Black Flag Army

When Di Xiong and Liu Chengliang, escorted by the brigade guard company, arrived at the "refugees" ten miles north of the camp, the "refugees" were still in a stalemate with the scout cavalry. Liu Bao was very surprised to see Di Xiong and Liu Chengliang coming together. He rode over to salute and was about to speak, but Di Xiong waved his hand and said, "No need to say, we all know. Call the leader over, I want to question him."

Dulando was brought over. Liu Bao pointed at Di Xiong and said to her, "This is the chairman of our Beihai Company and also our commander. As long as he agrees, all of you can join our team. He has something to ask you now, and you must answer honestly."

Dulando smiled and said, "I'm telling the truth!"

Di Xiong looked at the ruddy-faced Dulando walking towards him, frowned, and asked, "Where are you refugees from?"

Neither Di Xiong nor Liu Bao understood Mongolian, so their conversations with Dulandu were translated by soldiers who had learned Mongolian.

Dulando said, "We were originally herders from Huermen Town. We were oppressed by the local nobles and lived a miserable life. Later, an army came and stationed here. The bald commander was named Song Muyan. His army burned, killed and looted at will. We were even more miserable. We couldn't survive, so we had to flee and became refugees."

Di Xiong said: "This area belongs to the jurisdiction of Tushetu County King. Tushetu County King is indeed very cruel to the herdsmen. Song Muyan's troops are indeed very poorly disciplined. What you said sounds very true."

Dulando smiled and said, "Then can we join the team?"

Di Xiong said, "But you are not refugees, but bandits!" He ordered Liu Bao, "They are bandits, send out the whole company. Surround them and check if they have weapons. If they do, tie them up immediately."

When the "refugees" heard the chaos, they pulled out their hidden pistols and daggers and rushed forward. This time, Di Xiong didn't need to say anything, Liu Bao ordered the reconnaissance company to open fire, and most of the forty or so horse bandits fell to the ground and died. Only a few knelt down and surrendered, and were tied up. Among the tied horse bandits was the old horse bandit "Lao Lutou" who was ordered to protect Dulandu. He did not cover Dulandu's escape as Haji requested, but raised his hands early.

Dulando was also pinned down and tied up immediately. She glared at Di Xiong and asked, "How did you see that, you devil?"

Di Xiong smiled and said, "I didn't see it, I just wanted to test it."

Dulandu said viciously: "You Han dog thief, don't be so complacent, your enemies are not just us."

Before he finished speaking, several cavalrymen rode over and one of them said to Di Xiong, "Mr. Di, horse bandits have appeared to our north, south, and east. They have launched an attack from three directions at the same time. The three battalions of the cavalry regiment have already gone to meet the enemy separately."

Liu Bao pointed a gun at Dulandu's head and shouted at her: "Tell me! Where is your leader? What is the plan of the attack? How many more people will come to attack our team."

Dulanduo stared at Di Xiong fiercely without saying a word. Liu Bao ordered his cavalry to tie her limbs between two big trees, stretched her straight in a big shape, and then tore the clothes on her back and whipped her skin with a whip until it was bleeding. She still didn't say a word, and even Di Xiong couldn't help but admire her and asked the cavalry to stop. However, there were also cowards among these horse bandits. One of them quickly shouted: "Sir, spare me, the boss we cooperate with is called Fei Bao, nicknamed Fei Lao Si, and he made all the plans. These people around are baits. The real main force will be led by him. He didn't tell us the direction of the attack. I... I just know this much."

When Di Xiong heard that Fei Bao had appeared, he was very surprised and ordered his men to find a place to detain these "refugees". Then he said to the messenger behind him: "Order the two infantry regiments and the guard battalion to be on alert. Fei Bao is an old opponent we have been looking for for several years. He is very cunning. I have a hunch that Fei Bao may attack at this time. We must not be careless."

Captain Wang Shitou, the guard who had just arrived, suddenly said: "I guess the enemy's target is most likely our grain transport troops. These bandits did not gather together to attack, which shows that their numbers are limited and it is difficult to organize a large-scale charge. The grain transport team is being defended by Battalion Commander Wu Guozhu. There are still dozens of cavalrymen in the Sharp Knife Society. I will lead them to set some traps over there."

Liu Chengliang also spoke at this time: "The largest bandit nest around here is Mugangzhai. It is the only place with water, grassland and woods. The enemy's headquarters should be located there. Regardless of whether there are enemies there, the enemy's property and food should still be there. I will take an infantry battalion to take down that place."

