Black Flag Army

Chapter 144: Khabarovsk City Changes Ownership

At eight o'clock in the morning, at the frontline headquarters in Hailanpao, Di Xiong had just arrived here and had not had time to sit down and rest when Jiang Hongyu came to report: "Commander-in-chief! Good news! The ambush in Huangfeng Village has ended. More than 300 Russian soldiers, including Peria, were all killed. Our army suffered less than ten casualties."

Di Xiong said: "I don't have to worry about Leng Hanbing taking action. What I am worried about is how the hostage Dong Xuechun will escape."

Jiang Hongyu said: "Dong Xuechun has escaped. Because of her Japanese identity, the Russian commander did not dare to detain her. He only placed her under house arrest in a reception room and arranged for two female officers to accompany her. She took advantage of a female officer going to the toilet and suddenly knocked out another female officer, changed into her military uniform, and when the officer who went to the toilet came back, she knocked him out again. She left the command center in a swagger wearing the Russian military uniform. This female agent is not only cunning but also good at fighting. Fortunately, she is on our side."

Di Xiong said, "Dong Xuechun's intention is to let us wait for two more days until she stirs up internal fighting between the Russian and Czech soldiers, and then seizes Birobidzhan at the lowest cost. Let's wait for two days! The First and Third Armies have just arrived, and they are very tired, so they also need to rest for two days."

At this time, the commander of the headquarters guard regiment came in and reported: "Commander-in-Chief! Chief of the General Staff! There are thousands of people outside the camp, demanding to join the Black Flag Army. Among these people are soldiers wearing Fengtian Army uniforms, as well as ordinary people from all walks of life. The youngest is only in his teens, and the oldest is over 60 years old. The guards would not let them in, so they knelt outside and cried, saying that they were relatives and survivors of the victims of Outer Manchuria, and that they had come from afar to seek revenge and go home! The guards were in a very difficult situation."

Wu Chunlei said: "It seems that the article written by my sister-in-law has begun to work."

Di Xiong smiled bitterly and said, "In fact, Lan Jinchun did not discuss this article with me. She always writes whatever she wants. Anyway, if she gets into trouble, I will come forward to solve it for her. After all, I am her husband. I can't say anything about her, otherwise I will be accused of suppressing public opinion."

The others in the headquarters laughed when they heard this. Jiang Hongyu said with a smile, "The commander-in-chief dotes on his wife too much, which is why this happened. At least my wife wouldn't dare to do this."

Di Xiong said to the head of the guard group, "Let them elect a few representatives. I want to hear their demands!"

After the head of the guard regiment left, two middle-aged representatives came in soon. One was wearing the uniform of a major in the Fengtian Army. He was tall and looked to be about forty years old. He called himself Lu Dayong. The other was a fair-faced man in his thirties. He wore gorgeous clothes with exquisite workmanship. It was obvious that he came from a wealthy family. He called himself Zhang Yuhe.

Di Xiong first asked Lu Dayong: "You are a major in the Fengtian Army. It is not easy to reach such a high military rank. Why do you want to join our Black Flag Army?"

Lu Dayong said: "Because I am from Vladivostok, during the Outer Northeast Massacre, the Tsarist Russians killed my father. The hatred for my father's murder is irreconcilable. I joined the Fengtian Army in order to kill the Russians in the future for revenge, but the Fengtian Army neither resisted the Russians nor the Japanese. On the contrary, you Black Flag Army dared to kill both the Japanese and the Russians. Although the Fengtian Army called you black bandits, I know that you are real heroes! So I came to join you, please accept us, Commander-in-Chief!"

Di Xiong said: "Your joining the Black Flag Army is like starting over from scratch. I can't give you the rank of major right from the start. You have to think carefully!"

Lu Dayong shouted: "I am willing to be just a soldier, as long as I can participate in the battle to recover the lost territory!"

Di Xiong said, "Well said! I'll take it." He turned to Liu Zhennan and said, "Take him to the Seventh Division. Commander Wu is seriously short of officers. Let him be the acting company commander! The soldiers he brings will also be added to the Seventh Division."

After Liu Zhennan and Lu Dayong left, Di Xiong said to Zhang Yuhe, "If I'm not mistaken, Mr. Zhang has never been a soldier, right?"

Zhang Yuhe said, "I have always been a clerk and a court official in a bank, and I have never been a soldier."

Di Xiong asked, "Have you ever been a servant, bodyguard, or hunter?"

Zhang Yuhe shook his head.

Di Xiong said, "Mr. Zhang, I am embarrassed. You look like a pampered person who has never received any military training. How can I recruit you? The battle may start at any time now. It is too late to train you. You should go back!"

