Chapter 14: The Last Day of the Bandits (Part 1)

  December 2, 1914

  Watching the large piles of rice being harvested from the fields, Chen Shao felt tense and full of accomplishment, but this joy did not last long. In the evening, Yu Jia brothers brought news that made Chen Shao cautious. Wang Er Mazi was someone Chen Shao knew a bit about, with over 1200 men under his command, including dozens of mounted sharpshooters who came and went like the wind. Cavalry were not as easy to deal with as infantry, it seemed they needed to plan carefully.

  Back to the entrance of the base, he ordered the security team soldiers standing guard at the entrance: "You immediately notify the security team officers above the company level to hold a meeting in the combat conference room."

  Yes

  After a few minutes, Kong Wenhong and his group arrived, and when they entered the conference room in the base, they found Chen Shao already waiting there in military uniform. The group immediately raised their hands to salute: "Report to the captain, we have come under orders, what are your instructions."

  "Let's all do it." Chen Shao pressed his hand to signal them to sit down, and after they all sat down, he told them the news he had just received.

  "Squad leader, beat the son of a bitch! That damned Li Bo Pi is looking for death. We've been training for half a year now and we're itching to have a real fight!" Kong Wen Hong was the first to jump out and shout.

  "Fight, no need to talk, fight his mother!" Wang Yunshan also shouted

  "What's all the shouting about, everyone knows you have a loud mouth." Huang Bai dissatisfiedly protested to Wang Yunshan, who was sitting right next to him, his eardrums having suffered from Wang Yunshan's violent outburst.

  "Right, we must fight." The several platoon leaders also stood up.

  "We must fight, the key is how to fight, whether to lure them in or repel them from outside? Moreover, they have dozens of cavalry." At this time, Wang Yunshan spoke again, but his voice was much softer.

  "Yunshan's words hit the nail on the head. If we repel the enemy from outside, everything is easy to say, this is the best strategy. But if we adopt the inferior strategy of letting them in and fighting, what if the situation changes? We should be prepared to respond, and besides, there are several roads leading into the village, and now we don't even know which road the bandits will take." This was said by Kong Wenhong.

  "Alright, let's not discuss this anymore, I'll say it myself!" Chen Shao, who had already mentally prepared his speech, stood up and asked them to calm down first.

  "Wen Hong, Huang Bai, you two immediately go back and make good preparations, find the instructor to receive guns and ammunition. Especially Wen Hong's first battalion is fully equipped and has the highest combat effectiveness. Load the shells onto the vehicle and be prepared to launch a surprise attack at any time. Also, Huang Bai, immediately send out warning signals around Qinghe Village and have several soldiers keep an eye on Li's mansion, pay attention to the movements inside."

  "Are you two colleagues, Kong Wenhong and Huang Bai?"

  Also increase patrols at night and pay attention to the infiltration of small groups of bandits. After finishing speaking, everyone went down. Chen Shao waved his hand after finishing speaking and let them all leave.

  Standing on the command platform, Chen Shao looked at the red dots on the display screen and thought it was time to gather them in, letting everyone have a peaceful New Year this year.

  He casually built a power plant and a steel mill in the shipyard, then went to rest. He wasn't worried about bandits, as the security team's firepower could take down an entire division, let alone bandits. If they made a move, Chen Hong could remind him at any time. Wanting to sneak in silently was simply a pipe dream. However, for Kong Wenhong and his men, he should follow the requirements of actual combat, because he couldn't explain the existence of the base to them.

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  The whole security team was in operation on the second day, with armed soldiers chatting and cleaning their guns while sitting together in groups.

  "You said I can beat up several bandits"

  "You'd be better off letting me give them a burst; you'll only waste bullets with that rifle." The soldier said, and began to wipe down the menacing barrel of the ZH-05 with a cloth, his movements gentle, as if it were not a weapon but his own wife. The first soldier who had spoken up looked at the massive gun, his eyes involuntarily darting back and forth, swallowing hard. The others couldn't help but burst out laughing at him.

  Chen Shao is now sitting on the command platform, looking at a large block of slowly moving red dots on the display screen. He knows that the bandits have started to take action and clearly sees the direction from which the bandits are coming. Chen Shao picks up a military cap beside him and reminds Chen Hong to remind himself if the other party changes its moving direction.

  Walking up to the entrance of the barracks, Kong Wenhong was already waiting there.

