Black Flag Army

At noon on March 1, 1914, Di Xiong led more than 7,000 people from the Beihai Group and Da Kuisheng Trading Company over mountains and into Outer Mongolia. Of course, there was also a brigade of troops protecting them. This brigade could no longer be called the Baotou Guard Brigade. It was temporarily renamed the Erdenet Palace Guard Brigade to the outside world and the First Brigade of the Justice Army to the inside. There was no army at the Chagan Border Station of Mongolia, only a checkpoint with only four lonely old soldiers on the checkpoint. When they saw so many armed Han people coming, they were so scared that they hid in the stone house next to the checkpoint, which was their dormitory. Erdenet Palace housekeeper Zhebie led people to force the door open and showed the Mongolian puppet government's clearance documents to the sentries who were already kneeling on the ground. The sentries stood up, took the stamps, stamped and let them pass.

Di Xiong said to Wu Zhong, "It took us half a month to walk from Baotou to the border, which is only over 500 kilometers. It's still over 1,000 kilometers to Erdenet. It's too slow. It will take more than two months to get there."

Wu Zhong said: "There is no way. If it were all young people, it would be easy, but the company employees all brought their families with them. The family members include the elderly, women and children, so they can't walk fast at all."

Di Xiong said: "We have the customs documents, so we don't have to worry about the Mongolian puppet government. But there are also many Mongolian horse bandits. The longer we delay on the road, the higher the probability of encountering horse bandits. We must be prepared for battle at any time."

Hu Canglang said: "We have to pass through four mountains in the Altai Mountains on the way. There is a group of horse bandits on each mountain. They are Mugang Mountain, Huomen Mountain, Zhalan Ridge, and Heidiao Cliff."

Di Xiong said: "This team has too many people, their target is too big, and their marching speed is so slow. I'm afraid we won't have peace on the way. There's no guarantee that someone won't target us. Each regiment must be well guarded and ready to fight at any time."

Wu Zhong said: "Brigade Commander Zhang and the three regiment commanders are taking turns on guard. As long as the enemy does not attack the logistics and family members, there should not be too much loss."

Di Xiong added: "Those workers and their families cannot be too lax. They also need to arm themselves and cannot pin all their hopes of survival on the soldiers. If those soldiers focus all their energy on protecting the workers and their families, they will not be able to fight."

At this time Wu Chunfeng smiled and said: "Don't worry, boss. Brother Leng has already given instructions in advance. Except for the elderly and children, the rest of the workers and their families are armed. Even if they don't have guns, at least they have swords and spears."

However, the biggest obstacle for this team was not the bandits, but the increasingly harsh environment. As the team went deeper into Mongolia, the problems caused by various natural environments continued to increase. There were more and more sandstorms, and the Gobi and deserts became more and more difficult to walk. More and more people were suffering from acclimatization, and many people fell ill and fainted. Wu Zhong's body had not yet fully recovered, and Lan Jinping and Bai Xiuling fell ill again. On the third day after entering Outer Mongolia, dozens of elderly people and children fell ill and died. Their families could only cry and bury them hastily on the spot. Several scouts disappeared in the sandstorm, and even their bodies could not be found. They might have been buried by the moving sand dunes. The work pressure of doctors and nurses began to increase continuously. Fortunately, they were numerous and had sufficient medicines. When Liu Zhendong led his men on patrol, he found that there were a lot of various industrial wastes in the local area, with messy parts and wastes everywhere. Perhaps they were produced by the Tsarist Russian factories. Dead cows, sheep and other livestock could be found in some places. It is possible that they accidentally ingested these industrial wastes. This made the already bad local environment even worse. Yuan Suifeng proposed to Di Xiong that when taking water from the water source, it must be tested by a doctor before it can be heated for drinking. Di Xiong immediately issued an order in the name of the Beihai Group's board of directors.

Soon, a company of the cavalry regiment encountered a situation again. A group of wild wolves targeted their team, causing them to play the role of hunters and kill these beasts. Just when they were a little amused, several scouts rode over nervously and reported the sudden situation nearby. It turned out that there were horse neighs in the forest dozens of kilometers to the left of the team. They suspected that there were horse bandits waiting for an opportunity to attack. It turned out that the team had arrived in the Mugangshan area. There are Gobi and deserts everywhere here, and only the Mugangshan area is an oasis with a few forests and grasslands. These people then reported the situation to the head of the regiment, Zhang Shusheng, which made Zhang Shusheng begin to feel a little pressure. Although the cavalry regiment has more than 1,000 people, because the migration troops are too large, they have to indicate the direction for the aircraft, so they have to disperse as units. If the number of enemies is too large, it will still be a bit stressful to deal with them. Another point is about airplanes. This tool was a great help in Baotou, but for this large migration, the bombers carried a large amount of machines and cargo, which made them completely unable to participate in the war. Light fighters did not dare to be deployed casually to save gasoline, and the cavalry had to protect them in time, which turned out to be a burden.

