Black Flag Army

Chapter 121: Fierce Battle at Sujiatun

It was completely dark. A train was speeding along the railway line from Tianjin to Fengtian. Cha Jingfeng was locked in a separate carriage. There were fourteen Japanese escorting Cha Jingfeng, including two intelligence officers and twelve gendarmerie members.

Yamashita Sukeda said to Ishii Goro: "It's a waste to mobilize so many people and book a separate carriage just for a seriously injured female prisoner."

Yamashita Sukeda was the sergeant squad leader of the gendarmerie, and Ishii Goro was a lieutenant intelligence officer in the embassy's intelligence department and was also the person in charge of this escort.

Ishii Goro said, "She is not an ordinary woman. She is an important agent of the Mafia. Deputy Section Chief Doihara said that the Mafia might send out an expert to kidnap her. We have to send her to Lushun alive, but we can't let her be kidnapped. It's very difficult, so we have to send more people. Although Deputy Section Chief Doihara said that she can be shot if necessary, my brother insists that she is alive. At the same time, she has to obey the orders of two people. It's a headache just thinking about it."

Goro Ishii is the younger brother of Shiro Ishii.

Yamashita Sukeda said: "She killed your brother Ishii Saburo, and Doctor Ishii Shiro certainly didn't want her to die too easily."

At this time, Cha Jingfeng, who was held in Li Jinlong's arms, woke up. She whispered, "Sorry, I need to go to the bathroom!"

Li Jinlong was a second lieutenant intelligence officer of the embassy, ​​a Taiwanese. At that time, the Japanese regarded Taiwan as their own land, but did not regard Taiwanese as their own people. In order to please the Japanese, he changed his name to Yanli Jinlong, but his Japanese colleagues still called him Chinese Li Jinlong. Cha Jingfeng's legs were injured, and someone had to carry him to the bathroom. Ishii Goro and the military police were of course unwilling to do such a thing, so he fell into the hands of Li Jinlong, who was half Japanese.

Li Jinlong carried Cha Jingfeng to the bathroom. Ishii Goro asked, "Where is the train already?"

Yamashita Sukeda said, "It will take another ten minutes to get to Sujiatun Station, which is the closest station to Fengtian Station."

After discussing with Li Qingyuan, the leader of the Fengtian Intelligence Group, Leng Hanbing decided to set the attack site at Sujiatun Station. Originally, they wanted to choose a remote area to destroy the railway, but Li Qingyuan, who was a railway worker, said that it was easy to destroy the railway, but it would cause the high-speed train to overturn directly, and the seriously injured Cha Jingfeng would probably die in the overturning accident. Only when the train stopped at Sujiatun Railway Station and then took action, could Cha Jingfeng be rescued. Although the garrison at Sujiatun Station was far less than that at Fengtian Railway Station, there was also a squadron of more than 50 people from the Japanese South Manchuria Railway Guard, a company of more than 100 people from the Fengtian Army, and more than 100 Japanese patrol squadrons that could arrive in half an hour after the battle started. It was extremely difficult to break into the train station carriage with these 22 people and rescue Cha Jingfeng. Leng Hanbing had no choice but to discuss with the flight captain of the fighter, Ping Zuyi, and ask Ping Zuyi to assist in the attack.

A transport plane and four fighter planes were dispatched for this operation. The flight captain Ping Zuyi sent a telegram to the aviation brigade commander Gu Yuan for instructions, and Gu Yuan agreed. Gu Yuan also urgently dispatched four bombers and eight fighter planes to reinforce, obviously asking for instructions from the commander-in-chief Di Xiong. At that time, radar had not yet been invented. As long as the planes entering Fengtian Province did not encounter patrolling enemy planes, they would basically not be discovered. Even if people on the ground discovered the planes, they would think they were Japanese or Fengtian planes. Because the air defense zones of the Fengtian Army and the Japanese Army were not clearly divided, in order to avoid misunderstandings between the two sides, the Fengtian Army and the Japanese Army rarely sent planes for patrol.

With the continuous improvement of aircraft production technology, Feng Ru improved the aircraft engine and fuel tank, and added auxiliary fuel tanks. Now fighters and bombers can fly from Beitang City to Fengtian without refueling. Of course, this is also inseparable from the credit of foreign intelligence dealers such as Sean and Baker. They constantly brought the most advanced aircraft technology from the United States, Britain, and Germany to Beitang. Feng Ru's aircraft factory has always kept up with the pace of world technology.

Li Qingyuan used to be a railway worker at Sujiatun Railway Station. He knew many people there. After he entered the station for a while, he brought out a large bag of workers' uniforms. In an abandoned warehouse outside the station, the action team put on the workers' uniforms, disassembled their weapons and put them in backpacks, and then swaggered into the station. The Japanese sentries guarding the station saw that they were all railway porters, so they did not check them or stop them from entering.

