Xu Dalong smiled and said: "I'll go today. How about it? Do you dare to go with us?"
When Li Jinzhu heard that Xu Dalong said he was going to fight the bandits, he immediately became happy. He patted his chest and said, "If you dare to fight, I dare to go."
Xu Dalong knew that in order to mobilize the masses, he must create opportunities for everyone to participate in guerrilla actions. Only in this way can trust and friendship between each other be established.
He praised: "Brother Jin Zhu, you are really good. However, you are a little crowded alone. Can you mobilize some young people like you from the village to join in the fight against bandits? Of course, we I won’t let you participate in the battle, I just hope you can help carry stretchers, treat the wounded, and transport supplies.”
Li Jinzhu obviously has a certain prestige among the young people in the village. He said confidently: "No problem, if we can eliminate the bandits, everyone in the village is willing to go. Not to mention carrying a stretcher, even if I fight the bandits with real swords and guns, I will Dare to go."
At this point, he said expectantly: "Company Commander Xu, can you give us some guns?"
Xu Dalong smiled and said: "Okay, as long as you call people over, I will give you guns, and I will also arrange for people to teach you how to shoot."
"Really? I'll call someone right away." Li Jinzhu ran out happily.
It didn't take long before he called over a dozen strong young people.
Last time at the Fenhe Bridge, Xu Dalong and others seized a lot of guns and ammunition. True to his word, he immediately ordered Wang Xiaohu to get these guns and ammunition and distribute them to these young people.
The young men were holding rifles and all of them were very excited.
Li Jinzhu took aim with his rifle and said happily: "With this guy, I will no longer be afraid of bandits coming to steal things from now on."
Xu Dalong said: "Brother Jinsuo is right, if you all learn marksmanship well, you will be able to defend your village even if we leave.
I have a suggestion. If something happens and you all go your own way and don’t have the strength, it’s best to organize yourself. Just like us, set up a militia in the village. No matter if the devils or bandits come, we all fight together. Only in this way can we have peace. strength. "
The young people agreed one after another and elected Li Jinzhu to be the militia captain.
Since they were about to set off this morning, the training of the militia team could not be taken care of for the time being. Xu Dalong asked Wang Xiaohu to take them to make stretchers and followed Su Xiaoyan and Huang Wanqiu.
Soon after, Xu Dalong and others set off.
The bandit leader who is entrenched on Qilin Peak is named Ma Hei Zi. No one among the bandits knows his real name because he has a dark complexion with many pockmarks on it, so he is nicknamed Ma Hei Zi.
He turned out to be a soldier of the Jinsui Army, but was expelled from the Jinsui Army for armed robbery. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, he gathered a group of ruffians and gangsters and went to Qilin Peak and became bandits. Later, he kidnapped some refugees and formed a bandit team of more than 80 people. He was a local bully within a few dozen miles of Qilin Peak, robbing homes and running rampant, and the people hated him.
The Zheng Mansion of Guancheng County once sent a security team into the mountains to encircle and suppress them. As a result, due to unfamiliarity with the terrain, they not only failed to eliminate Ma Heizi and others, but suffered considerable losses. Later, Guancheng County was also occupied by the Japanese, and no one came to encircle them again.
Halfway up the mountainside of Qilin Peak, there is a temple built in the pre-Qing Dynasty. The temple has been occupied by Ma Heizi and others, and they built some houses around it, forming a bandit's stronghold.
This morning, Ma Heizi said: "Wang San went down the mountain to collect the test fee. He should have come back last night. Why haven't he come back yet? Is something wrong? Can any of you go down the mountain to have a look?"
A tall and thin bandit, about 30 years old, with a pair of triangular eyes stood up and said: "Master, let me go down the mountain for a walk. It happened that in that village, I fell in love with a little girl. Grab her by the way."
Hearing this, the bandits burst into laughter and shouted for a drink from the second master's wedding wine.
Mahoko said: "Second Master, the Japanese in the surrounding area have been making a lot of noise recently, so be careful when going down the mountain."
The second master raised his hands towards Ma Heizi and said, "Thank you, the first master, for your concern. I will go now."
After a while, the second master led people down the mountain. He was riding a horse, followed by more than twenty young bandits. These guys are used to being domineering in this area, walking on the mountain road with arrogance.
Suddenly, a burst of gunfire came from the hillside. The second leader of the bandits
He was immediately knocked off his horse and killed on the spot. Four or five young bandits were also knocked to the ground.
The little bandits lay on the ground in panic, looking around.
At this time, they saw many soldiers appearing around them, at least hundreds of them, many of them holding machine guns in their hands, and they had been surrounded.
One of them shouted: "Listen to the bandits in front. If you want to survive, throw the guys away quickly, hold your head in your hands, and kneel on the ground. Otherwise, I will wipe out all of you."
Seeing this situation, the bandits dared not resist. They knelt on the ground obediently and surrendered.
It turned out that Xu Dalong had already interrogated the three captured bandits and found out the situation of the bandits on the mountain. He knew that the three bandits had not returned to the mountain, and the bandit leader would definitely send people down the mountain, so he set up an ambush here and eliminated the group of bandits.
When following the Eighth Route Army out, Li Jinzhu and the young people in the village were both excited and nervous.
When they saw how easy it was to fight, they all became bolder. They rushed forward excitedly, seized the weapons of the bandits, and then tied them up.
Xu Dalong brought them here just to let them see the world. Seeing their appearance, Xu Dalong was very satisfied. He knew that as long as these militiamen trained well, they would fight a few more times. It can grow into a very combat-effective team.
The terrain of Qilin Peak is difficult, easy to defend and difficult to attack. Although the bandits have backward equipment and poor training, Xu Dalong is not willing to let the soldiers attack by force and cause unnecessary casualties. He decided to try to trick Ma Heizi down the mountain.
Xu Dalong interrogated the captured bandits and asked them about their origins. He found that most of them were poor farmers. They had no choice but to go up the mountain to become bandits. Among them were two bandits, an old man and a young man. They were uncles and nephews. Two people, from Chengde, Hebei Province. The uncle's name is Ma Zhixin, a private school teacher, and his nephew's name is Zhou Mingde, an exiled student. The two of them were going to Taiyuan to join their relatives, but on the way they were abducted and taken to the mountains to become bandits.
They have been looking for opportunities to escape, but they have never been able to do so.
Xu Dalong thought that the two of them were winnable, so he did their work patiently and meticulously, hoping that they would help wipe out the bandits on the mountain. He said that after the bandits were eliminated, if they were willing to join the Eighth Route Army, Xu Dalong welcomed them and if they were willing to go home , promised to give them a traveling fee and let them leave on their own.
Zhou Mingde agreed to Xu Dalong and tricked Ma Heizi into going down the mountain.
The reason why Zhou Mingde agreed to Xu Dalong was that on the one hand, Xu Dalong's conditions made him excited. On the other hand, he had no choice but not to agree, because his uncle Ma Zhixin was now a hostage in Xu Dalong's hands, and he could only take risks to help Xu Dalong.
At 2:30 noon, Zhou Mingde arrived at the gate of the village.