But no matter how many enemies there are, the cavalry regiment must fight to the front line. Zhang Shusheng immediately assembled a battalion of troops and rushed in the direction where the enemy might be, while arranging scouts to pass the message to other troops. Not far away, there was indeed a group of more than 300 horse bandits hiding in a forest, but there were also many sick people in this group of horse bandits. The harsh environment in Mongolia today is unbearable even for the locals, which causes them to walk very slowly. However, they did not expect that their whereabouts had been exposed.

Zhang Shusheng led a cavalry battalion to launch an attack. The explosion of several grenades immediately awakened these already exhausted bandits, and then noisy gunshots rang out. Zhang Shusheng's troops charged at the horse bandits accompanied by gunshots. These mob of bandits immediately fell into panic, and in less than a quarter of an hour, they left behind more than a hundred bodies and fled for their lives.

At this time, two people were watching all this with binoculars in the distance. If Di Xiong and his old subordinates were here, they would know that their old enemies had come again. Yes, the two were Fei Bao and Gou Zongwei. Gou Zongwei said, "Battalion Commander, these bandits are really idiots. They exposed their whereabouts so easily. This will not have any effect at all."

Because Fei Bao saved Song Muyan last year, Song Muyan recruited new soldiers and expanded the army to more than 2,000 people. Fei Bao was promoted to battalion commander with more than 300 people under him, and Gou Zongwei also became a company commander.

Fei Bao put down the telescope and said with a smile: "Do I still expect them to kill Di Congmo? These people are just greedy for money. They are purely trying to attract the attention of the cavalry. I won't feel sorry if they die. Fortunately, there are more than just that group of baits. I have arranged four groups of people to deal with them. This time I have to give these 'good brothers' of the Flying Eagle Gang a big gift."

Gou Zongwei said: "Battalion Commander, I think those bandits are unreliable guys. Even if there are more people, it will be useless."

Fei Bao added: "We didn't count on them in the first place. They are guys that don't matter if they die. In the end, we have to rely on ourselves to eliminate them."

Gou Zongwei was still a little nervous. He continued to ask: "Our troops are only a few hundred people, and the military skills of those Mongolians may not be as good as those of the horse bandits. After all, they are birds of a feather. Can it really work?"

Fei Bao continued, "Whether it will work or not depends on how much effect those bandits used as bait can have. We can't just watch them go to Erdenet. I won't be willing to give up. I have to give it a try. What if I can get rid of them? Besides, if we can't beat them, we can still run away. This is not the first time we have to escape. Don't say anything more. Hurry up and notify those horse bandits who have not been exposed. After 20 minutes, attack that team from three directions. I don't know what that Erdenet Prince Huter was thinking. He actually let the wolf into the house and invited the Beihai Company to Mongolia. This is good. We have more chances to take revenge. Even if it doesn't work this time, there will be next time."

Seeing that Fei Bao was determined to do so, Gou Zongwei did not say anything more and went to convey the order obediently. Fei Bao's tactic was to use horse bandits to pretend to be refugees to sneak into the migrating army, and then suddenly attack, disrupting the team with internal and external cooperation. He would then lead the elite cavalry to charge in. Even if he could not kill Di Congmo, he would kill Leng Hanbing, Wu Chunfeng and other traitors.

The bandit leader who cooperated with Fei Bao was called Hada, the leader of Mugang Village, a red-faced man in his forties. He selected dozens of old and young bandits from the bandits, and called several female bandits to disguise them as a refugee group, which looked like there were old people, women and children. The leader of this refugee group was Hada's wife Du Landuo. She said to Hada: "Boss, what if we are found out? Fei Bao, that cunning Han Chinese, is using us as cannon fodder!"

Hada said: "Fei Bao gave us five 'big yellow croakers', and he will give us five more after the job is done. If you want to make money, you have to take risks! I let Lao Lutou follow you. If something goes wrong, you turn around and run. Lao Lutou will cover you, and you don't have to worry about others."

Dulando had no choice but to agree. When the ragged "refugees" walked ten miles away from the migrating army, they were stopped by the reconnaissance cavalry of the First Brigade of the Justice Army. The cavalry company commander Liu Bao shouted, "Who are you? Don't come closer, or I'll shoot."

