Black Flag Army

Chapter 112 1 Refugees

Chen Yi said: "I know it is shameful to make such a request. I also want to lead an army to recapture Tangnu Uriankhai and make an unprecedented contribution, but President Li has no army under his command. The army is in the hands of the Beiyang bosses. He can't even send out a company of troops!"

Secretary Huang Chengbin said: "We are all Chinese. We should put the interests of the country first and consider the overall situation! After all, the Beiyang government now represents the country. If the country loses face, we as Chinese will also lose face, right?"

Xian Yuji sneered, "Now you are talking about national interests with us. Where were you when you offered a reward for our heads? Did you stand up to stop them? And the last time the Japanese bombed the city of Daranza, if it weren't for your Beiyang government cooperating with them to add gasoline, could they have flown to Daranza? More than a thousand lives were lost! Even the mayor was killed!"

Huang Chengbin said: "We are just small people, how can we have the power to stand up and stop it?"

Chen Yi said: "We can persuade President Li to apologize publicly and promise not to assist the Japanese in doing such things that harm their compatriots in the future."

Xian Yuji said, "So many people died, and all that is left is an apology? Besides, President Li can't even send out a company of soldiers, so what is the use of his promise?"

Chen Yi and Huang Chengbin were speechless. Di Xiong said, "Let's wait for the results of our Justice Party's high-level meeting!"

Chen Yi and others voluntarily left the meeting room and sat down on the yellow wooden chairs in the corridor outside to wait.

It was a bit difficult to hold this meeting because there were four Mohists in Suwu City and the phone was not connected, so they could only seek their opinions by telegram. After receiving the notice, Lan Jinping, Wu Chunfeng, Bai Xiuling, and Li Fei entered the meeting room one after another. Together with Di Xiong, Wu Zhong, and Xian Yuji who were already sitting in the meeting room, there were seven people in total. At the same time, the four Mohists in Suwu City also sat down and held a meeting to discuss the matter after receiving the telegram.

Di Xiong said: "Special Envoy Chen wants to recruit us on behalf of the new President Li. If we accept the recruitment, we don't have to worry about the Mongolian Army in the east and the Beiyang Army in Suiyuan and Chahar in the south. We only need to focus on dealing with the Tsarist Russian Army. The Beiyang government will also give us a nominal position of the Western Mongolian Garrison Commander, and our army can be stationed here legitimately, no longer a gang of bandits or mafia. It will also be more convenient to receive refugees. If we refuse, the refugee channel may be cut off again. The Beiyang Army in Suiyuan, Chahar and Xinjiang may also cooperate with the Japanese garrison to attack our western Outer Mongolia. We only have more than 20,000 first-line and second-line troops. It is impossible to defend the 700,000 square kilometers of western Outer Mongolia. I think this matter is of great importance, so I want to hear everyone's opinions."

Wu Zhong said: "I think we should accept the goodwill brought by Special Envoy Chen. We have fought several battles with the Beiyang Army and killed many of them, including the Suiyuan Commander, which angered the former president to death. They have come to us to recruit us regardless of past grudges. After we accept them, we will be a legitimate government and a legitimate army. Although the Beiyang government has a bad reputation, they represent the national regime after all. Moreover, many bad things were done by the former president and have nothing to do with the current president."

Lan Jinping said: "I am against accepting the amnesty. If we accept the amnesty, what should we do if the Beiyang government asks us to pay taxes? What should we do if they ask us to provide food to the inland areas? Should we give it or not? If we don't give it, it will be treason. If we give it, it will be using our blood and sweat to feed the corrupt officials of the Beiyang government. Also, after the amnesty, the military merits gained by the soldiers at the front with their blood and sacrifice will all become the credit of the Beiyang government."

Xian Yujie spoke next, and she repeated what she had said to Chen Yi and the others, and naturally she was also against the amnesty.

Li Fei said solemnly: "The power of the Beiyang government is in the hands of warlords. Most of these warlords have colluded with foreign powers and persecuted our compatriots. If we accept the amnesty, we may be killed by them with various tricks such as the Hongmen Banquet, so we must never accept the amnesty."

Wu Chunfeng said: "The water diversion project over at Beihai Lake requires a lot of manpower, because Outer Mongolia is high and Beihai Lake is low. Khuvsgul Lake and Selenge River are both flowing into Beihai Lake. If we want to make the lake water flow backward, we must dig a very deep river channel for hundreds of kilometers. The manpower required is amazing. We need hundreds of thousands of young and strong people to work for at least a year. Hundreds of thousands of young and strong people plus their families, that's more than one million people. We have to introduce at least one million refugees to complete this project. In order to eliminate the deserts of Outer Mongolia and turn them into fertile fields or grasslands, we should endure the humiliation and accept the amnesty."

Bai Xiuling said, "As far as I know, the warlords in each province under the Beiyang government have their own troops and have not paid taxes and grain to the Beiyang government in Beijing. The Presidential Office and the Prime Minister's Office can do nothing about them. So even if I accept the amnesty, it is only in name only and I don't have to pay money and grain. Sister Lan is obviously worrying too much."

