Black Flag Army

Chapter 194: The Failure of the Anhui Clique

The news of the complete destruction of the Japanese Kulun Intelligence Station was like a heavy bomb, causing an uproar in Tianjin. This sudden bad news shocked the commander of the Japanese garrison, Kojiro Sato. He had a strong doubt in his mind: Is this too coincidental? The mission was just issued during the day, and the entire intelligence station was completely destroyed at night. Could it be that they had a traitor hidden in their ranks?

Sato Kojiro knew that this matter was of great importance and that the mastermind behind the incident must be found out as soon as possible. Therefore, he decided to invite Kenji Doihara, the chief of the secret service section of the Japanese embassy in China, who was an expert in solving cases, to assist in the investigation. At the same time, he ordered the headquarters secret service department to fully cooperate with Kenji Doihara's work.

The new director of the secret service is Ishihara Zoi, who together with Kenji Doihara, conducted a rigorous investigation. They carefully examined every agency of the headquarters, not letting go of any clues. As the investigation deepened, an unexpected name gradually emerged on Kenji Doihara's suspect list - Yukiko Kodo.

Who is this Xiaolu Yukiko? Why did she arouse Kenji Doihara's suspicion? All kinds of mysteries linger in people's minds, making the already tense atmosphere even more solemn. And what kind of conspiracy and danger are hidden behind this?

Ishihara Zou couldn't help but frown and asked, "Is Team Leader Xiaolu from the Telecommunications Department also suspicious? What is suspicious about him?"

Kenji Doihara replied solemnly, "When I questioned her, she was extremely calm and her answers were flawless. There was no sign of anything suspicious. However, it was this overly perfect performance that made her seem most suspicious. How could an average person not be nervous when being investigated? And how could they not say the wrong thing when they were nervous? I'm afraid that only those agents who have undergone rigorous training could react so calmly."

Ishihara said with a helpless smile: "Doihara-kun, your reason is too far-fetched! Please cross out Kodaka Yukiko from the suspicious list! I'll tell you the truth, Kodaka Yukiko is Commander Sato's mistress, she must not be touched easily!"

It turned out that not long ago, when Commander Sato Kojiro came to the Telecommunications Department for inspection, he was deeply attracted by the beauty of Yukiko Kodo. The captain of the guard beside him saw this and immediately understood what he meant and secretly signaled to the head of the Telecommunications Department, Sakuragi Ikumichi. Sakuragi Ikumichi was also a very smart person. He immediately presented Yukiko Kodo as a gift to Commander Sato Kojiro at the wine table.

Since then, Commander Kojiro Sato's guard captain often drove to the Telecommunications Division to pick up Yukiko Koshiro and take her to the headquarters. The reason they claimed was that "Yukiko Koshiro was needed to assist with official business." In fact, everyone knew that this was just an excuse.

Kenji Doihara said with sudden realization: "It turns out that this woman is the commander's mistress! No wonder she is so confident and not panicked at all!" After that, he crossed out Yukiko Kodo's name from the list.

In the following days, they tried their best to search everywhere, but they still could not find out who the real traitor was. In order to report to their superiors, they had no choice but to arrest the deputy chief of the telecommunications department, Kono Daisuke, and put him in jail. After all, Kono Daisuke knew the specific content of the telegram and often visited the casinos opened by the Chinese to squander money.

However, Kono Daisuke naturally refused to admit that he was the traitor. However, facing the inhumane torture, he finally couldn't bear the pain and was forced to confess and write a so-called confession. Then, he was quickly executed without even a chance to turn over a new leaf. In this way, Kono Daisuke became the scapegoat of Yukiko Kodoka.

In the original historical trajectory, the Zhi-An war should have taken place in July 1920. However, in this special time and space, because the Justice Party falsely accused the Zhili warlord Cao Zhongshan of murdering the Anhui warlord Zhang Jingyao, the conflict between the two sides intensified ahead of time and the war broke out in February. Cao Zhongshan claimed to be the commander-in-chief of the anti-rebel army, and Duan Hefei claimed to be the commander-in-chief of the Dingbian Army.

On February 1, Anhui Governor Ni Sicong took the lead and led his troops to attack Qi Xieyuan in Jiangsu. He made an excuse for himself that Qi Xieyuan hired a murderer to kill Li Chun, the former governor of Jiangsu, and colluded with the British and American powers to oppress the people and kill compatriots. He was simply a complete traitor and traitor! Therefore, Ni Sicong volunteered to stand up and enforce justice for the people.

