Black Flag Army

Chapter 123: Everything is War

Because the war situation was tense, everything had to be kept simple. Di Xiong set up a tomb for Hong Tianlie, with "The Tomb of Hong Tianlie, a Mohist of the Justice Party" engraved on the tombstone. He called together the old brothers and sisters of the Xihe Society and held a simple memorial service for Hong Tianlie to commemorate the first Mohist who died in the Justice Party. At the meeting, Di Xiong read Hong Tianlie's suicide note. Lan Jinping and Bai Xiuling burst into tears, Leng Hanbing, Wu Chunlei and Wu Chunfeng also shed tears. Tian Mengxue, Su Jinxu, Li Laoshi, Du Yongzhong and other old Xihe Society members all attended the memorial service.

After the memorial service, Di Xiong ordered Tian Mengxue to send a telegram to Yin Quan of the Beijing Intelligence Station, asking him to get rid of the traitor Jiang Tabi and the resigned Dong Huailiang. When Hong Tianlie rebuilt the Flying Eagle Gang, Jiang Tabi was a small leader under Hong Tianlie. When Xian Yuji seduced Huter, he also helped to act. Because he was ugly, he was insulted and ridiculed by Hong Tianlie many times. He held a grudge and eventually betrayed Hong Tianlie. After Duan Qirui came to power, he made his confidant Wu Bingxiang the chief of the police department. Without a backstage, Dong Huailiang was transferred to the police academy as a vice president with a position but no power. It is not difficult to get rid of a powerless person.

After the last meeting, Di Xiong ordered the opening of casinos and brothels in Beitang City. The business was very good, with an income of hundreds of thousands of silver dollars that month. As a result, casinos and brothels were also opened in other cities and counties in western Mengxi. While this brought huge income to the Beihai Group, side effects also appeared. People of good character were forced into prostitution, gamblers jumped off buildings, and jealousy in brothels caused bloody conflicts. The police departments of Beitang City and other cities and counties were under great pressure and were forced to expand their teams.

Some intellectuals who defected to Beitang were also disappointed with the Justice Party. Several teachers from Zhengqing School resigned in anger. Several newspaper editors and reporters also resigned and left. The front page of the Justice Daily appeared an article signed by Lin Yishui titled "On the Evils of Brothels and Gambling Houses", which denounced the Justice Party's wrong practice of opening brothels and gambling houses.

Gu Xingzhi, the section chief of the Supervision Department, went to the chairman's office to find Di Xiong and asked him to arrest Lin Yishui. She said angrily: "We invited him from Beijing to Beitang. He was so poor that he was almost starving to death. We gave him a mansion and a car, and made him the president with a high salary. This guy is full and satisfied, and he actually wrote an article to scold us. Even a dog knows to protect its owner, but he is an ungrateful person. Now we have arrested him and put him in the torture room to let him taste the taste of life worse than death."

Di Xiong shook his head and said, "It was wrong for us to open casinos and brothels. Although we had no choice, it is normal to be scolded. If he is arrested, no one will dare to tell the truth. If there is not even one true word in a newspaper, what is the point of running a newspaper?"

Di Xiong's part-time secretary Yang Lushuang said: "Lin Yishui, as the president of Justice Daily, actually wrote an article to criticize the Justice Party. It's ridiculous. He didn't even ask us why we wanted to run a casino and a brothel. He didn't understand the boss's difficulties at all."

Di Xiong said: "Everything we are doing now is for the war, the war to recover the lost territory in the north, including the Beihai Lake water diversion project, and also to feed tens of millions of people in Outer Mongolia, and then select young and strong people from them to form an army to participate in the war. For this historical mission given to us by heaven, all insults must be endured."

Gu Xingzhi was surprised and said, "Is it just like that? Wouldn't that be too easy for that guy?"

Di Xiong said, "I'll explain it to him when I have time, but I'm sure I don't have time now. The October Revolution broke out in Tsarist Russia. The Poor Party, the Socialist Party, and the Meng Party completely fell out. The two sides fought each other. In the end, the Poor Party, with its large numbers, seized control of Moscow and overthrew the provisional government, but other places fell into greater chaos. This was originally a good opportunity for us to recruit soldiers, train troops, and then attack, but the Japanese always come to make trouble. They and the Beiyang government gathered troops from five provinces to attack us. We can only fight with all our strength and then talk about recovering the lost territory."

Lin Yishui was writing materials in his study when his wife Ping Yue'e walked in with a look of panic and said, "The chairman's wife is here. She must be here to settle accounts with you. This is a disaster."

Lin Yishui's hand trembled as he wrote, and he asked, "How many people did she bring with her?"

