Black Flag Army

Chapter 133 Sacrifice with Offerings

Jiang Hongyu of the front-line command received the news that Leng Hanbing's troops were surrounded, and hurriedly sent Liu Zhendong to lead the elite brigade of the first division to reinforce. The commander of the second division, Wu Chunlei, also personally led a brigade to attack from the north. The heavy artillery regiment destroyed the artillery positions of the Tsarist Russian army with fierce artillery fire. After rushing in, Wu Chunlei received the report that Leng Hanbing and the intelligence team went straight to the Tsarist Russian army headquarters. Leng Hanbing was injured in his left arm and right shoulder, and the special forces battalion had less than 100 people.

Wu Chunlei sighed: "Leng Hanbing is really not afraid of death! He just escaped death and went to the headquarters to fight for his life again."

Liu Zhendong said: "Hailapao is Leng Hanbing's biggest concern. Eighteen years ago, his whole family was tragically killed by the Russians here. He has been waiting for this day for eighteen years! He is very calm when doing other things, but he can't be calm about this matter. Let's go and pick him up quickly!"

Wu Chunlei said: "The headquarters is the most solidly defended place, it is not so easy to attack, I will transfer two cannons from the heavy artillery regiment."

At this time, Leng Hanbing and his men had arrived at the city defense headquarters in the center of the city. There were many light and dark bunkers and dozens of firing points around the four-story concrete building of the headquarters. Not only were there machine guns spitting flames at the firing points, but there were also snipers aiming at the officers and shooting them. In the fierce gun battle, officers and soldiers of the special forces battalion were constantly shot and fell to the ground. There were only more than 80 people left in the special forces battalion under Leng Hanbing. After one firing point was eliminated, more than half of them were killed or wounded. Deputy battalion commander Liu Tainan was hit by a sniper bullet in the abdomen, bleeding profusely and seriously injured. Leng Hanbing contacted the stretcher team to carry him to the rear hospital for emergency treatment. Three company commanders were all killed.

The intelligence team also suffered heavy casualties. Gao Huzi became a sniper target because of his tall stature and was shot dead. Bai Yulian said to Leng Hanbing: "Director Leng! We can't keep fighting like this. I suggest we wait until the artillery unit arrives. What do you think?"

Leng Hanbing saw that both he and the intelligence team had run out of rockets, and only rifles and machine guns had a small amount of bullets left. He couldn't help but sigh and ordered his men to stop the attack, eat dry food and rest.

Seeing that the officers and soldiers of the special forces battalion were all chewing on rough bread, Bai Yulian asked Xiao Shunzi to give everyone a can of fruit. She herself gave a can of beef to Leng Hanbing. Leng Hanbing refused, but Bai Yulian insisted on giving it to him. Leng Hanbing had no choice but to accept it and handed it to the injured guard Min Kailong.

Leng Hanbing took out the magazine and loaded bullets into the sniper rifle, which had already run out of bullets, while saying to Bai Yulian: "I saw that you were a pretty good shooter just now. Did you practice at the Intelligence Officer School?"

Bai Yulian said with a smile: "My third-rate shooting skills are far inferior to your famous lightning-fast shooting. When I was in school, the instructor always scolded me for my poor shooting skills and said how good the Red Scorpion's shooting skills were! I couldn't swallow this humiliation, so I had to bury my head in practice. When I ran out of bullets, I stole the instructor's bullets, and ended up being put in solitary confinement."

Leng Hanbing and the officers and soldiers of the special forces camp laughed when they heard this. At this time, Xiao Shunzi came to tell Bai Yulian that he had received a telegram from his superiors, asking her to call back, and Bai Yulian said goodbye and left.

Leng Hanbing looked at Bai Yulian's departing back and said, "I heard that Bai Yulian had a bad temper and was arrogant before, but today I see that she is very easy-going and humble, not arrogant at all! It seems that hearing is not believing, seeing is believing!"

Guard Min Kailong said, "Inspector General, don't be fooled by her illusion. Losing temper and being arrogant also depends on the person. You are the second-in-command of the Justice Party. How dare she lose her temper in front of you? She can't be arrogant either."

Leng Hanbing said, "Don't talk nonsense. The second-in-command of the Justice Party is Mr. Wu, and the third-in-command is Sister Lan. I used to be ranked fourth at most, tied with Tian Mengxue and the others. Now that I am no longer the Director of the Supervision Department, I can't even be ranked fourth."

Min Kailong said: "But on the Japanese bounty list, you are indeed ranked second."

Leng Hanbing said: "The Japanese may have made a mistake, or they may have deliberately tried to sow discord. We can't follow their approach."

A platoon leader of a special forces battalion reported to Leng Hanbing: "Commander Wu is coming with two heavy artillery pieces."

The observation post of the Hailanpao City Defense Command also saw the heavy artillery and quickly reported it to Ungern. Ungern was shocked and said to his generals: "We can't sit here and wait to die. Break out quickly! Military Advisor, think of a way to break out quickly."