But then again, when it comes to killing his compatriots, Ni Sicong himself is not that clean. During the Beiyang period, there were few good people among the provincial governors.

After the Battle of Anhui and Jiangsu officially broke out, the situation on the battlefield became increasingly tense. At this time, the armies of Shandong and Zhejiang were also involved in the melee. The armies of the three provinces united and launched a fierce attack on the Zhili Army led by Qi Xieyuan. Faced with such a severe situation, Qi Xieyuan did not retreat. He knew that his army had nowhere to retreat, and if he retreated, he would retreat to the East China Sea.

In order to motivate his men to fight bravely, Qi Xieyuan offered them generous rewards. This move inspired the soldiers' fighting spirit and made them willing to do their best to resist the enemy's attack. Although they lost some territory in the battle, the Zhili Army with its tenacious will and firm belief managed to resist the powerful offensive of the three-province coalition army.

In the fierce battle, the Zhili Army, which had no way to retreat, showed extraordinary courage. They were not afraid of powerful enemies, held their positions, and defended their homes with their flesh and blood. Every time they repelled the enemy's attack, they were more convinced that they could hold most of the territory. This tenacious spirit of resistance infected the entire army, making them united to resist the invasion of powerful enemies.

In Shaanxi, the Yan Xiangwen Division, Wu Xintian Division, and Feng Jishan Brigade of the Zhili Army marched from Henan to Tongguan, Shaanxi. Chen Shufan was unpopular because of his heavy taxes in Shaanxi, which led to his subordinates' betrayal. Feng Jishan, as the vanguard, fought to Tongguan. The brigade commander Guo Jinbang, who was guarding Tongguan, led his troops to revolt in front of the battlefield, killed Chen Shufan's trusted supervisor, and opened the city gate to welcome Feng Jishan's army. Feng Jishan's 16th Mixed Brigade was unstoppable and defeated several troops sent by Chen Shufan all the way to Xi'an. When Shaanxi Governor Liu Zhenhua saw that the situation was not right, he led tens of thousands of Zhensong troops to open the city gate and surrender. Chen Shufan fled, even his wife, children, and property. As the commander-in-chief, Yan Xiangwen's 20th Division basically did not fight, marched all the way, and entered Xi'an. Yan Xiangwen reported to Feng Jishan for merit, and Feng Jishan finally became the commander of the 11th Division, and his 16th Mixed Brigade was expanded to the 11th Division.

The battles in Jiangsu and Shaanxi were not fought by the elite troops directly under the Zhili and Anhui factions. The real decisive battles of the elite troops directly under the Zhili faction were fought in the areas of Zhuozhou and Baoding. The Zhili faction dispatched more than 50,000 troops, led by Wu Ziyu and Wang Chengbin, the deputy commander. The Anhui faction dispatched 70,000 troops, including the three border defense divisions trained by Xu Shuzheng in the eastern province of Mengdong. The commander was Duan Zhigui, and the deputy commander was Xu Shuzheng. After the two major battles of Gaobeidian and Songlindian, Wu Ziyu fully demonstrated his command ability, using the tactics of feigning defeat to lure the enemy and encircling the enemy from all sides, defeating the Anhui army with fewer troops. Duan Zhigui, who once served as the governor of the three northeastern provinces, was obviously no match for the rising star Wu Ziyu.

Duan Hefei once again made a serious mistake of nepotism in choosing a chief commander! If he had wisely chosen Xu Shuzheng as the chief commander, perhaps the outcome would have been completely different, and he would not have been defeated so badly. You know, Xu Shuzheng spent many years training those three elite border defense divisions! However, it is sad that these three powerful armies were completely wiped out in this battle! What is even more unacceptable is that the three outstanding division commanders, Qu Tongfeng, Chen Wenyun and Ma Liang, all became prisoners of the enemy! This is undoubtedly the most painful lesson for Duan Hefei's improper use of people!

Duan Hefei originally had the strength to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops, but at this critical moment, something unexpected happened - 100,000 Fengtian troops suddenly rushed out of Shanhaiguan and marched southward like a god. They openly declared that they had joined the Zhili army, which undoubtedly brought great pressure to Duan Hefei. Faced with such a change, Duan Hefei had no choice but to be forced to divide his troops to deal with the threat from the Fengtian army.

Unfortunately, however, the morale of the five divisions responsible for defending the Fengtian Army collapsed instantly after learning the news of the defeat of the main force. These soldiers lost their will to fight and surrendered to the Fengtian Army one after another. This incident put Duan Hefei in a desperate situation. He felt unprecedented despair and helplessness. With nowhere else to go, Duan Hefei finally decided to announce his resignation by telegraph and resigned from all his positions.

