Black Flag Army

Chapter 168 Battle for the City

The Buryat Mongolian Army, composed of rebels and horse bandits, also counterattacked fiercely. They rushed to the gap and opened fire on the Black Flag Army. The Black Flag Army cavalry had high targets and were constantly shot and fell off their horses. Others dismounted to fight, and the Black Flag Army infantry also followed, setting up machine guns and firing. The bodies of the Mongolian soldiers who were shot dead piled up into a small hill. Shakshahu, the "Tiger of Buryatia", commanded the artillerymen to use infantry guns to shoot down the machine gunners. The surviving soldiers of both sides squeezed into the gap and engaged in a bloody hand-to-hand combat.

Deputy Commander Youdenchi knew that this battle was very important, so he led the guard regiment to rush forward, swinging his sabers and killing.

Under the command of Japanese instructors, Mongolian anti-aircraft gunners shot down three bombers in succession. The bombs dropped by the bombers also blew up the Mongolian artillery positions and bunkers.

After Deputy Commander You Dengqi chopped down three Black Flag Army soldiers with his sword in succession, he continued to charge forward bravely, but at this moment, he suddenly encountered Ding Hanmin, the brigade commander of the 18th Division of the Black Flag Army.

Ding Hanmin once served as a platoon leader in the 16th Mixed Brigade. During this period, he devoted himself to studying and mastered superb sword skills. He was particularly good at using a broadsword for close combat and slashing, and his skill level was amazing.

The two met on a narrow road, and without saying a word, they started a thrilling duel! After only three rounds, Ding Hanmin raised his knife and slashed at You Dengqi with a thunderous force, instantly chopping off the opponent's head. In an instant, scarlet blood gushed out like a fountain, splashing more than a foot away!

Yudenqi's guards were horrified when they saw this scene. They panicked and shot at Ding Hanmin crazily. Although Ding Hanmin was a veteran and brave, he was outnumbered and was eventually shot by several bullets and died heroically. He wrote a heroic song with his life!

Lan Jinping, who was at the rear, looked through a telescope for a while and said to Di Xiong beside him: "Our army has suffered heavy casualties. Should we retreat first?"

Di Xiong looked into the distance with a firm gaze and said in a deep voice: "Although we suffered heavy casualties, the Mongolian army suffered even greater casualties. This battle has entered a white-hot stage. Now it depends on which side can hold on to the last moment. Every second may decide the outcome, and every person is key! As long as we don't give up and hold on to the gap, victory will eventually belong to us!" His voice was sonorous and powerful.

At this moment, a staff officer with a solemn expression and anxiety and worry in his eyes walked quickly to Di Xiong and said in a low and anxious voice: "Commander-in-Chief! Urgent report from the front line, the 18th Division suffered a heavy blow, and the casualties have exceeded 5,000! Even more unfortunately, the commander of the 28th Brigade, Ding Hanmin, died heroically in the fierce hand-to-hand combat..." His words were like a heavy hammer hitting Di Xiong's heart, making him frown and his face become extremely gloomy.

Di Xiong sighed heavily, his tone full of regret and helplessness: "When Wu Chunlei left the 16th Mixed Brigade, he brought back seven platoon leaders! And Ding Hanmin was the most outstanding and the most outstanding one among them. Because of this, he was promoted to brigade commander first. But who could have expected that such a brilliant star would fall in this battle..."

He asked again: "The commander of the 28th Brigade is concurrently served by the deputy division commander Chen Wanqing. The battle cannot stop. We must defeat the enemy in the southern position of the city and hold it."

Lan Jinping asked, "Isn't Di Qiu the deputy commander of the 28th Brigade? Why can't he be the acting commander?"

Di Xiong shook his head firmly and said, "Absolutely not! Although he has fought many battles and made outstanding contributions on the battlefield, he is not yet twenty years old. He is really too young. Such a rapid promotion is not good for him. Being able to become a deputy brigade commander is already a bit unusual. If he is allowed to act as the brigade commander, it is simply nonsense! Once others know that he and I are cousins, they will definitely accuse me of nepotism."

The battle ended in the evening. The Mongolian army counterattacked several times, but lost more than 10,000 people. They failed to retake the southern position of the city and had to give up. Shakshahu commanded his men to dig a new moat in the north of the city and set up a new position. Lijing City was divided into two, with each side occupying half of the city. In this daytime battle, the Mongolian army lost nearly 20,000 people, and the two divisions of the Black Flag Army also suffered 8,000 casualties.