Ping Fugui said: "Let the division commander Zhang Zongchang and the division commander Semenov lead their troops to break out to the east and north respectively. This will certainly alert the enemy and they will come to intercept us. We will take the opportunity to break out to the south and we will definitely be able to break out."

His plan was actually to let Zhang Zongchang and Semenov die as cannon fodder, giving them a chance to survive. Ungern and Deputy Commander Gregory both thought this plan was good, so they issued an order for Zhang Zongchang and Semenov to break out according to the plan.

The gunners Wu Chunlei brought had just set up the cannons and had not had time to fire when the people in the headquarters rushed out on horseback. Leng Hanbing hurriedly ordered to open fire, and the Russian cavalrymen were shot and fell off their horses. Because there were too many people rushing out and the horses were fast, although a group of people were knocked down, many people still rushed out. Leng Hanbing grabbed an empty horse and chased after them, and other officers and soldiers of the special forces battalion also rode on empty horses to catch up.

Enqin had already rushed out, and when he was about to reach the south gate, Yelina, who was following him, was suddenly shot on her horse, and she fell to the ground. Her legs were broken, and she couldn't get up. She cried and called for Enqin to save her! Yelina was Enqin's favorite concubine. Enqin couldn't bear to abandon her, so he took a few guards back to save her, and was immediately surrounded by pursuers. After a gunfight, Enqin was wounded and fell off his horse. He was knocked unconscious and tied up by Leng Hanbing.

Min Kailong said, "Inspector General! It would be much easier to just shoot him. It would be too much trouble to tie him up and take him back."

Leng Hanbing said: "I just asked the prisoner. He is Ungern, the highest commander of the Russian army in Hailanpao. Tomorrow I will sacrifice my family at the bank of the Heilongjiang River south of Hailanpao. Sacrifices must have sacrifices, and a living Ungern is the best sacrifice."

With the escape of the Tsarist Russian army and the capture of its headquarters, the battle of Hailar was basically over. The Black Flag Army's spoils in the warehouse were not as abundant as in Nerchinsk, but there were more than three tons of gold bars, as well as gold, silver, jewelry and jade worth hundreds of thousands of silver dollars.

Hailanpao is separated from Heilongjiang Province by the Heilongjiang River. When the black flag with the pattern of seven stars and two swords was raised on the city wall, it attracted the attention of Sun Liechen, the governor of Heilongjiang. When a gunfight broke out in Hailanpao yesterday, he received a report and sent a large number of spies across the river to the north to understand the situation. The next morning, he convened a meeting of his important assistants in the governor's mansion to discuss the matter, including Chief of Staff Zhang Zuoxiang, Secretary General Wang Shuhan, and his eldest son Sun Dahu. Sun Dahu served as the brigade commander of the 27th Division, the most elite division of the Fengtian Army, stationed in Harbin.

Sun Liechen said: "According to the reports from the merchants in Hailar who fled to the south bank and our spies, yesterday's battle has been clarified. The Black Flag Army of Outer Mongolia took advantage of the Russian Civil War to capture Hailar in one fell swoop. They even captured the commander, Ungern. It can be said that they were extremely daring, but the spoils were also very rich. I heard that there were more than 60,000 taels of gold in Ungern's lair."

When Sun Dahu heard that there were more than 60,000 taels of gold, he immediately became anxious and shouted, "This Hailanpao is only separated from us by a river. We should have sent troops to conquer it. How can we let the bandits in Outer Mongolia take all this wealth? Dad! Send someone to explain to them immediately. At least give us half. Otherwise, we will send troops across the river, and after we cross the river, none of them will be able to escape."

Sun Liechen sneered, "Want to split it in half? Send troops across the river? I'm afraid you're just going to die. There were more than 40,000 horse bandits from Enqin in Hailanpao, and the Black Flag Army wiped out most of them in just one day. The horse bandits from Enqin invaded Mohe County in Heilongjiang Province before. You've fought with them before, and you know their combat effectiveness very well. You can imagine how strong the combat effectiveness of those who can defeat the horse bandits from Enqin in such a short time must be."

Zhang Zuoxiang said: "When Wu Junsheng escaped from Outer Mongolia, I talked to him. He said that the black bandits have a large number of planes and artillery, and the morale of the army is high. The combat effectiveness is stronger than that of the Beiyang Army. There is no way to fight them. Once they fight, the army will collapse. Although the soldiers who go there are all rubbish, it is difficult for the Fengtian Army to gain an advantage even if the elite troops go there."

Secretary General Wang Shuhan said: "The bandits in western Meng are indeed extremely fierce and courageous. They have fought against the Japanese air force and both won and lost. This time they defeated the Russians again. I heard that the former President Yuan was also killed by them. The former Suiyuan General Pan was killed by their plane because he offended them. So it is best for us not to make enemies with them. These people are very cruel."

