Black Flag Army

Chapter 166 Recapture of Suiye City

At this thrilling moment, the coachman had already fallen in a pool of blood, losing his life. The four women who were originally responsible for the protection jumped off the carriage in panic and fled in all directions. At this moment, only Helen was left alone in the carriage. She was terrified and screamed loudly, but no one paid attention.

The pretty boy Yazov, who was riding beside the carriage and chatting happily with Helen, turned pale instantly when he saw the sudden change in the situation. He turned his horse around without hesitation and galloped away like a gust of wind, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye, as if he had never appeared.

At this time, Liu Zhendong rushed over riding a tall red horse, and suddenly threw out a noose, which caught Helen who was panicking in the carriage. Helen flew up involuntarily and fell on Liu Zhendong's horse back. Liu Zhendong held her in his arms. Helen was wearing a high-grade blue tweed military uniform with double rows of brass buttons and a Browning pistol on her yellow military belt. She looked heroic, but her hair was messy and she was crying. She completely lost the majesty of a female commander.

The officers and soldiers of the Black Flag Army watched Helen fall into Liu Zhendong's hands, and they were filled with ecstasy and cheered loudly. Their eyes were full of admiration and pride, because the "Northern Gun King" Liu Zhendong in front of them was the undisputed number one general in the Black Flag Army!

Liu Zhendong has won the admiration of everyone with his excellent marksmanship and fearless fighting spirit. His presence is like a flag, inspiring every soldier to move forward bravely and fight bravely. And now, he has successfully captured the enemy's female commander alive, which is undoubtedly a huge victory!

The officers and soldiers of the Black Flag Army knew the difficulties and obstacles of this battle, but they firmly believed that only a brave general like Liu Zhendong had enough strength to complete such a difficult task. He not only represented the glory of the Black Flag Army, but also became a hero in everyone's heart.

At this moment, Helen, as the leader of the enemy army, became Liu Zhendong's prisoner. This feat made the officers and soldiers of the Black Flag Army full of confidence in the future. They believed that under the leadership of Liu Zhendong, the Black Flag Army would surely achieve more brilliant achievements!

Liu Zhendong reached out and took away her Browning pistol, tied her hands, and said to her in Russian: "You are a prisoner now, you'd better stay still and don't move!"

Helen was horrified and asked, "Are you going to kill me?"

Liu Zhendong said: "The commander-in-chief has ordered to capture you alive, so you will definitely not die for the time being, but I don't know what will happen in the future. If the public outrage is too great, you will still be executed after being paraded through the streets."

Helen burst into tears again and begged, "Please spare my life! I don't want to die! I will do anything you ask me to do!"

A disdainful smile appeared on Liu Zhendong's lips, and he said sarcastically: "It's really puzzling! How did a cowardly girl like you climb to the high position of commander? Is it just because of your extremely beautiful face? Someone like you serving as commander is simply a disregard and blasphemy for the lives of 70,000 troops! This is tantamount to pushing them into the bottomless abyss and making them victims of your pointless adventure!" His voice was full of anger and doubt, as if he wanted to knock the other party to the ground completely.

Helen sobbed and said, "I have never killed anyone before, and I have never even experienced war. I just thought it would be great to be a commander, so I told Shakubai about my idea and said I wanted to try being a commander and fight a war for fun. But who could have expected that he would agree without hesitation! What I didn't expect was that real war was so terrifying! Now thinking back, I am really scared... I promise that I will never dare to have such an idea again next time!" Her voice was full of regret and fear, and tears kept falling from the corners of her eyes. It seemed that the cruel battlefield scene was still vivid in her mind, making her feel scared.

Liu Zhendong laughed and said, "Just for fun? Do you think fighting is a game? Don't dare to do it next time? Do you have another chance?"

Half an hour later, the battle was over. Liu Zhendong walked into the command center and threw Helen in his arms to the ground without any mercy, causing Helen to scream in pain.

Liu Zhendong looked at Wu Chunlei with a serious face and said, "After detailed inquiries, I finally figured out the whole story! It turned out that Commander-in-Chief Sha Gubai knew that this female general was not proficient in military strategy and was worried that she would command recklessly due to lack of experience, resulting in an unfavorable battle situation. Therefore, she was specially equipped with a very outstanding deputy commander and a talented chief of staff, hoping that they could assist her and win this battle together.

