Black Flag Army

Zhang Shaozeng, the general of Suiyuan and the director of Northwest Reclamation, was originally the commander of the 20th Regiment in the late Qing Dynasty. After the Wuchang Uprising broke out, the Qing court sent him to Wuchang to suppress the uprising army, but he refused. After Yuan Shikai came to power, he sent him to Wuchang to fight with Feng Guozhang, but he also refused. He strongly advocated peace talks between the North and the South. His subordinates Wang Jinming, Shi Congyun and other captains (battalion commanders) also launched the Luanzhou Uprising. Yuan Shikai hated him very much. After becoming president, he took away his military power in the name of military reform and transferred him to Suiyuan to serve as the general of Suiyuan and the director of Northwest Reclamation. In fact, he had an empty title without power. He wanted to take a brigade of subordinates with him, but was rejected by the Army Department, which only agreed to let him take a regiment. After completing all the procedures, he found that only one battalion came, and the other two battalions were also detained by the new commander of the 20th Division.

Fortunately, after he arrived in Suiyuan, his former subordinates Zhang Zhijiang, Zhang Shusheng, Shi Jingting, Zheng Jinsheng and others came to surrender, and he recruited many new soldiers. His army increased from one battalion to two regiments. After the Outer Mongolian rebellion, they attacked Suiyuan three times, with more troops each time. The last time, there were more than 10,000 cavalry, but they were all defeated by the new troops led by Zhang Shaozeng. Half of the so-called eight famous Mongolian generals, including Wutai, Haishan, Makesha, Danbijian, Songmuyan, Babuza, Damu, and Buyanbu, were defeated by Zhang Shaozeng.

At noon that day, Zhang Shaozeng was reading in his study when his butler came to report: "Master! Mr. Di Congmo, chairman of Beihai Group, wants to see you! He also brought valuable items such as ginseng and mink fur."

"Please come in!" Zhang Shaozeng hurriedly came out of the study to the living room door to greet Di Xiong, and said to him, "Brother Di, just come. What are you bringing? It's too polite."

Since it was not the first time they met, they were already very familiar with each other. Zhang Shaozeng invited Di Xiong to sit in the living room and the servants brought him tea.

Di Xiong said, "This is just a small gift. It is not a sign of respect. General Zhang has sent troops to help us fight against the Mongolian bandits many times. What does this gift mean to us?"

Zhang Shaozeng was only thirty-three years old, but due to his long military life, his face was yellow and black, his skin was rough, and he looked like a forty-year-old.

Zhang Shaozeng said with a smile, "What's this little favor? Fighting against the Mongolian bandits is my duty as a Suiyuan general. A few months ago, when Director Guo came to see me with Feng Jishan's letter of introduction, I thought you were going to cause me some trouble. Who knew you would bring an arsenal and provide us with the most valuable guns and ammunition? If it weren't for these guns and ammunition, it wouldn't be so easy to defeat the well-equipped Mongolian bandits."

Di Xiong said: "Since General Zhang thinks it is not difficult to defeat the Mongolian bandits, why not just recapture Outer Mongolia and take Kulun?"

Zhang Shaozeng said: "Of course I want to recover Outer Mongolia, which is more than one million square kilometers of Chinese land! However, I wrote several application reports to the Yuan Shikai government in Beijing, but they were rejected and scolded, saying that I was a warmonger. In fact, Yuan Shikai was afraid that the Russians would send troops to aid Mongolia. The Russian envoy once threatened that if the Yuan Shikai government sent troops to Outer Mongolia, it would be a declaration of war on Russia. Suiyuan itself is short of food and wages. The Minister and Deputy Minister of the Army have always had a bad relationship with me. Since I took office, they have not given me a copper coin of military pay or a grain of food. The Army Department asked me to raise food and wages myself, but the officials of Suiyuan, big and small, were all confidants appointed by Yan Xishan, the governor of Shanxi. They let them use the taxes and fees from all over the country to support Yan Xishan's troops. How could I get a share? If it weren't for the patriotic trading companies such as Da Kuisheng who donated thousands of dollars and tens of thousands of dan of grain, plus the spoils of the bandit suppression, my two regiments of troops would have collapsed long ago."

Di Xiong said, "You are the General of Suiyuan and the Director of Northwest Reclamation. Shouldn't you be the one to appoint the officials of Suiyuan?"