Wu Chunfeng then said: "Fei Bao is our old enemy, and I also want to get rid of him as soon as possible. Chief of Staff Liu, I will go to Mugangzhai with you."

Di Xiong agreed, and then Wang Shitou led the guards to the grain transport troops, while Liu Chengliang and Wu Chunfeng sent a battalion of troops to the direction of Mugang Village. At this time, the sound of gunfire had been heard around the team, making the whole team panic. Some people who could not bear the hardship began to complain, and many women and children were frightened. The crying of some children made it difficult for the team to continue to move forward. Li Fei, who was in charge of maintaining order, had to lead the people of the Sharp Knife Society to run around. In order to make the children quiet, Ji Fang and Lu Cai Niang also began to comfort them with the female workers.

In the team, Feng Ru was also quite anxious. He said to Zhu Zhaohuai: "There are bandits everywhere here. I hope our plane hiding not far away will be okay."

Zhu Zhaohuai comforted him, "Don't worry, Mr. Feng. The plane still has enough spare gasoline. In addition to the workers, there is also a platoon of guards. If it is exposed, it can take off at any time and will not be destroyed by these bandits."

Hearing him say this, Feng Ru suddenly sighed and said, "I really don't know whether it was right or wrong to choose to follow Di Xiong. We ran all the way from Guangzhou to Beijing, then to Baotou, and now we are going directly to a foreign country. Is there really no place where we can settle down?"

Situ Biru said: "Mr. Feng, you can't be too pessimistic. You must know that the country is now controlled by the Beiyang government. The main members of the White Star Party that you wanted to support have fled to Japan. If you hadn't followed Mr. Di, you would have had to go to Japan with the White Star Party. In a place like Japan, are you sure we can achieve the results we have now? Mr. Di has certainly offended many people and now has to flee abroad, but isn't it also Mr. Di's credit that our aircraft has been developed to this point?"

Feng Ru sighed and said, "Situ, you are right. I have been in a bad mood recently. I may have too many opinions about Di Xiong. I don't think as deeply as you do. It is indeed wrong."

At this time in Mugang Village, Fei Bao was still observing the situation with a telescope. Seeing that the bait troops he arranged had engaged in a firefight with the enemy's cavalry, he seemed a little excited, and hurriedly said to Gou Zongwei: "Puppy, the time is almost up, the enemy cavalry have been lured away, you and the other two company commanders quickly take all the troops to attack their grain transport team and create chaos for the enemy. Now there are only infantry there, which is a great opportunity. By the way, send someone to find the fake refugees we arranged, and after burning the grain and grass, join forces with them to kill those traitors directly."

Gou Zongwei said: "Fourth Master, aren't you going with us? Those two company commanders may not listen to me."

Fei Bao smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have made them both obedient in the past few months. I have already told them that you are the deputy battalion commander and you just need to give orders. I am not very good at riding a horse, so I will not go this time. I will wait for your good news here. Act quickly, those baits will not last too long, and it will be a waste if it is too late."

Seeing Fei Bao so determined, Gou Zongwei did not dare to neglect it. He immediately notified the two company commanders and immediately led a cavalry of more than 300 people to attack the enemy's grain transport team. Fei Bao relied on various bribes and flattery to expand his troops during this period. Although he was a battalion commander, he actually had more than 500 people under him. In addition to the more than 300 regular personnel taken by Gou Zongwei, there were more than 200 non-regular personnel guarding here.

After Gou Zongwei led his troops on the march for a while, he found the direction of the grain transport team with the help of the scout's signal. The migrating team of several thousand people naturally needed a lot of food, and the huge number of horse-drawn carriages were very conspicuous. Gou Zongwei did not dare to waste too much time and rushed over there with his troops.

Suddenly there was a loud bang and a flash of red light. Several cavalrymen were blown flying along with their horses. Gou Zongwei suddenly looked a little panicked. Before he could calm down, the sound of "da da da" machine guns rang out again. More than a dozen cavalrymen were immediately shot into sieves. Then several more cavalrymen were blown flying. At this time, Gou Zongwei noticed that there were landmines nearby, and they were green in color, mixed with the grass and difficult to see. This made Gou Zongwei feel very bad. The fake refugees were probably exposed.

