However, the support of the Japanese is not gratuitous, since there is a "three-step" plan, and on the 12th, the White Russian army established its own government in Chita. The Japanese couldn't wait, so on the 15th, they hastily established a Mongolian military government, and Erbatu appointed himself commander-in-chief.

Now that the name is there, it is necessary to consider the issue of territory, Erbatu used to be a horse bandit, wandering around, and now he has a "grandiose" plan, which is naturally to find a good territory, so as to be a base for the future king and hegemony. Suiyuan is in the west of Inner Mongolia, bordering Outer Mongolia in the north, Jin and Shaanxi provinces in the south, Chahar in the east, and Ningxia and Gansu in the west. By controlling Suiyuan, he obtained an ideal passage to invade North China and Northwest China. "From the northeast through Chasui to Ningxia Xingan in the west, creating a blockade of China and isolating the front of China and Russia has been the goal of a certain (Japanese) side's efforts in the last year or two." Japan hopes to establish a "Mongol military government" through Guò to first control the eastern Chadong region, and then threaten the Pingsui Railway and Datong in northern Shanxi and Baotou in Suiyuan.

As a result, Erbatu began to collect horse bandits in Inner and Outer Mongolia and recruit outlaws, and at this time, hundreds of horse bandits who were chased around in Outer Mongolia were also recruited by him into the team. When his strength reached 4,000, the Japanese ordered another group of 2,000 men and horses of the traitor Wang Daoyi to divide into two routes and attack Tumurtai and Honggertu, the northeastern gateway of Suiyuan Province.

On the 18th, when Rokossovsky ordered nearly half a million troops to rush to Krasnoyarsk, the battle of Honggertu began.

At that time, the Honggertu garrison was Yan Xishan's team, with a total of two and a half companies. Yan Xishan, as an old warlord of the Beiyang Army, if he didn't even know about Erbatu establishing himself as king on the 15th, then he would have stopped mixing in Shanxi a long time ago. As soon as he heard the Japanese preach the "Mongol military government," Yan Xishan knew what they were up to. As an important lifeline of Outer Mongolia and China, the "Three Kings" of Jixian County told Yan Xishan to pay attention to the trade route from Datong in Shanxi Province to Saiyin Shanda. Although Yan Xishan was brought to Jixian County by the "Three Kings" to make offerings, he did not swallow Shanxi, and the whole Shanxi was still under Yan Xishan's rule. And for Shanxi merchants, what an important business route is the road in Outer Mongolia, and Shanxi merchants who are careful all day long will let a group of horse bandits spoil their good deeds? In terms of armament, the Jin Sui Army, which has its own arsenal, is not an ornament.

So in a hurry, Yan Xishan sent his baby cavalry out. These two and a half companies were commanded by regimental deputy Zhang Zhu. Fu Xiufeng, the commander of the first company, and Kou Chunyuan, the commander of the fourth company. There were more than 200 people in the two companies, and there was also half a machine gun company with two machine guns and twenty or thirty people. The total strength of the reinforcements was only more than 220 people, and Honggertu was a Catholic village, and 80% of the villagers were Christians, and the Christians were eager to defend the Church. Church priest Yi Shifang is the third in line, and people are called "Sanyi Priests". More than 80 parishioners were organized to set up a local defense regiment, and the Jin Sui army was invited to send personnel to guide the training and sharpen their guns on the spot. The church has dozens of rifles, and the Wang family of the big family also has thirty or forty guns, all of which are handed over to the militia for use. The Taolin County Government issued four large earthen cannons, and the militia also made several small earthen cannons. This earthen cannon is about 1.5 feet high, about 1 foot thick, and has a diameter of about 3 inches. At the bottom sat there were two cannon holes, and the gunpowder wires were fired. When loading the cannon, first press the fuse, load the gunpowder, then load the broken pig iron (rotten pot, rotten stove, old ploughshare, etc.), and finally load the horse manure face, tighten it with a wooden stick, and the pig iron block that is hit out after lighting is very powerful and has a strong lethality. The enemy is not sure what kind of weapon it is. These guns all played a role in the battles that followed.

Seeing that Honggertu was prepared, Erbatu did not immediately attack the city, but set up his headquarters in Dala Village, Shangdu County, which was more than 20 miles east of Honggertu, and sent an envoy into the city to negotiate with Zhang.

Originally, for the envoy of Erbatu, Zhang pulled out with his first reaction and cut down the sacrificial flag. The messenger can be heard shouting, "The two countries have fellowship, and they will not be killed." This classic line.

At this time, Zhang remembered that since Yan Xishan went to Jixian County, his current identity was the army of the Beiyang Government of Jixian County, not Yan Xishan's warlord team. The Jin Sui army, who couldn't turn around for a while, would really have been unthinkable if it hadn't been mentioned by the envoy of Erbatu. Since the establishment of the "Mongolian Military Government", Erbatu has put himself on the same level as the Beiyang Military Government in Jixian County.

The envoy was a close associate of Erbatu, who was also more eloquent, first talking about the "immeasurable" prospects of the Mongol junta, and then trying to recruit them.

In fact, when Erbatu rushed to Honggertu, he found that he was given a quick start by the Jin Suijun, so he was quite depressed in his heart.

But when he learned that there were only two and a half companies occupying Honggeltu, he immediately began to make wishful thinking.