Ping Yue'e said, "I only brought two guards."

Lin Yishui was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "Two guards are enough to deal with a weak scholar like me."

Lan Jinchun walked into the living room and saw Lin Yishui and his wife standing in the living room looking at her nervously. They didn't invite her to sit down or serve her tea. Lin Yishui said, "What's the matter with you, Mrs. Di? We have packed our bags. Whether they fire me as president or take me to jail, I am ready."

Lan Jinchun covered his mouth and laughed, "You are too paranoid. I am just a teacher at Zhengqing School. If they want to arrest you, it should be someone from the Supervision Department. If they want to expel you, it should be the general manager of Beihai Group who issued the official document. How could I do such a thing?"

Lin Yishui and his wife breathed a sigh of relief. Ping Yue'e quickly asked her to sit down and poured her a cup of tea. Lin Yishui said, "Although you are only the vice-principal and teacher of Zhengqing School, your husband is the supreme ruler of western Outer Mongolia. He is in Beitang City and can do whatever he wants. For example, if I offend him now, he can kill me as easily as crushing an ant. So when we see you coming, we are also very scared."

Lan Jinchun said seriously, "My husband is definitely not a person who abuses power, otherwise I would not have married him. I came here on my own today, not because he asked me to come. The article you wrote really hurt my husband's reputation. I hope you won't write it again. The top leaders of the Justice Party are very aware of the harm of casinos and brothels. In order to raise funds for the water diversion project, they had no choice but to open them. They promised at the meeting that as long as enough funds were raised, they would immediately stop these harmful industries. The Beihai Lake Water Diversion Project will benefit the present and future generations and can save tens of millions of refugees. President Lin, you are a learned person and should be very clear about which of these two things is more important."

Ping Yue'e didn't wait for Lin Yishui to speak, and said, "Principal Lan is worthy of being a teacher. He speaks with level. Now we understand. The Beihai Lake water diversion project is a big deal, and other small things must give way to it. Where in the world do we not have those casinos and brothels? We are used to them. The Beihai Group has been able to wait until now to open them, which is much better than the Beiyang government. Lin Yishui was so confused that he dared to write an article to scold you. He really doesn't know how to live or die. He was really drunk last night and wrote nonsense. Next time, I will keep a close eye on him and don't let him drink cat urine."

While Ping Yue'e was speaking, she pinched Lin Yishui secretly. Lin Yishui said, "I did act impulsively in this matter. I did not consider the difficulties faced by Mr. Di and the top leaders of the Justice Party. I will publish an apology letter in the newspaper tomorrow. When Mr. Di is free, I will come to apologize in person."

At 8:00 a.m. on November 20, 1917, Di Xiong convened a high-level meeting in the Justice Party meeting room, reported the domestic political situation and the political situation in Tsarist Russia, and then said: "President Feng Huafu did not know in advance that Duan Qirui was cooperating with the Japanese to attack us. After knowing it, the two had a quarrel. Although Feng Huafu is not a hollow president like Li Yuanhong, his strength is mainly in Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Hubei provinces. Duan Qirui still has the final say in Beijing. So we still have to fight this battle with the five-province coalition."

Wu Chunfeng said: "According to the latest news from the Baotou Intelligence Station, Fan Guozhang in Suiyuan does not intend to send troops, but only cuts off the refugee passage and prepares an airport and oil depot for the Japanese Air Force, because his 20th Division was beaten by us before and is already scared. The governor of Chahar, Tian Zhongyu, has never fought with us before, and is preparing to send a brigade to cooperate with the troops of the three northeastern provinces to attack us, so we need at least one regiment to defend Chahar."

Tian Mengxue said: "The intelligence from Kulun said that the troops from the three northeastern provinces have arrived in Kulun, but the troops are in great disarray and low morale, and they look vulnerable."

In 1917, Outer Mongolia was nominally under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China, but in reality it was still controlled by various powers. Japan also had a certain influence in Kulun. After Russia was involved in the internal melee, Japan also stepped up its infiltration of Outer Mongolia. The leader of the Japanese advisory group in Kulun was Ono Ryunosuke. He was quite disappointed when he saw the three Northeastern armies coming here in dishevel and scattered. He originally hoped that more troops from the Northeast would come to participate in the war. Even if he couldn't defeat Erdenet, causing certain casualties to Di Xiong would be considered an explanation to his superiors. But now this beggar-like army made it difficult for him to have the confidence to defeat Erdenet. He was afraid that they would be scattered before they saw the city. Maeda Toru, the deputy next to Ono Ryunosuke, was so angry that his face turned red. He didn't care whether these Northeastern people could understand Japanese or not. He directly used his native language to curse at a group of senior officers headed by Wu Junsheng.

