Black Flag Army

Chapter 129 Battle of Nerchinsk

On the morning of January 3, 1918, the battle to recapture Nerchinsk officially began. In order to avoid fighting two battles at the same time, Di Xiong shortened the army's rest time by a few days. Nerchinsk was Ivanov's old nest. He built many bunkers around the city, including open bunkers, hidden bunkers, mother-and-child bunkers, and moat barbed wire. Although the Black Flag Army dispatched a bomber brigade before the charge, with 36 planes bombing in turn, and the heavy artillery regiment's artillery bombarded three rounds, there were still many bunkers that were not destroyed. When the Black Flag Army charged, they were blocked by bunker machine guns and fell in a pool of blood. The vanguard battalion of the Second Division charged for less than ten minutes, and nearly half of them were killed or wounded. Battalion Commander Chen Wanqing was anxious and sweating. He called Di Qiu, the platoon leader directly under the battalion headquarters, and said loudly: "You immediately notify the captain of the third company, Qian, and let him lead his troops to go around from the left and blow up the bunker."

Di Qiu's face was blackened by the gunpowder smoke. He shouted: "Report to the battalion commander! The communicator just reported that Captain Qian was shot and killed, and the deputy captain was also killed. There are enemy snipers in the trench."

Chen Wanqing said: "You go to the third company immediately and serve as the acting company commander. Find a way to blow up the bunker."

Di Qiu said: "I guarantee to complete the task!"

He saluted and left quickly without any hesitation.

Zhan Erqing, the battalion inspector, said: "Di Qiu may be a relative of the commander-in-chief. Are you really going to let him go to the front line?"

Chen Wanqing said: "There is no other way. The casualties among the officers on the front line are too great. I have even sent out the deputy battalion commander. If all else fails, I will have to go myself."

Di Qiu arrived at the third company's position, which was in a newly dug trench. He saw the body of Captain Qian inside. Several platoon leaders, including Li Yinshi and Wang Dashan, were crying around the body.

Di Qiu showed the battalion commander's warrant and said, "Now is not the time to be sad. I have been ordered to transfer to the third company as acting company commander. You must obey my command."

Wang Dashan and several other platoon leaders saluted Di Qiu to show their obedience to orders.

Di Qiu asked Li Yinshi to describe the situation. Li Yinshi said: "The enemy's bunker is in a very tricky position. It is blocked by a cliff and cannot be bombed by planes. Rocket soldiers must climb over the mountain to get close to shoot. There are Russian snipers in the trenches on the flanks of the mountain. When the rocket soldiers climb over the mountain, they become live targets for the snipers. Several rocket soldiers were killed, and the company commander was also hit when he exchanged fire with the snipers.

Di Qiu pondered for a while, then used the telescope to look at the moat on the opposite side, then took off the sniper rifle on his back, found a sniper position and lay down, and said to Li Yinshi: "Find a stick to hold the military cap, and swing the military cap back and forth on the edge of the moat. The speed should be fast at the beginning, and then gradually slow down."

Following Di Qiu's order, Li Yinshi found a thick wooden stick, took off his gray cloth military cap, and put it on the stick.

Li Yinshi sat in the moat, holding the stick and shaking it for about ten minutes. His hands were sore from shaking. Just when he was about to give up, two gunshots rang out, and Li Yinshi's hat was blown off. The first shot was fired by the enemy sniper, and the second shot was fired by Di Qiu. The two shots were fired less than a second apart. Wang Dashan, who was observing through a telescope, exclaimed in surprise, "It was hit. The guy's head exploded."

Li Yinshi took back his hat and put it back on his head. He said without any surprise, "It's not surprising that he hit the target. During the training in the recruit company, this guy always won the first place in shooting competitions, and he took all the prize money."

Wang Dashan asked, "Why did the company commander make the stick swing quickly first and then slow it down?"

Di Qiu did not answer, but asked a few soldiers to pick up some straw and make a straw man. Li Yinshi was not like Wang Dashan who had not been educated before joining the army. He had attended a private school for a few years and had a more flexible mind. He said to Wang Dashan: "If you shake the stick quickly at the beginning, the opponent's sniper will not be able to aim and will be very anxious. When the stick slows down, the opponent's sniper will worry about losing the opportunity and will not be able to help but shoot."

Wang Dashan was surprised and said, "Amazing! Captain Di is not only a good shooter, but also a good psychological tactician!"

Di Qiu had already made a straw man and put a set of military uniform on it. Wang Dashan couldn't help but ask again: "Captain! Why did you make a straw man? Didn't you kill the sniper?"

Di Qiu replied: "I suspect there is more than one sniper on the other side, otherwise Captain Qian would not have sacrificed himself. The hat-on-stick tactic can only be used once, so we have to think of another way."