Zhang Yuhe was anxious when he heard this, and he knelt down hurriedly and said, "Commander-in-Chief, please accept me! Although I have never been a soldier, I can write and count, and I can be a clerk in the army. I have given up everything in the money shop and offended the shopkeeper and the boss's family. There is no turning back. We all broke through many obstacles with the belief that we must come to Hailanpao. When we crossed the Fengtian Army checkpoint, we were almost shot to death by them. When we made a raft to cross the Heilongjiang River, we almost fell into the river and drowned. I beg the commander-in-chief to accept me for my sincerity! As it was said in the Justice Daily, the wronged souls of my whole family are watching us in heaven!"

Di Xiong sighed and said, "Okay! I'll accept you. You will be a clerk in the army, and together with other clerks, you will register the identities of the civilians outside. Those who have served in the army, been servants, bodyguards, hunters, and horse bandits will all be recruited into the army as replacement soldiers. The young and strong will join the transport team and the stretcher team, and those who have been doctors and nurses will join the medical team. For those who are really too old, those over 60 years old, we will give them travel expenses to let them go home!"

Zhang Yuhe thanked him repeatedly, stood up and said, "Commander-in-Chief! The thousands of us who crossed the Heilongjiang River were all very brave. There are still more than 10,000 people on the other side who can't come over because they don't know how to make a raft or don't dare to ride on a raft. Commander-in-Chief, please do a good deed and send a boat to pick them up?"

Di Xiong said to Jiang Hongyu: "Order the Second Army's logistics department to mobilize all ships and pick up the people!"

Jiang Hongyu agreed and went out with Zhang Yuhe. The head of the guard regiment was a little worried and said, "These people are a mixed bunch. Can we accept them all? What if there are Fengtian Army and Japanese spies among them?"

Di Xiong said: "We can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Are all the military supervisors eating for free?"

When more than 10,000 people on the south bank of the Heilongjiang River were waiting anxiously, someone suddenly shouted, "A boat is coming! There is a black flag on the boat. It is the Black Flag Army coming to pick us up!"

As everyone looked, they saw dozens of large ships sailing against the wind and waves, with the black Seven-Star Double Sword Flag flying in the wind! The people on the south bank of the Heilongjiang River cheered, and someone started singing the Black Flag Army song: "The fertile land north of the Heilongjiang River is as large as a million miles. The Manchus lost sovereignty due to their incompetence, and the beautiful mountains and rivers have become Russian territory. Today, we hold high the flag of justice and bravely take back the lost land. We will not fear death and will be remembered for our loyalty and righteousness for eternity!"

Others also started singing along. The lyrics and music of the Black Flag Army's military song were published in the Daily Justice. It was very simple and easy to sing, so many people could sing it. Those who couldn't sing it could sing it after listening to it twice.

After a whole day of hard work, most of the people were finally settled. Di Xiong was just about to take a rest on the camp bed when Liu Zhennan ran over and said, "Something happened. More than a hundred elderly people over the age of 60 refused to take the travel expenses to go home and knelt outside the camp gate and refused to leave. An old man named Jin had a strong personality and banged his head against the barracks gate. The sentry hurriedly stopped him. Old man Jin's head was bleeding. The military doctor came in time to bandage and treat him. Finally, his life was not in danger. But a reporter from the Justice Daily took a photo on the spot and wrote a report called "A 60-year-old man wanted to serve the country, but was rejected. He banged his head against the door and blood flowed." Doesn't this discredit the Black Flag Army? I took the draft and tore it up, and asked someone to lock up the reporter to prevent him from writing nonsense again!"

Di Xiong said to Liu Zhennan in a stern voice, "Nonsense! Liu Zhennan, you are getting more and more daring. What's wrong with someone writing a critical article? Since the Justice Daily wants to stand on the side of justice, it can't always sing the praises of the Black Flag Army. What they wrote is the truth, not fabricated. Hurry up and release the reporter and apologize to him!"

Liu Zhennan walked away dejected. Di Xiong called the head of the security team in and said, "Let's take in the last hundred or so elderly people!"

The head of the guard was surprised and said, "What are these old men doing here? They can't do anything except eating!"

Di Xiong said, "If they can't work, just support them. The Black Flag Army has no shortage of food and drink for these one hundred people. They are all from Outer Northeast! It's human nature to return to one's roots. When Outer Northeast is recovered, let them go home and take a look, and fulfill the last wish of these old people! What the reporter said was right, it was me who was wrong. The families of the victims in Outer Northeast should be treated equally, and the elderly should not be discriminated against."

