Volume 1 Teacher Chapter 20: Bai Lang
Although the Second Revolution was suppressed by the Beiyang government with force and money, it did not mean that order was restored in China. A large-scale banditry broke out in the five provinces of Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Anhui and Sichuan.
In mid-April 1913, Bai Lang, who was a deserter from the Sixth Regiment of the Beiyang Army, took advantage of the opportunity when the main force of the Beiyang Army was transferred from southwestern Henan, and led more than 300 bandits to leave Muzhu Gorge where they had been trapped for many days, and went south to Hubei. They occupied Tianwangzhai in the Tongbai Mountain area (now northwest of Sui County) and successively eliminated the various government troops that came to suppress them in Suizhou and Tang County (now Tanghe County). For a time, they had a great influence in the Henan and Hubei areas.
After the outbreak of the Second Revolution, Bai Lang went south again in September and captured Zaoyang, Hubei. He occupied the county seat for eleven days, burning, killing, looting and doing everything. In November, he captured Baofeng County. In January 1914, Bai Lang led two thousand people to annihilate a part of the government troops that entered western Henan, crossed the Beijing-Hankou Railway, and successively broke through Guangshan, Huangchuan, Shangcheng and Lu'an and Huoshan counties in Anhui Province. He also recruited bandits from all over the place. Soon Bai Lang's troops reached seven or eight thousand people, which shocked the whole of Henan.
Moreover, according to intelligence from the Joint Military and Police Office, Bai Lang's activities were not simply a banditry, but also involved the Kuomintang's attempt to regain power. Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing and other important figures of the Kuomintang successively sent revolutionaries such as Shen Yishuo, Li Baimao and Xu Ang to join Bai Lang's army and help plan strategies.
At this time, the Bai Lang bandit army, which already felt that they were powerful, gradually equipped themselves with captured rifles, machine guns, cannons and other advanced weapons, greatly increasing their combat effectiveness.
They shook off their pursuers in Hubei, returned to southwestern Henan, moved to Anhui, and marched into Shaanxi and Gansu, successively conquering more than 40 cities including Yuxian, Baofeng, Zaoyang, Guangshan, Huangchuan, Gushi, Lu'an, Shangxian, Zhouzhi, Wugong, and Tianshui, which shocked the entire northern China.
“You already know the situation.
Bai Lang, this fierce bandit, had more than 10,000 followers and occupied Jingzi Pass at the junction of Henan and Shaanxi. He called himself the Citizens' Anti-Traitor Army and issued a notice to spread it far and wide, calling himself the Grand Commander of the Central Plains Supporting Han Army, saying that he wanted to support the Han and fight against Yuan Shikai, oppose dictatorship and support the republic. It was simply ridiculous.
The President was furious about this and has now removed Henan Governor Zhang Zhenfang from his post and is investigating him."
Lu Jianzhang was dressed in military uniform and faced his two commanders with murderous intent.
"The President has appointed General Duan to concurrently serve as the Governor of Henan. Now the General has ordered the Guards to mobilize immediately and must reach Henan before February of this year."
"Commander, the New Year is coming soon. If we mobilize the brothers now, I'm afraid the morale of the army will be unstable."
He Oucai eventually became the head of the group, otherwise why would there be a saying in the market that if you can speak Mengcheng dialect, you can carry a sword on your waist? Lu Jianzhang has always looked at his fellow Mengcheng people in Anhui differently.
"I also know that it is unreasonable to ask the brothers to go to Henan at this time."
Lu Jianzhang relaxed his facial expression. It was freezing cold and he didn't want to cause an internal conflict before he could even use his only asset.
"Tell the brothers below that the president has offered a reward of 100,000 yuan for Bai Lang's head, so the original 10 yuan for the expedition will be doubled to 30 yuan. In addition, during the southern expedition, everyone will be paid double wages, and the burial expenses and pensions will also be doubled."
"This money is hot!"
Dai Jiliang smiled bitterly and shook his head, but he soon came up with an idea.
"Commander, didn't the commander-in-chief ask us to march our entire army south?"
