Black Flag Army

Chapter 148 Enemy Troops Coming from Three Sides

Di Xiong said: "Are you kidding? You are the military advisor of the Justice Party, how could I possibly kill you? Wouldn't that be like cutting off your own right arm? I will never do something that would make my loved ones sad and my enemies happy in history."

Lan Jinping said: "If my advice is not good and causes losses to the Justice Army, you can't blame me."

Di Xiong said: "The headquarters has the Chief of Staff, the Chiefs of Staff of each army group, and the various combat staff. They will analyze it. If your ideas are not feasible at all, they will be abandoned. I will appoint you as the Major General Staff of the Justice Army General Headquarters. You are the first female general of the Justice Army. You should feel honored!"

Lan Jinping asked, "What about Weili Company and Beihai Bank?"

Di Xiong said: "You work so hard, so you don't need to be the president of Beihai Bank anymore. The president of Beihai Bank is Zhang Shanbao, the vice president. When I was in plain clothes, I visited Beihai Bank and its branches many times. Zhang Shanbao is fully qualified for the position of president. The vice president is Bi Wenhui, the director of the business department."

Lan Jinping said: "It sounds better than singing, but in fact, they fired me from my position as president, and that was when I did nothing wrong."

Di Xiong said: "The position of general manager of Weili Group will be held by deputy general manager Chen Xianglian. You yourself said that Chen Xianglian's management ability is better than yours and she works more conscientiously and diligently, so it is only natural for her to take over."

Lan Jinping said with a bitter face: "I let the cat out of the bag when I was so proud that day, and you caught me with it. I'm done for now. I've lost my position as general manager."

Di Xiong smiled and said, "Don't you want to be a heroine who will be remembered for thousands of years? Just like Hua Mulan? I'm giving you this opportunity, don't be ungrateful. That day at the Justice Party meeting, you spoke passionately, saying that even if Li Laoshi was transferred to Zhan Yang, you would go there without hesitation. Do you want to regret it now?"

Lan Jinping said, "Don't be so anxious! I didn't say I wouldn't go. I was just talking that day. I didn't expect you to be serious. I can go, but there is a condition."

Di Xiong said, "You haven't even gone yet, and you're already negotiating terms. This doesn't fit the image of a heroine at all. Tell me! What are the terms?"

Lan Jinping said, "If something happens to me, you have to take Li Hansheng in as your adopted son. Is this request not too much?"

Di Xiong said: "Li Laoshi is his adoptive father. How can I adopt him when Li Laoshi is still alive?"

Lan Jinping said: "I mean when Li Laoshi also has an accident."

Di Xiong said, "Stop saying these unlucky words. Okay! I agree. Actually, your worries are unnecessary. You are going to the headquarters. Whether in the air or on the ground, the protection is very strict."

At this time, the Intelligence Director Tian Mengxue came over and handed it to Di Xiong, saying, "The Chief of the General Staff asked to inform you of the latest intelligence from the front line as soon as possible."

After reading the intelligence, Di Xiong's heart sank. He said, "I was planning to wait two days before going to the front line, but it looks like I have to go tomorrow. The situation at the front line is already very bad."

Lan Jinping asked, "Could it be that the Americans and Japanese came on the field directly?"

Di Xiong said, "Your guess is absolutely correct! The US-Japan coalition forces have landed in Outer Manchuria. They are divided into two groups. One group starts from Smi City in Sakhalin Island, takes a transport ship to cross the Tatar Strait, lands at Dali Port, and advances towards Miaojie City. The other group starts from Sapporo in Hokkaido, takes a transport ship to Laza Port in Outer Manchuria, and advances towards Khabarovsk."

Lan Jinping asked, "How many people did they send out?"

Di Xiong said: "The Japanese army is the main force, and the U.S. army is the auxiliary force. The U.S. army is mainly composed of the navy. The army only dispatched 1,500 marines. The Japanese army dispatched two Type A brigades with more than 30,000 people, and there were also more than 20,000 remnants of the Tsarist Russian army."

Tian Mengxue said: "I didn't expect the Battle of Qingdao to happen again, but this time it was the British-Japanese coalition forces that became the American-Japanese coalition forces."

Di Xiong said: "Our enemies are not limited to these two. The telegram said that more than 50,000 Bu Party troops north of Temple Street are marching south. The Bu Party leader Su Chuizi issued an ultimatum, demanding that the Chief of Staff withdraw from Temple Street within two days."

Lan Jinping said angrily: "Isn't this just taking advantage of someone's misfortune? We sold them so many weapons and ammunition, and now it's just like feeding them to a dog."

Tian Mengxue asked: "Why didn't you stop the enemy on the coastline?"

Di Xiong said: "The coastline of Outer Northeast is too long. Our army has limited manpower and cannot defend it at all. We have no choice but to give up and concentrate our forces on defending Miaojie and Boli."

