Black Flag Army

At this time, the captain of the guard, Liu Zhennan, came in, saluted Di Xiong and said, "Commander-in-chief, General Advisor Zhang wants to see you!" Di Xiong looked up at Liu Zhennan and said with a smile, "Oh, please ask him to come in! Didn't I tell you last time? There is no need to notify General Zhang when he comes."

Now Di Xiong had more guards under him, eight people in total, so he formed a guard team with Liu Zhennan as the captain.

Liu Zhennan nodded and replied, "That's what I told him, but General Zhang said that since it's a rule, we must abide by it and we can't break the rule just because of him."

Di Xiong smiled, and his respect for General Zhang increased a little more. General Zhang not only had outstanding military talent and profound strategic vision, but more importantly, he adhered to principles and was not arrogant or impatient, which made people admire him.

Chief Advisor Zhang is Zhang Shaozeng. More than three months ago, he escaped from the arrest of the Zhili clique and took his family to Beitang City for refuge. Di Xiong made him the chief advisor and training minister of the Black Flag Army, managing the recruit training camp in the three northern provinces. Di Xiong originally wanted him to be the commander of the Third Army Group, but he firmly refused and was only willing to be an advisor. The training minister is actually the same as the chief advisor, a dispensable role, because the training department has a chief instructor and many instructors in charge of training. If Zhang Shaozeng doesn't want to be in charge, he can get a high salary and live a carefree life, but Zhang Shaozeng is obviously not such a person.

Zhang Shaozeng, wearing the uniform of a lieutenant general of the Black Flag Army, walked into the office, saluted Di Xiong and said, "Commander-in-Chief! President Xu can no longer stay in Beijing and wants to go to Beihai to avoid the limelight. I wonder if the commander-in-chief can accept it?"

Recently, the relationship between the Presidential Office and the Zhili Army has become increasingly tense, with the two sides on the verge of a war. The fuse of all this was President Xu's strong condemnation of the Zhili Army - they had arrested his trusted general Zhang Shaozeng privately! The Zhili Army was not to be outdone, and its leader Cao Zhongshan directly asked President Xu to resign and hand over the power. However, in the face of such an unreasonable request, President Xu would certainly not compromise easily and decisively rejected it. Thus, a fierce political struggle began. President Xu thought that the Zhili Army would remove him through the National Assembly, and he was well prepared for this. Who knew that the leader of the Zhili Army, Cao Zhongshan, was simpler and more brutal than he expected.

Just last night, a group of hundreds of mysterious masked armed men suddenly attacked the Presidential Palace. These people came with a fierce momentum and ruthless means, but the Presidential Palace had already made preparations for it. The guards led by Shi Jingting quickly attacked and engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy. After a desperate fight, they finally successfully repelled this group of uninvited guests. Not only that, when cleaning up the battlefield, people were surprised to find that one of the masked men who was shot dead was Cao Zhongshan's nephew Cao Shixiong! This amazing discovery shocked everyone, and the development of things became more and more confusing...

How did this masked armed force enter the heavily guarded city of Beijing? Everyone knew it well. President Xu knew that the other side would never accept defeat and would come a second time, a third time...

Di Xiong said: "Please tell President Xu that he is welcome to seek refuge in Beitang. I just hope he won't interfere with my policies in the three northern provinces."

Zhang Shaozeng asked curiously, "Don't you have four provinces now? Why is it still called the Northern Three Provinces?"

Di Xiong said: "There is no Mengdong Province anymore. The Outer Mongolia region should not have been divided into two provinces. Now it is merged into one province, called Beihai Province."

Zhang Shaozeng sighed with emotion and said, "All the other warlords are looking forward to controlling more provinces, so that they can have the opportunity to appoint more confidants to serve as officials. But I didn't expect that our commander-in-chief would take the initiative to give up a province. He is really different!"

After hearing this, Di Xiong showed a determined look on his face. He responded resolutely: "The reason why other warlords want to place so many officials is nothing more than to collect more benefits. How is this different from selling official positions? No matter how poor I am, I will never seek personal gain from such things!"

After Zhang Shaozeng left, Di Xiong asked his secretary Huo Qingtong: "Which province has the most refugees this time, and which province has the least?"