Di Qiu asked Li Yinshi to use a stick to push the straw man from behind towards the mountain. With Li Yinshi's push, the straw man seemed to be about to climb over the mountain. Di Qiu lay on the sniper position and prepared himself. "Bang bang" two more gunshots were heard. This time there was no need for observer Wang Dashan to report. Everyone saw a Tsarist Russian soldier rolling out of the opponent's trench and falling off the cliff with his gun.

Di Qiu shouted: "Bazooka!"

A soldier handed a rocket launcher to Di Qiu, but it was snatched away by Li Yinshi. Li Yinshi said, "I will destroy the bunker, you just need to cover me." After that, he rushed forward.

When Li Yinshi climbed over the mountain, Di Qiu was nervously aiming his gun at the sniper position, but no enemy sniper fired. Li Yinshi raised his rocket launcher and aimed. With a loud "bang", the bunker was shattered into pieces. Chen Wanqing was overjoyed and ordered the charge. After the vanguard battalion rushed over, the troops behind also rushed along the gap they opened. After reaching the city wall, they entered the city through the gap in the city wall blown up by the plane and started a street battle with the Tsarist White Army.

In the operations room of the Black Flag Army headquarters, a staff officer reported to Di Xiong: "The Second Division attacking from the north has broken through the perimeter of Nerchinsk and entered the city to engage in a fierce battle with the Tsarist Russian Army in the north."

When Di Xiong heard this, before he had time to be happy, he received bad news: "The Security Division Headquarters reported that the Security Division attacking from the south was suddenly counterattacked by the Tsarist Russian Army. It was caught off guard and suffered heavy losses. Division Commander Liu Chengliang was unfortunately killed."

Di Xiong was shocked. He grabbed the staff officer who reported the news and shouted, "How is this possible? Are you mistaken? Commander Liu is at the division headquarters, with a guard battalion protecting him, and the enemy has no planes. How could he be killed?"

The staff officer said, "General Liu was very anxious because the enemy's outer defense line in the south had been unable to be breached for a long time. Then news came that the enemy had been breached in the north. General Liu became even more anxious. He ignored the objection of Chief Inspector Li and went to the front line to command with only a few guards. Suddenly, the Russian army launched a large-scale counterattack. Thousands of Russian troops attacked our position. The two sides engaged in a melee. During the melee, General Liu was hit by a stray bullet in the chest and died heroically."

Di Xiong was stunned. He let go of the staff officer's collar and sat on the ground with his whole body powerless. At this time, the operations room was silent. Everyone looked at Di Xiong nervously, fearing that he would lose his mind, jump up and vent his anger on others. The Chief of Staff Jiang Hongyu came over and said to Di Xiong: "I am responsible for this matter. The Tsarist Russian army has more than 40,000 people, and we only have more than 20,000 people. The side with fewer soldiers launched an attack on the side with more soldiers. They should have been prepared for the other side to counterattack. They also have the ability to fight back, but I ignored this point and was too blindly confident."

Di Xiong calmed down and said, "The main responsibility for this matter lies with me because I am the commander-in-chief. After the battle is over, I will apologize to Liu Bao, Liu Tainan and Wu Guozhu!"

He then asked the staff officer: "Have the Russian troops that attacked our positions been repelled?"

The staff officer replied: "We repelled them! Deputy Commander Liu Zhendong of the First Division led his troops to reinforce in time and killed the enemy commander, Army Chief of Staff Karelin. Most of the thousands of Russian troops who counterattacked were wiped out on the battlefield."

Di Xiong sighed and said, "Even if we kill more Russians, we can't bring back General Liu's life. I once promised to take him with me to recover Taiwan. This promise can only fall on his sons."

Half an hour later, Di Xiong arrived at the position of the Southern Guard Division and saw Liu Chengliang's body. Only then did he believe that Liu Chengliang was really killed. Li Laoshi walked up to Di Xiong with tears in his eyes and said, "Commander-in-Chief! I failed to protect General Liu. Please punish me!"

Di Xiong said: "It's not your fault! Did General Liu have any last words?"

Li said honestly, "He said he was grateful to you for restoring the glory of the Black Flag Army and making sure that the rest of his life was not wasted. He also said that when Taiwan is recovered, his ashes should be scattered in Taiwan."

Di Xiong said to Yang Lushuang behind him, "Have you written it all down? You must remember General Liu's last words."

Yang Lushuang said: "I've written it down!"

Di Xiong also asked the craftsmen to select the best wood to make a coffin for General Liu. He did not see Liu Zhendong on the battlefield, so he asked, "Where is Deputy Division Commander Liu? Didn't he come to support you?"

Li Lao Shi said: "After he defeated the Russian army, he led his brigade to break through the Russian defense line and entered the city of Nerchinsk. At this time, they are fighting in the streets. I was afraid that he would go deep into the city alone, so I sent the other two security brigades to support them."