After receiving a positive answer, Dai Jiliang came up with a bad idea.
"We have to leave some seeds in Beijing. Besides, we need to leave people at the Army Department to collect salaries and weapons. How about this, should we arrange for one battalion to stay?"
"Commander, Zhixiang's words make sense."
Before Lu Jianzhang gave his approval, He Oucai was the first to express his agreement.
"There are some bottles and jars that we can't take away, so we have to leave someone to look after them."
"Okay."
Lu Jianzhang's starting point was naturally different from that of a certain regiment commander. You have to know that the guard army has no territory. If they let go of this little place in the capital, wouldn't it become a source of water? Therefore, he was very willing to accept Dai Jiliang's reminder.
"You two regiments can each arrange some people to stay behind, and the Guard Army Headquarters can also leave a few people to collect the pay. Don't have too many, two companies will be enough, otherwise it will be difficult to explain to the commander-in-chief."
"yes!"
The two regiment commanders stood up, saluted, and then withdrew to make their own arrangements.
"Zhixiang, the future of our guard army is worrying this time!"
After walking out of the gate and the two regiment commanders mounted their horses, He Ou suddenly sighed.
"Bai Lang is a habitual bandit. Although Zhao Ti's Yijun is not a veteran Beiyang soldier, he is also a veteran fighter. Wang Zhanyuan is also a senior in the Beiyang Second Division. He is one of the best fighters in the Kuomintang. But they can't do anything to Bai Lang. We, the new recruits who have never seen blood, will be a piece of cake for them, right?"
"Brother Guangfu, you can't say that."
Although Dai Jiliang was unsure, he could still say he couldn't win if he couldn't win.
"This time is different from the past. The commander-in-chief personally led 20,000 Tiger Soldiers to encircle the enemy from all sides, and the troops from five provinces each blocked the enemy. Our guard army may just be a formality. Besides, what's the big deal if we go into battle? If we don't let these new recruits suffer, our guard army will never become a strong army."
When Dai Jiliang said this, he made the gesture of twisting money.
"When the cannon goes off, there's a fortune to be made. It's not a long-term solution for us soldiers to rely on our brothers' blood for food . We still have to fight, and the money will come faster."
“That makes sense!”
When talking about money, He Oucai's eyes finally lit up.
"I didn't expect that Zhixiang is a fellow traveler. Well, let's have a good chat when we have a chance."
"Let's settle down first. I don't know how many people will get upset."
Dai Jiliang waved his whip in vain.
"Hey, let's talk another day."
Dai Jiliang was not wrong in his prediction. When the entire Second Regiment heard that they were going to march south to suppress bandits during the New Year, they were in turmoil. However, with the temptation of money and the orders from the Ministry of the Army and Lu Jianzhang, the people below finally stopped making trouble.
Even so, when they heard that there was a chance to stay in Beijing, quite a number of officers had this idea.
"Brother Binnan, if you don't come south with me, it will be hard for Mr. Lu to explain!"
Although Dai Jiliang was joking, his subtext was clear. You were sent by Lu Jianzhang to supervise the army. If you don't go south, are you going to watch me, Dai, take charge of the entire Second Regiment? "How about this, Brother will represent the Second Regiment and stay in Beijing."
Dai Jiliang knew that E Tao didn't want to fight for Yuan Shikai, so he entrusted his wife Li Yuan, his son, and his concubine Qi Xiu's family to him.
"As for the Second Battalion, let's promote Li Guo to be the deputy commander of the Second Battalion. What do you think?"
"Okay."
For their own different considerations, several battalion commanders nodded and agreed with Dai Jiliang's opinion.
"As for the troops left behind by the Second Regiment, why not pick some from the ranks, keep a few seeds, and then leave the old, weak, and sick behind."
Dai Jiliang consulted several battalion commanders and the regiment's chief of staff Zhang Zilii.
"We should form a company-sized army so that the troops heading south will not suffer serious losses."
"Listen to the leader!"