Huo Qingtong said, "Henan Province has the most refugees, with hundreds of thousands entering Suiyuan, and millions more on the way, because Henan suffered the most damage, and the governor Zhao Chou was the most cruel to the people, nicknamed Zhao Bo Pi. Shaanxi Province has the least refugees. Although Shaanxi's damage is second only to Henan, your sworn brother Governor Feng has always been known for loving the people. He and his subordinates have lived frugally and tried their best to help the refugees. Many wealthy businessmen and landlords who were unwilling to donate grain were forced to open their warehouses and release grain by his troops. Hu Jingyi, who controls northern Shaanxi, is also an upright and righteous man. Only in Liu Zhenhua's territory in southern Shaanxi did many people flee."

Di Xiong asked: "The quality of a provincial governor can be seen from the number of refugees fleeing. Did Suiyuan Governor Cai Chengxun prevent refugees from entering Beihai Province?"

Huo Qingtong took a deep breath, glanced at the notebook in his hand and said, "According to the information from the Intelligence Department, although Cai Chengxun imposed heavy taxes on the people of Suiyuan and planted opium to make money, he did not stop the refugees from crossing the border because the Guisui Intelligence Station had warned him. The head of the Guisui Intelligence Station said that this was mainly because after his Beiyang First Division entered Suiyuan, they began to indulge in pleasure and stopped military training. The entire army had become completely corrupt and its combat effectiveness had become extremely poor, so he did not dare to offend us easily."

Di Xiong sighed helplessly and said, "In fact, we should eliminate corrupt officials like Cai Chengxun as soon as possible, but the refugee issue is the top priority. If we eliminate him, it may cause chaos in Suiyuan. Therefore, we can only put this matter aside for the time being. Even if Cai Chengxun is dealt with, the Beiyang government will send new officials to replace him, and these people are likely to be equally corrupt, or even more greedy than Cai Chengxun."

Huo Qingtong nodded in agreement and said, "Indeed, except for Chief Advisor Zhang, all the governors of Suiyuan had spent huge amounts of money to take office. If they hadn't been corrupt and accepted bribes, how could they have recovered their costs?"

Di Xiong said to Huo Qingtong, "Go back and pack your luggage. We will go to Daranza tomorrow to inspect the supply of materials for the refugees and welcome President Xu."

The next morning, just after the sun rose, Di Xiong, Foreign Affairs Director Xian Yuji, Secretary Huo Qingtong and several guards boarded a plane to Daranza. During the flight, they looked down and saw many refugees setting up simple tents on both sides of the road, forming temporary refugee camps. Although the local government and security groups are working hard to provide assistance, the lives of these refugees are still very difficult.

When the plane landed at Daranza Airport, Di Xiong and others immediately felt the tense atmosphere. Local officials had been waiting at the airport for a long time and quickly arranged a vehicle to take them to the refugee relief station. At the relief station, Di Xiong communicated with local officials and asked in detail about the supply of materials, medical services and other aspects. Hai Dazheng, the mayor of Daranza, was an inspector of the Chagan outpost a few years ago. Di Xiong discovered this talent during his unannounced visit and promoted him step by step. The captain of the Chagan security company, Tang, is now the chief of the Daranza Police Department.

Through field investigations, Di Xiong found that the refugees have received some basic living guarantees, such as food, water and temporary tents. However, facing hundreds of thousands of refugees, there is still huge pressure on the supply of materials. In addition, due to the long-term predicament, the refugees' unstable psychological state also needs attention.

Di Xiong realized that material assistance alone was not enough to solve this problem. A sound management system was also needed to ensure fair and reasonable distribution of materials. At the same time, more attention should be paid to the psychological emotions of refugees so that they could get out of the shadows as soon as possible and rebuild their confidence. Therefore, Di Xiong decided to deeply understand the needs of refugees and work with local governments to develop more effective solutions.

Di Xiong decided to take measures to improve the living conditions of the refugees. He ordered his secretary to send a telegram to the Beihai Provincial Government to transfer more food, medicine and clothing from the warehouse. At the same time, he ordered the construction of more temporary shelters to provide a stable living environment for the refugees.

After a busy day and night, Di Xiong finally waited for Xu Juren's special plane at noon the next day. The plane landed smoothly on the tarmac, and Xu Juren, Shi Jingting and their entourage walked out of the cabin together.

Di Xiong had been waiting at the airport for a long time. When he saw Xu Juren getting off the plane, he immediately went up to shake his hand. After the two exchanged pleasantries, Di Xiong began to give Xu Juren a detailed introduction to the current refugee situation.

"President Xu, you have worked hard on the journey!" Di Xiong said, "I have arranged everything. You can rest assured in Beihai Province."

Xu Juren nodded and thanked Di Xiong for his thoughtful arrangement. Then they went to the conference room together to discuss how to better deal with the refugee issue.

