Chapter 110: Feinting East and Striking West

During the Russo-Japanese War, the Qing government declared neutrality, but Zhang Zuolin did not. He led his troops into battle against both the Japanese and the Russians. After a defeat, he was captured by the Japanese and faced execution, only to be quietly released by Tang Yulin, who was fighting alongside Feng Delin at the time.

Although Feng Delin eventually claimed victory while following the Japanese, his reputation was completely eclipsed by the defeated Zhang Zuolin. The bandits who had originally followed Feng, witnessing the Japanese military treat the Chinese with even greater cruelty than the Russians, defected one after another to join Zhang Zuolin’s ranks.

The Japanese initially only needed to deal with two men: Feng Delin and Zhang Zuolin. Luring one and eliminating the other would not have been a difficult task. However, Matsubara was now troubled by a third mandate from the General Staff: a task regarding Yang Xiaolin.

The Japanese were not fools; they saw Yang Xiaolin clearly for what he was—a thorough nationalist. Such a man could never be a willing cannon fodder for the Japanese as Feng Delin was. On the contrary, should the Japanese army enter Northeast China, he would resist them just as fiercely as he had the Russians.

What was to be done with this man? To kill him felt like a waste, yet to let him live posed a future threat.

The Japanese General Staff had no consensus. After Yang Xiaolin had violently fought his way out of Kuropatkin’s encirclement, his ferocity piqued the interest of the Japanese. Consequently, the General Staff decided to attempt a different approach to cooperation. The order given to Matsubara was to first deliver a letter to Yang Xiaolin. The letter was written by a Chinese man, and the Japanese believed that if they could persuade Yang to cooperate with him and save China according to that man’s methods, it might be their best current option—a win-win situation, to put it in modern terms.

Matsubara’s mission was to pave a smooth bridge for the contact between Yang Xiaolin and that individual. He picked up the letter forwarded by the General Staff and glanced at the signature, the strokes of which were incredibly powerful:

"Sun Wen!"

Yang Xiaolin’s march led him straight toward Liaoyang, as if he were afraid the Russians would not know his intentions. Along the way, he raided several Russian mines and left behind bold proclamations, vowing to break into Liaoyang and slaughter every Russian inside.

This left General Akberill and Commander Kuropatkin, who were in hot pursuit, filled with dread, and threw the Russians living in Liaoyang into complete chaos. Although the city had a garrison of three thousand, no one could guarantee its safety, for "Yang the Devil" had already given the Russians far too many surprises.

There were seven or eight thousand people living in Liaoyang. Kuropatkin sent a telegram stating that he had mobilized reinforcements from the north to aid the city. Until they arrived, he ordered Liaoyang to prepare for a sneak attack by Yang the Devil; every able-bodied Russian man was to be issued a rifle and sent to the city walls if necessary.

His intention was to ensure Liaoyang remained impregnable, but Kuropatkin had not considered that, with the panic from the newspaper photo of Yang the Devil giving the middle finger to the Russian army still fresh, his actions only fueled further terror in Liaoyang.

Those Russians with connections were desperate to flee the city. They did not want to place themselves under fire; after all, no matter how formidable Yang the Devil was, he was just a bandit. Once the storm passed, they could simply return.

In recent days, the most sought-after commodity in Liaoyang was a carriage. Ordinarily, hiring a vehicle from here to Fengtian cost only twenty rubles, but in just a few days, the price had skyrocketed to five hundred! And even then, there were far more people than carriages.

Alexei was a down-and-out Russian aristocrat who had brought his wife and children to China to make a living. He worked as an accountant at a mine, where his salary was enough to sustain his family by Chinese standards. He had planned to save money for a few years and then return to Russia to start a small business, but he never expected the sudden news that bandits were going to attack Liaoyang.

At first, Alexei did not take the reports seriously, believing that a mere band of outlaws would be no match for the Russian army. But as the situation worsened—the mine owner left, the mine closed, and his friends departed one by one—Alexei felt it was time to escape. He decided to take his wife to Fengtian and then head further north, where it would be safe.

He withdrew the three thousand rubles he had spent a year saving. As an accountant, he calculated that the journey to Fengtian would now cost five hundred rubles. He decided to offer seven hundred to be safe. Traveling north from Fengtian would be cheaper, and once the wind blew over and Yang the Devil was annihilated or driven off, the remaining money would be enough for him to return.

Though saving the money had been arduous, his life was more important. The Russian army was issuing rifles to young men, and Alexei was on the list. If the bandits really attacked, would he have to stand on the walls and trade shots with men whom even Commander Kuropatkin couldn't stop? That was a terrifying prospect.