On the streets of Khabarovsk, under the instigation of bribed Mongolian officers, a fierce conflict finally broke out between Russian and Czech soldiers. The Russian Chief of Staff Hryukin did not believe that Commander Perya was killed by Czech soldiers under Gaida. However, three Mongolian officers ran to Hryukin and swore that they saw with their own eyes that the people who killed the commander were wearing Austro-Hungarian military uniforms. When Gaida and other 50,000 prisoners of war surrendered to Tsarist Russia, because Tsarist Russia could not give them military uniforms, they could only wear their old uniforms. In Khabarovsk, there were 7,000 people wearing Austro-Hungarian military uniforms, all of whom were Czechs.

As the saying goes, three people make a tiger. Khryukin was finally enraged by the words of the "witness" and ordered an attack on the Czech soldiers, leaving no one alive. Dong Xuechun, who was hiding in the basement, hurriedly sent a Mongolian officer to inform Gaida, lest they die too quickly. After Gaida learned about it, he hurriedly deployed 7,000 Czech soldiers, and a fierce battle began.

Commander-in-Chief Alexander in Temple Street received the news that fighting had broken out in Khabarovsk. He was surprised that Peria did not ask him for reinforcements, so he hurriedly sent 36 planes for reinforcement. As a result, the pilots discovered in the air that the Russian army was killing each other, and hurriedly reported to Alexander. Alexander called the Khabarovsk city defense headquarters, but no one answered the call as the phone line had been cut off long ago. Alexander cursed loudly and ordered the fleet to return.

On their way back, the Russian aircraft were suddenly ambushed by two fighter squadrons of the Black Flag Air Force hiding in the clouds. Seventy-two planes swooped down at the same time, catching the Russian planes off guard. In addition to being outnumbered, they were hit by machine guns and exploded in mid-air. The air battle ended in half an hour. This was the most satisfying battle for Captain Ping Zuyi. Only three Russian fighter planes escaped, 33 were destroyed, and the Black Flag Army lost only four.

Hryukin led his army to finally attack Gaida's lair, the Czech Army Division Headquarters, and found that Gaida had committed suicide. Hryukin was very depressed. He had always wanted to ask Gaida why he wanted to assassinate the commander, but he had no chance to ask. After destroying 7,000 Czech troops, they also lost more than 5,000 people. With the escaped people, his men were less than 10,000. At this time, the Black Flag Army blew the horn of attack! After three rounds of indiscriminate bombing, the Black Flag Army rushed into the city of Boli from all directions through the gaps in the damaged city wall. The city defense battle that Hryukin had expected in advance did not happen, and they had directly entered the street fighting. In the street fighting, the special forces led by Leng Hanbing and Liu Zhendong showed their skills. The opponent's snipers often only had the opportunity to fire one shot, and the special forces were knocked down. Although many bunkers were built in the city, the Black Flag Army, which had many experiences in attacking, used rocket launchers and infantry guns to cross-attack and quickly destroyed the bunkers one by one. The remaining bunker defenders saw that they could not defend at all, so they had to surrender.

The battle lasted until the morning of September 30, 1918, and finally ended. The flag of the Black Flag Army was raised on the building of the Khabarovsk Defense Headquarters.

Wu Chunlei put down the phone and said to Di Xiong: "Commander-in-Chief! The battle is over. Our frontline troops have captured the enemy's headquarters and captured the enemy's chief of staff, Khryukin. The operation to wipe out the remaining enemies is also over. We have eliminated and captured tens of thousands of Russian troops, and our own casualties are less than 3,000. The intelligence personnel have made an indelible contribution to the capture of this city with such a small number of casualties!"

Di Xiong said, "In the past, many people accused me of putting too much emphasis on intelligence work and throwing a lot of money into the water. Now you should see the importance of intelligence, right? But the ridiculous thing is that this intelligence team leader Dong Xuechun was actually trained by the Japanese. It's ridiculous that the Japanese spy school worked hard to train two agents, Cha Jingfeng and Dong Xuechun, but couldn't treat them well. In the end, they made wedding clothes for us in vain."

At this time, someone knocked on the door. Di Xiong said, "Come in." It was Mr. Jin, who was wearing the uniform of the cook. He held a tray and said to Di Xiong and Wu Chunlei, "Commendants, it's time to eat. There are too many people queuing in the kitchen, and the commanders are busy with work, so I brought the food to you."

Di Xiong originally took in more than a hundred elderly people to feed them for free, but the elderly people were unwilling to eat for free and looked for things to do. Old Man Jin wanted to help in the kitchen, but people thought he was too old and didn't want him, but it was not easy to refuse him directly, so they asked him to cook a meal to try. It turned out that the meal he cooked was delicious, and then they realized that he was a master. So Old Man Jin became a chef and specialized in delivering meals to the people in the headquarters!

Di Xiong quickly took the food and said, "Thank you, Mr. Jin, for letting you personally deliver the food. It's really embarrassing for us younger generations."