The news of the complete destruction of three elite border defense divisions reached the eastern province of Mongolia. The nobles of the eastern province, former Prime Minister Hang Dado and Commander Utai, joined forces with the horse bandit Semenov to launch a rebellion, raised the banner of Mongolia again, and launched an attack on a cavalry brigade and an artillery regiment of the Beiyang Army stationed in Kulun. The Mongolian army and the horse bandits together had more than 50,000 people, while the Beiyang Army had less than 5,000 people. While the acting commander of the Beiyang Army stationed in Kulun, Zhe Qixiang, sent a telegram to Beijing for help, he also sent an envoy to Beitang City. Zhe Qixiang did not care that his boss Xu Shuzheng had once been an enemy of Beitang City, and he was desperate to seek help.

In the evening, in Beitang City, Beihai Province, the meeting room of the Justice Party building was filled with a tense and serious atmosphere. The top leaders of the Justice Party gathered together to discuss the current turbulent situation. Tian Mengxue stood in front of the conference table and reported the latest situation from Beijing to everyone with a solemn expression.

There was a hint of surprise and disappointment in her voice, and she said with emotion: "I never thought that the Anhui army was so vulnerable! The most elite Anhui army in Beijing was not even as good as the local army. The armies of those local provinces were still struggling to fight, but the central army collapsed first. This so-called decisive battle lasted only four days. What's even more shocking is that the army of an entire province led by Chen Shufan in Shaanxi was easily defeated by a brigade commanded by Feng Jishan. This is really unbelievable!"

Tian Mengxue's words caused an uproar among the people present. They all whispered to each other, feeling worried about the situation. Some people stood up in anger, accusing the Anhui army of incompetence; others fell into deep thought, trying to find a solution to the problem.

The atmosphere in the meeting room became increasingly tense, and everyone realized the seriousness of the situation. The leaders of the Justice Party understood that in the face of such a situation, they must act quickly to maintain national stability and the safety of the people. However, it is not easy to find an effective response. It requires in-depth analysis of the situation, formulation of strategies, and coordination of forces from all parties.

Amid the heated discussion, Tian Mengxue continued to speak, emphasizing the current predicament and the responsibility of the Justice Party. She said: "The failure of the Anhui faction led to the rebellion in Eastern Meng Province. We cannot sit idly by and watch. We must suppress this rebellion immediately."

As the discussion deepened, various opinions and suggestions emerged. Some advocated strengthening military training and improving the quality of soldiers; others proposed cooperating with other parties to form a united front. The top leaders of the Justice Party knew that only through collective wisdom and efforts could they find a way out of the predicament.

Di Xiong raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a confident smile and said: "It's not surprising that the so-called elite army boasted by the Anhui clique suffered failure. It depends on who their opponent is! The Anhui Central Army is facing Wu Ziyu, the most combat-savvy general in the Beiyang Army this time! Their defeat is a matter of course. You know, the army trained by my sworn brother Feng Jishen can be said to be the most powerful army in the world today. It would be strange if Chen Shufan could win like this!" His voice revealed his deep pride and trust in his sworn brother and the army under his command.

At this time, Liu Zhennan stood up, walked into the room with a nervous look, and reported to Di Xiong: "Boss! There is something I need to report to you. Hang Daduo from Mengdong Province actually sent someone to give gifts! And the gifts sent are really a lot, there are more than a dozen boxes of jewelry and jade alone!"

After hearing this, Di Xiong was very surprised. He muttered to himself, "Hmm? This is a rare thing! I didn't expect that my old rival Hang Dado would actually give me a gift? Well, call the messenger in, I want to ask him what's going on."

Not long after, a short man with a flattering smile slowly walked in. This man was Solon, the butler of Hangda. He bowed and saluted to everyone in the room, and said in a humble tone: "I am Solon, and I greet the commander-in-chief Di and all the leaders! I am so lucky to meet all the heroes today!"

Di Xiong looked at Soran with a sharp gaze and said firmly, "Why did Hang Dado ask you to give me a gift? I don't want to hear any nonsense, I just want to hear the truth."

Solon took a deep breath and replied slowly: "We, the Mongolian people, can no longer tolerate the brutal and ruthless rule of the Beiyang Army! They are rampant in the Kulun area, oppressing the people and committing all kinds of evil. We can no longer sit idly by, so we decided to stand up and fight against these evil Beiyang Army. I hope the Black Flag Army can remain neutral and not intervene in the dispute between us and the Beiyang Army."