Zhang Shaozeng said: "This story starts from last year. At the end of October last year, Yan Xishan, Huang Guoliang and Yao Yijia, officers of the Shanxi New Army, responded to the Wuchang Uprising and launched the Taiyuan Uprising. They defeated the Taiyuan Qing Army and killed the Shanxi Governor. Yuan Shikai, who was in power in the Qing court, sent Zhang Xiluan and Cao Kun to lead more than 10,000 Beiyang troops to suppress the uprising. At that time, Yan Xishan had only a few thousand motley crowd and was badly defeated. He led the remnants to flee to Suiyuan, defeated the local Qing army and horse bandits, controlled Guisui, Baotou and Ulanqab, and recruited a large number of surrendered soldiers. Later, he regained his momentum and returned to Shanxi. After the establishment of the Republic of China, he sent people to spend a lot of money to bribe Yuan Shikai's favorite concubines and confidants, and persuaded Yuan Shikai to appoint him as the governor of Shanxi. Although he returned to Taiyuan to serve as the governor of Shanxi, he regarded Suiyuan as his own territory and left a group of officials and troops to control it. Suiyuan was a special zone province like Rehe and Chahar. There was no governor, only a general. He appointed his confidant Zhao Chengyuan as the governor of Suiyuan and his cousin Wang Jing'an as the commander of the garrison. After receiving bribes, the officials of the Beiyang government actually recognized his appointment. "

Di Xiong thought, no wonder the historical records of later generations called the Jin Army the Jinsui Army. It turned out that Yan Xishan's power had already infiltrated Suiyuan. Di Xiong asked, "How many troops does Yan Xishan have in Suiyuan?"

Zhang Shaozeng said: "Guisui and Baotou each have a security brigade, Ulanqab has a security brigade, and six county security regiment leaders are appointed by Zhao Chengyuan, with a total of more than 10,000 people. The security regiment is poorly equipped, but the security brigade is well-equipped and well-trained. Although I am the Suiyuan General and the Northwest Reclamation Supervisor, I only have half of Guisui and half of Baotou. The rest is the territory of the Shanxi and Ningxia factions of the Ma family army. I only have two regiments under my command. If you add your regiment, there are only three regiments. I always suffer losses when competing for power with them. I also want to expand my troops, but I lack food and wages, so I am powerless."

Di Xiong took out a check from his pocket, handed it to Zhang Shaozeng and said, "Although our Beihai Group is not as famous as Da Kuisheng, our patriotism is no less than theirs. This is a check for 100,000 yuan, which is considered as the military pay donated by our patriotic businessmen to the truly patriotic army."

Zhang Shaozeng looked at Di Xiong in surprise and said, "You gave too much, didn't you? Your company has just opened for a short time, and you haven't made a total of 100,000 yuan, right? Last time, I accepted 2,000 rifles and 50,000 rounds of ammunition from the factory director for free, and I feel really bad about it."

Di Xiong said sternly: "Money is something outside of our body. We cannot bring it with us when we are born, and we cannot take it with us when we die. As long as we use it in the right way, it is not a pity to spend a lot."

"Then I would like to thank Brother Di on behalf of my brothers. No wonder Feng Jishan treats you as a brother. You are really a man of great loyalty!"

After Di Xiong returned to the Beihai Group headquarters, he convened a meeting of all the leaders of the intelligence department in the conference room. When the intelligence chief Wu Chunfeng saw that Tian Mengxue, Li Laoshi and others were present, he announced the meeting and invited Di Xiong to speak.

Di Xiong said: "The five intelligence officers sent to Outer Mongolia last time all died. The main reason was that the puppet government of Outer Mongolia began to drive out Han people on a large scale. Anyone who was suspicious or resisted was killed. Another reason was that the intelligence officers had no experience and could not speak Mongolian."

Li Laoshi, the head of the Baotou intelligence station, stood up and said, "I selected the intelligence officer, so I have the responsibility. Please, Di Juzi, punish me."

While Di Xiong was in prison, Wu Zhong, the acting chairman of the Justice Party and a descendant of the Mohist school, reorganized the Justice Party and abolished the party chairman and secretary general. The leader of the Justice Party was called the Juzi, and there were two deputy Juzis. Under the Juzi were six Mohists, and under the Mohists were twenty-four sages, and below them were group leaders and ordinary party members. The Juzi was of course Di Xiong, Wu Zhong and Lan Jinping were deputy Juzis, and together with the six Mohists, nine people formed the top level of the Justice Party, while the sages and party members belonged to the middle and lower levels. As a result, the outside world gave the Justice Party another name, the "Mohist Party."

After Di Xiong came back, he saw that the matter was done and had to accept it. As a result, there was a vacancy among the Mohists, which was filled by Tian Mengxue. Zhang Zhenyang, Liu Zhendong, Li Fei, Li Laoshi and others all became sages.

Di Xiong said to Li Laoshi, "You can't be blamed for this. A good cook cannot cook without rice. So I plan to run an intelligence training school. Because time is too tight, the task is too heavy, and there are not many teachers, only 30 students will be recruited in the first term, half of them are men and half are women. The term lasts for half a year. After graduation, they will be sent to Outer Mongolia immediately. I will serve as the principal concurrently, Tian Mengxue will serve as the vice principal and chief instructor, and we will also invite a few Germans and Mongolian-speaking businessmen to serve as instructors. You, Li Laoshi, will also serve as an instructor concurrently."

Wu Chunfeng asked quickly, "What about me? I'm the head of the intelligence department. Even if I can't be the vice-president, you should at least give me a position as an instructor, right?"

Tian Mengxue smiled and said, "Chief Wu is probably interested in those pretty female students, right?"

