be just a matter of time before we take over the entire Suiyuan!"

The three of them fell into a cheerful atmosphere, as if the previous failure did not exist at all, and Zhang Shaozeng seemed to be a dead man in Yan Xishan's eyes, and as for Di Congmo, he was not taken seriously by Governor Yan. Not long after, Yan Xishan sent someone to call the division commander Wen Shouquan and his two brigade commanders Liu Hanqing and Li Dakui to explain the details of their attack on Baotou. Yan Xishan learned from intelligence that the Baotou defense army had infantry artillery, so he ordered Wen Shouquan to bring a 120mm caliber heavy artillery battalion before leaving. It was used to suppress the 90mm caliber infantry artillery of the Baotou patrol regiment.

Just when Yan Xishan was preparing to mobilize the army to retake Baotou, the Justice Party Intelligence Department had planted spies in Taiyuan in advance, and the Jin faction's confidentiality work was not good enough, and there were many internal conflicts in the army. Therefore, only two days later, Zhang Shaozeng and Di Xiong learned about Yan Xishan's troop deployment and held meetings in Baotou and Guisui respectively. In the meeting room of the Baotou government building, Di Xiong, Wu Zhong, Leng Hanbing, Li Fei and others looked solemn, and they were also worried about the upcoming invasion of Yan Xishan's army.

Wu Chunfeng spoke first: "According to the latest intelligence, the two brigades of the Shanxi faction in Guisui and Ulanqab will come to attack Guisui. The brigade in Ulanqab may already be on the way to Guisui. Together with the two elite brigades coming from Shanxi, a total of four brigades will attack us and General Zhang. The two brigades of the Second Division of Shanxi also have a heavy artillery battalion. We are under considerable pressure."

Leng Hanbing said: "Although there will be four brigades attacking, they will not come at the same time. We can't just sit there and wait for death. We must take the initiative and eliminate the weak enemy first. The question is, who should we attack first?"

Wu Zhong stood up and said: "Let's attack Guisui's garrison brigade first. Their strength is relatively weak, and the corruption problem in the army is also quite serious. I think we should support General Zhang and use similar forces to destroy the garrison brigade as soon as possible, and then destroy the Ulanqab Security Brigade when it is not prepared. This will relieve our pressure."

Di Xiong carefully observed the map on the wall, then said: "Those two miscellaneous brigades must be eliminated, but the two brigades of the Second Division of Shanxi cannot be ignored, and Baotou cannot be abandoned just like that. We must first send three battalions to support General Zhang, leave a battalion of new recruits to guard Baotou, and a battalion of new recruits to go to Tokto. We must dig blocking positions in advance, but fighting requires speed. General Zhang's side must also be attacked as soon as possible. I will let someone send a telegram to inform him of this. We, together with General Zhang's troops, must eliminate the two miscellaneous brigades as soon as possible. We cannot rest after the battle. We must rush to Tokto as soon as possible to block the two field brigades of Shanxi, otherwise one battalion of new recruits will not be able to stop two brigades. This will probably be a very exhausting battle. We all have to go out, and everyone should be mentally prepared."

In more than a month of construction in Baotou, the Baotou Patrol Regiment has expanded to five battalions, but two of the battalions have only been established for one month, and their combat effectiveness is really worrying.

Everyone said they were ready, so Di Xiong sent a telegram to Zhang Shaozeng and asked the three battalions to prepare for a forced march. They had to rush to the outside of Guisui before the Baoan Brigade, so as to achieve a quick victory and defeat them one by one. The battle of Guisui was mainly fought by Zhang Shaozeng's troops, and Di Xiong and his men were only assisting Zhang Shaozeng. Guisui was originally under the jurisdiction of Zhang Shaozeng, the general of Suiyuan, and it was legitimate to drive out the foreign forces.

Zhang Shaozeng of Guisui was also convening a meeting of his trusted men. After Di Xiong captured Baotou, he seized a large amount of supplies and sent Zhang Shaozeng food, cloth, medicine, weapons and ammunition worth 80,000 oceans. Zhang Shaozeng and his regiment commanders gained confidence. The two patrol regiments were expanded into a patrol brigade with three regiments. Zhang Shaozeng served as the brigade commander, Zhang Zhijiang became the deputy brigade commander and commander of the first regiment, Shi Jingting was still the commander of the second regiment, and Zhang Shusheng was promoted to commander of the third regiment.

After receiving the telegram, Zhang Shaozeng said to his confidants: "Brother Di's idea coincides with ours. We should take this opportunity to concentrate three regiments to eliminate the Guisui Guard Brigade and the Ulanbucha Security Brigade, and then join forces to deal with the two brigades of Wen Shouquan, the reinforcements of the Jin Army."

Zhang Shaozeng's adviser Wang Fangting said, "If Yuan Shikai's government knew about our war with the Shanxi army, would they be enraged and punish the general?"

Zhang Zhijiang said: "From the beginning, they were the first to attack our Baotou Patrol Corps. We just fought back in self-defense. We are not afraid of them even if we go to Beijing to sue them. Besides, the Shanxi Army is not a direct line of the Beiyang Army. Maybe Yuan Shikai will be very happy to hear that the Shanxi Army has suffered losses and has been weakened."

Zhang Shaozeng said: "Since Song Changde was killed last month, the southern provinces have been outraged, accusing Yuan Xiangcheng of assassination after his election defeat. The leaders of the southern revolutionary party have contacted armed forces in various places and are preparing to overthrow the Beiyang government by force. At this time, Yuan Xiangcheng's government is very nervous. It is borrowing money from foreign powers, purchasing weapons and ammunition, and preparing for war. It will not take into account the remote place of Suiyuan for the time being. So as long as we defeat the Jin army, we can gain a firm foothold in Suiyuan."

Wang Fangting said: "I am worried that Yuan Shikai will settle the score later. In addition, Yan Xishan will be the first to file a complaint. Last time, they falsely accused the Baotou Patrol Corps of colluding with the Mongolian bandits and used this crime to attack the Patrol Corps."

Shi Jingting said angrily: "Colluding with the Mongolian bandits? I think the Jin army is colluding with the Mongolian bandits. After all, we are fighting bloody battles in the front to fight the Mongolian bandits, but they are stabbing us in the back. If this is not collusion with the Mongolian bandits, what is it?"

Zhang Shusheng said: "The winner is the king, the loser is the enemy. As long as we are the winners and they become prisoners, we can accuse them of any crime. If they want to live, they have to admit all the crimes."

Zhang Shaozeng sighed, "This time, the commander of the Jin army, Wen Shouquan, was also a hero in the Taiyuan anti-Qing uprising. I didn't expect that he would have to fight to the death with us on the battlefield. It's really heartbreaking!"

Zhang Zhijiang said: "At the end of last year, Yan Xishan betrayed the Tongmenghui and joined Yuan Shikai for the throne of the governor of Shanxi. Many generals of the Taiyuan anti-Qing uprising left Taiyuan, including the then commander-in-chief Yao Yijia. Wen Shouquan stayed and became an accomplice of Yan Xishan. We had no choice but to fight."

At the meeting, Zhang Shaozeng and his officers worked out a detailed battle plan, preparing to attack the Guisui Guard Brigade at five o'clock tomorrow morning. The charges against them were: colluding with Mongolian bandits and harming the people.