Sun Dahu said, "Since Dad doesn't want to fight them, then why did you call me here?"

Sun Liechen said, "Now it's not a question of whether we can fight back, but whether they will fight back. I want to send an envoy to ask about the situation. If they want to make a quick buck in Hailanpao and leave, that's fine. But if they want to stay here for a long time, we must make good friends with them. Even if we can't be friends, we can't be enemies. In addition, we must be prepared for Dahu's army to prevent them from attacking us suddenly."

Sun Dahu said, "Dad, you are too cautious. Our Northeast Army has more than 100,000 troops. The bandits don't have such a big appetite. They will be stuffed to death."

Zhang Zuoxiang said: "I am willing to be the envoy, but I cannot go empty-handed. I want to bring some food to comfort them. After all, they killed many Russians and captured Hailanpao, avenging the victims of the year. As a Chinese, I should go to congratulate them."

Sun Liechen said, "You are right. Marshal Zhang was deceived by the Japanese and sent troops to Outer Mongolia. He suffered heavy casualties and offended the Black Flag Army. Now it seems better to turn enemies into friends! You are not allowed to mention black bandits in the future, so as not to mention them easily when you see them in the future."

Hearing that the governor of Heilongjiang Province sent an envoy to congratulate and bring dozens of carriages of food to entertain the troops, Jiang Hongyu prepared to greet them in person. Wu Chunlei said, "Didn't the Fengtian Army fight with us last time? Is it necessary to welcome them?"

Jiang Hongyu said, "It is better to resolve a feud than to create one. Besides, it was Zhang Zuolin who issued the order, and it had nothing to do with Governor Sun. He wants to establish a good relationship with us now, so there is no need for us to make our relationship awkward. Since we plan to stay in Hailanpao for a long time, we should be their neighbors, and it is more valuable to be neighbors in harmony."

Wu Chunlei said: "That makes sense. Since the Chief of General Staff has made the decision, I will obey your order."

Zhang Zuoxiang, under the guidance of the sentry platoon leader, met Jiang Hongyu. The sentry platoon leader introduced them to each other. He waved his hand from afar and said respectfully: "It is a pleasure to meet Chief of General Staff Jiang! Congratulations to the Chief of General Staff for leading the army to defeat the Russians and recapture Hailanpao, avenging the tragedy of 18 years ago! There are still many survivors in Harbin. After hearing about this great victory, they burst into tears with excitement! Many restaurants set off firecrackers and treated the guests to free food and drinks. The Chief of General Staff will go down in history and be remembered forever!"

Jiang Hongyu was very happy to hear this and said repeatedly: "Chief of Staff Zhang is exaggerating. Commander-in-Chief Di is the national hero who will go down in history. Without Commander-in-Chief Di providing planes, artillery and military pay in the rear, how could there be this great victory? I just followed Commander-in-Chief Di and got some credit. It can't be considered a great victory. It's just the recovery of a city. Starting from Suwu City, our Black Flag Army has recovered several cities from the Russians, but there are still many places in Outer Northeast China in the hands of the Russians."

Zhang Zuoxiang asked, "Are you going to take them all back?"

Jiang Hongyu said: "Of course! We have the Beihai Lake water diversion project, which has turned the desert in western Mengxi into fertile fields, which can feed tens of millions of people and provide strong financial support for the Black Flag Army!"

Zhang Zuoxiang said: "I have also heard about this huge project, which cost an astronomical amount of money. I admire your commander-in-chief's courage very much!"

Jiang Hongyu said: "Commander-in-Chief Di has been scolded a lot for this project!"

Zhang Zuoxiang said: "It is inevitable that those in power will be scolded. Our Marshal Zhang, in order to benefit the people of Northeast China, had no money, so he had to cheat some money from the Japanese, but he was scolded as a traitor."

Jiang Hongyu thought, don’t you know whether your commander-in-chief is a traitor or not?

Di Xiong also received news of the victory in Hailanpao, as well as the news that Leng Hanbing had sacrificed his family members by the river and killed Enqin after the battle. He said to his wife Lan Jinchun, "Leng Hanbing can finally let go of the worry he had for eighteen years."

Lan Jinchun said: "Our battle line is too long. From western Meng to Hailanpao, it is more than a thousand kilometers. Although we have 100,000 troops, there are too many enemies. If we are attacked by the Russians in the north and the domestic warlords in the south at the same time, the battle line will be easily cut off."

Di Xiong said, "We have also noticed the situation you mentioned. We have an air force, so even if it is cut off, we can still airdrop supplies. To recapture Outer Northeast, we have to fight so far, and there is nothing we can do about it. Fortunately, Jiang Hongyu has considered it very carefully and has turned the enemy into a friend with Sun Liechen, the governor of Heilongjiang Province. If we can maintain peace with Heilongjiang, even if it is only temporary, we don't have to worry about being attacked from both sides."