Black Flag Army

October 31, 1914 was the birthday of the Japanese Emperor Taisho, which the Japanese called "Tencho Day". The Japanese generals wanted to capture Qingdao on this day to pay tribute to the Emperor, so they launched a general attack on the German troops in Qingdao. However, the German army fought desperately, and the two sides fought fiercely for six days and six nights. More than a thousand Japanese soldiers were killed in the battle, and they only captured some areas but did not capture Qingdao. As the Beiyang government withdrew its garrison, Chinese people in Jimo, Laoshan and other places around Qingdao were burned, killed and looted by the Japanese army. The death toll far exceeded the casualties of both Japan and Germany. When the news spread to other parts of Shandong, people fled their hometowns one after another, and the refugee tide increased from hundreds of thousands to several million. Millions of Shandong refugees flocked to Beijing, Tianjin, Zhili and Shanxi. These places already had many refugees and could not accommodate so many refugees. As a result, there were more and more conflicts between local people and outsiders, and the number of refugees dying of starvation and freezing continued to increase. More and more brothels opened in Beijing and Tianjin, and the number of bandits in various places increased. At this time, a rumor spread among the refugees, "There is a city called Beitang in Outer Mongolia where you can survive. There are enough white flour buns and delicious mutton." There was also a newspaper called "Justice Daily" that could only be bought on the black market. There was an article on the front page with the title "Beitang City, a Paradise on Earth".

In order to survive, batches of refugees flocked to Suiyuan and Chahar, and from Suiyuan and Chahar to the border of Outer Mongolia. The local warlords were troubled by the various problems brought by the refugees and were eager for them to leave. Therefore, they did not prevent them from crossing the border to Outer Mongolia, but they would not provide any help. There was a platoon of border guards at the Chagan, Tal, and Sulan border checkpoints on the Outer Mongolian border to receive refugees. After registration, they distributed food and cotton clothes. Although these people wore the uniforms of the Outer Mongolian Border Guards, they were actually soldiers of the Justice Army. The old soldiers at the checkpoints received a forged document from the Kulun government, notifying them that they could retire because they were too old. Each of the old soldiers received a retirement bonus of dozens of silver dollars from the herald and went home happily. A company of the Justice Army took over the three border checkpoints adjacent to Suiyuan and Chahar.

As the Beiyang government strengthened its management of Suiyuan, it equipped the Suiyuan army with two wooden planes for patrol. The planes of the Justice Army could no longer enter Suiyuan. After the refugees were registered and classified, outstanding talents and technicians could take the plane, which would take them directly to Beitang City after several refueling stops. Ordinary refugees could only walk through the Gobi Desert. There was no other way. There were too few planes, the transportation cost was too high, and there were too many refugees.

A registered soldier said to a middle-aged man with a mustache, "Mr. Zhou, you are a professor at Peking University. You can take a plane. Why do you want to walk?"

Mr. Zhou smiled and said, "Your superiors not only value technical personnel, but also cultural people! I am not going to Beitang City, I am just going to take a look. I am voluntarily going with the refugees, you don't have to worry about me."

In this Gobi Desert, countless refugees in ragged clothes were heading towards Beitang City in twos and threes. They were either in groups or families, yearning for a paradise. In fact, the literacy rate of the general public during this period was quite low. Only the rich could enjoy reading. In fact, not many people could really understand the "Justice Daily". For these refugees on the road, if you randomly asked a few of them, it is estimated that they would not recognize a single word. Therefore, in response to this phenomenon, each intelligence group of the Baotou Intelligence Station arranged storytellers to hide in the corners where the poor were present to interpret the content of the "Justice Daily", which allowed more and more people to know about Beitang City.

Suiyuan's Baotou intelligence station was able to promote foreign places so unscrupulously, which was due to the chaotic political situation in the local area. It was the inaction of the local government that gave them room to survive. During the period after Di Xiong left Baotou, the situation in Suiyuan fell into turmoil. As early as half a month after Di Xiong left, Yan Xishan's Jin army once again captured Baotou and fought with Pan Juying's Beiyang Army. Just one month later, the Ma family army also used thousands of cavalry to attack Baotou and launched a fire conflict with the Jin army. It turned out that Ma Fuxiang, who had suffered a loss from Di Xiong before, did not swallow his anger and had been looking for an opportunity to retaliate against Di Xiong, but he did not expect to encounter the Jin army. So the two armies, who did not know why, started a bloody battle again. Under the fierce offensive of the Ma family army, the Jin army suffered heavy losses, and Baotou was almost in danger of being lost. At the critical moment, the Baotou garrison urgently mobilized aircraft to support, which made the Ma family army flee. Of course, all this happened in the spring of 1914. The infighting among the three warlords resulted in hundreds of thousands of refugees in Suiyuan, a large number of fields were abandoned, and countless poor people died of hunger and cold.