Li Jinlong came out of the bathroom and just put Cha Jingfeng on the car seat when he heard someone knocking on the car door. A military police officer told the person knocking on the door in Japanese to get out of the way. The man obviously didn't understand. Li Jinlong hurriedly stepped forward and said to the black-faced man outside the car door in Chinese: "Stop knocking. This is the Japanese private room. You can't come in!"

The man in the porter's uniform still didn't leave, and the gendarme became impatient and raised his rifle and pointed it at the black-faced man.

With a gunshot, Li Jinlong was surprised to find that the person who was shot and fell to the ground was the military policeman who aimed his gun. Before he could react, he was knocked to the ground by the second shot. Ishii Goro and Yamashita Sukeda reacted very quickly, quickly rolled off their seats to the ground, drew their guns and fired back. Gunshots rang out in all directions, bullets flew everywhere, and countless wood chips flew from the broken seats. The other military police also shot at the glass door.

The glass door that I had knocked on just now was full of bullet holes, and the black-faced man outside had disappeared. However, bullets were shot in from other windows, and the military police were shot one after another and fell to the ground, and the blood that flowed out dyed the yellow floor red.

Yamashita Sukeda, who was lying on the floor, cursed: "Damn it! Where is the damn South Manchuria Railway Guard? Are they just going to watch us get slaughtered?"

Ishii Goro said: "Don't worry! This is our territory. They will be surrounded soon. The black bandits are courting death if they attack here."

In fact, the counterattack of the South Manchuria Railway Guard had already begun, but was blocked by 20 action team members using sniper rifles, grenades and rocket launchers. There were only two people attacking this carriage, the black-faced man Shizhu and the gray-faced Leng Hanbing. At this time, in addition to Cha Jingfeng, only Ishii Goro and Yamashita Sukeda were still alive in the carriage.

With a loud bang, the glass door was suddenly shattered. Ishii Goro and Yamashita Suketa thought that the enemy must have come in through the door, so they fired at the door repeatedly. Leng Hanbing got in through the window and fired two shots first. Yamashita Suketa also wanted to turn the gun to shoot Leng Hanbing, but he was a second slow and his head exploded. Ishii Goro was also shot in the back, but he was not dead yet. Before he died, he remembered Kenji Doihara's words and raised his pistol at Cha Jingfeng.

Two gunshots rang out, Leng Hanbing and Shi Zhu fired at the same time and killed Ishii Goro first.

Leng Hanbing walked towards Cha Jingfeng and said, "Stationmaster Cha has suffered so much. I will take you back on behalf of the Justice Party!"

Cha Jingfeng said excitedly: "Why did Director Leng come here in person? I was seriously injured and my legs can't walk. I might be disabled. You took such a big risk to save a disabled person. It's not worth it!"

Shi Zhu said: "Mr. Di said that you are a hero of the Chinese people! We must rescue you no matter what the cost!"

Leng Hanbing said, "Boss Di said that you have made a huge contribution to the Justice Party! After returning, he will personally present you with the Xishi Medal, the highest award for female agents of the Justice Party."

Tea Jingfeng burst into tears when she heard this. She stretched out her hands to Leng Hanbing, who picked her up and quickly got off the train and ran straight to the transport plane parking area. At this time, the action team had already used up all the rockets. Although most of the Japanese were killed and wounded, the Japanese, with the support of the Fengtian Army, launched another attack. The action team had already lost seven people. The remaining thirteen people fought and retreated under the command of Shizhu. As the Japanese-Fengtian coalition forces approached, Ping Zuyi led the fighter planes to rush over and shoot. The machine guns that were originally used to deal with enemy aircraft shot at people, causing blood and flesh to fly everywhere, and even a Japanese soldier's body was broken into two. The Japanese-Fengtian coalition forces were terrified and retreated to the back of the house to hide.

After Leng Hanbing and Cha Jingfeng boarded the transport plane, Shi Zhu led the surviving team members into the cabin. At this time, several Japanese planes came to support, and more planes took off from Lushun, which was the headquarters of the Japanese Kanto Garrison Army. Ping Zuyi led four fighters to engage in an air battle with four Japanese planes to cover the retreat of the transport plane. In the dark night, neither side could see each other clearly. Both sides were very cautious in exchanging fire, fearing that they would accidentally injure their own people. In the end, neither side shot down the other side.

A dozen Japanese planes flying from Lushun met the twelve reinforcement planes sent by Gu Yuan. After an air battle, both sides lost three planes each and the battle ended in a tie. Hearing that Cha Jingfeng had been rescued, the captain of the reinforcement flight was unwilling to fight again and commanded the air force to retreat to Outer Mongolia.

At eight o'clock the next morning, Takeo Kikuchi and Shigeru Honjo, Japanese advisors to the Fengtian Military Governor's Office, visited Zhang Zuolin, the inspector of the three northeastern provinces and the Fengtian Military Governor. Zhang Zuolin was still sleeping in his arms with his concubine in bed. He was very unhappy after being woken up, but he didn't dare to offend the Japanese. He had to dress and wash in a hurry. He didn't even have time to eat breakfast and went to the living room to greet the two advisors. These two people were called advisors, but they were actually military supervisors sent by the Japanese to monitor him. They had extraordinary power in the Fengtian Army. The Japanese spent a lot of money on Zhang Zuolin, and of course they didn't want to raise an ungrateful person.

