Chapter 13

  At the beginning, Gao Zuo didn't know that his real opponent was Ji Hongchang. He didn't even know there was such a person in this world. In his eyes, the number one enemy was Liu Yufen, the military governor of Gansu Province. Liu Yufen had killed his father, and Liu's superior, Zhao Xipeng, was garrisoned in the city of Hexi. So, Gao Zuo first attacked Hexi to deal with Zhao Xipeng, then he would attack Lanzhou to kill Liu Yufen.

  In the spring of 1928, Gao Zhenying led tens of thousands of "Black Iron Buddhas" to besiege Hezhou. Gao ordered, "Cut down all the telegraph poles so that Zhao Shiqing's phone calls can't get through." Communications between Hezhou and Lanzhou were severed.

  A regiment of National Army in Hezhou City went out to fight, and the quick guns in their hands hadn't even had time to pull the bolt, when the commander's soldiers "swish swish swish" like a violent rain chopped and killed, killing all the National Army soldiers in an instant.

  The soldiers in the city no longer dared to come out, and cannons were set up on the city wall, firing at the dense crowd below, causing a large number of casualties among the commander's troops. The commander led the "Black Tiger" army to retreat from the foot of the city wall, all the way to the northern slope, and disappeared into the depths of the valley.

  The National Army was made up of tough men from the Henan, Hebei and Shandong plains, who were then China's most powerful field force. They were led by a 17-year-old commander-in-chief and were besieged in the city with a motley crew, which didn't sit well with them. There was a Colonel Shao who was very stubborn and insisted on taking his troops to Beiyuan to chase after the bandit army. "I don't believe that Ma Zhongying is some kind of black tiger star, I'm just as tough as he is!" Without waiting for orders from his superiors, Colonel Shao led his troops out of the city and up to Beiyuan in a flash. Looking around, they saw the yellow earth mounds stretching out one after another like waves on the sea. Colonel Shao had grown up on the North China Plain and couldn't see what was so special about these yellow earth mounds from afar. From the top of the mound, a series of deep gorges and ravines split off in all directions, which could satisfy the heroic spirit of a hot-blooded soldier. Colonel Shao led his troops into one of the large gorges, and after several hours of rapid marching, they emerged at the mouth of the gorge to find a village, where Ma Zhongying, the "black tiger star", was likely hiding.

  Shao's troops surrounded the Zhuang village, and as soon as they did, hundreds of people rushed out of the village to fight with the National Army. Shao, wielding his ghost-headed knife, was killing wildly, but after a while, he found himself alone, unmoving, covered in blood, his large knife stuck in his hand like a crutch, before falling to the ground with a thud.

  Zhao Xi Hui, who was defending the city, no longer sent troops out of the city. "Erlang Shen is indeed a black tiger star, very tough."

  Zhao Xiping wrote a letter to Liu Du, the military commander of Lanzhou, and sent a guard to break through the enemy lines under cover of darkness to seek reinforcements. The letter was written in urgent haste: "There are only three battalions left inside the city walls of Hezhou, reinforcements must arrive quickly, if they are late, the city will be swallowed up by the Black Tiger Star." As soon as the cannon at the west gate fired, a swift horse flew out of the east gate and galloped in the direction of Lanzhou.

  The soldiers under his command could have blocked the National Army, but he didn't allow it. "Make way, make way, he's going to Lanzhou to transport troops." Everyone raised their guns to shoot, "Commander, kill him, since ancient times, who has ever given way to someone transporting troops?"

  "Commander Hei's face turned black, 'Don't you have eyes? Look at the flagpole, what's written on it? Black Tiger absorbs Feng Jun, even Liu Yufen didn't absorb him, and he still wants to absorb Feng Yuxiang?' Everyone was a few years older than Commander Hei, this mischievous and lovely kid naively lectured everyone, 'Let him bring reinforcements, move the entire National Army into the city, pack it full, then we'll attack with meaning. The filling of the walnut is fragrant, the hard-faced helmet has flavor.'"

  Liu Yu Fen sent a letter. The head of the brigade, Zhao Zhong Hua, felt very strange. As they entered the territory of Hezhou, Brigade Commander Zhao arranged his troops in battle formation, on guard against bandit ambushes. But all around was quiet, and Brigade Commander Zhao led his troops into Hezhou city without incident. Brigade Commander Zhao asked the garrison commander, Zhao Xi Ping: "Where did these bandits come from in this peaceful world?"

  "Don't worry, you'll know when the time comes."

  A peaceful night passed, and the officers and soldiers ate and drank well, full of energy.