Di Xiong said: "This guy runs pretty fast."

The Battle of Nerchinsk lasted a whole day and ended in the evening. The Black Flag Army captured the entire city of Nerchinsk at the cost of 4,000 casualties, annihilated more than 6,000 enemies, and captured more than 10,000. Ivanov, who was good at escaping, escaped again, and the Black Flag Army offered a large reward but failed to catch him.

The Battle of Nerchinsk was the battle with the heaviest casualties in the history of the Black Flag Army. The death of division commander Liu Chengliang in particular set a record for the highest-ranking soldier killed in action in the Black Flag Army.

After the Black Flag Army headquarters moved to the city of Nerchinsk, Chief of General Staff Jiang Hongyu received a telegram and walked up to Di Xiong and said, "Commander-in-Chief! There is no need to fight the battle in the north. We just received intelligence that the White Army Commander-in-Chief Kolchak suddenly led 100,000 troops to attack the Burmese army in the north. Due to the huge gap in weapons and equipment, the White Army took only half a day to capture Taza and Bagdalin. Most of the Burmese army of 70,000 were lost, and the remaining few retreated hundreds of miles to the north. They no longer pose a threat to us."

Wu Chunlei took the telegram and read it carefully, then laughed and said, "That Hammer talks a lot, but his army is actually weak. They only resisted Kolchak for half a day. I don't know where he got the confidence from. If he gets along well with us, and we sell them more weapons and ammunition, they might be able to resist longer."

Leng Hanbing said: "They are too arrogant. I suggest that you stop selling weapons and ammunition to them in the future."

Di Xiong shook his head and said, "If we don't sell them weapons and ammunition, who will consume the White Guards' strength? The White Guards' strength means that our Justice Army will suffer greater casualties. We have already suffered such a great loss in defeating the weakest Ivanov, not to mention the stronger Kolchak and Ungern."

Chief of General Staff Jiang Hongyu said: "The Commander-in-Chief is right! In the long run, we still have to sell them weapons and ammunition. We can't act impulsively because of a momentary dispute."

Di Xiong said to Jiang Hongyu: "Kolchak has occupied Taza and Bagdalin, and his territory is adjacent to ours. Will he take advantage of the situation to launch an attack on us?"

Jiang Hongyu said: "No! Because Kolchak did not stop in Taza and Bagdalin, leaving only a small number of troops to defend, and the main force continued to move westward, crossed the Beihai Lake, and attacked the Bolsheviks in the direction of the Ural Mountains. His army's weapons and military pay are supported by the United States and Britain. He has a large number of American and British advisers around him, and they will strongly encourage him to fight westward to Moscow."

Leng Hanbing said: "Kolchak's army went west to the Wuzur Mountains. Doesn't that mean the east is empty? Can we take over Outer Northeast in advance?"

Jiang Hongyu said, "No! Most of the 100,000 troops led by Kolchak are new recruits he recently recruited. There are nearly 100,000 of his elite troops guarding several large cities in Northeast China, such as Miaojie, Blagoveshchensk, and Vladivostok. There are also aircraft and artillery supported by foreign powers. So without 100,000 troops, we can't attack these places."

Just as Di Xiong was about to speak, a staff officer suddenly came in and handed him a telegram, saying, "Something happened in Beitang City! General Manager Wu wants you to go back quickly!"

Di Xiong took a look at the telegram and his face changed drastically. Jiang Hongyu asked, "What happened?"

Di Xiong said, "Something happened at the Beihai Gun Factory. First there was a strike, but they didn't handle it well. As a result, the conflict escalated and turned into an armed riot. The workers occupied the arsenal, kidnapped the factory director Guo Zhiliang, and used the weapons from the gun factory to defeat the cavalry division troops that came to suppress them. It seems that I must go back."

Leng Hanbing said, "I will lead the special forces battalion to go back with you! During the war, the gun factory is our lifeblood. How can we fight without it? The disastrous defeat of the Bu party in Taza and Bagdalin is an example. The rioters must be suppressed resolutely. If necessary, I will lead the special forces battalion to attack and kill their leaders."

Di Xiong sighed, "We are really focusing on one thing and losing another! Our army is still too small. We brought out three main divisions, leaving western Mongolia empty and letting the enemy take advantage of it. This riot was either caused by Japanese spies or hostile forces from the Beiyang government. Wu Zhong and Lan Jinping didn't help me look after our home this time!"

Leng Hanbing said, "Wu Zhong is old and no longer suitable to be the general manager. The boss should choose a younger person to be the general manager. And Lan Jinping, she is only concerned about the affairs of Beihai Bank and Lanji Hotel, and has forgotten that she is still the third largest figure in the Justice Party."