Chapter 145: An Interlude

Tang Jingsong’s confidence was not unfounded. Besides his own personal guard, he now had another armed force at his disposal. Though this force was borrowed temporarily, Tang Jingsong treated it as his own private army, planning to exploit Liu Bei’s reliance on Jingzhou: “The pay for these soldiers still depends on the help of their commander.”

The various battalions sent into Vietnam and Guangxi had been unpaid for two or three months. Even the older troops in the two defense forces were struggling to find food, let alone this newly borrowed battalion. Along with the Black Flag Army, they were remnants of the Guangxi peasant rebels who had fled into Vietnam. Before the Sino-French War, they were incorporated into the Qing army as a single battalion, but it consisted of only over 200 men, all armed with muskets.

However, after being in Vietnam for so long, Tang Jingsong had gained considerable insight. He knew well that these troops, having survived countless battles, had far stronger fighting spirits than the defense forces. Moreover, he could at least supply this battalion with a small amount of firearms.

“Right now, my troops have already arrived to reinforce us…”

Under the morning light, a special unit was marching through the dew toward Danfeng.

Chen Tiansong glanced at his troops, feeling somewhat embarrassed. His men’s uniforms were extremely strange—each wore their insignia backwards, and the unit had no flags, suggesting it was an unaffiliated force. Unlike the rigid Qing troops, the Song Unit possessed a rare courage and passion. They had traveled from Beining all the way to Shanxi, and the conditions along the way had shocked them.

They had also clashed several times with the Black Flag Army, but they never expected the Black Flag Army to have fallen to such a state. The officers on guard in the rear were now equipped with foreign-made guns and wore fine clothes, far surpassing even their own proud troops. Judging by their appearance, it was clear they were no match. What did his own side have? A battalion armed solely with muskets and polearms, with poor equipment and tattered uniforms. Moreover, Governor Xu had ordered, “Chen’s Unit must act according to circumstances.”

Xu Yanxu seemed unwilling to involve them in this war. They even left their flags in the camp and followed Tang Jingsong all the way from Beining.

As the morning light grew brighter, they continued to march through the mud toward Danfeng. Everything around them was eerily quiet, yet they resembled a group of muddy monkeys. Even if they hadn’t worn their insignia backwards, no one would have recognized them as Qing soldiers.

Suddenly, sharp gunshots echoed in the air, followed by an explosion of a shell 100 meters away. The Song Unit immediately became disorganized.

It was the French warships that had spotted the unit’s advance and fired several shells from afar. But due to the great distance, the shots were inaccurate. Chen Tiansong shouted loudly, “Hurry! Run for your lives! Shells are coming from behind!”

Shells streaked past and exploded on either side of the Song Unit, causing no casualties. The unit scattered and ran frantically. By the time they reached the rear of the Black Flag Army, their formation was completely in chaos.

Chen Tiansong watched his troops retreat—this was the most humiliating moment of his life.