  The sky had just brightened when a cannon shot sounded outside the city, followed by the sound of horseshoes and footsteps like heavy rain. Zhao thought he had returned to ancient times and was acting out "Three Kingdoms".

  On the hills and plains, all were the robust figures of cavalrymen and their glittering sabers. The commander gave the order to attack. The Black Horse Regiment and the Green Horse Regiment charged northward, breaking through the northern hill, surrounding the western city, and rendering the Nationalist Army on the northern hill unable to stand its ground, abandoning its position and retreating into the city. Brigade Commander Zhao Zhonghua led the Big Sword Unit in a counterattack, with cavalrymen surging forward in unison. Those who had been shot still clung tightly to their horses' bellies, standing stiffly on the open plains, their war sabers flashing brightly in their hands, bullets rattling in their wounds like soybeans being chewed with a crunching sound. The cavalrymen behind them brandished their glittering sabers, charging all the way to the machine guns and cutting the machine gunners in two.

  The national army was not surprised, stretched out their hands from behind to take down the big knife, and chopped together with the riders. The knives came and went, the iron instruments emitted a roar like a fierce beast; many men fell down, the openings on their bodies were long and deep, just like the deep gorges on the plateau, the horse knife illuminated the inside at once.

  Life congeals on hard bones.

  Zhao Zhonghua slept with his soldiers.

  Zhao Zongchang could have broken out of the encirclement. As soon as Zhao Zongchang got off the firing line, he saw the cavalrymen of the Jia Commandery putting away their guns and silently approaching with torch-like Hezhou knives. Zhao Zongchang, who was already standing outside the firing line, jumped back in. Zhao Zongchang was originally a martial arts instructor for the army, from the vast plains of North China, where the wilderness was as wide and solid as a big knife blade. The people of Yan and Zhao had always been known for their heroic and generous spirits. At the moment when Zhao Zongchang drew his big knife from his back, he seemed to be in the midst of the rustling strong winds, and seemed to be standing on the banks of the Yi River, where the sound of the cold waters rose. "This land is different from Yan Dan, brave warriors take off their hats. The people are gone today, but the water is still cold."

  The guards fell one by one, their blades and sabers deeply embedded in each other's bodies, the edges sinking in as far as the hilts; the blades began to swim in the blood like agile white fish in rolling waves, until they were swallowed up by the bloody waters.

  Commander Zhao's body was surrounded by corpses, and he could no longer gather them up. With a loud crash, he fell to the ground alongside the guards and cavalrymen. Next to him were two young battalion commanders in their early twenties, and Commander Zhao was delighted to be lying down with these young men to await death together.

  Liu Yu-fen's chief of staff, Yu Jiapei and other political workers lived in the Jiangjun Fu Gongguan, which was guarded by the 26th Division of the National Army. The Hui general, Ma Yanxian, launched a fierce attack on the Jiangjun Fu with the intention of capturing Yu Jiapei alive. Wave after wave of cavalrymen charged forward but none returned. As the sun began to set, the attack had made no progress and Ma ordered his men to set fire to the Jiangjun Fu. After the fire started, the National Army resisted while digging a tunnel, and over 100 guards escorted Yu Jiapei as he retreated into the city of Hezhou. Those who failed to retreat were burned to death, and their fine weapons were also destroyed in the fire. After burning down the Jiangjun Fu, Ma's cavalry continued to set fires, burning down the famous Han Chinese temples Wanshou Guan and Baojue Temple outside the city. The National Army retaliated by burning down the most famous Hui architectural complex in Hezhou, "Ba Fang".

  Yu Jiabei fled to the city and asked Lanzhou for help. On May 25, the 11th Division's Tong Linhe and the 25th Division's Dai Jingyu led their troops to arrive in Hezhou. The commander ordered a full retreat.

  "This time we're going to have a pot helmet." Outside the city of Hezhou, the endless yellow earth plateau was like a thick pot helmet stuck to the ground. With a flick of General Ka's whip, the helmet was cooked, golden brown and scattered with a layer of sesame seeds, fragrant and savory.

  Tong Lin Ge and Dai Jing Yu marched into Hezhou from two routes. Dai Jing Yu's 25th Division fell into an ambush, with tens of thousands of cavalry emerging from the gullies like a flood, making it impossible for General Dai's troops to deploy. The commander of the vanguard charged into the headquarters of the 25th Division. General Dai was stabbed in the chest but fortunately didn't suffer a fatal wound to his heart, and managed to escape with his life after a desperate breakout, barely entering Hezhou City.