Di Xiong said: "Based on the current situation, accepting the amnesty will bring more benefits than disadvantages. In order to recover the lost territory of the Qing Dynasty, we cannot care about fame and fortune. Of course, I will also consider the concerns of Lan Juzi and Chairman Li. Our amnesty is not without conditions. Taxes, food and other supplies are impossible to hand over to them. They want to transfer our people to the inland areas, or call them to Beijing for meetings, but it is impossible for them to go. They want to send people to the western part of Outer Mongolia to serve as officials and interfere, but we cannot accept it."

Li Fei said: "But our Justice Party's previous goals were to drive out foreign powers, recover the lost territory of the Qing Dynasty, overthrow the Beiyang government, and revitalize the Chinese nation. Now that we have accepted the Beiyang government's offer of amnesty, how can we explain this to the party members below?"

Wu Zhong said: "This is easy to explain. We used to oppose the Beiyang government under Yuan Shikai's rule, but now it has been replaced by President Li. President Li hasn't done anything bad so far, so why can't we accept his offer? It's not too late to oppose him after he does something bad!"

Lan Jinping sneered: "A president without power, even if he wants to do something bad, does he have the ability to do it?"

The final vote in the conference room was 4 to 3, with 4 votes in favor of the amnesty and 3 votes against. On the Su Wucheng side, 2 votes in favor of the amnesty and 2 votes against. Zhang Zhenyang and Wu Chunlei were in favor, while Leng Hanbing and Liu Zhendong were against. The total was 6 votes in favor and 5 against.

Chen Yi and Huang Chengbin, who were waiting nervously on the yellow wooden chairs in the corridor, were very anxious, especially Chen Yi, who had signed a military order with President Li. If he failed to complete the task, he would not be able to report back. He suddenly saw the door open and all the people attending the meeting came out. He hurried forward to ask and was very happy to learn that they agreed to recruit him. However, he was shocked to hear that the vote was won by only one vote, and he broke out in a cold sweat, knowing that the Justice Party still had a lot of controversy about this matter.

He said to Di Xiong excitedly, "Thank you, Commander-in-Chief Di, for putting the overall situation first and accepting the offer of amnesty. This way, Tangnu Uriankhai can be taken back in the name of the Beiyang government, which will boost the morale of the people across the country. In addition, I will use the combat effectiveness of your Black Flag Army to force Kulun to agree to the Beiyang government to send officials and troops to take over the eastern part of Outer Mongolia as soon as possible."

Di Xiong said: "You can take over the eastern part of Outer Mongolia, but the western part of Outer Mongolia will not accept your people to serve as officials, let alone send troops. This is one of the conditions for us to accept the amnesty, otherwise there is no room for negotiation."

Chen Yi said, "That's for sure. Under the governance of your Justice Party, western Outer Mongolia has developed very well. The people are well fed and well clothed, and are happier than the lower-class people in Beijing. Why would we send people to cause trouble? As for sending people to eastern Outer Mongolia, they are all Mongolians after all. They have fought for independence, and they have messed up the eastern part too much. The people are starving and cold, and even Kulun is stinking. It's incomparable to your side! Do you have any other conditions?"

Di Xiong proposed several conditions, including not paying taxes and grain, maintaining a high degree of autonomy, and not transferring military officials. Chen Yi agreed very happily and gave Di Xiong the letter of appointment as the governor of Mengxi. Then he asked Di Xiong when he would recover Tangnu Uriankhai.

Di Xiong said, "It depends on when the battle of Suwu City ends. I estimate that it will take at least half a month, and at most a month. Can Special Envoy Chen wait for a month?"

Chen Yi said: "Okay, okay, I can certainly wait for a month. Your battle in Suwu City is of course more important."

The Battle of Suwu City ended earlier than Di Xiong expected. After the last air battle of the Tsarist Russian Army, there was no follow-up air force support. The Justice Army relied on the advantage of more planes to seize air supremacy and began to bombard the Tsarist Russian Army. Fighters escorted the bombers and shot down many intercepting Tsarist Russian fighters. The Tsarist Russians had few planes to begin with, and the number of planes was getting smaller and smaller. The Tsarist Russian cavalry and infantry could not bear the bombing of the Justice Army bombers. The Shaksha Army in the north was the first to retreat because they could not bear the casualties. After all, they were Mongolians composed of horse bandits. Then, behind the Tsarist Russian Army in the east, a serf uprising broke out in Chita Province. The rebels seized several county towns, and the Tsarist Russian Army in the east hurried back to suppress the uprising. The Tsarist Russian Army in the west saw that the situation was not good and withdrew. The First Division of the Justice Army suffered heavy casualties in the early battles and lost a lot of heavy artillery, so there was no pursuit. After asking Di Xiong for instructions, Zhang Zhenyang led two brigades and the wounded to return, leaving only one brigade and a heavy artillery regiment to guard Suwu City.