Di Xiong, Lan Jinping, Liu Zhendong and others had just finished dinner when an intelligence officer brought them a piece of information. This was a telegram sent by Li Jingcheng's intelligence team.

After reading the intelligence, Di Xiong handed it to Liu Zhendong and said, "The intelligence team has found the address of the Buryat Tiger. Now it's your turn." Liu Zhendong took the intelligence, looked at it carefully, and nodded.

"I will lead the first battalion of the special forces regiment and set off immediately. I will definitely complete the mission."

Di Xiong patted his shoulder and said, "Be careful, try to catch him alive, if that doesn't work, kill him."

Liu Zhendong turned and left, and quickly gathered more than 100 people from the first battalion of the special forces regiment and headed towards the residence of the Buryat Tiger. Although his special forces regiment had more than 300 people, the number of people in the assault should not be too large.

After watching Liu Zhendong leave, Lan Jinping couldn't help but said to Di Xiong: "Why don't you bring another division? This way the battle won't be so difficult, and Liu Zhendong will have to take the risk of decapitation. Doesn't the Third Army have three divisions?"

Di Xiong sighed and said, "After the three divisions of the Third Army went west, there are indeed three divisions left. Of course, I want to bring one more division to attack Li Jingcheng, but Beihai Province is so big that we can't rely entirely on the second- and third-line troops to defend it. Wubusu was attacked last time, so we must leave a brigade of the field army to guard it, right? Dalanza, which is close to Suiyuan, also needs at least one brigade. Beitang City, Mulun, Darhan, and Hangai Mountain all need garrisons. Except for the 18th Division in Suwu City, there are only two divisions and six brigades in total. Where can I bring one more division? I can't even bring one more brigade."

Lan Jinping sighed, "We already have 24 field army divisions (including two new recruit divisions), nearly 300,000 troops. Why are we still short of manpower?"

Di Xiong said: "Because our territory is getting bigger and bigger, Beihai Province and Beiling Province together have more than 2 million square kilometers. If the outer northwest is recovered and a Beiting Province is established, it will be more than 3 million square kilometers."

As night fell, Lijing City was silent, with only the occasional sound of gunfire piercing the night sky.

Liu Zhendong led the first battalion of the special forces regiment to quietly approach the destination. They carefully avoided the patrolling enemy troops and finally arrived near the residence of the Buryat Tiger. The residence was a large courtyard with a three-story concrete building in the courtyard. The intelligence team said that the Buryat Tiger lived on the second floor. There were more than 100 guards stationed in the courtyard and the concrete building.

The special forces battalion was divided into several action teams and surrounded them. On the rooftop, the sentry of the Mongolian Guard discovered them and shouted, "Who are you? If you don't say anything, I'll shoot you."

A sniper under Liu Zhendong shot him down with one shot, but the crisp gunshot also alarmed other guards. Suddenly, gunshots rang out, and machine guns and rifles sounded at the same time. Several people in the special forces battalion were shot and fell to the ground. At this time, the rocket launcher in the special forces battalion had already blasted the gate of the yard with a rocket launcher. Liu Zhendong was the first to rush into the yard. He held a pistol in each hand and shot while running. He was quick-eyed and quick-handed, and he could always knock down the opponent a few seconds before the opponent shot. Four or five Mongolian guards fell under his gun. Before others could react, he had already rushed into the concrete building and went straight to the second floor. The battalion commander Huo Qiang and the deputy battalion commander Zhang Wei followed closely behind him.

Shakshahu, who was resting, was startled by a burst of rapid gunfire. He immediately became alert and prepared to go downstairs to check the situation under the close protection of a group of guards. At this time, Liu Zhendong was running upstairs in a panic.

Just as they were about to meet at the stairwell, the tense atmosphere instantly escalated to a peak. Without any hesitation, Liu Zhendong and Shakshahu raised their guns almost at the same time and pulled the trigger at each other.

The bullet whizzed through the air and hit the target accurately. Liu Zhendong's gun muzzle spurted out fire, and a fatal bullet penetrated Shakshahu's body; at the same time, Shakshahu was not to be outdone, his shooting was equally accurate, and the bullet was deeply embedded in Liu Zhendong's chest.

With two dull gunshots, two people were shot and fell to the ground one after another. Their bodies fell heavily to the ground, and blood gushed out from the wounds, staining the surrounding ground red. The whole scene fell into chaos, and the guards were panicked and didn't know how to deal with this sudden change.