However, who could have expected that when the deputy commander kindly offered her some constructive suggestions, she would ruthlessly rebuke and insult him; even worse, when the chief of staff tried to give reasonable suggestions, she directly dismissed him from his post and put him in a solitary confinement room! This was really unexpected..."

Wu Chunlei sighed, "This is the result of loving beauty more than the country. Everyone should take this as a warning! Have the battlefield statistics been compiled?"

Zhang Shusheng said: "The battlefield is still being cleaned up, but the approximate figures have come out. The deputy commander was killed, the chief of staff was captured, two of the six division commanders were killed, and three were captured. Of the 70,000 Black Hats, less than 10,000 escaped, and most of the rest were captured, and a small number were killed."

Wu Chunlei said to the generals: "Deputy Commander Liu Zhendong deserves the most credit for achieving such a brilliant victory. He was the first to propose setting an ambush and now he has captured the enemy commander alive. I will report to the commander-in-chief and request that he be awarded the Yongfu Medal."

The Yongfu Medal is named after Liu Yongfu, the founder of the Black Flag Army. It is the highest medal of the Black Flag Army and is equivalent to the Xishi Medal among the special agent medals. Other medals include the Wei Qing Medal, the Li Jing Medal and the Dou Xian Medal.

Zhang Shusheng said: "Since we have eliminated the main force of the Black Hat Army, I suggest that we seize the opportunity to capture Suiye City and destroy the Haohan Kingdom in one fell swoop, and then recover the Balkhash Lake area!"

Wu Chunlei nodded vigorously, his eyes flashing with determination, and said: "The chief of staff's proposal is so wise! It is completely in line with the common sense of the military strategy of avoiding the strong and attacking the weak! Suiye City is the birthplace of Li Bai, a famous poet in our country during the Tang Dynasty. How can such a place full of cultural heritage tolerate those brutal, rude, and inhumane horse bandits to trample and occupy it wantonly? Absolutely not! Once the bad news of defeat reaches Suiye City, the notorious black hat army will surely fall into extreme panic and chaos. So now, we can send an elite advance team to disguise themselves as the black hat army and escort the captured female commander forward. Since this female commander is genuine, it is difficult for the enemy to distinguish the truth from the false, and it is very likely that they will believe the lies we made up and open the city gate to let her go. In this way, we can take the opportunity to rush into the city and launch a surprise attack!"

Liu Zhendong clasped his fists and said, "General, I am willing to lead the elite special forces to ride to Suiye City on horseback, and I will definitely live up to everyone's expectations!"

Li Fei hurried forward and wanted to take on the task, but Wu Chunlei obviously trusted Liu Zhendong's ability more and gave the task to Liu Zhendong.

Wu Chunlei comforted Li Fei for a few words, then patted Liu Zhendong on the shoulder and said, "Brother! I'll wait for your good news!" Liu Zhendong turned and left the headquarters, selected a few hundred special forces soldiers who could ride horses, changed into the clothes of the Black Hat Army, and escorted Helen to Suiye City. Wu Chunlei and General Subuda and other generals led five divisions of cavalry troops to follow behind them ten kilometers away.

It was already late, and the marching team raised torches. Along the way, Liu Zhendong and his team encountered several patrols of the Black Hat Army, but after seeing Helen, they did not doubt their identities. Soon, they arrived at the city of Suiye. When the soldiers guarding the city saw them, they asked loudly: "Which unit are you from?"

Liu Zhendong replied: "We were ordered to escort Commander Helen back to Suiye City."

In order to avoid arousing the enemy's suspicion, Liu Zhendong did not ride on the same horse with Helen this time, but let her ride a horse alone. However, Helen was tied to the horse and covered with a military coat. From a distance, it was impossible to see that she was tied. Liu Zhendong's war horse never left his side. An officer of the special forces regiment held a torch and approached Helen so that the people on the top of the city could see her face clearly.

Liu Zhendong poked Helen's back with the muzzle of his gun, and Helen immediately shouted, "I am Helen! Open the city gate quickly!"

A major officer on the city wall asked, "I heard from the people who escaped earlier that you have been captured?"

Helen was hit in the back by a gun again, and she shouted as she had agreed: "I was indeed captured, but these loyal subordinates rescued me! Open the city gate quickly! Do you want to freeze me to death?"

The major officer on the city wall looked at Helen who was already angry, and thought that she was the commander-in-chief's favorite person and could not be offended, so he ordered the city gate to be opened. As soon as Liu Zhendong and others entered the city, they immediately launched an attack. There was a burst of gunfire. The major was shot in the chest before he could draw his gun. He fell to the ground and died. The black hat soldiers in the city were caught off guard and were beaten and fled in all directions. Liu Zhendong and his soldiers quickly occupied the city wall and fired signal flares.