Dulando, with black ash on her face, said in a pitiful tone: "We are all refugees who have fled famine. We really can't survive. Please let us join you to have a meal. We can all work. I heard that the boss of your Beihai Company is a good man and has taken in many refugees. If you drive us away, we will die."

Liu Bao was in a dilemma. If he insisted on driving them away, wouldn't it ruin his boss's reputation? He thought for a moment and said to Dulanduo, "Wait a minute. I'll send someone to ask the people above."

He asked the cavalrymen to take some bread from their dry food bags and distribute it to the "refugees", and sent a cavalryman to report the matter to the brigade chief of staff Liu Chengliang, his father.

At this time, Liu Chengliang and Zhang Zhenyang were in the tent, listening to Di Xiong talk about the geography and history of the Altai Mountains. Di Xiong said: "The Altai Mountains span the borders of China, Tsarist Russia, and Outer Mongolia, stretching for 2,000 kilometers; the Altai Mountains in China belong to the middle southern slope, in Xinjiang Province, the mountain body is more than 500 kilometers long, and it is adjacent to the Junggar Basin in the south. The main ridge is more than 3,000 meters high. The highest peak in the north is Friendship Peak, which is more than 4,000 meters above sea level; the mountain body in the west is the widest, and it becomes narrower and lower towards the southeast; from the east, the mountain body is the highest peak in the north, and it is the highest peak in the north, which is more than 4,000 meters above sea level; from the east, the mountain body is the widest, and it becomes narrower and lower towards the southeast; from the east, the mountain body is the highest peak in the north, and it is the highest peak in the north, which is more than 4,000 meters above sea level; from the east, the mountain body is the highest peak in the north, and it becomes narrower and lower towards the southeast; from the east, the mountain body is the highest peak in the north, and it is the highest peak in the north, which is more than 4,000 meters above sea level; from the east, the mountain body is the highest peak in the west ... west, and it is the highest peak in the west, and it is the highest peak in the west, and it is the highest peak in the west, and it is the highest peak in the west, and it is the highest peak in the west, and it is the highest peak in The northern border gradually descends to the Irtysh River Valley to the southwest, presenting four steps, with block and layered mountain contours; only in the high mountains are there glacial landforms and modern glaciers; except for the fault basins distributed in a string-like manner along the northwest fault, there are no large longitudinal valleys; the Altai Mountains can be regarded as a typical fault-block mountain. During the Han Dynasty, China crossed the Altai Mountains many times to capture the northern desert, such as Huo Qubing of the Western Han Dynasty who captured the Wolf Mountain, and Dou Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty who captured the Yanran Mountain, but later gave up. "

Liu Chengliang said: "Mr. Di, you are talking about Fenglangjuxu and Yanran Stone Carving, right? Why did the Han Dynasty give up?"

Di Xiong said: "Because of the harsh environment of the Altai Mountains under our feet, most of the area is desert and Gobi, there is not even a tree, not to mention people, even animals can't survive. To control the northern desert for a long time, we have to cross the long life forbidden zone, which brings huge pressure and astonishing waste to logistics. The Han Dynasty court could not afford such a high price and had to give up. Later, the Tang Dynasty and Ming Dynasty also recovered Outer Mongolia when they were strong, but for the same reason, they could only station a small number of troops in a few cities such as Kulun, leaving the local nomadic tribes in a semi-independent state. Once the Central Plains dynasty weakened, the nomadic tribes rose rapidly and even replaced it."

Zhang Zhenyang said: "It is indeed very difficult to control Outer Mongolia. Aren't we repeating the mistakes made by our predecessors? I heard that Outer Mongolia is extremely poor. How can we survive in Erdenet with more than 7,000 people?"

Di Xiong said: "Outer Mongolia actually has rich resources, and it is no problem to feed tens of millions of people. Now the total population of Outer Mongolia is only more than 5 million, and most of them live in poverty. This is the incompetence of the local rulers. After arriving in Erdenet, I have a way to make everyone not only survive, but also live a prosperous life."

Just as Liu Chengliang was about to speak, Liu Bao's personal soldiers came and reported to Liu Chengliang what had just happened in a low voice.

Liu Chengliang cursed: "You idiot! Are you still asking me about this? Get rid of them all, and shoot those who resist!"

Di Xiong asked, "What's going on?"

Liu Chengliang said: "Liu Bao encountered a group of suspicious refugees who came to seek refuge. He suspected that they were bandits, but he was also worried that they might accidentally hurt innocent people. He didn't know what to do."

Di Xiong said, "All the herdsmen we met along the way avoided us. This is the first time that refugees have come to us. I have nothing to do for the time being, so I'll go and take a look."