Black Flag Army

Chapter 113: Many Refugee Problems

Chen Wanqing was very unlucky. When attacking Suwu City, he was injured in the head by the first batch of artillery shells fired by the defenders. He became the first wounded sent back to Beitang City. When he recovered and was discharged from the hospital, the Battle of Suwu City had ended. His two deputies, Ding Hanmin and Zhan Erqing, were promoted for their military exploits. Ding Hanmin became a captain and company commander, and Zhan Erqing was promoted to a battalion-level inspection team leader. Even the new recruit Di Qiu was promoted to platoon leader because he accidentally killed the brigade commander of the Tsarist Russian Army.

After being discharged from the hospital, Chen Wanqing took over a new recruit camp. Although he became a major battalion commander, his military rank and position were temporary. After the three-month training of the new recruit camp was completed, they would be disbanded and assigned to various units, and he would resume his position as captain. It was doubtful whether he could return to his original unit at that time, so when he heard that there was a small-scale battle to be fought, he immediately asked his old superior Wu Chunlei for help and asked to participate in the battle, hoping to return to his original unit by making meritorious contributions.

After Wu Chunlei told Di Xiong about this matter, Di Xiong gave the task to Chen Wanqing, but told him that he could only take the new recruits battalion, because there were only more than 300 Russian defenders in Tangnu Uriankhai, most of whom were old and weak. They had no planes, cannons or heavy weapons, and it would be a waste to send elite troops to fight.

At the airport, more than 300 recruits were lining up. Seeing Chen Wanqing coming, Deputy Battalion Commander Zhang Wei ordered them to set off. The soldiers lined up with backpacks on their backs to board the transport planes. Each transport plane could accommodate 60 soldiers. There were a total of six transport planes, enough to accommodate all the soldiers in the battalion.

Although Chen Yi was a scholar, he could see it. He asked Chen Wanqing in surprise: "These soldiers look very young, are they new recruits?"

Chen Wanqing said, "I can't hide it from Special Envoy Chen. Most of them are new recruits who have only trained for a month. However, the deputy battalion commander, the company commanders, and the platoon leaders are all veterans."

Chen Huangpo said angrily: "Commander-in-Chief Di, are you kidding me? To recover the 160,000 square kilometers of Tangnu Uriankhai, such an important battle, you only sent out a bunch of new soldiers. Are you deliberately sending us to our deaths?"

Deputy Battalion Commander Zhang Wei was a big, red-faced man with a very loud voice. He shouted, "Most of the 160,000 square kilometers of Tangnu Uriankhai are uninhabited. More than 300 Russian soldiers are all concentrated in Kezil. Kezil is not even as good as our county town. It is just a larger earthen walled village. Our new recruit battalion can definitely take it down. New recruits cannot improve their combat effectiveness by training alone. War is the best way to train soldiers. New recruits will become veterans after seeing blood. If you are afraid, you can choose not to go."

Chen Yi certainly couldn't afford to lose face, so he answered very firmly: "Since you young people are not afraid of life and death and are going to recover our homeland, what should I, an old man half buried in the earth, be afraid of? Let's go! Get on the plane!"

Chen Yi was the first to board the plane, and the other members of the special envoy group had to follow suit. Six transport planes, protected by six fighter jets, flew to Kizil in Tangnu Uriankhai.

Di Xiong and Wu Zhong stood in front of the office window, watching the plane leave. Wu Zhong said, "Boss! Can a battalion of new soldiers really take down Kezir? Will they betray Special Envoy Chen?"

Di Xiong smiled and said, "In war, there is no such thing as 100% certainty. But with six fighter planes providing cover, even if we fail to take down the enemy, it should be no problem for Special Envoy Chen to return safely. There are too many mediocre officials in the Beiyang government, and too few patriotic and loyal people like Chen Yi. I don't want anything to happen to him."

Wu Zhong said, "Let's not talk about Special Envoy Chen. Since Suiyuan opened the refugee passage, the refugee problem has become more and more serious. You've made me suffer by leaving this matter to me. Look, I have a lot of white hair. My wife complains about me all day long and wants me to ask you to quit this job."

Di Xiong asked, "What happened to the refugees? Were they attacked by horse bandits? Or was the refugee passage blocked again?"

Wu Zhong said: "Now there are planes patrolling in the sky, and the county security group and self-defense force protecting the ground. There are no horse bandit attacks. Jiang Yanxing, the new governor of Suiyuan, is an old friend of mine, so the refugee passage will not be blocked. Now it's the refugees themselves who are causing trouble. Some people complain about the poor food and want to eat big fish and meat. Some people refuse to walk and want to take a car or ride a horse. Some even want to take a plane like the technical personnel. If they are not allowed to get on the plane, they will make a lot of noise and gather to cause trouble. There are also people who collect protection fees in the refugee team, rob money and abuse women, cheat and deceive, and gamble and smoke opium. It's a headache just thinking about it."