Di Xiong said to Wu Chunfeng, "Your task is also very important. Intelligence work against Yuan Shikai's government and the Shanxi and Ningxia factions is also very important. You are mainly responsible for this. Otherwise, our base in Baotou might be raided by these three forces before we attack Outer Mongolia. In addition, compared with Tian Mengxue and Li Laoshi, you have studied intelligence with me for a shorter time, so don't squeeze in with me to join the fun at the intelligence training school."

After hearing this, Wu Chunfeng sighed and gave up.

After the meeting, Di Xiong asked Tian Mengxue to stay and ask, "Feng Ru and the others have been here for several days. How is the situation?"

Tian Mengxue smiled and said, "Although Feng Ru is a bit lecherous, he works very hard. The other people also work very seriously. They worked all night when they arrived in Baotou, and made the engine blueprints and sent them to the ironware factory for forging. Feng Ru and his team personally supervised and checked, and the engine was made in just three days. It will be much easier to make the nose, wings and shell next. Feng Ru said that in ten days at most, the plane can be built. After all, they have built planes in the United States and Guangzhou and have experience."

Di Xiong said: "Except for the engine, the current airplanes are all made of wood, which is of course easier. If we can have a few airplanes to participate in the battle, the combat power of our regiment will be increased by three or even five times. We will never be slaughtered like Nankou Town. Even if the Beiyang Army attacks us, they will have to consider whether they can afford such a high price."

Tian Mengxue asked: "Can we use other materials to make airplanes in the future?"

Di Xiong said: "Of course, we use wood because the lighter the plane is in the air, the better. However, wood is not as good as metal after all. If we use aluminum instead, it is also very light, but the quality is much better. One aluminum plane can deal with ten wooden planes."

Tian Mengxue said: "Suiyuan has no aluminum, so we can only buy it from foreign companies in Tianjin. We already spend a lot of money to buy gasoline for airplanes from foreign companies, and it will cost another lot of money to buy aluminum."

Di Xiong said, "We will have to open our own aluminum mines sooner or later. Suiyuan and Outer Mongolia both have aluminum mines, but they have not been mined yet. As for gasoline, I remember there is a Yanchang oil mine in northern Shaanxi. We can send people to collect some crude oil and bring it back to Suiyuan for refining. We can't expect to buy all these important materials from foreigners. The amount of money is secondary. It will be troublesome if they get in the way at a critical moment. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 was defeated because the British got in the way of our shells."

Tian Mengxue asked: "During the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, how did the Qing Dynasty get strangled by the British?"

Di Xiong said: "When Li Hongzhang was carrying out the Westernization Movement, the largest factory was the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau. However, the cost of producing a rifle was thirty taels of silver, while it only cost ten taels of silver to buy a rifle from a foreign country. The shells and bullets produced were also three times more expensive than the foreign prices. The Qing government believed that the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau was too corrupt, so it only imported and did not produce. The machines were not used for a long time and were not maintained, so they gradually rusted and became useless. In fact, there was certainly an internal corruption problem, but more of the reason was that foreign merchants deliberately suppressed prices. When the war broke out, foreign merchants announced price increases at the same time. Shells and bullets increased tenfold. The Qing government realized that it had been fooled, but it was too late. There was something even more cruel. Before the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Japanese issued tens of millions of pounds of war bonds in Britain. Because the interest rate was very high, the British royal family, nobles, and wealthy businessmen rushed to buy them. In this way, Britain was tied to its own chariot. The British government knew that if the Japanese were defeated, this war bond would be lost. So as soon as the war broke out, Britain announced that it would stop selling weapons and ammunition to the Qing government. , and dispatched a large number of warships to blockade all Chinese ports and forbid other countries to sell a single shell to the Qing government. The Beiyang Fleet was halfway through the Battle of the Yellow Sea when it ran out of shells. As a result, the warships became sitting ducks for the Japanese at sea. How could they not be defeated?

Tian Mengxue asked: "So we have to produce our own weapons and ammunition, including aluminum and gasoline? Even if the production cost is higher than that of foreigners?"

Di Xiong said: "Yes, the first goal of our Justice Party is to eliminate foreign powers. Conflict with foreign powers is inevitable, so we cannot let foreign companies strangle us."

Tian Mengxue said: "In addition to spending a lot of money to mine aluminum, build aluminum plants and refineries, you also need to hire technical talents. Where can you find such talents?"

Di Xiong said: "Because of the backward education, although there are talents in China, most of them are abroad. The economic crisis broke out in the United States and Europe. Many factories and shops closed down. Many senior technicians were left on the streets, and many died of starvation and cold. The governments of the major powers in various countries wanted to reduce the population and stimulate the economy by launching wars."

Tian Mengxue said: "We can't go to the United States now? Europe is even farther away."

Di Xiong said, "We don't need to go by ourselves. We can let Sean and Baker go, as well as Sean's friend Martin from the German trading company. These three people can go to the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany respectively. What we lack is not only talents in aluminum and oil refining, but also talents in machinery, finance, medical care, and education."