His men were now nothing but wildlings pulled out of the mud—utterly disorganized and chaotic. They wore uniforms covered in yellow mud, had no flags, and carried old shotguns. They lacked even any fighting spirit, just sitting on the ground, fully aware that they wouldn’t go into battle until the last moment. They were there merely to serve as a show of force; according to Xu Yanxu, it was to “provide distant support.” In reality, they were barely allowed to fire, but they had to conceal all traces of their participation in the battle and take responsibility for any consequences. Chen Tiansong glanced at the Black Flag Army before him—truly an elite force! He had been so narrow-minded until now. Before setting out, he had thought about showing off his authority in front of these Black Flag Army soldiers. Though they were poorly equipped and their weapons were outdated, he, after all, was a paid officer with a proper rank, far superior to these bandits. But along the way, his confidence faded—was this really the Black Flag Army? It was like French soldiers, fully armed to the teeth. The dozens of officers and soldiers in front of him had luxurious equipment that made them drool. Chen Tiansong guessed he wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, having to talk endlessly with his comrades. All were equipped with rapid-fire guns, grass-green uniforms, rows of ammunition belts, backpacks, and rain gear, along with Western-style rubber shoes—far surpassing even the best of the dozens of battalions in Beining. When did the Black Flag Army get so many fancy items? Chen Tiansong took a deep breath but didn’t dare speak up. The front line was where actual fighting took place; they were there only as a show of force, not to go forward. Even if they did go forward, it would be only to assist once the battle was already decided. At this thought, Chen Tiansong became disheartened. His only thought was: “The Black Flag Army must have gathered all their equipment here to form such a unit.” He casually asked his guide, “What kind of troops are those?” “Just new recruits from the Wulie Battalion. Their equipment is French guns—nothing special!” Chen Tiansong now felt ashamed to face anyone. Even the new recruits had such advanced equipment? It was unbelievable! The entire Song Battalion was embarrassed. Xu Yanxu had sent them to support the Black Flag Army, to back them up, but instead, they ended up just freeloaders, not even allowed to go to the front line. They were left behind for the Black Flag Army to look at their shabby troops. Chen Tiansong lowered his head and sighed deeply. Then, they heard cheers. He quickly raised his head and saw smiling faces. The new recruits of the Black Flag Army, with warm smiles, shook hands tightly with everyone and hugged them. Every soldier received a warm embrace. Even though they were covered in mud, they didn’t mind, holding hands tightly and hugging closely. They were so warmly welcomed, but the kindest words he heard would stay with him forever.

“Chinese soldiers have arrived!” An officer tightly grasped his hand, shaking it vigorously, then took out a bottle of baijiu he must have obtained somewhere: “Finally, we see soldiers from our homeland.”
“China…”
Someone shouted this slogan, and soon Chen Tiansong heard more loud responses: “Chinese soldiers have arrived!”
They were dressed in tattered clothes, equipped poorly, and seemed vulnerable, but in the eyes of the Black Flag Army, they held a different meaning.
Throughout the entire position, from the rear to the front lines, people repeated these words: “Chinese soldiers have arrived.”
Even though they were far away from their homeland, considered rebels from their own country, they could not change their bloodline.
“The Chinese army has arrived! It’s our Celestial Empire’s army!”
Hearing this, Chen Tiansong felt so ashamed he wanted to roll in the mud. He saw more soldiers of the Black Flag Army, equipped roughly like the new troops at first, with many units even better equipped.
But what concerned him most was their spirit. Not long ago, the Song Regiment was also one of the finest elite units in Northern Vietnam, but now it seemed that even if they tried to catch up for another ten years, they couldn’t match this vibrant spirit.
However, he soon had no time to think about this. His hand never stopped being held. If they couldn’t grasp his hand, the Black Flag Army soldiers would pat his shoulders or hold his arms—everyone’s enthusiasm surrounded Chen Tiansong constantly.
All sorts of snacks and delicate gifts were brought to him by the Black Flag Army soldiers, who said through tears, “Since the war with the French, this is the first time we’ve seen elite soldiers from our homeland.”
Under such enthusiasm, the soldiers of the Song Regiment could only hug each other joyfully and shout, “We’re too late, we’re too late.”
It didn’t matter what kind of troops they were, or even the fact that they were Qing soldiers—the Black Flag Army temporarily forgot that.
But when this group of over 200 people arrived, all the old and new Black Flag Army soldiers wept.
These tears weren’t shed due to orders from Liu Yu or others; they were pure joy from the bottom of their hearts. In their eyes, Chen Tiansong’s Song Regiment represented the Chinese army, represented China itself.
That’s right! They represented their homeland, their homeland they had never forgotten.
Only now did they truly feel that behind them stood a powerful nation of 400 million people.
As for whether this nation was strong or whether these Qing soldiers had combat capability, those weren’t important issues, because everyone saw their homeland in their own bloodline.
“The Celestial Empire’s army has arrived!” In such a situation, the morale of the Black Flag Army soared immensely. They were willing to give everything for their homeland’s troops.
Amidst countless cheers, Tang Jingsong also ran out of the artillery positions. When he saw his borrowed Song Regiment surrounded by the Black Flag Army soldiers, with food and gifts piled up enough to last them three days, his face showed rare joy: “It’s the Song Regiment.”