The streets of Liaoyang were in total disorder, filled with running crowds. Alexei waved at every passing carriage, but they were always occupied, which made him increasingly anxious.

His wife, Sophia, was on the verge of tears. "Alexei! This is all your fault! If we can't leave, we're finished! I told you not to come to China, but you wouldn't listen. We were living just fine in Russia—why did you have to come to this place?"

Already agitated, Alexei snapped at her incessant whining, "Enough! I will find a carriage!"

Perhaps his roar caught someone's attention. A Chinese man approached, bowed humbly, and asked, "Hehe, are you two looking for a carriage?"

Alexei nodded. "Yes! Do you know where I can find one?"

The man asked, "Where are you heading?"

"Isn't it obvious? To Fengtian, and then north to the Sixty-Four Villages."

The Chinese man shook his head. "That won't do. There are no carriages left for Fengtian. I advise you two to walk; after two hundred li outside the city gate, you might find one."

Enraged, Alexei grabbed the man by the collar. "Are you making fun of me? Why ask if you don't have a carriage?!"

The man looked terrified. "Oh, sir, please don't be angry! I wouldn't dare mock you. To tell you the truth, I work for a Japanese trading house. We have a shipment of goods to take to the Port Arthur docks tonight. I thought if you were heading that way, I could take you along. I’d get you out of Liaoyang, and I’d make a little money, wouldn't you say?"

Alexei hesitated. "Port Arthur? That's too close; it doesn't seem safe."

The man seemed eager to close the deal. "Isn't Fengtian just as close? It’s just a stopover. If you're willing, I can even hide you and your wife on a ship and send you directly to Korea. How about that?"

Korea was perfectly safe now. Alexei was tempted and looked at his wife, who nodded frantically. "As long as we get out of here, anywhere is fine!"

Alexei made up his mind. "Fine. How much?"

The Chinese man replied with practiced greed, "It won't be expensive. A thousand rubles to take you both to Korea!"

Alexei did the math; it was a fair price, even by normal standards. But out of habit, he bargained, "No! Eight hundred!"

The man shook his head. "That's too little. I can't do it."

Alexei threatened, "If you don't agree, I’ll tell your Japanese boss you're doing private business!"

The man panicked. "Alright! Alright! You win, sir. Eight hundred it is. Give me a hundred as a deposit, and I'll come for you tonight."

As he spoke, he reached out. Alexei hesitated, then placed a hundred rubles in his hand. The man said, "Remember, meet me here at eight o'clock tonight. Right at this spot, understand?"

Alexei nodded. The man continued, "My carriage is for cargo, so it might be a bit crowded. You two will have to bear with it. When we reach the docks, I'll hide you in the cargo hold. You won't have to pay anything more, but you must not show yourselves. I’ll let you out when we reach Korea in a few days. Deal?"

Alexei nodded again, and the man left with the money. That night, the carriage arrived as promised. The man drove all night, sneaking them onto a ship bound for Korea. Alexei and his wife were tucked into the bottom of the hold, where he could feel the dampness and the swaying of the ship on the water.

None of that mattered; he felt that as long as he could leave Liaoyang, any suffering was worth it. The Chinese man kept his word, leaving them water and food. After eating, Alexei felt exhausted and drifted into a deep sleep.

What he did not know was that less than thirty minutes after the Chinese man left him, that same figure appeared back in the streets of Liaoyang. Just like the day before, he approached an anxious Russian and said, "Hehe, sir, looking for a carriage?"

While the Russians in Liaoyang were preparing to fend off Yang the Devil, Kuropatkin was completely unaware that Yang Xiaolin had already arrived in Haicheng County, on the outskirts of Fengtian. This was Zhang Zuolin’s base. Zhang was a cautious man; even after becoming an official soldier, he had not abandoned his bandit insurance business, leaving his kinsman Zhang Zuoxiang in charge. Haicheng held over three hundred local guards, which Zhang Zuolin believed was enough to secure his stronghold. However, when Yang Xiaolin arrived with over a thousand bandits hardened by Russian artillery, those three hundred men were disarmed before they could even grasp their rifles.

Yang Xiaolin was now sitting in Zhang Zuolin’s chair, puffing on a cigar with great satisfaction as he looked down at the pale-faced Zhao Zhanyuan. "Old man, do you still recognize me?"

Zhao Zhanyuan snorted coldly. "Yang the Devil, using such despicable tactics to raid us while my Yuting is away—do you call yourself a hero?"

Yang Xiaolin chuckled. "No need to provoke me, old man. I was forced into this by your commander! By the rules of the road, even if we weren't friends, we were at least supposed to stay out of each other's way. He has repeatedly followed the Qing troops into the mountains to suppress me; is it so wrong for me to come and suppress him once?"