Chapter 39: Reunion with Joy (Part 2)

Jiang Ningxue’s declaration actually drew attention to Liu Yu. Seeing this woman with large feet remain calm and graceful truly made Liu Yongfu believe Liu Yu’s modest words.
“Fifteen breech-loading rifles, thirty-five high-quality front-loading foreign guns!”
As expected, they offered generous gifts right away. Yang Zhenen’s eyes lit up—his right battalion of three hundred men had not even one breech-loading rifle or front-loading foreign gun; they all used flintlock guns. Now, with this replacement, Liu Yongfu must show some consideration.
These guns were at least seventy to eighty percent new—Bertaud and Berdan breech-loaders, and Minié front-loading guns… The variety was mixed, but they were top-quality weapons. It was just that after the Xiliu Battalion fully adopted breech-loading rifles, it took another step forward toward standardization.
These non-standard foreign guns were mostly captured from the official army during the campaign in Haiyang. Previously, five breech-loading rifles had been given to the front battalion through Captain Deng. This time, it was the remaining ones, each accompanied by fifty to sixty rounds of ammunition, or sometimes not a single round at all.
While the Xiliu Battalion felt it couldn’t guarantee ammunition for these rifles, they were treasures in the eyes of the Black Flag Army, which was in dire need of breech-loading and high-quality front-loading guns. Fifty foreign guns would significantly boost their combat strength.
As for ammunition supply, it posed a moderate challenge for the standardized Xiliu Battalion but instead served as a motivation for them. With their capabilities, producing thousands or tens of thousands of rifle rounds was difficult, but providing a few hundred rounds for some of their fewer-equipped rifles was not unrealistic.
Over there, Jiang Ningxue, following Liu Yu’s instructions, pointed at four ammunition boxes and said, “Two thousand Remington rifle rounds!”
Her declaration immediately drew rounds of applause—this was exactly the ammunition the Black Flag Army desperately needed.
“Five thousand rifle caps…”
…
The Black Flag Army’s generals all felt that Jiang Ningxue’s gift was generous enough, truly a lifeline in difficult times. They also viewed this woman with large feet very favorably. “Then thank you!”
Yang Zhenen was the most straightforward. He grabbed Liu Yu’s hand and said, “Great! Commander Liu has found a wonderful wife—old Yang is practically drooling!”
The group enjoyed a pleasant conversation. Meanwhile, Jiang Ningxue softly said, “Fortunately, Sima ordered the kitchen to slaughter a big pig; otherwise, we wouldn’t have anything to serve you all.”
“What nobles!” Liu Yongfu was straightforward. “Two bowls of rice and a pair of chopsticks are enough! I grew up in hardship—I’ve endured all kinds of suffering. There’s no need for such extravagance.”
Though he said that, when it came to dining, ten dishes were served. As soon as they sat down, Liu Yongfu, without even waiting for the dishes, spoke directly, “Brother Liu Yu, Yuanting has another request.”
“Please go ahead, Commander. Liu Yu will do his best to fulfill it.”
Liu Yongfu glanced at Wu Fengdian, who was still somewhat excited, gave him a subtle signal, then said, “Shanxi is the gateway and strategic hub of the Black Flag Army. From now on, the defense of Shanxi will be entrusted to the Xiliu Battalion! Please guard this gateway for our Black Flag Army and prevent outsiders from entering.”
Liu Yu also stood up. “I dare not! Shanxi was originally the jurisdiction of the Left Battalion. The Xiliu Battalion is only borrowing it temporarily.”

“Why should the Black Flag Army distinguish between itself!” Wu Fengdian had already given up the idea of taking back his defense zone. “Yuan Ting ordered you to garrison Shanxi—then garrison it in Shanxi.”
Yang Zhenen and Liu Chengliang beside him also urged, “This is the commander’s kindness; don’t refuse.”
Jiang Ningxue added, “Ayu, don’t disappoint Commander Liu’s good intentions!”
Only then did Liu Yu refuse no longer: “If the Xiliu Camp exists, Shanxi will too.”
“Good!” Liu Yongfu praised again, “But this isn’t something I entrusted to you; it actually relates to Jin Chen.”
Jin Chen was Huang Shouzhong’s courtesy name. Since Liu Yu had taken over Huang Shouzhong’s defense zone in Shanxi, he now had to repay this favor: “The affairs of the Front Camp are the same as those of the Xiliu Camp—please give orders, Commander.”
The Front Camp was comparable to the Xiliu Camp within the Black Flag Army. The three camps led by Liu Chengliang, Wu Fengdian, and Yang Zhenen together had only nine hundred soldiers, while Huang Shouzhong’s Front Camp alone had a thousand combatants.
Liu Yongfu always used the Front Camp as his vanguard in battles, showing his dependence on Huang Shouzhong: “This time, the Front Camp is in trouble. He handed over Shanxi’s defense zone to you, but he lost Heyang himself.”
Heyang, known in later times as Hejiang, was the defense zone and base of Huang Shouzhong’s Front Camp.
This was not the Black Flag Army’s original stronghold but the stronghold of the Yellow Flag Army. It was only after the Black Flag Army and the Qingyue Allied Forces jointly defeated Huang Chongying that they officially took control of Heyang and assigned it to Huang Shouzhong’s Front Camp—this was an event from 1874.
However, bandits had always gathered around Heyang. This time, Huang Shouzhong was ordered to lead the Front Camp to suppress Li Yangcai. Unexpectedly, the notorious bandit Qin Sidi gathered hundreds of outlaws and took advantage of the situation to capture Heyang. The few troops left behind in the Front Camp struggled hard to break free.
Once in control of Heyang, Qin Sidi immediately recruited soldiers and amassed over a thousand men, posing a great threat to the Black Flag Army. “I resolve to gather all my Black Flag Army camps to jointly attack Heyang—first to reclaim the defense zone for Jin Chen, and second to show outsiders that our Black Flag Army cannot be violated.”
“For this attack on Heyang, the Yue troops won’t be of much use. So all four of my camps, along with my own hundred-plus personal troops—excluding those guarding Shengzhi—will go into action. As for our rear defense, it will be entrusted to one battalion of the Xiliu Camp.”
For both public and personal reasons, Liu Yu had to show his commitment. He nodded and said, “Good!”
Without hesitation, he added, “For this joint attack on Heyang, my Xiliu Camp will send one platoon to fight.”
Seeing Liu Yongfu’s doubt, he added, “My Xiliu Camp has nearly three hundred combatants, organized into two squadrons and six platoons. I will surely select the strongest soldiers and bring all our advanced firearms into battle.”
Liu Yongfu was overjoyed. With over forty advanced firearms in that platoon, it was like gaining extra strength: “That’s excellent! If our Black Flag Army recovers Heyang, our chances of victory increase by thirty percent.”
He sat down and said to those nearby, “Qin Sidi has gone too far. We are all from the western province. Aside from Huang Chongying who defected to the French, we should still maintain some kinship. But if anyone lets the enemy escape this time, I’ll take their head.”
Liu Yu also sat down and said, “I have another idea and would like to ask Fengdian and a few camp officers for their help.”