Chapter 151: A Soldier’s Duty

Liu Yu smiled without answering, and Ruan Menglian immediately realized this was a secret she couldn’t know, so she lowered her head.
The atmosphere at the dining table seemed harmonious. Liu Yu took a few bites of food, and as his bowl was almost empty, Chen Tingqin raised her request: “Ayu, we’re short-staffed and can’t keep up. Could you find me two more assistants?”
Chen Tingqin was in charge of archives. The four million taels of silver in Shunhua had been discovered by her while casually browsing the royal archives. Now, she took great pleasure in her work, spending hours each day immersed in the countless documents, finding joy in them.
It was a job she loved. She had little desire for power or other things; she simply wanted to live happily. Liu Yu appreciated this as well. He himself wanted to take time off to work as a librarian or archivist—such a life was what true happiness entailed.
But it was clear that Chen Tingqin was already overwhelmed. Although she handled Liu Yu’s personal files, they were still the largest collection in Vietnam. She didn’t want to turn her passion into stress.
Liu Yu had a habit of collecting materials regardless of quality. He knew well that a document today could hold a completely different meaning a hundred years later. From local archives found during the conquest of Haiyang to administrative records kept by Vietnamese local governments, along with hundreds of thousands of documents from the Black Flag Army’s history, plus the royal and government archives brought by Chen Tingqin from Shunhua—all these were clearly beyond the capacity of a single woman to manage. “Right now, I can only organize the archives by myself; I can’t handle sorting Chen’s files. I need two female assistants, and I’ll choose them myself.”
Only Chen Tingqin knew exactly what kind of women could help her and facilitate her pursuit of joy in the archives.
Seeing the faint smile on her face, Liu Yu put down his bowl. “I promise you.”
Jiang Ningxue also had her own ideas: “The finance department is busy too. I need two assistants as well.”
“We need to work night shifts, so of course we need an assistant.”
…
Amidst sweet voices, the sharp ringing of the telephone suddenly broke the silence. A female officer picked up the phone. Her voice was quiet at first, but soon she held the receiver and said to Liu Yu, “Ayu, something happened to Tang Jingsong.”
Fortunately, Liu Yu had already finished eating. He immediately picked up the receiver and asked rapidly, “What happened? The personal guard battalion and the Song Regiment? What’s going on? I didn’t give Tang Jingsong such authority. Anyway, send troops there right away to assist him.”
He had planned to talk with Chen Tingqin and the others after dinner to strengthen their relationship, but now it seemed impossible. Taking two advisors and guards with him, Liu Yu set off right away.
Inside the headquarters, the telephone kept ringing, and the officers in the staff office became busy again. “Understood. We’ll send the Tiger Battalion to assist immediately.”
Cai Yunnan’s Tiger Battalion was one of the troops stationed at the front line. Liu Yu arrived at their camp in less than half an hour. From time to time, intense gunfire could be heard—that was the Tiger Battalion fighting fiercely against the French forces.

Cai Yunan unfastened his uniform buttons, holding the telephone in his hand as he loudly urged his subordinate company commanders. Liu Yu asked directly, “What’s the situation now? Where is Tang Jingsong?”
“That bastard Tang Jingsong!” Cai Yunan cursed. “He just abandoned his troops and ran away. It took a lot of casualties from our Tigers Battalion before we could pull out his personal guard battalion.”
What annoyed him wasn’t Tang Jingsong leaving without permission to seek plunder, but the fact that he would flee the battlefield at the first sign of trouble: “They went to take guns from local infantry, but the Bissell troops stationed in Danfeng sent an entire black battalion. Our personal guard battalion and Song Battalion were already weak in combat strength. Once he ran away, we were on the verge of being completely surrounded.”
“He’s just a coward!” Cai Yunan continued. “Our Tigers Battalion and Zhou Chu Battalion suffered over sixty casualties. As for Tang Jingsong’s two battalions, only half of their men remained. That guy is completely useless.”
Tang Jingsong had indeed a history of making bold claims and striking surprising moves, but he often lacked perseverance and determination, preventing him from achieving anything significant. The worst example was during his tenure as governor of Taiwan, when he vowed to resist the Japanese army, only to abandon his post and flee back to the mainland before the Japanese even landed, leaving behind a mess.
This time, he wanted to secure some guns for his two infantry battalions. Both sides sent small teams to scout the front lines from time to time, but Tang Jingsong didn’t inform Liu Yu or Liu Yongfu. He directly led 500 men to attack some local infantry units, achieving minor successes and seizing over twenty guns. Overconfident, he advanced several kilometers deep into Hanoi.
When the French forces noticed this, they immediately sent a unit consisting of an Algerian infantry battalion and two cannons to encircle Tang Jingsong’s two battalions. What angered the Black Flag Army was Tang Jingsong’s behavior after suffering setbacks in battle: “He never thought about properly controlling his troops. He just ran away with his personal guard. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have suffered such heavy losses.”
Liu Yu immediately turned around and asked, “Where are the troops we rescued? I’ll go see them.”
……
Gubao hugged Major Bissell tightly, so enthusiastically that he almost broke the major’s ribs: “Dear major, you’ve achieved a glorious victory! The Black Flag Army has suffered an unprecedented blow.”
In the distance, the Algerian infantry, after fierce fighting, were searching everywhere for any survivors, then killing them with bayonets. Their creed was to leave no prisoners, so they didn’t notice that among the captives on the battlefield were many Qing soldiers dressed in Black Flag Army uniforms.
These warriors, raised in the desert, were a group of brave and fearless barbarians, as well as the best helpers for the French in conquering colonies. They slaughtered on the battlefield, letting out eerie cries.
Major Bissell, however, liked these barbarians: “General, it’s a real shame you didn’t see what just happened! It was a fierce battle between Algerian soldiers and the Black Flag Army, but we won.”

