Black Flag Army

On a morning in March 1913, fierce gunfire and explosions broke out in Guisui City. The people in the city were so scared that they closed their doors. On the street, breakfast restaurants that had been open for business closed their doors again. Many people looked out through the cracks in the doors and windows and saw the patrol brigade in gray cloth uniforms and the security brigade in black uniforms engaging in a gunfight. The patrol brigade attacked very fiercely, and the security brigade was beaten back step by step. Many of the dead and wounded of the security brigade lay on the ground, and some knelt on the ground to surrender. The people of Guisui had a bad impression of the security brigade that liked to bully the citizens. Seeing that they were defeated, they secretly cheered. Of course, there were also people who were worried about them, naturally the families of the security brigade and the people of the governor's office.

A lieutenant colonel officer from the Guard Brigade with blood all over his face rushed into the brigade headquarters and shouted, "General Zhao, the outer positions have been lost. We can't stop them. Let's break out quickly."

In the brigade meeting room, the obese Suiyuan governor Zhao Chengyuan looked pale. Since becoming the Suiyuan governor, Zhao Chengyuan made hundreds of thousands of dollars in less than a year, married four beautiful concubines, and occupied tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, but he did not strengthen the equipment and training of the security brigade.

Brigade commander Zhao Fu cursed the officer who reported the news: "Yi Mazi, you are a waste! Even if Zhang Shaozeng has three regiments, we also have three regiments. They attack and we defend. Their casualties should be greater than ours. Why did they lose the outer position so quickly?"

The regiment commander Yi Mazi defended himself anxiously, "The enemy is well-trained and brave. General Zhang Zhijiang is personally commanding the front line. Moreover, they have added several mortars. The shells are very accurate. All my machine gunners were killed. There is really no way to stop them."

Zhao Fu said: "Zhang Zengzeng's weapons have always been worse than ours, and he is also poorer than us. We don't even have mortars, so where do they get mortars from?"

Yi Mazi said: "The Baotou Patrol Regiment even has 90mm infantry guns, so what's a 60mm mortar? It's probably a gift from Beihai Company, which has plenty of money."

Zhao Chengyuan sighed, "If I had known that when the Japanese businessman came to sell me a few months ago, I would have bought a few mortars. I thought they were too expensive at the time and I didn't want to buy them. Now it's too late to regret. I didn't expect the mortar to be so lethal. I didn't expect that the guy named Di Moshan would actually give the mortars to Zhang Shaozeng for free. Is this guy mentally ill?"

Wang Jing'an, the garrison commander who had fled from Baotou to Guisui, said: "Now is not the time to regret, quickly give the order to break out!"

Zhao Chengyuan said: "Then let's retreat to the Dutong Mansion. There is a guard camp there, a solid brick and stone bunker, and eight Maxim machine guns. Once the Ulanbucha Security Brigade arrives, we will be saved. Ji Quanzhong is still a good fighter, and the Mongolians under him dare to fight to the death. Most of Zhang Shaozeng's men are new recruits, and there are not many soldiers who can fight."

This guard battalion was the regular army that Zhao Chengyuan brought from Taiyuan. It not only had eight Maxim machine guns, but also dozens of light and heavy machine guns, and more than 500 people. It was a reinforced battalion. Zhao Chengyuan had high hopes for this battalion, so he was willing to spend money to equip them with weapons.

The Guard Brigade immediately followed Zhao Chengyuan's instructions. In fact, there were only less than two regiments left, and they began to retreat gradually. However, the order of the retreat was quite chaotic, and people continued to die from artillery shells and bullets. The breakout process was quite slow. Bullets disrupted the Guard Brigade's steps like raindrops. Noisy shouting filled every position. Many of them were frightened and did not even have the courage to leave the bunker.

Just as the Guard Brigade was slowly breaking out, Zhang Peisong, the former police chief of Guisui, was rushing to the Dutong Mansion with a brigade of police. He had been beaten by thugs hired by the Guard Brigade before, and even the service hall was burned, so he had long been resentful of Zhao Chengyuan. Seeing the Patrol Brigade and the Guard Brigade fighting, Zhang Peisong thought that the opportunity for revenge had finally come, so he prepared to lead people to seize the Dutong Mansion. His police force had a great convenience, that is, the uniforms were exactly the same as those of the Guard Brigade. Since the Republic of China was established less than a year ago, the police system was not perfect, and the clothes of soldiers and police in many places were quite chaotic, so it was not uncommon to have the same uniforms. Zhang Peisong seized the loophole in the uniforms. He ordered his policemen to tie white cloth strips on their arms to distinguish them from the troops of the Guard Brigade, and soon arrived at the door of the Dutong Mansion.

The Dutong Mansion left a reinforced battalion of Zhao Chengyuan's security brigade, with slightly more people than the police. When two guards saw Zhang Peisong's police force coming, one of them shouted: "Which unit are you from? What are you doing here?"