Di Xiong said: "With so many refugees, it is of course very difficult to manage them. When the Justice Party was founded, we all swore an oath in front of the party flag. We cannot back down just because we are in trouble now. We should find ways to solve the problems one by one. For those greedy and unruly guys, we can ask the county security team for help. We will arrest them all and put them in the local county jail to deal with them severely. Those who dare to gather to resist will be shot on the spot. I will also arrange for the Supervisory Office to select a group of people to infiltrate the refugee team and find out all those guys who are doing illegal things in secret. If I am not mistaken, Japanese agents have already mixed into the refugee team and are stirring up trouble everywhere, fearing that the team will not be in chaos."

At this time, Wu Chunfeng from the Intelligence Department came in to report to Di Xiong: "There is news from the Tianjin Intelligence Station that Kawashima Namito has been removed from the position of chairman of the Tianjin Black Dragon Society. Doihara Kenzo, the younger brother of Doihara Kenji, the chairman of the Beijing Black Dragon Society, has become the chairman of the Tianjin Black Dragon Society. The Black Dragon Society in Beijing and Tianjin has become the world of the Doihara family. Cha Jingfeng was forced to become Doihara Kenji's mistress, but Doihara Kenji is very cunning. It is difficult for Cha Jingfeng to get information from him. In addition, Doihara Kenji suspects that there are our intelligence agents inside the Black Dragon Society. He once said that he would release some false information to trick us. Sometimes Cha Jingfeng got some information, but she didn't know whether it was true or false. She was very embarrassed. She was worried that if she passed it on, if it was false, we would be fooled. If she didn't pass it on, she was worried that it was true and she would miss something important."

Di Xiong sighed and said, "Doihara Kenji is an old fox. He is indeed a headache. Hasn't Cha Jingfeng sent back any information recently?"

Wu Chunfeng said: "The last intelligence sent back was that the Beijing Black Dragon Society of Japan sent an intelligence team into Outer Mongolia. The leader of this intelligence team was Nakajima Yunko, a student of Kenji Doihara. The deputy leader Yoshida Ryozo was the former president of the Beijing Black Dragon Society. He was dismissed for incompetence and was later found to have embezzled money and was imprisoned in the Tianjin Japanese Concession Prison. His family spent money to get him out. In order to redeem himself, he took the initiative to apply to join the intelligence team. But Cha Jingfeng couldn't be sure whether this intelligence was true or false, but Kenji Doihara did have a student like Nakajima Yunko, who was said to be the most outstanding student among Kenji Doihara's students."

Di Xiong said: "I think it is true, otherwise the chaos among the refugees would not be so serious. Your Intelligence Department must cooperate with the Supervision Department to find a way to find the Japanese intelligence group. Now there are hundreds of thousands of refugees in western Outer Mongolia, and the total number of refugees is close to 600,000. I know that it is very difficult to find the intelligence group among hundreds of thousands of refugees, just like finding a needle in a haystack. But there are some things that you can only hope to succeed if you do your best. If you don't do it, you will definitely fail."

Wu Chunfeng said, "Don't worry, big brother. When I go back, I will work with Director Tian to select capable personnel from the Intelligence Department to form a special investigation team. We will cooperate with Director Su of the Supervision Department to find the Japanese agent Nakajima Yunko and catch the intelligence team in one fell swoop."

At noon on December 12, 1916, at the refugee relief station in Hurmen County, Daranza City, a table where food was distributed to refugees was overturned with a "thump". The large buckets of steamed buns and broth fell to the ground, spilling broth and steamed buns all over the floor. The refugees burst into exclamations.

The one who overturned the table was a tall man with a crew cut. He shouted, "Look at what they feed us every day. It's just pig food! Where's the mutton they promised? There's none at all. Those officials must have eaten it. They eat the best food every day, ride in airplanes and cars, and are so happy, but we can only walk and eat steamed buns every day, with only two buns per meal. Why?"

Nakajima Yunko, with dust on her face and wearing tattered coarse cloth clothes, stood out in the crowd. She watched the performance of the shaved man coldly.

Several cooks distributing food were knocked to the ground by the table. One of them was quick to stand up and said to the man with a crew cut, "Do you want to rebel? Security team! Arrest him now!"

Before he could finish his words, he was knocked to the ground by a punch from the burly man with a crew cut.