In the meeting hall of Mugang Village on the other side, there were plates of fragrant beef, mutton and fine wine on the white meeting table. Fei Bao seemed quite leisurely. He sat at the table, hugging a beautiful Mongolian woman, drinking fine wine and eating meat, looking quite comfortable. This woman was another wife of the village owner Haji. Fei Bao took advantage of Haji's absence and took her over without any hesitation. However, he was not happy for long. Several mortar shells broke this peaceful time. One shell fell directly into the meeting hall, and with a "boom" sound, Fei Bao's ears were almost deafened. The woman in his arms was cut by shrapnel in the neck, and blood immediately gushed out. She trembled a few times and died. Fei Bao was not injured, but he was also frightened. He left the woman's body and ran to the door in a hurry. A guard of Haji ran into him head-on, so he grabbed the guard and said, "What happened? Where did the cannon come from?"

The guard knelt on the ground and shouted, "Captain Fei, the village is surrounded by enemies. Our position has been exposed. Let's run for our lives." He immediately broke away from Captain Fei and ran away. The soldiers and bandits nearby were also in chaos. The two Mongolian company commanders who were guarding the village disappeared.

Fei Bao saw that things were not going well and wanted to run away quickly, but maybe because he drank too much, he was staggering and his steps were quite disordered. Although Fei Bao's troops were not small, they were all newly recruited rabble after all. The training time was too short, and those who could fight were taken away by Gou Zongwei. Liu Chengliang led his troops to bombard the village and defeated them. Seeing that the enemy was already fleeing, Liu Chengliang immediately ordered a charge. Wu Chunfeng followed the vanguard and rushed to the village in one go. He was full of momentum and stabbed several enemies to death with a rifle. Seeing the old enemy right in front of him, Wu Chunfeng was also very excited.

Fei Bao staggered along a small path and finally found the horse. He wanted to mount the horse quickly, but in his panic the reins got tangled around his hands. He was so anxious that cold sweats broke out and he frantically tried to untie the ropes. He knew that the enemy was getting closer and closer and he had no guards around him. He could not wait to get down the mountain.

Fei Bao finally untied the reins, but he heard a gunshot from behind. Blood oozes out of the horse's head. He was so shocked that he sat on the ground, cold sweat oozing from his head. Looking back, he saw that the person who fired the gun was Wu Chunfeng.

Wu Chunfeng raised his gun and aimed at Fei Bao, with blue smoke still coming out of the muzzle. Wu Chunfeng sneered, "Fourth Master! We meet again. We have been looking for you so hard these past few years! You actually ran to Outer Mongolia. No wonder we couldn't find you. Brother Di is increasing the reward for you from fifty dollars to five hundred dollars."

Seeing the former traitor right in front of him, Fei Bao was very nervous, but he was unwilling to just wait for death. He reached for the pistol behind him and shouted to Wu Chunfeng: "Brother Wu, long time no see. I have always missed you. As the saying goes, when brothers meet..."

Before Fei Bao could finish his words, he heard a crisp gunshot and a yellow peanut flew over. In that instant, Fei Bao's brain stopped thinking and he could no longer utter a word.

At the same time, Leng Hanbing heard that Fei Bao had appeared and that the grain transport team had a fierce battle with the elite horse bandits. He suspected that his old enemies Fei Bao and Gou Zongwei were there, so he hurriedly rode a fast horse to the direction of the grain transport team. In order to avoid the obstruction of branches on the road, he took a javelin and fired casually. When he arrived at the battlefield, the battle was over. Most of Gou Zongwei's men were killed or wounded, and he hurriedly led the remnants to flee. Wu Guozhu and Wang Shitou were worried about an ambush and did not pursue them. Leng Hanbing recognized Gou Zongwei who was fleeing, but he was already 500 meters away and obviously could not catch up. Leng Hanbing was unwilling to give up, so he ran to the top of a hill and threw the javelin in his hand from a high position to Gou Zongwei. Gou Zongwei, who was on the path at the foot of the mountain, looked back while fleeing, and the tip of the javelin hit his right eye with the help of wind and falling force. Gou Zongwei screamed and almost fell off his horse. He covered his eyes and ran away.

Due to the long distance and the exhaustion of force, the javelin only blinded Gou Zongwei's right eye but did not kill him. From then on, Gou Zongwei changed his nickname from "puppy" to "one-eyed dog".

Leng Hanbing didn't expect that when he met Gou Zongwei again ten years later, he had become the largest horse bandit leader in Outer Mongolia, "Mobei One-eyed Dog", and brought great trouble to Beihai Group. When Fei Bao was alive, Gou Zongwei was suppressed and became Fei Bao's yes-man and lapdog. After Fei Bao's death, Gou Zongwei became the boss of Fei Bao's remnants, and his potential was suddenly brought into play.

The three horse bandits that served as cannon fodder were also defeated. Most of them were killed or captured, and a small number escaped. The leader of Mugang Village, Haji, was also killed by Liu Zhendong during the pursuit.