Huo Qiang, the commander of the special forces battalion, shouted loudly: "Zhang Wei! Take Commander Liu and retreat quickly." He raised the machine gun in his hand and fired. The Mongolian guards had just raised their guns, but were a second late, and were shot down by the machine gun.

Zhang Wei hurriedly took out the first aid kit, bandaged Liu Zhendong's wound, carried him downstairs, evacuated as quickly as possible, and sent someone back to report the news.

When Di Xiong heard the news, his heart was shocked and his face turned pale. He stared at the person who delivered the news in disbelief, as if he couldn't believe what he heard.

Then, Di Xiong stood up without hesitation and walked towards the infirmary in a hurry. As he walked, he urgently summoned the top medical team in the group army and personally issued an order: "Make sure to make all preparations!" At the same time, he also reminded them to quickly set up the operating table.

Time passed by minute by minute, and finally Liu Zhendong was sent to the infirmary. Di Xiong was extremely anxious, but he remained calm and directed the medical staff on the scene to take action. Everyone performed their duties and cooperated closely, and the rescue work was carried out quickly and orderly.

As the operation began, Di Xiong stood quietly by and prayed silently for a miracle to happen...

When Di Xiong, who had fallen asleep outside the operating room, was awakened, it was already dawn. The attending physician, Dr. Jiang, whose face was covered in sweat, said to Di Xiong, "Commander-in-Chief! The operation was very successful! The bullet has been taken out, but Commander Liu is still in danger and needs to be transported to Beitang City for further treatment."

Doctor Jiang is the son-in-law of the former dean, the husband of Yuan Qingmei, the director of the pediatric department of Beihai Hospital, and also Yuan Suifeng's most admired disciple.

After sending the seriously injured Liu Zhendong safely onto the transport plane, Di Xiong issued an order without hesitation: All troops march towards the northern city where the Mongolian army is stationed! Launch a full-scale attack!

Last night, Commander Shakshahu was killed. This incident has dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the Mongolian army today, and its resistance has been significantly weakened. In contrast, Chief of Staff Mu Huazhen's prestige in the army is far less than that of the deceased Commander Shakshahu.

After three hours of fierce fighting, the Mongolian army suffered heavy casualties, most of the soldiers were annihilated, and only a small number of cavalry escaped by chance. After this fierce battle, the battlefield was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder and blood dyed the ground red. However, Di Xiong and his soldiers did not stop, they continued to chase the fleeing enemies...

The commander of the White Army in the Balkhash Lake area is named Frank, who was once Denikin's right-hand man. Now in his forties, he still looks energetic and majestic.

At this moment, Frank, wearing a heavy bearskin hat and a thick bearskin coat, sat behind a large desk, listening attentively to the reconnaissance battalion commander's report on the latest intelligence obtained from the east.

Frank's face was filled with astonishment, and his voice involuntarily rose eight degrees: "What did you just say? Haohan and Xila have been destroyed? And they were wiped out by the mysterious Black Flag Army? Now there are hundreds of thousands of wolves and tigers rushing towards us? Their ambitions are simply hard to estimate!"

His eyes were filled with shock and disbelief, as if he had heard the news of the end of the world. This sudden bad news plunged Frank into extreme panic. He could not imagine what a devastating blow such a powerful enemy would bring to his army.

For a moment, the atmosphere in the room became extremely solemn, and everyone could feel the fear and uneasiness in Frank's heart. However, in this chaos and despair, Frank knew that he had to be strong and lead the army to resist this unprecedented crisis.

Deputy Commander Pete said confidently: "Commander, you are really too worried! You should know that the strength of Haohan and Xila is not enough. They don't have any planes, and the number of heavy artillery is also very few. Facing the Black Flag Army with a strong air force, their defeat is completely expected! But we are very different. Not only do we have dozens of fighter planes supported by British friendly forces, but we also have hundreds of powerful heavy artillery and advanced anti-aircraft guns as a solid backing! So, no matter how arrogant and aggressive the Black Flag Army that came from afar is, we can definitely defeat it in one fell swoop!"

Frank was still worried and said, "You are wrong! Kolchak also had airplanes and cannons, but the Black Flag Army still conquered the Amur Krai step by step. When Kolchak led his troops to rescue, he was also blocked near Lake Baikal and suffered a defeat, losing more than half of his troops. This Black Flag Army is not easy to fight!"