Chapter 213: The Lifeline (Part 1)

“They ran?”
This really caught the officers of the Black Flag Army off guard, leaving them momentarily at a loss: “What should we do next?”
“What can we do?”
For these officers of the Black Flag Army, the situation before them demanded immediate action, but what exactly should they do?
One officer spoke up first: “We must immediately organize our troops to enter Changsha City and take control. We need to restore order quickly and impose military rule…”
As if to confirm his words, black smoke could already be seen rising from Changsha City—clearly, deserters and scoundrels were taking advantage of the brief window before the Black Flag Army arrived to loot the city.
Yet, considering Changsha’s size, with hundreds of thousands of people living there, even half a regiment might not be enough to ensure security, let alone prevent those tens of thousands of Qing troops from escaping.
Another officer proposed the opposite approach: “I suggest we bypass them and abandon Changsha City, rushing ahead to block the enemy!”
“Although we only have half a regiment, with machine guns, we should be able to hold off three to four thousand men!”
“Then just let Changsha City fall into chaos?”
“If we keep hesitating, the enemy will all escape!”
Both opinions made sense, but everyone knew the root of the problem wasn’t them—it was the incompetent governor Wu inside the city.
The Black Flag Army never expected that the provincial capital, with twenty or thirty thousand troops stationed there, would abandon the city without any meaningful resistance.
In fact, they thought the defenses of Changsha were even weaker than those of some smaller towns, where local militias had managed to resist the Black Flag Army several times.
But in Changsha, after just one attack, the defenders fled in disarray. The Black Flag Army troops at the city gates numbered only half a regiment, and they were still considering how to breach the city walls with heavy artillery when they found that the defenders had all run away.
“What should we do?”
The officers of the Black Flag Army couldn’t make a decision. Just as they were at their wits’ end, a messenger rushed over with a telephone, shouting, “The line is connected!”
The regiment commander slammed the table in excitement: “Great! Heaven helps me!”
The Black Flag Army’s telephone network had been set up hastily, but after two transfers, the headquarters of Commander Liu Yu, thirty kilometers away, received accurate information.
“The enemy abandoned Changsha without any effective resistance and is now fleeing toward Hubei Province. Order in Changsha is in complete chaos…”
“Given this emergency, Liu Suiyun is appointed as the commander of Changsha’s defense forces. He must immediately lead the first battalion of the headquarters to Changsha to impose military control. The troops at the city gates should send a battalion commander with an enhanced infantry company to serve as an advance detachment for Changsha’s defense, working alongside the two infantry platoons that have already entered the city…”
“The commander of the advance detachment has authority to command any troops entering Changsha City, with authority to be transferred once the chief commander arrives…”

“Given that the first phase of the battle in Hunan and Hubei has been successfully completed, all units must embody the spirit of the Historical Xiliu Camp and launch the second phase of operations without rest, advancing bravely toward Hubei. All units must uphold the tradition of fighting to the death with bayonets, unafraid of being separated from logistics or facing disorganized units, and push full force toward the Yangtze River!”
At the end, Liu Yu added, “Let’s drink from the Yangtze River!”
After entering the country to fight, the Black Flag Army encountered weaker Qing forces instead of the French, leading to several large-scale pursuits. Yet this boldly ambitious order was something Liu Suiyun had never seen before, and he couldn’t help but say, “Isn’t this a bit too risky?”
“If we win this battle, we can seize half of China!”
Liu Yu drew a line along the Yangtze River with his finger: “But the key to this victory lies with you!”
“The Qing forces in Hubei are just as useless, but I’m giving you control of the rear!”
“You’ll have no more than forty regiments at your disposal, but I’m assigning you seventy regiments. Yet you’ll have to fend for yourself in terms of weapons, ammunition, and even pay!”
“I’ll lead the main force northward, while you’ll be in Hunan, using forty newly formed regiments to control the entire province. The task is extremely difficult, and if Hunan falls, all our previous victories will be lost…”
“Therefore, you have no choice but to take control of Hunan completely. Don’t disappoint my trust—prepare warhorses for me. I’ll lead the Second Guard Battalion into battle myself!”
Hearing this, Liu Suiyun had nothing to say. Among the many generals of the Black Flag Army, he was unique in having his own territory, with a weak foundation but a vast stage ahead.
If the Qing forces’ collapse in Changsha was completely unexpected for the Black Flag Army, then their bold and daring pursuit tactics were equally surprising to the Qing as well.
Soon, they found themselves facing the Black Flag Army at a crossroads almost simultaneously, only to collide with their bayonets.
Yanglousi served as an exit point for the Qing forces’ retreat northward. It was a strategically important area along the Hunan-Hubei border, historically a battleground. Previously, the Green Standard Army had stationed a large force here, numbering over two hundred men, and now another entire battalion had been dispatched from Hubei, bringing the total to over three hundred.
But today, the atmosphere in Yanglousi was particularly tense. As soon as dawn broke, the Qing troops in the town raised their guns, ready to fight at any moment. Commanders were patrolling everywhere, fearing any mistakes.
They knew something serious had happened in the south. More than four thousand troops led by former King Tian Debang had already passed through Yanglousi. The commander trying to block them immediately raised his cannons, threatening to level Yanglousi: “I’ve fought my way back from thousands of miles away in Vietnam. Do you really think you can stop me? There’s no way. Now tell me the truth—will you let us pass or not?”
With such a determined attitude to fight to the death, the forces in Yanglousi had no choice but to back down and allow them to retreat into Hubei, leaving them trapped at this crucial pass.