“I have witnessed with my own eyes your great victory. The Black Flag Army claimed they would never abandon a comrade’s body, yet now they fled in disarray, abandoning the wounded and hundreds of corpses. They even left behind many rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and a mortar—this is the first time we’ve captured such a small mortar in person.”
For the French, it was also their first time achieving such a complete and thorough victory over the Black Flag Army. The losses among all the indigenous Algerian infantry amounted to less than a hundred, many of whom were killed by the Tigers. For Gobat, this victory held special significance: “We will send this mortar as a gift back to the French Navy in Paris. It’s a trophy we give them, but I hope we can develop better mortars. Our troops need such artillery; this is the beginning of our victory.”
“Today, we achieved such a decisive victory. One of our African infantry battalions, with artillery support, wiped out two elite infantry regiments of the Black Flag Army—one of which was their elite guard unit, their best troops. The enemy abandoned six hundred corpses on the battlefield, along with two large flags and many small cannons and rifles. I’ve already sent one of the captured small mortars back to our country as a trophy.”
Gobat quickly wrote the telegram in pencil and handed it to his adjutant: “Report to Paris immediately.”
The adjutant asked, “Six hundred corpses?”
Although there were quite a number of Black Flag Army corpses at the scene, there were at most around one hundred and fifty or so, many of whom had been stabbed to death by Black soldiers after surrendering. But Gobat made his own mistaken assessment: “That’s right!”
“The enemy deployed two infantry regiments today, each with a thousand soldiers. They usually don’t abandon corpses, so they must have taken most of them away. The actual losses are more than four times that number!”
“In other words, they lost at least six hundred men today. This is a great victory.”
…
Although it couldn’t be called a great victory, the morale of the Personal Guard Battalion and the Song Character Battalion was extremely low.
They sat on the ground in despair, with several battle flags left unattended and lying there carelessly. Some wounded soldiers were moaning softly, but few had the energy to take care of them. Some were even wiping away tears and saying, “Damn those black demons, damn those black devils, those damned black devils…”
The troops’ morale had already collapsed. Although the leaders of these two battalions were influenced by the Black Flag Army and differed somewhat from ordinary Qing army commanders, they were still essentially traditional Qing army brave units. It was already quite remarkable that they had held on this long.
When they saw Liu Yu approaching, they remained crouched there, silent. An officer shouted, “Commander Liu is coming! Stand up, stand up!”
Finally, a few people stood up sporadically, but they were all wiping their eyes. No one had the energy, nor did they offer a military salute. An officer said with a bitter smile, “That’s it. Two officers are dead, two are injured, and two hundred men have been lost to those black demons.”
The morale of this unit still hadn’t recovered from the massive blow. They had lost 40% of their troops, and many hadn’t even gotten up, still holding their guns, unaware of Liu Yu’s arrival.

Liu Yu turned to look at them, shaking each soldier’s hand. He felt each one was icy cold, offering no warmth at all, so he could only pass on the warmth from his own hands to them.
“Salute!”
He saluted each soldier, but all he received in return was silence and numbness.
When he saluted a wounded soldier with blood on his shoulder, the soldier suddenly stood up and demanded loudly, “Why did you come only now? If you had brought reinforcements, Brother Zhang would not have died, and Brother Xu Ping would not have been captured by the Japanese and stabbed dozens of times. And Brother Bai Lang—what a tragic death you had…”
As he spoke, tears streamed down uncontrollably. With his uninjured hand, he shook Liu Yu’s shoulder fiercely. “Why did you come so late?”
The staff officer beside Liu Yu was about to speak, but Liu Yu already bent down. “I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
“I am the commander of the Black Flag Army. This defeat and the many casualties are all my fault. I failed to lead my troops properly and caused the deaths of so many of them. It’s my fault, entirely my fault.”
His tone was sincere. The wounded soldier could no longer shake his shoulder. Tears and blood mixed together as he suddenly knelt on the ground.
Liu Yu continued loudly, “Today’s defeat is my fault. I take full responsibility. It was I who led you into this defeat; I bear all the blame.”
“Commander!” Both standing and sitting soldiers suddenly realized what was happening. They knelt down together. “Commander, this defeat has nothing to do with you.”
“I am the commander of the Black Flag Army. I will take full responsibility for today’s defeat.”
He went to each of them one by one, saluting the kneeling soldiers, shaking their hands, and helping them stand up. The soldiers looked at their nominal commander with both reverence and enthusiasm. “Commander!”
After shaking each person’s hand, slowly, a glimmer of spirit and passion appeared in the eyes of these defeated officers. They saw something different from before. Their hands, like their hearts, were burning hot.
Only after shaking hands with everyone did he notice Tang Jingsong crouched aside in the grove, covering his face in shame. The soldiers glared at him angrily, while Tang Jingsong looked extremely uneasy.
Liu Yu shook his hand and gave a military salute. “Rest well. I’ll be responsible for replenishing the weapons and troops of the Personal Guard Battalion and the Song Battalion.”
“The greatest responsibility for this battle lies with me. I bear the blame for the defeat.”
“Thank you!” Tang Jingsong finally found an out. “I was scratched by enemy bullets. I’ll go rest now.”
He didn’t realize that from now on, the hearts of the soldiers in these two battalions would never belong to him again.
…
Guoba’s good mood didn’t last long. A telegram sent from Saigon ruined it.
“Given the colonial territory of Cochinchina’s strong support for the campaign to conquer Tokyo, and with security in Huế under severe strain today, I hope the general can send an appropriately sized reinforcement force to provide strong support to Huế…”