Wu Junsheng seemed indifferent to the Japanese shouting and cursing. He bit a sesame cake while recording the number of deaths, missing and abandoned soldiers of the "29th Division" in a notebook. When the 7,000-strong army arrived here, only 5,000 people were left. A lot of people were left on the way. Wu Junsheng remembered that he was attacked by horse bandits on the way, which caused him to lose a battalion. Even Zhang Jinghui, one of his men, was almost killed by the bandits. Fortunately, the other party's shooting skills were very poor. This prevented them from suffering too much loss. The losses of the 29th Division of the Fengtian Army were so severe that the situation of the two security brigades was not much better. They encountered all kinds of accidents on the way here. The commander and deputy commander of the Jilin Security Brigade have disappeared. The current brigade commanders are also the regiment commanders. The two brigades together have only more than 5,000 people left. Including the Fengtian Army led by Wu Junsheng, the total strength of the entire Northeast Army coming to Mongolia is only about 10,000 people. The three divisions that Zhang Zuolin promised are now less than the number of one division when added together, which will naturally arouse the anger of the Japanese side.

But Wu Junsheng didn't care. The Japanese consultant in front of him was yelling at him in Japanese, which he couldn't understand. He could tell that it wasn't a good thing. He actually had a translator, but since the other party didn't speak Chinese, he continued to play dumb. Seeing that these high-ranking officials of the Northeast Army were playing dumb, Ono Ryunosuke knew that no matter how much Maeda scolded him, he wouldn't care, so he stopped Maeda's scolding and said to Wu Junsheng in not very fluent Chinese: "Mr. Wu, you've worked hard all the way. I heard that your losses were quite large. You were ambushed by the Black Flag Army on the way. The other party used airplanes and artillery to bombard you crazily, which resulted in very few people coming here. This is the dereliction of duty of our intelligence department. My subordinates just impulsively vented their emotions, which was really disgraceful. I apologize to you and hope that you can forgive our dereliction of duty."

After saying that, Ono bowed to Wu Junsheng, and asked the Mongolian transport team behind him to quickly provide the Northeast Army with food such as flatbreads and vegetable balls. Most of the Northeast Army had already been dizzy with hunger, and now seeing food, they scrambled for the food like wolves, and some people even almost ate the cloth bags.

Wu Junsheng felt no wavering when he saw the other party's sincere apology. His mind was no longer on the war, but he still had to make up the story. He swallowed the pancake in one gulp and said to Ono Ryunosuke, "Mr. Ono, it's not that we don't want to contribute. It's just that the Black Flag Army is too insidious and cunning. Our large army of tens of thousands of people was always bombed by the enemy's planes along the way, and we were always harassed by the enemy's cavalry at night. We fought desperately, and the number of enemies who fell under our guns was at least several thousand. Several of my officers were also very brave. In order to protect the food, they even used cold weapons to fight the enemy, but they all died tragically under the enemy's machine guns. The enemy relied on their advantages in planes, numbers and intelligence to suppress us. It is not easy to keep these people now."

Ono listened to Wu Junsheng's vivid description, as if he had fought many battles with the Black Flag Army. He knew that the other party was talking nonsense, but he didn't want to point it out. After all, Japan didn't have many regular troops in Kulun. Turning against Wu Junsheng now would only make the Black Flag Army a laughing stock. He suppressed his anger and said, "I can understand Wu Jun's difficulties, but your troops are so few in number, far from enough to attack Erdenet. I plan to let you unite with the Mongolian army to form a coalition to capture Erdenet. What do you think of this idea?"

Wu Junsheng said: "We have no objection. We would be even happier if Mongolia could send more troops. If the battle plans of the nobles require our participation, we will fully cooperate."

Finally, the two sides reached an agreement on forming a coalition force. Since Wu Junsheng said that the Black Flag Army had already attacked them many times and there was a danger of intelligence leakage from Kulun, the Japanese advisory group had to re-formulate the battle plan. In fact, Wu Junsheng completely despised the Mongolian army. In his eyes, the Mongolian army was not as good as the ragtag Northeast Army they brought with them.

That night, Maeda Toru of the Japanese advisory group met with the Governor of Outer Mongolia, Hang Daduo, and the Commander Danbijian. At this time, Prince Wutai had already been released by Duan Qirui, but Danbijian had been obstructing his return, which made the day for Wutai to return to Kulun seem far away. During this time, Danbijian had been trying his best to divide and annex Wutai's men.