Black Flag Army

Just as Di Xiong was about to enter Xian Yuji's ward to inquire about her condition, Zhang Zhenyang rushed to the hospital and said to Di Xiong, "Di Juzi! Something happened. Prince Mulun south of Lake Khuvsgul sent out thousands of cavalry to attack the Selenge River. A platoon of soldiers guarding the river were all killed. The Mulun army built a dam on the river, and the water source for irrigating 110,000 acres of fertile land was cut off."

Di Xiong hurried back to the Beihai Company Building and convened an emergency meeting of the Justice Party's top leaders. Tian Mengxue and Wu Chunfeng were also among the meeting attendees. After Xian Yujie was seriously injured, there was no one in the Intelligence Department to preside over the work, and Tian Mengxue and Wu Chunfeng's wedding leave was cancelled in advance.

Wu Chunfeng pointed to the map on the wall and said, "According to intelligence, Prince Mulun is the most powerful local force in western Mongolia. Because his jurisdiction has gold, copper and iron mines, he has the money to equip himself with weapons and ammunition. He has more than 4,000 cavalrymen, equipped with more than a dozen mortars and dozens of machine guns. In fact, the water from Lake Khuvsgul that we introduced belongs to the territory of Prince Alag in the north, but he insisted on asking us for a toll of 200,000 yuan, and he has to pay it every month."

Zhang Zhenyang said: "We have defeated even the Cossack cavalry, so why should we be afraid of a local armed force? Just give me a regiment and I can defeat this greedy guy."

Lan Jinping said: "One regiment is definitely not enough. Prince Mulun's army is equipped with weapons and equipment provided by Japanese merchants. I heard that there are Japanese instructors training them."

Di Xiong said, "Brigade Commander Zhang, you must not be arrogant. After all, we repelled the Russian cavalry because we had a favorable terrain and the advantage in numbers. We had the right time, right people, and good luck. If we have to say, there is not much to boast about. We still need to be cautious when dealing with the enemy. This Prince Mulun is a local tyrant!"

Wu Zhong nodded in support and said, "The enemy is coming with great force this time and is equipped with many new weapons. We must not be careless. It is very serious that the water source has been cut off by the enemy. This means that if the river is not opened up quickly, 110,000 acres of fertile farmland will be in danger of being completely destroyed. We need to take back the river as soon as possible."

Su Jinxu, who attended the meeting on behalf of the Supervision Department, said: "This time the enemy has occupied a favorable terrain for defense, and the number of troops is basically not much less than ours. Although we have recently recruited a group of new soldiers from the refugees, according to the current training reports provided by the army, they are not yet able to go to the battlefield. It has to be said that neither the Mongolians nor the Han people here can be trained well in a short period of time. The quality of the soldiers is really too bad. Without three months of training, the new recruits cannot fight. I think we still need to make more use of the original veteran troops in this operation."

Before Su Jinxu was promoted to deputy section chief, he served as the captain of the regimental inspection team in the Third Regiment of the First Brigade and was very familiar with the situation of the new recruits in the army.

Lan Jinping said, "We now control Beitang City and the six counties under it. Each county has towns, townships, and villages under it, with a total area of ​​more than 10,000 square kilometers. Our former First Brigade was dispersed to many places and has been torn apart. We have to defend these places, but we don't have enough troops!"

Tian Mengxue suddenly had an idea and said: "Doesn't Xian Yuji have a very high status in the hearts of the Mongolians in Beitang City? Ask her to go and agitate. Even if the number of people is small, those people from the Mongolian Security Corps should be able to help."

After hearing this suggestion, Di Xiong agreed, but Lan Jinping said: "Xian Yuji's injury has not healed yet. Why don't we wait two days before going to see her?"

Di Xiong said: "The key is that we can't wait any longer. She doesn't need to say too much. Just some symbolic publicity will be enough."

Afterwards, Di Xiong took several guards to the hospital and went straight to Xian Yuji's ward. At this time, Xian Yuji in the ward also knew that the enemy was attacking. Subuda and several other Mongolian officers were talking around her. When they saw Di Xiong come in, the Mongolian officers all retreated. Xian Yuji said to Di Xiong: "Brother, we really can't stop for a moment. I heard that Mulun sent people to cut off our water supply. Are you ready to dispatch troops to attack?"

Di Xiong said: "That's true. The top leaders of the Justice Party just held a small meeting and are planning to ask you to do some propaganda for the security corps and the local Mongolians. After all, we are going to attack the other side this time. We only have one regiment that can be dispatched, and the enemy has three times more people than us, so we need the strong support of the local Mongolian military and civilians."

Xian Yuji laughed and said, "I was seriously injured and had just had surgery, but Big Brother wouldn't let me go!"