Di Xiong returned to the office and quickly packed up his things. Xian Yuji ran in and said with a smile, "I heard that you are going to take Lan Jinping to the battlefield. I want to go with you, too. Is that okay?"

Di Xiong said, "No! Bring Lan Jinping with you because she has the ability to come up with ideas and she can be used as a military advisor at the headquarters. Why are you joining in the fun?"

Xian Yuji said: "I also have a passion for patriotism!"

Di Xiong said: "It's useless to just be passionate. You are indeed not as good as Lan Jinping in giving advice and suggestions. If you stay in Beitang City and do a good job of propaganda, you will also be a meritorious official."

The next morning, Di Xiong and Lan Jinping flew to the city of Blagoveshchensk where the headquarters was located. When the plane landed, they heard gunfire outside the city.

As soon as Di Xiong entered the headquarters, he asked Jiang Hongyu: "Has the US-Japan coalition force started the attack?"

Jiang Hongyu said: "Yes! The Japanese are advancing very fast! The army attacking Bili consists of a brigade of more than 10,000 Japanese troops and nearly 10,000 remnants of the Tsarist Russian army. The army attacking Miaojie consists of a brigade of Japanese troops, a regiment of American troops, and more than 10,000 remnants of the Tsarist Russian army."

Di Xiong said: "This means that the pressure in Temple Street is greater than that in Boli, because there is a Bu Party army in the north waiting for an opportunity to move. One of us must stay in Temple Street to command, so I will go to Temple Street!"

Jiang Hongyu said: "Commander-in-chief, please let me go! You just stay in Boli! This is also responsible for the lives of the soldiers on the front line. In terms of combat experience, I am definitely more experienced than you. Commander-in-chief, please don't be angry!"

Di Xiong smiled bitterly and said, “It seems that you have always looked down on my military ability, and now you finally tell the truth.”

In the end, Di Xiong made concessions and he commanded the Birobidzhan army while Jiang Hongyu commanded the Miaojie army.

Taro Abe, commander of the 18th Brigade of the Japanese Army, looked through a telescope at the Black Flag Army's position in the distance and said to the Chief of Staff Yamura Higashihito beside him, "Has the attack failed again? These Chinese were so vulnerable in Lushun and Qingdao, how come they have become so powerful in Outer Manchuria?"

Yamura Higashihito said: "I heard that this Black Flag Army is well-trained, well-paid, and paid on time, never withheld, and the food is good too! So they are better at fighting than other Chinese armies."

Abe Taro said: "Send out the bombers and bomb them hard!"

Yamura Higashihito said: "The enemy also has planes. The bombers cannot break through the air defense line of the enemy's fighters. We have lost more than a dozen bombers and cannot send out more."

Abe Taro said, "The only way is to learn General Nogi Maresuke's pig-rushing tactics. Order the commander of the first regiment, Colonel Kamio, to select a thousand men from the regiment to form a death squad. We must capture the enemy's outer positions today. I heard that they only took one day to capture Khabarovsk. How can the warriors of our Great Japanese Empire be inferior to the Chinese black bandits?"

Twenty minutes later, the sudden attack tactics began. "Kill them!" Colonel Kamio waved his command knife, and a thousand Japanese soldiers with white cloth tied on their heads rushed up, shouting like crazy.

The Black Flag Army's Second Division's position was covered with trenches and bulletproof pits. Regimental Commander Zhang Lingyun was in the trench, watching the Japanese army in the distance with a telescope. Battalion Commander Di Qiu asked, "Regimental Commander! Why do the Japanese wear white cloth on their heads? It's like they're in mourning for a family member who has died."

Zhang Lingyun said, "They are indeed in mourning, but they are not mourning for others, but for themselves, because they are about to die. Pass on my order! Wait until the enemy is within a hundred meters before attacking, so that we can kill more enemies."

After the Japanese rushed within 100 meters, Zhang Lingyun gave an order, and the Black Flag Army's machine guns, rifles, and mortars opened fire at the same time. The Japanese fell down in rows like wheat. The white cloth on the Japanese's head was very eye-catching, and became a live target for the Black Flag Army's snipers. Di Chun killed more than a dozen people with a sniper rifle. Only a few dozen Japanese rushed into the trench, and were stabbed to the ground by the well-prepared Black Flag Army with dense bayonets. The other more than 900 Japanese fell in a mess on the hillside outside the position.

Zhang Lingyun said: "The Japanese are very strong. No one turned around and fled. They were all killed in the battle. Fortunately, their commander was an idiot, otherwise it would be really difficult to deal with them."

At night, Wu Chunlei said to Di Xiong, "Today, the Japanese army launched several rounds of assaults on the positions of the Second Division, the Seventh Division, and the Security Division. In particular, the Second Division's position even sent out a death squad. Although they were repelled, we only have three divisions. The pressure is great. Should we ask the Chief of General Staff to transfer a division from Temple Street? Or transfer the division in Hailanpao?"