As soon as dawn broke today, more defeated soldiers rushed in from the south. Upon further inquiry, it turned out that Changsha had already fallen, and the Black Flag rebels had mobilized 100,000 heavenly soldiers and generals, along with thousands of rapid-fire cannons, to pursue them.

At first, General Li Dazhong was able to hold back the defeated soldiers and force them to take up positions on the front line. But as more and more soldiers fled, along with civilians seeking refuge, and even entire infantry units arrived, Li Dazhong could no longer stop them and could only let them run northward. Even many of the soldiers he had initially detained escaped.

Watching this chaotic scene, Li Dazhong sighed bitterly. “They say the Black Flag rebels are incredibly powerful, but right now, if just 100 of them charge out, they could trap all these tens of thousands of Hunan troops south of Yanglousi!”

He said this casually, but as soon as the words left his mouth, gunfire erupted inside Yanglousi Town, followed by increasingly intense artillery and gunfire. A young officer ran over, covered in blood: “It’s bad! The Black Flag rebels have infiltrated the town!”

Hearing this, Li Dazhong knew something terrible had happened. “Quick! Bring my elite troops up there! We must drive these rebels out—otherwise, tens of thousands of people will be lost…”

By “lost,” he meant the entire army would be annihilated. The forces fleeing north from Changsha numbered in the tens of thousands, including tens of thousands of soldiers, officials, and large groups of refugees.

Li Dazhong wasn’t aware that the unit that had rushed into Yanglousi Town was actually tiny—just an enhanced platoon. It consisted of one mortar squad, one light mountain gun, one heavy machine gun, and one medic, totaling 75 soldiers. With such a small force, they boldly charged straight into the midst of a vast army.

The Black Flag army traditionally believed that a single infantry platoon was not capable of handling independent missions and needed at least an enhanced platoon, which represented their standard configuration. These were specially selected diversionary units whose mission was to strike directly at the enemy’s rear without engaging in battles. To this end, an assistant company commander was assigned to each unit. There were three such assault platoons, aimed at completely blocking the Hunan troops’ path northward.

Originally, such tasks were supposed to be handled by enhanced companies, but in the haste, only three enhanced platoons could be sent. This enhanced platoon was the first to arrive. They mixed in with the retreating Qing forces and only revealed their true nature once inside Yanglousi, removing their disguises. Their rapid-fire rifles immediately killed or wounded over a hundred Qing soldiers, seizing half of Yanglousi Town.

“Set up the machine gun! Hurry!”

The Qing forces were caught off guard by this onslaught and were unable to react immediately. However, a few officers and veterans experienced in battles against France began making arrangements. Though it was just simple shops and civilian houses, with engineering equipment, they were quickly transformed into impregnable fortresses. Especially the heavy machine gun, equipped with 2,000 rounds of ammunition and mounted high, covered their firing range, putting any enemy attack at risk.

Li Dazhong sent his personal troops straight into battle. Over 200 Qing soldiers, shouting slogans under two flags, prepared to charge. At that moment, the Black Flag Army’s heavy machine guns fired two short bursts, followed by light mountain guns opening fire, with mortars also firing six shells. The Qing soldiers were forced to halt their attack.

After counting the casualties, Li Dazhong found that in just a few minutes—without even seeing what the Black Flag Army looked like—they had already lost more than 40 men, and the morale of the entire unit plummeted. They sat there shouting, “We won’t die fighting for the people of Hunan!” “So many people from Hunan are waiting in the south for us to make a move—we won’t do it!”

Unfazed by this situation, Li Dazhong immediately sent a messenger to the south: “Unless your Hunan troops launch the attack first, we will suspend our attack!” Under such circumstances, the Hunan troops had no choice but to launch a massive offensive.