Chapter 15: The Last Day of the Bandits (Part 2)

  "Big boss, something's wrong, the government soldiers are coming!" A bandit hastily ran into the mountain stronghold and shouted to a rugged-faced big man sitting in the center of the assembly hall. This person was none other than Wang Damaizi, the leader of the bandits.

  "What about their officers and soldiers? How did they get back here?" Wang Damazi's face was full of disbelief.

  "Right, did you little brat see wrongly?" The one answering is Mazhong San, the third son of the bandit chief.

  "Big boss, third boss, I really didn't see it wrong, at least 400 people, wearing military uniforms, can be seen very clearly from a distance."

  "Big brother, it seems to be true, now the second master has taken all the power out of the village, what should we do?" The third master saw that little servant with a serious face, not like he was lying.

  "Have you noticed that it was the county town's government soldiers?" Wang Damaizi did not answer San Dangjia's words, but instead asked the little servant who came to report the news.

  "Returning to the mansion, they all looked like strangers, and didn't seem like local officials or soldiers."

  Third Master: "The county government wouldn't just send a few hundred people to suppress bandits if they were coming for us. They all know that our village has over a thousand people."

  "That makes sense." He then asked Xiao Qiang: "What equipment does that group of people have, do they have water cannons or artillery?"

  Returned to the main house, but didn't see anything, instead saw one person with a rifle.

  As a rare mountain with an area of tens of kilometers, plus its dense forest forms a natural barrier. The bandits were able to linger in this area for so long, and one very important reason is the caution that Old Wang always showed. Over a decade of development, it was because of his repeated caution that the entire bandit lair easily evaded the siege of government troops, constantly developing and growing stronger.

  At this moment, although he has become a master of over a thousand people, with the strength to make the officials and soldiers around Laohu Mountain fear him. However, as the head of the household Wang Dama Zi, he still remains cautious as before. Following his previous military habits, whether day or night, he deployed a large number of sentries around the mountain stronghold. At the same time, he also used his connections and intelligence network accumulated over more than a decade to continuously gather information about potential dangers within tens of kilometers around him.

  The security team's first camp of several hundred people in a long marching column could not be hidden from the ears and eyes of the surrounding bandits. The soldiers of the first camp had not yet arrived at the foot of Tiger Mountain, and Wang Dama Zi, as the head of the household, already knew clearly.

  Upon learning that the troops who had come to surround them were only a few hundred in number and didn't even have heavy weapons, he completely relaxed and smiled as he looked at the dozen or so big and small leaders in the assembly hall, asking: "Everyone, a team of several hundred government soldiers came to attack my Tiger Mountain, and now there are still over 500 people left in the stronghold. No one knows when the second-in-command will return. Let's discuss what we should do?"

  "Bastards, a few hundred people dare to come and offend our Tiger Mountain. I think they don't plan on living to return. Eldest master, give me three hundred brothers, and I guarantee that I will annihilate these few hundred people at the mountain pass, not letting them set foot in my Tiger Mountain..." The third master stood up from his seat, confidently guaranteeing.

  "Alright, the three leaders of the household are indeed worthy of being from a military background, daring to take action and having an overbearing manner... I'll give you 300 men, and also assign our mountain stronghold's only three mortars to you. Let's annihilate those officials who dare to underestimate our Tiger Mountain... At the same time, through this battle of annihilation, let the outside officials know that our Tiger Mountain bandits are not so easily bullied..." For the officials without heavy weapons, Wang Damaizi didn't hesitate at all and directly nodded in agreement.

  In his eyes, his three hundred battle-hardened bandits, plus the three earth cannons, and being on home turf, made him confident that even if he faced twice as many government troops, it would not be a problem.

  However, what he did not expect was that the government troops he had encountered before were some outdated warlord troops, and now they were well-equipped security team soldiers.

  Three hundred bandits, under the command of San Dangjia, took advantage of the favorable terrain around Laohushan to quickly build a simple defense line. At the same time, the security team's soldiers appeared in front of them, led by the captured bandits.