Di Xiong said, "I'm really sorry to trouble you when you're seriously injured."

Xian Yuji smiled and said, "I was just kidding. It's my honor that you value me so much."

Xian Yuji then asked Bagen, Subuda and others to notify all officers above the rank of platoon leader in the palace security regiment to gather at the square behind the hospital as she wanted to give a speech to everyone.

Half an hour later, Subuda came to tell Xian Yuji that everyone was there, so Xian Yuji asked the nurse to push her to the square in a wheelchair. After arriving at the square, Xian Yuji was surprised. She thought there were only dozens of officers, but there were more than a thousand people. Almost all the members of the regiment were there, including many herdsmen who had received her kindness. Xian Yuji was not afraid, and asked Subuda to find her a big loudspeaker.

She held up a loud speaker and said loudly to everyone in Mongolian: "Military and civilians of Erdenet! This year we invited Beihai Group Company to help us reclaim 100,000 mu of fertile land and plant potatoes, wheat and soybeans. Together with the previous 10,000 mu, it is 110,000 mu. The farming technology of the people of Beihai Group Company is much higher than ours. If there are no accidents, we will have a bumper harvest next year. There will be more food than we can eat, and no one will starve to death. The uneaten food can be exchanged for money to buy cold-proof cotton-padded clothes and quilts, and no one will freeze to death. But some people can't bear to see us live a good life. This morning, the vicious Prince Mulun sent troops to the Selenge River and killed more than 30 brothers of our guard brigade. They built a dam and cut off our water source. Without water, the green seedlings of 110,000 mu of fertile land will wither and die. Next year, many of us will freeze to death. Can we tolerate their bullying like this?"

A tall Mongolian man shouted, "We can't stand this. Let's fight them!"

Others followed suit and shouted: "Fight them and kill them all!"

Others shouted: "Blood for blood, tooth for tooth!"

Xian Yuji, who was in a wheelchair, shouted: "Destroy the dam! Take back the water!"

The chaotic shouts in the square quickly merged into a unified voice: "Destroy the dam! Take back the water source!"

Di Xiong, who was standing by, watched the Mongolians in high spirits and excitement. He said to Zhang Zhenyang beside him, "Xian Yuji is a natural propagandist and is suitable to be a propagandist."

After the propaganda was over, Xian Yujie asked the regiment commander Bagen to reorganize the army and then obey Zhang Zhenyang's command.

That night, Zhang Zhenyang led a regiment of cavalry to attack the dam. In order to speed up the attack, the heavy artillery and infantry artillery of the artillery battalion were not deployed. Only the mortar company entered the front line with the cavalry regiment, and used twenty-four mortars to blow up the defense line of the Mulun Army. The cavalry regiment waved their sabers, rushed into the Mulun Army barracks, and fiercely hacked and killed the Mulun soldiers. The dam was defended by a regiment of the Mulun Army stationed on the hill south of the dam. The regiment commander was Muhali, the second son of Prince Mulun. When he saw the barracks breached and organized resistance, he hurriedly sent out a distress signal. The three cavalry regiments of the Mulun Army rushed out of the ambush point, surrounded the Justice Army Cavalry Regiment and fought. At this time, the Palace Security Regiment composed of Mongolians also rushed over, tearing a hole in the encirclement, and the two sides launched a bloody fight. Many herdsmen outside the Beitang City rode horses, waved sabers, and spontaneously joined the battlefield. The palace security corps increased from more than a thousand cavalry to more than three thousand cavalry. In the melee, Bagen encountered Muhali and chopped him off his horse with a knife. He himself was also hit by a bullet and fell off his horse.

At the same time, under the cover of night, six transport planes transported a battalion of more than 300 elite soldiers to a secluded place in Mulun City for airdrop. Chief of Staff Liu Chengliang personally served as the commander of this force, and the battalion commander of this battalion was Wu Guozhu. After Feng Ru's aircraft manufacturing plant received help from dozens of foreign engineers and materials from local aluminum mines, the number of aircraft increased significantly, with more than a dozen fighters, bombers, and transport planes.

After Prince Mulun led his army to cut off the Selenge River, he knew that the Northern Tang City would definitely launch a massive counterattack, so he sent most of his troops to the river, leaving only a guard battalion of more than 500 people to defend his old nest, Mulun City.

At eight o'clock the next morning, Xian Yuji woke up from her dream in the Beihai ward and saw Di Xiong walking into the ward holding a bunch of white snow lotus flowers. She couldn't help but said in surprise, "Snow lotus flowers! This is a rare thing in Outer Mongolia. You didn't ask the merchants to bring it from Tianshan, did you?"