By autumn, the land of Suiyuan began to become uneasy again. Pan Juying once again attacked Yan Xishan because of the Baotou incident. The two sides began to fight for territory in the central and western regions of Suiyuan. The already dilapidated cities and towns in the area fell into disaster again. The governments of many places became completely empty shells, which allowed the Justice Party intelligence stations set up in Suiyuan to exploit many loopholes.

Now, due to the propaganda of the Justice Party, a large number of refugees are constantly moving towards Beitang City. They all hope that Beitang City will have the good life they yearn for. However, the road to Beitang City is not as easy as these refugees imagine. Even though Di Xiong set up many supply stations along the way, some people still starved to death on the way before they could reach the station. The local weather and natural disasters are also a major difficulty and obstacle. Many people cannot adapt to the local climate at all and fell ill on the road. The medical resources of the supply stations are also quite limited. Sometimes conflicts break out among refugees for medical treatment. Of course, the reason for the conflict is not just medical treatment. In order to take care of the refugees, Di Xiong arranged for airplanes to deliver a certain amount of food regularly. This decision cannot completely solve the problem of food and clothing for all refugees. When many people see the plane, a fight often breaks out. After all, the Republic of China during this period was very short. The people of different ethnic groups rarely know about the issue of moral quality. They just hope that they can eat more. As for the life and death of others, they don’t care at all. In the end, the strong or armed people usually win, and the food put down is often snatched away by them. Occasionally, some cunning people will hide in the dark and look for opportunities to take away some food belonging to others. Most of these conflicts occur in places that the supply stations cannot see. The refugees will also report these problems when they arrive at the supply stations. In order to resolve the conflicts, the army at the supply stations distributed guns and ammunition to some reliable old soldiers and guides. The young and strong people who could not shoot were also given swords and javelins, hoping that they could help maintain order. This eased the conflicts among the refugees to a certain extent.

However, the refugee group faced more than just these problems. One day in November 1914, on a hillside outside the city of Daranza, a woman dressed in Mongolian clothes was looking at the refugee group not far away with a telescope. This person was Xiang Yuefangzi, who was wanted by Di Xiong. It was she who instigated Prince Mulun to cut off the water supply, which almost brought disaster to the Beihai Company. The price she paid was just sleeping with the lustful Prince Mulun a few times. She had sensed the danger before the defeat of Mulun's Mongolian army, so she fled from Mulun when Di Xiong's army attacked. She knew many princes in Mongolia. After all, there were many contradictions between Japan and Russia, so Japan actually made a lot of intelligence informants in Mongolia. Not many of these Mongolian nobles were loyal to the Russians. After Xiang Yuefangzi left Mulun, she relied on a radio to call for a plane from Tianjin for support again. She got seven assistants again and re-formed the intelligence team. At this time, Xiangyue's wife hated Di Xiong to the core. She planned to get rid of Di Xiong before leaving Mongolia. This time, she set her sights on the refugee team heading to Beitang City. A few days ago, she brought the intelligence team to Daranza City. Under the heavy reward and seduction, the local Daranza Prince reached a cooperation with Xiangyue's wife. They gathered more than 1,000 local Mongolian troops and more than 2,000 nearby horse bandits, intending to launch an attack and looting on the refugee transportation line arranged by Di Xiong.

At this time, about three thousand cavalrymen were just behind Xiangyue's house. Prince Darlanza looked at Xiangyue's house holding a telescope, and felt anxious, because they had been in the wind and sand for almost half an hour. He couldn't help but ask: "Miss House, what are you looking at? Those refugees are like beggars, and they are just a bunch of trash after all. We have so many people, can we be defeated by them?"

Xiang Yuefangzi put down the telescope and said, "Your Excellency, I am just being cautious as usual. If the enemy are only those refugees, then there is no need to be afraid. I am observing whether there are any ambushed Beitang City troops nearby. What if the refugees in front of you are just a trap set by the other side, then you will be committing suicide if you rush up. I didn't see any army just now, and since your Excellency is so anxious, you can do it now."