Not far away, Wu Chunlei stared ahead with sharp eyes, and suddenly he saw a signal flare streaking across the sky. This bright signal was like a torch, instantly igniting his inner fighting spirit and determination.

Without any hesitation, Wu Chunlei immediately gave the order: "All troops of the Black Flag Army, speed up!" His voice was sonorous and powerful. After receiving the order, the soldiers of the Black Flag Army acted quickly. They urged their horses to charge forward.

As time went by, the Black Flag Army was getting closer and closer to the city gate. Their morale was high, their faces were full of determination, and they had only one belief in their hearts - to reach the destination as soon as possible and support the friendly forces. Finally, the Black Flag Army successfully rushed into the city gate, but the scene in front of them surprised them.

It turned out that the vanguard led by Liu Zhendong had already started a fierce battle on the top of the city wall, and a large number of black hat soldiers rushed to the top of the city wall. Liu Zhendong and his men fought bravely, not afraid of the enemy's counterattack, and had repelled three attacks of the black hat army in a row. The walls were filled with smoke and flames, and shouts of killing and gunfire resounded throughout the battlefield. The heroic performance of the vanguard inspired the black flag army, and they all tightened their weapons and joined this life-and-death struggle. Wu Chunlei waved his whip and shouted, "Brothers, charge!" The black flag army poured into the city like a tide and fought with the black hat army in close combat. The two sides fought hand-to-hand, and the battle was extremely tragic. Liu Zhendong took the lead, wielding a broadsword, and killed several enemies in a row. His bravery inspired his comrades around him.

Under the powerful offensive of the Black Flag Army, the Black Hat Army gradually lost. Instigated by the intelligence team, some Han people in the city took up arms and joined the battle. They had long hated the atrocities of the Black Hat Army.

In the end, the Black Hat Army was completely wiped out. Sha Gubai, the king of Haohan and the commander-in-chief of the Black Hat Army, shot himself in despair. A black flag with a seven-star double sword pattern was raised in the palace of Suiye City. Wu Chunlei and Liu Zhendong stood on the tower of the palace, looking at the devastated city, with a lot of emotion in their hearts. This victory was hard-won, and they paid a huge sacrifice for it, but it was all worth it.

After the battle, the inventory of the treasury of Haohan Kingdom made everyone ecstatic. The gold, silver and other treasures were twice that of Xila Kingdom, and the grain and fodder in the warehouse were piled up like a mountain, no less than Xila Kingdom. Some precious jewelry, jade and antiques were sent to Beitang City as spoils of war. The four concubines and three daughters of King Sha Gubai of Haohan Kingdom were also sent away as spoils of war. His son had already escaped, and the prisoner Helen was also one of the spoils of war.

When Helen heard about this, she was furious and filled with resentment and dissatisfaction. At her request, the soldiers guarding her sent her to where Liu Zhendong was. She was determined to ask for an explanation.

After seeing Liu Zhendong, Helen did not hide her emotions. She walked straight to him, stared at him with wide eyes, and said in a firm and questioning tone: "I worked hard to help you capture Suiye City and made great military achievements! According to common sense, such merits are enough to offset any sins, and I should be rewarded! But why are you treating me like a prisoner now?"

Her voice revealed a strong sense of reluctance and grievance, as if she had suffered great injustice. After saying these words, Helen bit her lip tightly, her eyes fixed on Liu Zhendong, waiting for his response.

Liu Zhendong smiled and said, "You helped us trick the city gates open. You were forced to do that under gunpoint. If you hadn't cooperated at the time, you would have been shot dead. So this credit cannot be attributed to you. When we get to Bei Tang City, I will explain this matter to the commander-in-chief and try to give you a chance for leniency."

Because the spoils of war were very valuable, Wu Chunlei was worried about letting others escort them, so he arranged for Liu Zhendong to escort them. Liu Zhendong said, "With the commander-in-chief's arrangement, I may not be able to make it to the Battle of Lake Balkhash."

Wu Chunlei smiled and said, "You have made so many contributions in the three battles of Kuerqiu, Saray Desert and Suiye City. Others have complained to me, saying that I am biased. You eat meat while others have to drink soup! There are so many generals waiting to go to Lake Balkhash to make contributions! It's better if you don't go."