In the distance, several security guards rushed over with rifles in hand. Nakajima Yunko winked at a black-faced man beside her. The black-faced man pulled out his pistol and pointed it at the security guards. With a "bang" sound, a security guard was shot and fell to the ground. Several others hurriedly fired back, but the black-faced man hid in the crowd of refugees. Two refugees were accidentally hit by bullets and fell to the ground. The black-faced man shouted, "The Black Flag Army is killing people indiscriminately! Everyone, run!"

Thousands of refugees at the scene suddenly fell into chaos and fled in all directions. The big man with a crew cut and the big man with a black face also took the opportunity to escape.

It was already dark when Di Xiong dragged his exhausted body back home. His wife Lan Jinchun had already prepared hot meals for him, including his favorite braised pork with dried vegetables. Di Xiong asked, "Is Jinfeng asleep?"

Lan Jinchun said: "The nanny took him to sleep. He cried and made a fuss before going to bed. I tried to comfort him for a long time but it was useless. He fell asleep only because he was tired of crying. I am not as good as you in coaxing children!"

Di Xiong said, "You are now the vice-president of Zhengqing School, and you have a lot of work to do. Don't cook when you get home. It's too tiring. Just bring back ready-made meals from the cafeteria and heat them up before eating."

Di Xiong originally wanted to invite a teacher from outside to serve as the vice principal of Zhengqing School. However, Principal Bai Xiuling believed that people from outside were not as trustworthy as their own people, and insisted on promoting Lan Jinchun as vice principal. Wu Zhong and Lan Jinping were very supportive, so Di Xiong had to agree.

Lan Jinchun said: "How can the food in the cafeteria be as delicious as the food you cook at home?"

Di Xiong washed his hands, sat at the table, took the bowl of rice brought by Lan Jinchun, and started eating. While eating, he said, "I'm not picky about food. As long as I'm full, that's fine."

Lan Jinchun said: "Then let's ask the nanny to cook next time. I was worried that the food she cooked might not suit your taste."

Di Xiong said: "If you don't want to get food from the cafeteria, let the nanny do it!"

Lan Jinchun asked, "You've been coming home very late recently. Is the refugee problem in the south very troublesome?"

Di Xiong said, "Yes! In the past few days, there have been more than a dozen incidents of refugee riots in the south, killing and injuring more than a dozen soldiers of the security corps and relief station workers. I was overwhelmed and had to dispatch a security brigade to suppress them. The inspection and intelligence departments have also made some achievements, and they have arrested more than a dozen leaders, two of whom are Japanese agents, and the others are hired thugs. However, Nakajima Yunko and Yoshida Ryozo were not arrested."

Lan Jinchun asked: "Can we suspend the introduction of refugees, or reduce the number of refugees?"

Di Xiong said: "No! We compromised with the Beiyang government in order to bring in refugees. We finally got this opportunity, but we gave it up. We will regret it in the future. Zigong once asked Confucius, a country is composed of three parts: a strong army, hardworking people, and abundant food and grass. If you have to give up one part, which one should you give up first?"

Lan Jinchun said: "Confucius said that we should give up our powerful army first."

Di Xiong said: "Zi Gong asked again, if we give up another part, who should we give up?"

Lan Jinchun said: "Confucius said that the next thing to give up is the abundant food and grass, only the people cannot be given up, because that is the foundation of the country. I thought Confucius was a Confucian, so he answered like this. Now I hear you say that, Mohists also think so?"

Di Xiong said: "Confucianism and Mohism have many different views, but they agree on this issue. Losing the army is not terrible. The young and strong among the people can form a new army. If there is no food, the hardworking people can grow it. But without the people, the country is doomed to perish. So we must not stop relocating refugees."

Lan Jinchun said: "The chaos in the south has tied up our energy and troops. Will the Russians in the north launch another attack?"

Di Xiong said, "No! Because the country of Tsarist Russia is also in chaos, even more chaotic than us. The lower-class people keep revolting, but they always fail due to lack of weapons. I am considering whether to support them with some weapons. The smart ones among them have already come to us. A man named Molodov visited the garrison commander Jiang Hongyu in Suwu City and was willing to spend money to buy weapons, but they are poor and have no money. They want to buy on credit first and pay after they win the battle and seize money."

Lan Jinchun asked, "Is the Poor Party a political party composed of poor people? If we agree to lend them money, what if they refuse to pay in the future?"

Di Xiong smiled and said, "I have called Jiang Hongyu back and asked him to agree to give Molodov credit. As long as we have a strong army behind us, we don't have to worry about them defaulting on their debts."