"Mr. Kikuchi and Mr. Honjo, what do you want to talk to me about this early in the morning?"

Kikuchi Takeo said, "Last night, the Outer Mongolian bandit Di Xiong's group attacked the Sujiatun Station, kidnapped the important prisoner of the Great Japanese Empire, Cha Jingfeng, and killed dozens of the Great Japanese Empire's warriors. This is a serious offense to the Great Japanese Empire and a humiliation to the Inspector General! The Governor of Kwantung Province, General Tachibana, hopes that the Inspector General will send troops to retaliate and teach the bandits a lesson."

The Kwantung State that Takeo Kikuchi mentioned is Port Arthur. The Japanese set up a governor's office there, and two years later established the Kwantung Army Headquarters, with Governor Tachibana Koichi as the commander.

Zhang Zuolin did not feel humiliated. It was just a gang of bandits who robbed a small railway station. Such incidents happened several times a day in the three northeastern provinces. The people in the northeast were living in poverty and bandits were everywhere. Not to mention Sujiatun, even the heavily guarded Fengtian Railway Station was attacked by bandits several times a year. Zhang Zuolin himself was a bandit. If he was angry about such things, he would have died of anger. But the Japanese said he was humiliated, so he had to act humiliated and cursed: "This group of arrogant black bandits, instead of enjoying themselves in their old nest in Outer Mongolia, actually crossed the line and ran to my territory to rob food. They are such bastards, I must retaliate!"

Honjo Shigeru asked, "When does the Inspector General plan to dispatch troops? How many troops will be dispatched?"

Zhang Zuolin was stunned. He had only wanted to fool the Japanese, but he did not expect the Japanese to press on step by step. He had no choice but to say, "I heard from Zhang Zuoxiang that the Black Flag Army is not an ordinary bandit. They have accepted the Beiyang government's offer of amnesty and have been appointed as the garrison commander of Western Meng. If we attack their territory, we must report it and ask for the Beiyang government's approval, right?"

He knew that given the efficiency of the Beiyang government, it would take a long time for a report to be approved.

Kikuchi Takeo said: "Your Excellency, the Inspector General, just send out the troops and don't worry about filing a report. Our embassy in Beijing will protest to the Beiyang government and ask Premier Duan to cancel the post of the Mengxi Garrison Commander. Premier Duan will definitely agree because the post of the Mengxi Garrison Commander was appointed by the former President Li. Without the Mengxi Garrison Commander, they will return to their identity as gangsters."

Honjo Shigeru said, "How about you, the Inspector General, spend three days preparing and then dispatch the troops three days later?"

Zhang Zuolin said, "How can three days be enough? War requires military funds. We are too far from the western part of Outer Mongolia. Just marching will cost a lot of food. My army is currently spending a lot of money and it is difficult to raise military funds. I heard that they also have airplanes and artillery, and are much stronger than other warlords. They are a tough nut to crack!"

Hearing him complaining, it was obvious that he didn't want to fight. Kikuchi Takeo frowned and said, "Our Bank of Japan can provide a loan of 5 million yen, so the problem of military expenditure will be solved. As for the air force, our garrison troops will dispatch 50 planes to assist in the battle. In addition, the Fengtian Army also has more than 20 planes, which is enough to deal with the black bandit air force. Does your Excellency the Inspector General have any other questions?"

Zhang Zuolin said, "I heard that the Black Flag Army only occupied the western part of Outer Mongolia. If we want to send troops, we must first pass through the eastern part of Outer Mongolia. If the Mongols think that we have invaded their territory and stop us from passing, won't we have to fight a battle with the Mongols first?"

Kikuchi Takeo said, "Your Excellency, rest assured about this inspection envoy. The actual leaders of the Kulun government, Prime Minister Hang Dado and Army Minister Danbijian, are also our old friends. We just need to say hello to them and they will let us pass."

Zhang Zuolin said: "I don't know how many troops the black bandits have. I must send people to investigate first, and then I will know how many troops to send to attack them."

Zhang Zuolin still wanted to delay time.

Honjo Shigeru said: "Our intelligence agents in Outer Mongolia have already found out clearly that although they have three divisions, they have stationed one division in Irkutsk, and there are only two divisions in the western part of Outer Mongolia. You only need to send out three divisions of troops to defeat them and kill Di Xiong."

Zhang Zuolin said helplessly: "Since the two consultants have made arrangements, I will send troops in three days."

After saying goodbye and leaving the gate of Zhang's house, Kikuchi Takeo said to Honjo Shigeru: "This is an old fox. He has thought of all the problems we have and have not thought of. He has caused us a lot of trouble."

Honjo Shigeru said: "It may be a mistake for the Empire of Japan to support such a person to control Northeast China."