Since many people in the Governor's Mansion had seen Zhang Peisong, he hid in the crowd and did not show up. One of his men stepped forward and said, "Brothers, we are Commander Yi's subordinates. Zhang Shaozeng has attacked us. Our brothers have suffered heavy casualties. The Governor is planning to break out. He asked us to notify you quickly..."

Before he finished speaking, the two guards were grabbed by the neck by several policemen, and then both were stabbed to death. Zhang Peisong quickly instructed the police brigade to rush in. Many soldiers in the Dutongfu were lazy, some were gambling, some were sleeping, and some were chatting and bragging. They didn't pay much attention to these strangers who were wearing the same uniforms as themselves. Zhang Peisong led his men to an open area and divided the police into two teams. He led one team to occupy several nearby bunkers, and the other team went to assassinate the guard battalion commander and seize the machine gun. After a while, the police led by the deputy arrived at the room where the officers of the guard battalion were.

The battalion commander and the deputy battalion commander were drinking tea when they suddenly saw some unfamiliar faces. They immediately became alert and subconsciously pulled out their guns while shouting, "Who are you...". "Bang, bang, bang" gunshots rang out, and several officers were bleeding on the spot without even pulling out their guns. At the same time, Zhang Peisong, who had captured a bunker, also shot the soldiers guarding there and took two Maxim machine guns. The other soldiers in the Dutong Mansion heard the gunshots and fell into chaos. Zhang Peisong took advantage of the chaos and led his men to shoot these soldiers with machine guns. Because they were wearing the same uniforms, the guard battalion didn't know which ones were the enemies, and they began to shoot indiscriminately.

After a while, the guard battalion was basically wiped out. Only dozens of soldiers escaped from the Dutong Mansion. The rest were either killed or captured. Zhao Chengyuan's four concubines also became trophies. Zhang Peisong led his men to seize this place in the chaos and killing, and controlled several bunkers here. Eight Maxim machine guns with guns and shields were also seized. He sent some people to send the prisoners to the warehouse and locked them up, and he led his men to the front bunker to wait for Zhao Chengyuan's army.

Zhao Chengyuan's army did not notice the great changes in the Dutong Mansion. After more than 500 casualties, the security brigade finally arrived near the Dutong Mansion. Yi Mazi was hit by a bullet in the arm. Seeing that the gate of the Dutong Mansion was closed, he was quite panicked and rushed to the front and shouted: "You bastards, open the door quickly, Zhang Shaozeng is coming!" Suddenly, several grenades were thrown from the gate tower, and several nearby bunkers opened fire at the same time. Yi Mazi immediately disappeared in the smoke, and the dozen soldiers who rushed to the front were also shot into sieves.

Zhao Fu immediately became alert and said to Zhao Chengyuan: "General, this General's Mansion may have been occupied by Zhang Shaozeng's people. We are going to be attacked from both sides."

Zhao Chengyuan was also caught in fear and was speechless for a moment. With the continuous firing of the machine guns in the bunker, more and more people of the Guard Brigade fell down. The screams of the wounded continued one after another, seriously dampening the morale of the army. Zhang Zhijiang also caught up with the rearguard troops of the Guard Brigade with a regiment at this time, and the two sides started exchanging fire again. At this time, the Guard Brigade lost the advantage of terrain and was completely passive. The situation became unfavorable for the Guard Brigade.

Amid the Patrol Brigade's shouts of "surrender your weapons and we will not kill you" and the sound of machine guns from the Governor's Office, Zhao Chengyuan was completely desperate and lost the will to resist. He ordered all soldiers to give up resistance and surrender to the Patrol Brigade. Soon, a white flag was raised among the crowd of the Guard Brigade. Wang Jing'an did not want to be a prisoner, so he took advantage of the chaos to escape into the alley. When the remnants of the Guard Brigade surrendered, there were less than a thousand people.

Half an hour later, Zhang Shaozeng arrived at the Dutong Mansion, tightly shook Zhang Peisong's hand and said, "Thank you Director Zhang for your help. We took down the sturdy bunker and reduced a lot of casualties for us!"

Zhang Peisong said: "General Zhang saved my life, this little thing is nothing, and besides, I am no longer the director, Yan Xishan has announced that I will be dismissed from the post of police director."

Zhang Shaozeng said with a smile: "Now I have the final say in Suiyuan. If I say you are the director, then you are the director. Besides, your subordinates support you so much and are willing to follow your command. If you don't take the position, who will dare to take it?"

He then shouted to the police: "Tell me, is that right?"

The police officers all replied happily: "General Zhang is right. We support Director Zhang to continue to serve as the Director of Police."

Zhang Shaozeng also said to Zhang Zhijiang and other regiment commanders: "The surrendered officers and soldiers of the garrison brigade must not be harmed, the injured must be treated promptly, and those who have fled must not be pursued. After all, they fought side by side with us in the fight against the Mongolian bandits."