Di Xiong looked at Lan Jinping who was reading the intelligence data and asked, "Military Advisor Lan! What do you think?"

Lan Jinping immediately replied: "We cannot withdraw troops from Temple Street. Although there are eight divisions in Temple Street, the enemy they face is stronger than us. In addition to dealing with the US-Japan coalition forces and the Russian army in the east, they also have to face the attack of the Burmese army. Our enemy seems to have 30,000 people, which is about the same as us, but there are only more than 10,000 Japanese troops who can fight. The other Russian troops are just here to make up the numbers. They have been discouraged by us in the previous battle. As long as the Japanese army is defeated, they will collapse."

Di Xiong said: "That's right. We have three divisions of troops, which is enough to deal with the enemy's attack. I think we can withstand the Japanese attack for half a day tomorrow and launch a counterattack in the afternoon."

Wu Chunlei asked, "What about a sneak attack at night? How about we launch a sneak attack tonight?"

Di Xiong recalled that in the Great Wall War of Resistance in 1933, Zhang Zizhong and Zhao Dengyu used night attack tactics to create a great victory at Xifengkou! The Japanese Suzuki and Hattori brigades were almost completely destroyed. But that was a last resort under the circumstances of inferior weapons, and the casualties were also very heavy. Now the Black Flag Army's air force is not weaker than the Japanese army, and it has more heavy artillery than the Japanese army. Not counting the remnants of the Tsarist Russia, its total force is also stronger than the Japanese army.

Di Xiong said: "There is no need for a night attack. We can defeat the Japanese army with a counterattack tomorrow."

He asked the telegraph operator to contact Temple Street and inquire about the situation there. He learned that the US-Japan coalition forces suffered a heavy blow when attacking Temple Street. The highest commander of the US Army, the head of the regiment, Waltz, was killed by the heavy artillery of the Black Flag Army. The Chief of Staff Jiang Hong encountered obstacles and organized three divisions to launch a counterattack, killing more than 5,000 US-Japan coalition forces, and then quickly retreated to Temple Street. After the heavy losses, the US-Japan coalition forces did not dare to launch another attack in the afternoon.

After receiving the news from Temple Street, Di Xiong became more confident about tomorrow's counterattack. Because he was in a good mood, Lan Jinping asked to visit Li Laoshi at the Security Division, and he agreed.

Li Laoshi was conducting tactical simulations on the sand table at the security division headquarters. When he saw Lan Jinping coming, he was naturally very surprised, and the two of them hugged each other excitedly!

Di Xiong slept on a camp bed all night. At dawn, he called Wu Chunlei and three division commanders to the headquarters for a meeting and issued an order to defend in the morning and counterattack in the afternoon. However, he underestimated the cunning of the Japanese army. Just as the detailed battle plan was handed over to several division commanders, the observation post in the front called: "Report to the commander-in-chief! The Japanese and Russian troops have retreated."

A staff officer said angrily: "I worked till midnight last night to complete the battle plan, but Abe Taro, that bastard, refused to cooperate."

Lan Jinping smiled and said, "The enemy situation is changing all the time. We cannot put our hopes on the enemy's stupidity. The Japanese army's disastrous defeat in Temple Street yesterday sounded the alarm for them. If I were Abe Taro, I would also choose to retreat. After all, the Japanese army has no advantage in terms of air force, artillery, and army numbers. The only advantage is the navy. However, Khabarovsk is not by the sea. I suspect that the Japanese army is not really going to retreat, but to lure us to the seaside and bomb us with warships and artillery."

Di Xiong said: "It is possible that this is the case. Since the Blue Army Division has seen through the enemy's trick, our army should not pursue them, but only send out the air force to send them off."

Abe Taro walked and looked back, and he was finally disappointed. The Black Flag Army, except for the air force planes monitoring in the sky, did not send out the army to pursue. Chief of Staff Yamura Higashihito said: "Your Excellency, the brigade commander! The black bandit leader is very cunning and has seen through our plan to lure the enemy. What should we do?"

Captain Kamio said, "Your Excellency, Brigade Commander! If we retreat like this, will the commander blame us?"

Taro Abe said, "Before I retreated today, I had already spoken to Commander Takeda on the phone. We are retreating together. The Black Flag Army is too powerful. We need more planes and more heavy artillery to defeat them. But I don't know when we can get the approval after submitting the report. The commander will not blame you. He will only blame me."

At the Black Flag Army headquarters, Di Xiong said to Lan Jinping, "Although the Japanese have retreated, they have not gone far. They must still be in the two ports of Dali and Laza. If we attack the ports, we will be bombarded by warships and heavy artillery. If we do not attack the ports, the Japanese will use the two ports as bases to attack us at any time, tying up a large number of our troops. Army Division Lan, what can you do?"