When Zhang Zhenyang sent a telegram to tell Di Xiong that the battle was over, it was only ten days since the last meeting. During these ten days, Chen Yi had been visiting Beitang City and eating and sleeping in the Beihai Group Company Guesthouse. He said that compared with the dirty and smelly Kulun City, Beitang was simply a paradise. Di Xiong sent Huo Qingtong to find Chen Yi. Huo Qingtong searched for most of the day before finding Chen Yi in the Beitang Theater. Chen Yi was watching a play with gusto. Huo Qingtong asked, "Special Envoy Chen is actually interested in watching a play in our small place?"

Chen Yi said, "A mountain is not famous for its height, but for the immortals living there. A river is not famous for its depth, but for the dragons living there. Although Beitang Theater is small, the Shaanxi Qinqiang famous actress Le Hongmei actually performed here, so it is definitely worth seeing. Why did Le Hongmei come to such a far place to perform?"

Huo Qingtong said, "Le Hongmei is also a pitiful person. She was originally performing in Xi'an, Shaanxi, and was noticed by the warlord Zhang Yunshan, who took her as a concubine. After another warlord Lu Jianzhang became the governor of Shaanxi, he abducted her and forced her to be his concubine. After Lu Jianzhang was driven out of power by Chen Shufan, when he was passing through Henan on his way back to Beijing, he was robbed of his property by the warlord Liu Zhenhua, who also abducted Le Hongmei. Fortunately, our Black Flag Army had an action team on a mission in Henan, and they rescued her. She has only had a few months of quiet life in Beitang."

Chen Yi sighed, "Beauty has a tragic fate, it has been like this since ancient times. There are too few paradises like Beitang City, no wonder so many refugees travel thousands of miles to Beitang City. When I get old in the future, I also want to buy a house in Beitang City and live there until the end of my life. Commander-in-Chief Di will not chase me away, right?"

Huo Qingtong smiled and said, "How is that possible? Mr. Di praised you many times in front of us, saying that most officials of the Beiyang government are greedy and incompetent, but Special Envoy Chen is different. He is not afraid of hardship and has done his best to recover the country in the bitter cold of Outer Mongolia. He can be said to be a loyal minister of the country!"

Chen Yi was excited when he heard this: "Did Commander Di really say that?"

Huo Qingtong said, "Of course! Mr. Di also said that we agreed to recruit him for the sake of your face, Special Envoy Chen. If it was someone else, he would not agree."

Chen Yi said: "I heard that you are a master of Jingwumen. The Japanese martial artist who originally challenged Huo Yuanjia was defeated by you. Many people said that you would become the master of Jingwumen. I didn't expect that you would be willing to be a bodyguard for Commander-in-Chief Di."

Huo Qingtong said, "I don't want to be a museum owner. Everyone in the museum relies on me for food, clothing, and shelter. I'm exhausted. Being Mr. Di's bodyguard is much easier. I get a few dozen dollars a month, but I don't really have to do anything. I don't feel ashamed!"

The two men walked and talked until they reached the door of the chairman's office of Beihai Group. Di Xiong just came out and said to Chen Yi, "I'm sorry to have kept Special Envoy Chen waiting for a long time. The battle in Suwu City is over. I'm going to send a battalion of troops to recapture Tangnu Ulianghai. I wonder if Special Envoy Chen is free to go with me tomorrow?"

Chen Yi said: "Of course I am free. I have been waiting in Bei Tang for ten days, isn't it just waiting for you to send troops?"

The next morning, when Chen Yi led the special envoys and all the people in the delegation out of the waiting room carrying their luggage, a major officer was already waiting for him. The major saluted Chen Yi and said, "Chen Wanqing, the commander of the new third battalion of the third regiment of the first brigade of the first division of the Justice Army, is waiting for Special Envoy Chen!"

Chen Yi said happily: "What a coincidence, your last name is also Chen, we are from the same family, are you the battalion commander who accompanied me to recapture Tangnu Ulianghai?"

Chen Wanqing said, "Yes! Please follow me to the airport. Commander-in-Chief Di said that in order to save time, we will go by plane for this battle. More than 300 brothers in the battalion are already waiting at the airport."

Chen Yi said to his men, "Let's leave quickly. We can't let the brothers of the Justice Army wait too long."

On the way to the airport, Chen Yi asked Chen Wanqing: "Do you know how many Tsarist Russians there are in Tangnu Uriankhai?"

Chen Wanqing said: "Of course I know. The intelligence department has given us the information. There are more than 300 defenders in the capital Kezil. As long as we take Kezil, this small-scale battle will be over."

Chen Yi's son Chen Huangpo noticed a strip of white gauze showing under Chen Wanqing's military cap and asked, "Is Captain Chen injured?"

Chen Wanqing nodded and said, "That was the injury I sustained on the first day of the Suwu City Battle. It has basically healed."