  Call the brothers together

  Yes

  "Group gathering"

  As the troops gathered, Chen Shao also happened to walk to the front of the team.

  "Report to the team leader, Security Team First Battalion has assembled, please instruct." Kong Wenhong turned around and gave Chen Shaojing a military salute.

  "Brothers, the bandits are coming, are you afraid?"

  "Don't be afraid", hundreds of people shouted in unison

  "The bandits have arrived, what will you do?"

  "Kill them all."

  "Ah, all right, a thousand days of training for one day of battle, I believe in you, as long as you bring out your trained level, that group of bandits will be like chickens and dogs."

  Kill

  "Departure"; after finishing speaking, Chen Shao directly turned around and sat on a truck beside him. The rest of the people also got on the truck. The gate of the barracks opened, and the cars full of soldiers drove out one by one, heading towards the village and in the direction where the bandits were coming from.

  The convoy stopped at the edge of a narrow and long mountain valley, which was the only way for the bandits to pass through, and this road led to the mountains, with no one coming or going, and Chen Shao did not send anyone to set up a sentry post on this road, which was also the reason why the bandits chose this direction. The security team's warriors all jumped off the car and ran towards the two sides of the mountain, where the rocks were scattered and suitable for ambush. The cars then returned by the original route. Since this time was to lay an ambush, only a few 75MM mountain guns were brought, and it was not known whether they would be used or not.

  Not long after, Chen Shao, who was lying behind a stone, heard the sparse voices, and at this time Chen Hong also reminded him that the bandits had arrived beside him.

  "Listen up, you all! When the time comes, pay attention to me. I heard there's a factory in Qinghe Village, don't mess it up for me. I heard the machines in the factory are worth a lot of money." The speaker was Wang Ermazi, riding on horseback. Yesterday, he had come out from Li Liupi's house and rushed back to his old nest. Early this morning, he gathered over 700 people, plus dozens of cavalrymen, and charged towards Qinghe Village. He didn't even bother to send out scouts, the group of over 700 people walked together in a scattered manner, chatting and laughing, it didn't seem like they were going to rob, but rather like they were going to watch an opera.

  "Got it! Second Master, I heard that those security guards are just a bunch of inexperienced kids. With our skills, we can take them down with just one charge."

  "It was, when I killed people their mothers were still virgins." The obscene words stirred up the bandits, and for a time their morale soared.

  "Brothers, hurry up! Go catch big fish!!!"

  "Report to the team leader, after reconnaissance, it has been confirmed that there are 762 bandits, with 55 cavalrymen, who are now moving from outside the valley." At this time, a security team warrior acting as a scout ran to Chen Shao's side and whispered.

  "Good! Finally arrived, the rest is to annihilate this batch of bandits without leaving any behind." Chen Shao pulled out a small grass beside him and said loudly: "Also, order the light and heavy machine guns to take down those dozens of cavalrymen first, and launch an attack with my gunshot as the signal."

  Yes

  The valley was not large and was relatively narrow. Chen Shao, who was lying on the mountain, saw the last bandit enter the valley. Chen Shao picked up a Type 97 sniper rifle beside him and fired at the big man riding a horse in the middle of the bandits with a single shot to his head.

  Bang! That numb face's entire head was gone half, and he fell to the ground under his horse. Poor Wang Er Mazi, one second ago he was still dreaming of beautiful things, the next second he went to the Western Heaven.

  Hit!

  As a burst of gunfire rang out, the bandits fell like cut wheat, those who didn't fall immediately dropped to the ground, especially those on horseback, some were killed instantly by a single shot, others who were unlucky were hit by several shots and their bodies were blown into pieces.

  "MD, we've been ambushed!" This was what all the bandits thought at the same time.

  "Brothers, Er Dangjia is dead, let's avenge him!" Before the bandit next to Wang Ermao could finish his words, Chen Shao raised his hand and fired another shot, ending his brief appearance.

  The bandits, regaining their courage, got up from the ground, raised their weapons and started firing at both sides of the valley, and desperately rushed up the mountain valley.

  When the bandits rushed up to less than 30 meters, a batch of hand grenades flew over and exploded, causing the bandits in front to fall down. At the same time, a more intense burst of gunfire made all the bandits who were rushing forward spray blood and fall to the ground. If they had just charged a little further, they would have reached the top of the mountain, and the bandits believed that with their experience and ferocity, killing the people above would be an easy task. Unfortunately, hope is beautiful, but reality is cruel. Just when all the bandits saw a glimmer of hope, more than a dozen flames accompanied by a roaring sound shot out from the top of the mountain, sweeping away the bandits who were rushing forward in an instant.