Prince Daranza, who had been impatient for a long time, immediately led the army behind him and rushed forward. A mighty cavalry team rushed towards the crowd of refugees. Xiang Yuefangzi, who planned this operation, quietly left the place with her intelligence team. She knew that these people in front of her would most likely be retaliated by Di Xiong, and this action was purely to disgust Di Xiong and ruin the reputation of Beitang City. Now she was considering the next plan again and disappeared from this place.

The refugees are still on their way. They look at the endless Gobi Desert, not knowing how far away Beitang City is. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and a tall refugee's head suddenly exploded with a blood flower, and then he fell to the ground and died, scaring the people around him. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out not far away, and many people were shot and fell down. Some refugees looked around and noticed the incoming enemy. However, the previous gunshots had disrupted the order of the refugees. After all, they were not a well-trained army. Naturally, they fell into panic and chaos at this time, running away in all directions. There were children crying, women screaming, and the elderly fell to the ground and were trampled to death. At this time, under the call of a guide, the armed refugees stood up and called on those with horses to run to the nearest supply station to report the news. Some people who were good at riding horses immediately rode the few horses and rushed towards the supply station quickly.

Although there were over 10,000 refugees in this group, there was no convincing organizer and less than 200 people had guns, so they were in complete chaos. Mr. Zhou from Peking University was among them. He helped the guide maintain order, but no one listened to him.

The guide was a young man in his twenties with a long scar on his forehead. He shouted, "Don't run! The enemy is cavalry. Running away will lead to death. Only by resisting firmly can we have a chance of survival."

Long Scar was the first to walk out of the crowd and face the cavalry. He raised his rifle, aimed, and fired. With one shot, an enemy cavalryman fell off his horse. The other refugees with guns immediately gained confidence. They mustered up the courage to follow Long Scar's guide and raised their rifles to the Mongolian cavalry.

However, the Mongolian army's attack continued, more and more refugees were shot and fell, and the team's panic continued. More than a hundred refugees with guns also opened fire at the enemy, and more than a dozen cavalrymen fell on the way forward. However, the difference in firepower between the two sides was still too great. The Mongolian cavalry also noticed the refugees with guns. Both sides picked up their rifles and started shooting at each other in an instant. In just a few minutes, most of the gunmen in the refugee team were shot dead, and Changba was also injured, but he and the surviving gunmen were still shooting tenaciously. Although the enemy was getting closer and closer, the courage of these people may have inspired some people. Some brave refugees took weapons from the bodies of the dead and continued to shoot at the Mongolian cavalry. Some refugees threw out their javelins and hit several cavalrymen who were rushing in front and knocked them off their horses.

Unfortunately, the enemy was too fast. They rushed to the front of the refugee team with only more than 50 casualties. They drew their sabers with ferocious faces. A massacre was inevitable. At this time, a buzzing sound was heard in the air. Two planes flew towards the Mongolian army. Although they were transport planes carrying food and cotton clothes for the refugees, they were also equipped with machine guns and grenades. They could be used as bombers when necessary, and cluster grenades were dropped as bombs. The machine guns on the planes made a "da da da" sound, and the cavalrymen who rushed to the front were shot and fell off their horses. Cluster grenades were dropped, and with a loud bang, the Mongolian army was blown upside down. A regiment commander under Prince Daranza was also killed in the explosion. The cavalrymen behind were scared. The horse bandits in the cavalry turned around and ran away, and the other cavalrymen also turned around.

The refugees cheered. At this time, a cavalry company from the supply station also arrived. They quickly dismounted, set up three machine guns, and quickly threw a large number of yellow pocket mines, also known as egg mines, on the yellow sand. When Prince Darlanza organized the second attack, the cavalrymen were blown to pieces by the pocket mines. The firepower network formed by the three machine guns also knocked down more than a hundred cavalrymen. Seeing the increasing casualties, Prince Darlanza sighed and ordered a retreat under the persuasion of his officers.

Mr. Zhou said to Long Scar: "Your army is very powerful!"

Long Scar said: "This is just the Justice Army's second-line troops. Mr. Zhou hasn't seen the real field troops yet!"

Just as Xiang Yuefangzi had judged, the revenge of the Justice Army came swiftly and fiercely. On the second night, three bombers bombed the city of Daranza, causing a raging fire. After the bombing, six transport planes sent a battalion of troops to the city of Daranza. This army was the field force mentioned by Changba. After a night of fighting, on the morning of the third day, the flag of the Erdenet Guard Brigade was raised on the top of the city of Daranza.