  Chen Shao was standing less than a kilometer away from the enemy's blocking position when a soldier suddenly rushed towards Chen Shao, and then stopped steadily in front of Li Guosheng.

  "Report to the team leader, there is an enemy ambush position one kilometer ahead... After my preliminary reconnaissance, the total number of enemy troops is around 300 people, each with a rifle, and visible heavy equipment includes 5 light machine guns, 1 Maxim heavy machine gun, and 3 mortars. In addition, the enemy's ambush position relies solely on terrain and has not dug any trenches..." A soldier from a squad that had arrived at the outskirts of Tiger Mountain earlier reported seriously after seeing the deployment of the 300 bandits.

  "Alright, good job, your class will continue to disperse and scout. Also, order a platoon of soldiers from the first battalion's first company to also serve as scouts, responsible for mopping up any remaining enemies that may have escaped during the battle. And instruct the artillery and machine gunners in the back to come and join us." Chen Shao nodded his head in approval. Immediately, he gave a serious order. It turned out that Chen Shao had ordered the machine gunners and artillery platoon to stay behind, as a trump card for himself. Sure enough, the bandits fell for it. Otherwise, Wang Dama wouldn't have divided his troops either.

  "Yes, Captain..."

  Looking at the rapidly departing communication soldier, Chen Shao immediately shifted his gaze to Kong Wenhong beside him and gave an order: "Wenhong, have someone inform all company platoon leaders to come over quickly for a meeting. Our security regiment is about to make its move...."

  "Yes, Captain..."

  －－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－

  "Order, mountain artillery battalion, immediately conduct 5-minute firing at the bandit's first line of defense... The second and third squads of the first company will advance immediately during the artillery bombardment, pushing the attack line forward to a distance of 100 meters from the bandit's first line of defense... Gather all hand grenades. If any light or heavy machine gun firepower points are found not to have been eliminated, they must be cleared out... After the artillery fire is over, under the cover of heavy machine guns, the soldiers of the second and third squads will immediately launch an attack on the bandit's line of defense in units of squad, crushing their resistance psychology. The remaining two flanks will encircle and annihilate this group of fierce bandits..."

  It is...

  "Rumbling...". On a nearby artillery position, 6 75mm mountain guns let out bursts of angry roars.

  The power generated by the explosion of a 75MM mountain gun shell, apart from the deafening sound, almost every shell that explodes can blast out a crater with a depth of more than one meter on the bandit's position. As for the surrounding area of the crater, all living things within a radius of five meters, including soldiers, are either torn to pieces or shaken to death...

  One after another, large-caliber shells fell on the position like they were free. In less than a minute, the entire position was completely shrouded in smoke and flames. The three mortars and several machine guns were like toys in front of the 75mm cannonballs, being torn to pieces by the hail of iron fragments.

  The 75mm mountain gun directly stunned the bandits on the position with a loud noise. They had never seen such intense shelling before, and suddenly they all covered their ears and lay down on the position. In 5 minutes of bombardment, nearly half of the 300 bandits were killed.

  Bullets rained down densely, and after the cannon fire, thick smoke enveloped the entire battlefield. More than a hundred bandits were left facing us directly, but with their vision completely obscured by the smoke, they couldn't see what was in front of them at all.

  Listening to the shouting and killing voices getting closer and closer, the bandit soldiers had no way out. They could only shrink their heads, hold up the rifles in their hands, and fire blank shots one after another at the outside of the position.

  "Rumble, rumble, rumble…..”

  At the moment when the bandit army's line of sight was completely blocked by smoke, two infantry squads from the first battalion had successfully charged forward for a distance of twenty meters. As for the remaining thirty-meter charging distance in front of them, without any surprise, they directly entered the best throwing range of hand grenades.

  After half a year of training, dozens of old soldiers faced such a good opportunity and would not let it go. They directly threw out the second round of hand grenade rain to the rebel army's position which was just within reach...