In the meeting room, Di Xiong once again emphasized the huge number of refugees and the urgency of the situation, and expressed his full support for Xu Juren's work. At the same time, he also put forward some suggestions, hoping to gain Xu Juren's approval.

Xu Juren listened carefully to Di Xiong's opinions and nodded his approval from time to time. Finally, he decided to set up a special committee to deal with refugee affairs and invited Di Xiong to serve as chairman.

Di Xiong gladly accepted the appointment and said he would spare no effort to perform his duties. Afterwards, they had an in-depth discussion on other related matters and jointly developed a series of response plans.

President Xu appreciated Di Xiong's good deeds and decided to work with him to solve the refugee problem. Although President Xu fled to Beihai Province, he nominally went to Beihai Province to inspect the refugee situation. Di Xiong noticed that his guard captain Shi Jingting had a thick white gauze on his head, and it was obvious that he had escaped after a fierce battle, so he asked about his escape.

Shi Jingting said slowly: "Of the ten planes that Commander-in-Chief Di gave us, five were transport planes. As soon as these five transport planes arrived at Nanyuan Airport, Duan Zhigui, a big boss of the Anhui clique, came to borrow them. President Xu, of course, refused to lend them to him. However, that very night, someone actually set fire to two transport planes at Nanyuan Airport! Although we suspected that this was Duan Zhigui's deliberate revenge, we could not produce any conclusive evidence. At that time, the Anhui clique was in power, and we had no choice but to admit that we were unlucky. Therefore, I specially dispatched a guard battalion to the airport to protect the remaining planes. During this escape, the whole family and a lot of luggage could only barely squeeze into the remaining three transport planes, and many things had to be abandoned."

Di Xiong looked at Xu Juren and said, "Why didn't you tell me earlier that you were short of planes? As long as you mentioned it, I could send a few more planes over! This way, more items can be moved away."

Xu Juren quickly replied, "Commander-in-Chief Di, you have to worry about the refugees every day, and you are already very busy and hard-working. I am really embarrassed to bother you because of such a small matter!"

Xian Yuji and Huo Qingtong were secretly surprised to see that Xu Juren, as the president, spoke to Di Xiong in a very humble tone. At the same time, they were relieved as they no longer had to worry about Xu Juren competing with Di Xiong for power.

Di Xiong nodded to show his understanding. He turned to look at Shi Jingting and noticed that the wound on his head had not healed yet and there was blood seeping out, so he asked with concern: "Looking at the wound on Captain Shi's head, did you encounter any obstacles when you were leaving? Did someone not let you go?"

Shi Jingting said seriously, "When we left the Presidential Palace, Cao Zhongshan actually sent someone to say that if we wanted to leave, we could, but we had to hand over the presidential seal and write a letter of resignation, so that he could let President Li take over again. But President Xu was forced to leave by them, so how could he do as they wished! So President Xu naturally ignored him. Unexpectedly, Cao Zhongshan actually sent a brigade of troops to attack Nanyuan Airport in an attempt to cut off our retreat. When we hurried to the airport, we found that the battalion guarding the airport had suffered more than half of its casualties, and the situation was very critical. Fortunately, five bombers took off in time to help, and only then did they barely defend the airport. It was for this reason that we had the opportunity to escape. The injury on my head was caused by a stray bullet when I was boarding the plane."

Di Xiong said angrily: "President Xu is the president of a country, but he can't guarantee his life safety in his own capital. Cao Zhongshan is really too rampant. He first sent soldiers to pretend to be gangsters to attack the presidential palace and forced the president out of Beijing. He was not satisfied and wanted to take his life. If such a person became president, it would be a disaster for the people of the world."

Xu Juren frowned and said, "From what he said, it seems that he wants Li Huangpi to be the president. He didn't say that he wants to be the president himself!"

Di Xiong sneered and said disdainfully: "Humph! He is such a cunning fox! Li Huangpi's nickname is 'Li Bodhisattva', he is just Cao Zhongshan's puppet! When he is unhappy one day and thinks Li Huangpi is disobedient, he will replace him without hesitation and then ascend to the presidency himself!"

Xu Juren was silent for a moment, with a trace of worry in his eyes: "If this continues, the country may fall into chaos again..."

Di Xiong nodded, his tone heavy: "Yes, the situation is so chaotic now. If something like this happens again, the people will suffer. We must do something and cannot just sit there and wait for death."

Xian Yuji said: "President Xu can establish a government in exile in Beihai Province."