  Tong Lin Ge's 11th division successfully entered Hezhou. Tong Lin Ge was a famous general, not afraid of bandits, after resting for a day, he broke out of Hezhou city and launched a three-pronged attack on the Gai Commander.

  It is said that when the commander of the Gela tribe rose up in arms, the Seventh Old Master did not respond. He was afraid his grandson would suffer losses. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that it was Ma Bufang and his son who ultimately benefited. The old master rode a white horse to persuade his grandson, "Your troops have ten people but not one rifle, how can you resist Feng Yuxiang?" As soon as the commander heard this, he became enraged, his eyes bulging like a fierce monk, "Old Master, hens crow and donkeys plow the fields, women manage the household and children suffer. Rebellion is inseparable from youth, you old fools are afraid and should go home." The old master saw that it was impossible to persuade him, his grandson's rebellious heart was too strong, "If you want to fight, then fight fiercely, I'll lend you some white horses. You're young, you go first, I'll accumulate some energy and be the old Huang Zhong for a while."

  Dizzy: Northwestern dialect, confused.

  The cannon fire in Hezhou City attracted Old Man Ma Haixian and a large group of old soldiers, who followed Dong Fuxiang's Gansu Army to Beijing to rescue the emperor and fought against the Eight-Nation Alliance.

  Tong Lin Ge ordered the whole army: Let's show them the power of our Northwestern Army's big knives. The officers and soldiers put away their guns and followed closely behind their commander, raising a storm of yellow dust that blocked out the sky.

  The old soldiers shouted: "Make way for us!" More than 300 white-bearded old men followed Ma Haixian down the North Slope.

  Ma Haiyuan's legs clamped tightly on the horse's belly as he charged straight at Tong Lin's pavilion, their blades colliding. Tong Shilang took a deep breath of cold air and Ma Haiyuan said: "If I were ten years younger, I would have captured you alive and taken you to my saddle." The guard stabbed Ma Haiyuan's left elbow from the side, but Ma Haiyuan twisted his body, clamped down on the sword with his arm, reached out and slapped the guard, who fell to the ground, dead.

  After Tong Shilang ordered a withdrawal, the old men also retreated to the mound.

  The cannon sound reached Xining and spread to Gan State and Liangzhou. The officers and soldiers of the Western Army's Ninghai Garrison rebelled and defected to the commander of the Jialing Army.

  That was the summer, the sun on the top of the hill looked red and big, the necks of the children were all thickened and reddened, they rode fast horses, holding torch-like shiny knives towards Hezhou. The commander arranged them into Blue Horse Brigade, Black Horse Brigade, White Horse Brigade, and Red Horse Brigade. All the riders wore black military uniforms, the cavalry formation was pure and uniform, rotating on and off the battlefield, replacing the old soldiers who had killed their eyes red. The old soldiers defended the North Hill and watched the battle. The children went up one by one, when they came back, the horse team looked very empty, all the surviving riders became bloody men. Blood stains covered the entire North Hill, war horses also turned red, sweat beads rolled on the bloodstains like dew on rose flowers.

  Riders galloped like flying, never to return. The war knife pierced their bodies, stirring up a turbulent tide, and the blood was purified in the whistle of the war knife. They condensed a lifetime of light into a summer that was used up. That summer was hot enough to kill, the light of the war knife surpassed the sun on their heads and the fire of life in their chests, they didn't care about anything, they lost control, outside the sun, outside life, tearing themselves alive, blood bursting out like an explosion.

  Riders came flooding in from Xining, Ganzhou and Liangzhou like a tidal wave. Riders came pouring in from Tianshui, Qingyuan, Luotuoshan and every place with "water" in its name. The glittering swords filled the big and small gullies, overflowing onto the dry ridges, which were all wet, all a surging tide of sword shadows.

  Tong Lin Ge's sword couldn't withstand it, the hills were filled with glittering horse sabers. General Tong stared blankly at the ghost-headed knife in his hand, without even seeing Ma Zhongying's face, and retreated like this? Bringing a precious saber back would be a joke, at least he should have fought Ma Zhongying for several rounds.

  General Tong left the Great Northwest with regret. Later in North China, at the Xifengkou section of the Great Wall, General Tong led the Big Knife Squad in a night raid on the Japanese invaders, killing over 3,000 enemies and creating a famous song "The March of the Big Knives", only then did his Ghost Head Knife return to its sheath. In July 1937, when the War of Resistance broke out, General Tong died heroically under the bombing of Japanese planes. This is another story.

  In the summer of 1928, the Eleventh Division of the National Army was on the verge of collapse under Tong Linge's command. Liu Yufen again urged Feng Yuxiang to send Ji Hongchang to quell the rebellion.