  More than sixty hand grenades, with a whistling sound, flew directly over a distance of thirty meters and fell into the bandit's position like raindrops. Accompanied by the continuous explosion of hand grenades, the bandits' screams began to echo on the battlefield, one after another, also reaching everyone's ears.

  The bandit army's position, which was hit by more than sixty hand grenades, was directly blown to pieces without any trenches being dug, losing its ability to resist. Of course, even those bandits who were lucky enough not to be injured couldn't help but look at the brutal scene around them with a face full of astonishment, and in their momentary confusion, they forgot about their mission, forgot that they were on the battlefield, and that the enemy's bullets could take their lives at any time...

  However, it was during this brief moment of confusion that a company of two infantry platoons managed to charge right up to their faces.... Several light machine guns immediately unleashed their powerful close-quarters firepower on the bandits who were just inches away.

  A string of dense and rapid gunfire erupted on the battlefield filled with smoke, with bullets pouring down like rain onto the bandits' defensive position. In an instant, the bandits, still in a state of shock, were riddled with bullets before they could even react.

  "Ah.... The officers and soldiers are rushing up... Run for your life, hurry up and run..."

  "Run quickly, the government soldiers are coming..."

  Seeing the sharp and unstoppable soldiers in front of them, killing people like hemp, and seeing their former colleagues with blood and flesh blurred beside them. This group of bandits could no longer restrain the fear in their hearts, and they ran directly to the rear of the position, wanting to leave this battlefield like hell as soon as possible.

  "It's all over... it's all over, everything is over..." Watching the hundred remaining soldiers collapse in an instant, San Dangjia muttered to himself with a despairing face amidst his despondency.

  "Third Master, we're not done yet. As long as the troops are in our hands, we can make a living anywhere... Judging from the combat effectiveness displayed by the officers and soldiers, this time we've encountered a tough opponent. Now if we go back, it's no different from sending ourselves to death... Third Master, as long as there is a mountain of green, we don't have to worry about not having firewood to burn, let's immediately lead the troops in retreat, and run as far as we can..." A trusted aide standing beside Third Master hastily comforted him.

  "Right, you're right. We can't go back to the mountain stronghold. Quick, gather as many brothers as we can, and prepare to break through from the flank and retreat..." The Third Master, who had come to his senses, hastily ordered for the sake of his own life.

  "Yes, three generations of the family..."

  San Da Jia led the dozens of bandits he had just gathered to move quickly to the flank, coincidentally colliding with a platoon from the First Company that was responsible for outflanking. Suddenly, an unexpected encounter battle erupted.

  Although the three households had an absolute advantage in terms of military strength, their troops' morale had fallen to its lowest point after the recent defeat. Several dozen people were left with only a glimmer of thought for escaping with their lives.

  Looking at the security team, a squad of over 40 people, not only were they well-equipped, but more importantly, their morale was high. Especially after hearing the continuous gunfire on the battlefield, everyone shouted and wanted to go onto the battlefield to kill the enemy.

  Now, they finally encountered an enemy force, and more than 40 officers and soldiers, while excited, did not hesitate at all, and directly clashed with the remnants of Sun's forces using the most intense firepower.

  In the blink of an eye, more than 20 bandits who were charging at the front fell to the ground with bullet holes all over their bodies under the intense firepower. As for the remaining ones, they were scared by the brutal scene in front of them and turned pale, losing the courage to resist. Without waiting for Sun Yifang's order, they immediately turned around and fled in another direction.

  Faced with the four-sided encirclement of the security team, the dozens of bandits who were making a left and right charge on the small battlefield only lasted for less than ten minutes, and their total strength was directly reduced to just a few people. Even their third-in-command died on the way to the assault.

  The final result was no surprise, the remaining bandits who had lost their morale and fighting spirit, faced with the dark muzzles of guns all around them, directly knelt down and surrendered, becoming prisoners of war of the security team.

  As for the entire annihilation war, it ended with the enemy's surrender and the complete victory of the security team.