Now that things have come to this, there is no point in saying more. Except for E Tao who stayed behind and Zhang Zilii who looked indifferent, everyone else had a sad look on their faces.
"Why are you crying so hard? Since ancient times, people have achieved fame and honor immediately. If you are a real man, go back and reorganize the troops. If you delay the work of General Lu and General Duan, I will hold you accountable!"
As he spoke, Dai Jiliang stood up.
"Park Chu, I'll leave everything to you. My house is on fire too. Go back and put it out quickly."
Everyone laughed at once, and the uneasy atmosphere that had previously permeated the regiment headquarters disappeared without a trace.
Dai Jiliang actually had a real headache. Li Yuan gave birth to his eldest son last October. Now that she told him that he was going to fight for his life, this classical little woman would surely be restless and absent-minded when he was away.
As for Qi Xiu, it was also very troublesome. First of all, Qi Hua, his brother-in-law, had already quit smoking, but without his supervision, would he go astray again? Then there was Qi Xiu himself. Although E Tao would certainly be loyal to his trust, there was still a layer of separation. If anything happened, he would not necessarily wait for him to come back to deal with it since he was thousands of miles away.
Finally, there is little Xier. Xier is fourteen years old this year. I don't know when I will be able to come back after going out to fight. What if her brother, who is the eldest, marries her off? Then I would have trained her for two years in vain.
After thinking it over, Dai Jiliang didn't know what to do. Li Yuan couldn't go for the time being. If something went wrong and he was exposed, Li Yuan would be very anxious.
Let’s go to Meishi Street to settle Zieger’s family first, Dai Jiliang sighed and got on the horse.
"Xi'er, where are your sister and brother?"
When Dai Jiliang pushed open the gate of his mistress's house, he discovered that Xiao Xier was busy in and out of the kitchen alone, and he couldn't help but ask curiously.
"The elder of the Sanmafa family passed away. My sister and brother went to help keep vigil."
Seeing this unscrupulous brother-in-law, Xier's face turned red. Over the years, she vaguely knew that what Dai Jiliang did to her were things that even ordinary couples don't often do, but Dai Jiliang's methods were sophisticated and the girl didn't mind being close to him. In addition, Xier had reached the stage of teenage love and naturally had some expectations, so she couldn't stop.
"Then why don't you go?"
Dai Jiliang was overjoyed. This was a godsend opportunity. He closed the gate, walked over, and took the fourteen-year-old girl into his arms.
"Did you know your brother-in-law was coming, and you felt sorry for him, so you cooked for him?"
"Brother-in-law, don't!"
Before he could finish his words, Dai Jiliang's big mouth was blocked and his two mischievous hands slid into the thick cotton coat.
"No, brother-in-law. You never know when my sister and brother will be back. It would be bad if they saw us."
However, the girl's resistance exacerbated Dai Jiliang's emotions, and he stroked the little white rabbit in front of him even more vigorously.
"Xier, my brother-in-law is going to the war."
Dai Jiliang greedily touched the girl's lips, neck, eyebrows, and ears. After a long time, he let go and said shocking words.
"Fighting is a life-threatening thing. My brother-in-law doesn't want to die before he gets Xi'er."
Dai Jiliang's words made the girl tremble all over.
"Be good, Xier, your brother-in-law likes you, so give it to him today!"
"Brother-in-law."
The girl collapsed at once. Although she had often heard such explicit language before, it was obvious that Dai Jiliang was serious today.
"No, not here!"
The girl finally lost herself under the attack of the old hand in the world of playboys, and she sold herself without knowing it while bargaining with the other party.
"Xi'er, I'm sorry for not giving you a grand wedding."
Dai Jiliang passionately pinched the little girl, who had already shown her nipples, and picked her up horizontally, then kicked open the kitchen door.
"Don't worry, I'll make it up to you when I come back alive !"
As he spoke, Dai Jiliang carried the boneless Xier back to his room and placed her on the big bed that had taken away her sister's innocence. Here he wanted to taste the chastity of the fourteen-year-old girl.
"Xi'er, bear with it. After today, you will be my woman!"