“No, that’s the Chinese army.” Liu Yu could clearly see the soldiers’ smiles. He let out a long sigh. “This is the will of the people!”
“The turning of public sentiment!” Liu Yu’s face showed both helplessness and joy. “Such power can sometimes change history.”
Shaking his head, he said, “As long as the Qing army doesn’t take the initiative to attack us, continues to resist the French invaders, and refuses to submit to them, even if there are countless difficulties, I, Liu Yu, am willing to suffer some losses…”
“I also refuse to bear a notorious reputation through the ages…”
Tang Jingsong, on the other hand, gripped his official robe tightly and finally removed his official hat. “There will be a time to punish the people for their sins.”
“Based on my decades of experience, that day is not far off.”
…
Their opponents also heard such calls, but they didn’t understand what kind of power this was—power that even made Liu Yu change his original plans.
They continued to carry out their planned actions. At the same time as the Yellow Flag Army’s attack, a large French force advanced through the mud, probing for the enemy forces.
But the Black Flag Army quickly made this enemy force suffer greatly. Bullets from all directions struck them, causing heavy casualties among the French, yet they still couldn’t locate the Black Flag Army’s main position.
But this was merely a cover to facilitate the Yellow Flag Army’s actions. A thousand Yellow Flag soldiers, under the command of Commander George, separated from the main force and advanced alone along the riverbank. Their combat strength was clearly weaker than that of the French.
But the Black Flag Army only carried out harassment; their main forces remained inactive. Thus, George quickly concluded that it was because his forces were too large.
He left some newly recruited soldiers behind to cover his rear, while he led nearly six hundred soldiers forward.
Although the size of his force seemed much smaller, George knew well that these soldiers were true veterans of the Yellow Flag Army—true desperados who had fought against the Black Flag Army for ten years without a decisive winner.
Now equipped with Remington rifles and trained by Western instructors, they should be able to overwhelm the Black Flag Army.
He shouted orders, “The entire army, advance! Eliminate all Black Flag soldiers! No prisoners allowed!”
Behind them, a large French-Vietnamese joint force was closely following them. This force even had six 65-mm cannons and 90-mm cannons.
Major Bisselle was giving orders to the French artillerymen in French, “The main goal of today’s battle is to eliminate as many enemies as possible. For this, we can make great sacrifices.”
“When colonial troops and the enemy are locked in a standoff, the artillery must launch a firm and fierce bombardment to break the deadlock and wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop.”
Everyone understood Major Bisselle’s words clearly—they meant to kill mercilessly.
A few French lieutenant commanders soon received further instructions: “Given the situation on the battlefield, today’s battle will involve flexible tactics to eliminate as many enemies as possible.”
“We must not only sacrifice greatly and fight with fearless courage to eliminate as many enemies as possible, but sometimes we must set aside compassion and fight in the most advantageous way possible.”

These French lieutenants were no fools; they understood the implication behind those words—that French lives were precious, while Chinese barbarians, even if they professed Christianity, were still to be sacrificed.
The Yellow Flag Army was unaware of this. They simply found themselves separated from the French forces, with no sign of friendly troops in sight even at a considerable distance.
As a result, they became extra cautious, but after advancing about a kilometer, they still encountered no enemy forces.
Suddenly, mortar shells rained down on the embankment, and machine gun fire knocked down many soldiers from the Yellow Flag Army at the front.
Then, battle flags with two willow leaves on each side appeared ahead, and countless soldiers spread out in skirmish lines and began attacking them.
At the same time, Major General Bo Hua issued his orders: “The Yellow Flag Army is sacrificing themselves for us. We must eliminate as many enemies as possible to repay their tremendous sacrifice.”
After saying this, Bo Hua saluted in a proper military manner toward the direction of the gunfire: “Salute to the Yellow Flag Army!”