Erbatu thinks: He has four or five thousand people, and he has just made a name for himself with the Japanese and has a backer. As long as the Jin Sui army in the village is recruited, not only can you enhance your cavalry strength, but Honggertu can also fall into your hands without blood, this kind of business without capital can be done!

So he sent messengers into the city.

Of course, it is impossible for Zhang Zhu to take refuge in Erbatu, but what he needs most now is time, on the one hand, to step up the construction of fortifications, and on the other hand, he also hopes that the follow-up team can join the war group in time. After all, there are four or five thousand people on the other side, and there are only three hundred people in the village. Therefore, Zhang received the envoy very politely and told the envoy that he needed time to convince his subordinates.

When Erbatu heard the reply, he was of course very happy, but from the morning to noon, there was still no movement in the village, and Erbatu also felt that something was wrong, so he proposed to Zhang Zhu: Send himself a batch of grain and grass first, so that his soldiers can eat.

In fact, the reason why Erbatu made such a request was also a temptation, if Zhang agreed to provide food and grass, then the moment to open the gate of the village was the time for Erbatu's troops to attack.

Erbatu's request made it difficult for Zhang. From the bottom of his heart, Zhang Zhu would definitely not send food to Erbatu, the enemy of the Jin Sui army. Otherwise, in the future, he will also have to go to a military court.

But if you don't give Erbatu some food now, it will be a signal to start. When he was hesitating, he reported outside the door that an old man had come to visit.

The person who came was called Zhang Fenglou, a native of Chifeng. He was the commander of the 12th Company in Erbatu and is now stationed in the village of Dala. However, although this person is Erbatu's subordinate, he has national integrity and patriotism, and has a good personal relationship with Kou Chunyuan, the company commander of the Honggertu garrison, and has a close relationship. So before the battle, he wore a black robe, a melon shell hat, and rode a small donkey to meet and talk with the commander of Kou Company under the pretext of going to Honggertu to investigate, and told the defenders of Erbatu's intentions and troop movements.

So in Honggertu, Zhang Zhu reached a consensus with Zhang Fenglou, preparing to play a yin game for Erbatu in the next day's battle. Afterwards...... After that, Erbatu was tragic.

Since receiving the information that Erbatu had established a "Mongolian military government", the Jin Sui army began to make preparations in order to resist Erbatu's invasion of Suiyuan.

The Taolin County Government urgently dispatched 2,000 people from the vicinity of Honggertu to Honggertu to help build fortifications.

Trenches deep and wide of one zhang and two feet were dug around the village, and six large earth-rammed bunkers were built at the four corners and the church. The moats were dug and piled on the inside of the moats, and bunkers were built with mounds and thick planks. When fighting, the trench bunkers, garrisons and militia groups are spaced apart and cooperate with each other. A man-deep curvilinear trench was dug inside the trench to transport ammunition, water and food. On the 17th, it was almost completed, and on the 18th the fighting began.

On the 18th, heavy snow fell from the sky, and the northwest wind blew violently, and the temperature plummeted. In the morning, one enemy plane first came to reconnoitre, and then four more fighters bombed indiscriminately, and at the same time, about 4,000 people of the Erbatu Division, all wearing white stubble and leather jackets, occupied the northeastern hill more than two miles from the village, and launched an attack on Honggertu. The garrison in Honggertu had long been prepared for battle, and their troops were deployed in pillboxes and bunkers. The morale of the officers and men was high, and the supply of ammunition was sufficient. Relying on the strength of the men, the excellent weapons, the cooperation of the planes, and the help of the artillery, Erbatu launched many attacks, thinking that it would be easy to win. As Erbatu said to his subordinates before the war: "My Erbatu is like an eagle flying in the air, and Honggeltu is like a rabbit running on the ground. ”

The defenders of the village did not panic and calmly responded to the battle, using temporary fortifications to kill and wound a large number of attacking enemies.

The Erbatu tribe fought for a day and night, without any progress. On the 19th, the two sides fought another fierce battle, and on that day Japanese planes made a total of 15 sorties and circled over Honggertu, and every time they reached the trench position, they dived and strafed, and the defenders could not resist. At this critical moment, Wang Wuhai, a sharpshooter of the militia regiment who was a soldier, took aim with his rifle, and when he flew low and strafed at the plane, he pulled the trigger and hit a plane, and the enemy plane that had been shot fled in the direction of Shangdu with black smoke and glided into the southwest slope of Tucheng Village in Shangdu County and crashed.

The battle was fierce on this day, and the village of Honggertu fought for four hours before the Erbatu troops were repulsed. The bandit army died in this battle, with more than 100 corpses, including Zhu En, the commander of the fifth regiment of the bandit cavalry.

The Erbatu division had about 3,000 or 4,000 people on the front line, one of which besieged Honggertu, and the rest were distributed in Tuchengzi, Tara Village, Taidaowan and other places. At 1:30 a.m. on the 21st, the Jin Sui army launched an attack on all fronts, and the battle lasted until 7 a.m., when most of Tuchengzi was captured, and the enemy in the east, south, and north of Honggertu fled to the north. At half past 8 o'clock, the follow-up reinforcements of the Jin Sui Army, the 1st Cavalry Division, entered Honggertu. In this battle, more than 500 Erbatu troops were killed and more than 20 were captured. At the same time as the fierce battle in Honggertu, another group of 2,000 men and horses of the traitor Wang Daoyi was repelled by the local garrison and militia in Xinghe. After Wang Dao was defeated and returned to his lair, he was shot dead by his Japanese master.