  These dozen heavy machine guns opened fire and immediately stunned the bandits. One of the bandits who rushed forward was lucky enough not to be swept away by the heavy machine gun, and he frantically shouted: "Brothers, run quickly, the other side has a flamethrower!" As soon as his voice fell, a flame snake directly swept across his body, and the 12.7mm caliber of the Chinese Z-type heavy machine gun directly cut him in half at the waist.

  The remaining bandits split into two groups, one group crouched on the ground trembling with fear, and the other turned around and ran away, each running extremely fast, as if there was a flood beast behind them. It's not surprising that the bandits were scared out of their wits, considering that heavy machine guns are rare in the country. Before Chen Shao sold arms, heavy machine guns were usually reserved for division-level units with strong firepower, and even then, they were scarce. Each warlord treated them like precious treasures, unwilling to use them. Although the situation has improved somewhat now, it's still not something that a small security team can possess.

  But now there are more than a dozen heavy machine guns pouring bullets into the bandits. Faced with the continuous shooting of more than a dozen machine guns, the bandits already knew that this action had failed. The bandits quickly crawled backwards to retreat from this death zone that harvested lives. Suddenly, the machine gun fell silent, and the bandits who were trembling on the ground immediately got up and ran back as fast as they could without the greatest threat.

  "Six 75mm mountain guns, uncorrected rapid fire, fire!" The mountain gun battery quickly fired three rounds of shells into their pre-designated areas, as the areas had been predetermined long ago. Six shells landed right in the middle of the fleeing crowd.

  Six cannonballs stirred up a bloody rain of death, each with a killing range of 5 meters in radius, instantly clearing out a large area. All the bandits within this range were knocked down, and those closer to the blast point were torn into pieces, with hands, feet, and internal organs flying everywhere. The gruesome scene stunned the remaining bandits, who had never seen such a terrifying hell on earth. And at that moment, the machine gun behind them roared again.

  "Surrender!!! Surrender!!!!!" It was unclear which bandit first shouted loudly while crawling on the ground, but soon the bandits beside him also joined in. In just a few seconds, the entire battlefield erupted with surrendering voices.

  Finally, those damned machine guns stopped their racket and the rifles ceased firing.

  "The bandits in front listened, dropped their weapons, raised their hands high, and slowly moved to the side." A voice came from the mountain, but it was more effective than his father's words in the bandits' ears. Before long, the remaining bandits walked to the designated location with their hands up one by one, leaving behind a field of corpses and wounded men who were still wailing or groaning.

  "How many bandits came this time? Is there anyone who hasn't arrived yet?" Kong Wenhong asked the several bandits he brought along.

  "According to the captain's words, there were over 700 people and horses this time, but there was no one behind. The second master said that the other side had only two or three hundred people, and it was not necessary to make a big fuss, we just needed our group of people." A bandit with legs still trembling constantly replied in a trembling voice.

  "Where is your second master?"

  "He's dead, shot by the officer's gun." After saying that, the bandit's legs went soft and he sat down on the ground. He had never seen such a scene before, where the second master of his own gang was shot and lost half of his brain, splashing blood, water, and brains all over his face.

  After interrogating several groups of bandits, it can be basically determined that most of the bandits who came this time are already here. However, for safety reasons, Chen Shao only let the surrendered bandits carry out the wounded on the battlefield and wait until the bandits were concentrated and guarded before letting the security team clean up the battlefield. Just now, from a distance on the mountain, nothing could be seen, but when they walked closer and moved the bodies, many soldiers vomited directly. However, Chen Shao did not blame them because he himself felt a little nauseous. Chen Shao believed that after this battle, the security team would become a truly capable army.

  At 1 pm, after the battlefield was cleared and the number of people was counted, not one of the bandits who came this time could escape. Under the torture of modern weapons, they were either killed or captured.

  The militia also arrived under the leadership of Huang and Bai. Chen Shao ordered them to call out the captives, point out the leaders of the bandits, behead them with lime, burn the rest of the bodies on the spot, and take the captured bandits back to Qinghe Village. He and the first battalion followed one of the bandits under his leadership towards Lao Hu Shan, the old lair of the bandits.