At this time, an intelligence staff officer reported to Zhang Shaozeng that the Ulanbucha Security Brigade had arrived and had engaged in a firefight with the patrol brigade's reconnaissance cavalry outside the east of the city.

Zhang Shaozeng asked Chief of Staff Wang Fangting: "Where is Brother Di's Baotou Patrol Regiment?"

Wang Fangting said, "The vanguard camp is less than ten miles away. We can arrive in half an hour at most."

Zhang Shaozeng ordered Zhang Zhijiang's regiment to clean up the battlefield, and Zhang Shusheng's third regiment to go to the east city wall to meet the Baoan Brigade. He personally led Shi Jingting's regiment to bypass the north gate, preparing to encircle and annihilate the Baoan Brigade together with the Baotou Patrol Regiment.

The commander of the Ulanbucha Security Brigade was a Sinicized Mongolian named Jimuse. He gave himself a Chinese name, Ji Quanzhong, and half of his men were Mongolian cavalry. He learned from the fleeing soldiers of the Security Brigade that Zhao Chengyuan was finished and the Security Brigade was destroyed, so he wanted to retreat back, but was opposed by the Chief of Staff Yan Dafu and the Deputy Brigade Commander Wang Jingquan. The three of them quarreled. Yan Dafu and Wang Jingquan were both Yan Xishan's confidants, and the following regiment commanders also supported them. Ji Quanzhong had no choice but to order an attack on the city. But the strong city was not so easy to capture, and it took a lot of time just to build the siege ladder.

When Zhang Zhenyang led the cavalry battalion to the battlefield, the siege had already begun. More than a hundred bodies fell under the city, all of them were soldiers of the Ulanbucha Security Brigade wearing khaki uniforms. After contacting Zhang Shaozeng, Zhang Zhenyang ordered the cavalry to dismount and rest first, and took the four mortars off the horses and set them up on a high ground. These were just made by the Beihai Ironware Factory a month ago. Due to the short time, only twenty were made, four were given to Zhang Shaozeng, and the rest were distributed to each battalion. Mortars are easy to carry. Although the lethality is smaller than that of infantry guns, the transportation speed is much faster than that of infantry guns.

At the same time, Zhang Shaozeng's mortar was ready to fire.

"What is this sound?"

Ji Quanzhong heard the whistling sound coming from far away and asked hurriedly. Before the others could answer, there was a "boom" explosion, and Ji Quanzhong flew into the air, his body exploded into two pieces, and blood and flesh flew everywhere. The mortar gunners didn't expect to be so lucky, and the first shot killed the enemy brigade commander.

Eight mortars fired three rounds in succession, and the Ulanbucha Security Brigade was blown up and thrown into chaos. The Patrol Brigade and Baotou Patrol Regiment took the opportunity to launch a three-sided attack, and the Ulanbucha Security Brigade quickly collapsed. Ji Quanzhong had a high prestige in the Ulanbucha Security Brigade. His unexpected death made the Mongolian soldiers lose their fighting spirit and fled in all directions. Yan Dafu and Wang Jingquan could not stop them at all, so they had to follow them and fled. The remaining infantry could not escape, so they had to surrender. The battle ended so quickly that Zhang Shaozeng and his men were very surprised.

When Di Xiong arrived at Guisui, the battle was over. Zhang Shaozeng shook Di Xiong's hand and said excitedly: "Thank you for the mortar, brother Di! The deterrent power is so great that in less than ten minutes, the Ulanbucha Security Brigade collapsed, and the fierce guy Ji Quanzhong was also killed. Now Ulanbucha has become our territory. Today I am the real Suiyuan General. Let's go! Enter the city, I will hold a celebration banquet for you at the Hongbin Restaurant."

Di Xiong shook his head and said, "Now is not the time to celebrate. I need to lead my troops to Tokto to stop the Second Division of the Jin Army. This is a regular division. Tokto only has Liu Zhendong's new recruit battalion. It will be too late if we go too late."

Zhang Shaozeng said: "You have come here on a forced march, and the troops are already exhausted. If you continue on a forced march, they will collapse. What's the point of fighting? Besides, it's already noon, and everyone has to eat! After dinner, I will take two regiments with you."

Zhang Zhijiang also said: "Yes! Boss Di! A leader must cherish his subordinates. Look at how tired your soldiers are. As the Art of War says, a tired army cannot stand a fight!"

Di Xiong looked back at everyone's tired faces and agreed to rest for two hours before eating. But he also said, "You can eat. Just get some bread and boiled water. You don't have to go to the big restaurant. It will save time."

When the officers and soldiers of the Baotou Patrol Regiment heard that they could rest for two hours, they cheered happily. The infantrymen sat on the ground and the cavalrymen quickly dismounted to let their horses rest and feed them grass and water.