Although the full details are unknown, it is said that a sizable force of Black Flag Army suddenly appeared near Huế, attacking all French-related police stations, Catholic churches, local governments, and even military outposts. The security situation has deteriorated to such an extent that in some areas, two French regiments must be sent simultaneously to carry out operations—something not even as severe as in the Tonkin region. It should be noted that when he left Huế, he could leave behind six hundred French troops and allow them to recruit more colonial forces; Saigon also provided several small-scale reinforcements, but now the security situation has worsened. After sending several reinforcements, Saigon’s resources have been completely depleted, and it is even struggling to maintain order in the colonies, so it can only turn to the troops stationed in Tonkin. “The Black Flag Army we face is dozens of times larger than that in the Huế region—this idea is extremely short-sighted. We will carry out the planned offensive on November 12th. After its success, I will send five hundred soldiers to reinforce Huế.” On the tenth, the troops were assembled, and river vessels from Haiphong gathered in Hanoi, leaving no space at the docks. But Gobba clearly underestimated Liu Yu’s determination: “What? The Black Flag Army and the Flower Between Sect have attacked our rear? A native infantry platoon lost?” Faced with this formidable opponent, the Black Flag Army clearly tried to pull them back by striking from behind. The Flower Between Sect and the Shen Sheng Independent Battalion launched a joint attack, assaulting more than a dozen small units engaged in pursuit, even targeting some sergeant posts and small outposts. This was completely beyond Gobba’s expectations. He had assumed that these guerrillas of the Black Flag Army had suffered heavy losses and would not be able to launch a counterattack within a month: “What’s going on?” “Two new infantry regiments have appeared in the enemy’s ranks, but they are of poor quality and poorly equipped. It is said they were formed from the Vietnamese government forces.” Upon hearing the words “Vietnamese government forces,” Gobba made up his mind: “That’s a bunch of trash. Our actions won’t be hindered by trash. Let’s proceed decisively!” “Inform all units that we will act according to the original plan. On the eleventh, the vanguard units will clear obstacles, and on the twelfth, the main offensive will begin.” … At the temporary command post outside Shanxi City, thanks to the advanced telephone network, Liu Yu quickly understood the situation: “The enemy is not moving!” Liu Suiyun asked on the military map, “Should we send one or two more infantry battalions into battle to draw them away?” “Gobba’s determination is strong!” Liu Yu pointed out sharply, “He will never retreat unless he’s beaten badly.” “Since the troops aren’t moving, order Luo Yanqiu and Yun Zhiyun to launch a full-scale attack without fear of casualties. Only by winning this battle can we restore all of Vietnam. Also, redirect one of the original infantry battalions scheduled to reinforce Shanxi to the Hanoi area, sending them twenty thousand rounds of ammunition and five hundred shells.” “It now depends on our determination—whether ours is stronger or the enemy’s is.” Seeing that Liu Yu was fully confident, Liu Suiyun nodded.

Loud cannon fire came from afar—the French heavy artillery was bombarding the Black Flag Army’s positions, along with faint gunshots.
“It’s the vanguard’s battle!”
Liu Suiyun nodded. “Indeed, it’s the vanguard’s battle. The French are deploying all their forces!”
Liu Yu stared at the battlefield filled with cannon booms. “After this battle, we will launch the final counteroffensive.”
Liu Suiyun expressed doubt. “The French must still have strength left. They haven’t given it their all in Vietnam yet.”
“No, that’s the maximum they can muster in Vietnam!” Liu Yu picked up his revolver. “We must also fulfill our duties as soldiers and get ready! We must be brave infantrymen.”
If faced with the toughest situations, I will fulfill my duty as a soldier.
That is also the highest honor for a soldier.