Di Xiong handed the snow lotus to Xian Yuji and said with a smile: "I know you like snow lotus. There are snow lotus on your clothes and in your car, but they are fake. I found a few snow lotus in Bulgan County a few days ago and transplanted them to the downstairs of the staff dormitory in Beitang City. Fortunately, they didn't die."

Xian Yuji took the flower and said with emotion: "Thank you, brother. You are worthy of being my brother. You even remember such a small thing. Last night, we won the battle at the Selenge River, right?"

Di Xiong said, "We have air force support, so it's only natural that we defeated a powerful Mongolian army. We not only defeated the 4,000-plus Mulun troops on the Selenge River, but also ambushed Mulun City and captured Prince Mulun alive. Now Mulun City and its gold and copper mines belong to us. In Mulun City's warehouse, there are thousands of gold bars alone, worth more than one million silver dollars. It's a pity that Xiang Yue, who went by the alias Fang Xiaoyue, escaped again. I've offered a reward of one thousand dollars, dead or alive."

Xian Yuji said happily: "Great! I knew that big brother would win."

Di Xiong said: "This is also inseparable from your help! If you hadn't encouraged the Mongols to join the battle, Zhang Zhenyang's more than a thousand cavalrymen would not have been able to defeat four times the enemy in the Battle of Selenge River."

Xian Yuji said: "This is what I should do. I am willing to do everything for my elder brother."

Di Xiong said: "Then can you give up the idea of ​​suicide? Someone saw you writing a suicide note, which makes me very sad and shocked!"

Xian Yuji was stunned, then her eyes turned red and she said, "I'm sorry, big brother! Hu Canglang's death made me lose all hope. I'm afraid that the propaganda in the square was the last thing I did for you. I should go downstairs to accompany him. If you had come two days later, you would probably only see my corpse."

Di Xiong said: "Hu Canglang sacrificed his life for the benefit of the country. Like Tang Qianhu and the others, his name will be engraved on the Monument to the Heroes of Recovering Lost Territory. Hu Canglang also sacrificed his life to save you. If you choose to commit suicide now, wouldn't his death be in vain? Are you worthy of Hu Canglang? So many people have sacrificed their lives for this Beitang City. If you commit suicide, it will cause great losses to the Justice Party and Beihai Company. Are you worthy of those martyrs who sacrificed their lives?"

Xian Yuji asked, "Is it wrong for me to choose to commit suicide?"

Di Xiong said: "Of course it is wrong. It is easy for a person to want to die, but it is very difficult to want to live. Think about it, you have survived many bloody battles with the enemy in Bulgan and Lashante, but you chose to end your life. Wouldn't the enemy laugh to death if they heard you?"

Xian Yuji was silent for a long time before she said, "If you agree to my three conditions, I can give up suicide."

Di Xiong asked, "What are the three conditions?"

Xian Yuji said: "Bronze statues should be cast in front of the tombs of Hu Canglang and the other four so that future generations can remember them forever. I know that bronze statues are very expensive, so I will pay for them myself. In addition, their deeds should be included in the textbooks of Zhengqing School."

Di Xiong said: "This condition is reasonable. I can agree to it. You don't have to pay for the bronze statue. The heroic names of martyrs should be passed down through the ages."

Xian Yuji said, "The second condition is that I don't want to be the deputy chief of the Intelligence Department anymore. I feel depressed by being suppressed by Tian Mengxue and Wu Chunfeng. I want to change to another department and be the head. My ability is not worse than theirs, but I am unlucky and didn't meet you earlier."

Di Xiong said: "Then you can be the head of the Propaganda Section. The Justice Party is about to set up a Propaganda Section, and you are an excellent talent in propaganda."

Xian Yuji asked, "Why is it a section chief and not a division chief? As far as I know, the UK has an Intelligence Department 5, and the US and Japan have intelligence bureaus. Why can't we have a division-level department?"

Di Xiong said, "When our Justice Party was first established, we had very few people and only an intelligence group. Later, as the number of people increased, we upgraded it to the Intelligence Department. Now both the Intelligence Department and the Supervision Department have several hundred people. We really need to upgrade again. At the next Justice Party high-level meeting, I will propose the upgrade. If no one objects, you will be the first propaganda director of the Justice Party. So what is your third condition?"

Xian Yuji hesitated for a moment and whispered something. Di Xiong's face darkened and he said, "I can't agree to this condition."

Xian Yuji pouted and said, "If you don't agree, I will die right now in front of you!"

She whispered a few more words, and Di Xiong sighed and said, "It seems that I have no choice but to agree."

Xian Yuji smiled happily when she heard this, and her beautiful almond-shaped eyes narrowed into a line.