The gate of the cottage is just ahead, a silhouette vaguely visible in the dark night.
At the bottom of the mountain top, at the end of a small piece of flat land, leaning against a cliff five or six meters high, a wooden fence gate with rocks more than ten feet high was piled up.
The top of the mountain should be wider, otherwise the bandits would not let go of the flat land outside the gate of the village. There was a slight light coming from it, but no sound could be heard. Unlike other bandit dens, there was the sound of drinking and punching in the middle of the night.
The terrain is difficult. If you want to attack the stronghold, you don't need to put too many people to guard the stronghold gate. You can directly stand on the cliff and turn all the attackers on the flat ground below into targets.
It is a typical terrain that is easy to defend but difficult to attack, so it is perfect for a garrison.
The deputy captain initially found out that the situation was a bit strange. How to solve the water problem when staying on the top of the mountain?
If it were during the day and the bandits on the cliff were condescending, no matter how weak their combat power was, with such a terrain advantage, the district team would have no choice but to run away.
The only advantage now is the dark night under the stars, and the only thing that can be done is to find a way to sneak into the village.
The cliff is not too high. For soldiers who have been running in the mountains for a long time, it is not difficult to find a way to touch it.
But it will definitely cause a stir.
While thinking, County Magistrate Yang followed with his men, and the soldiers leaned against the cliff to breathe heavily.
"How is the situation?" Yang Deshi calmed down and watched the deputy captain leading the soldiers against the mountain wall. He quickly squeezed to the front and squatted down next to the deputy captain.
"County Magistrate Yang, the terrain is unfavorable. If a battle breaks out, we cannot rush to the mountain stronghold immediately. The bandits only need to throw two torches from the cliff, and our whereabouts will be exposed. No matter how weak the bandits are, we cannot fight this battle!" Deputy! The captain reported the situation to Yang Deshi behind him.
"It's completely different from the last time I ambush the Japanese." The scout in front of the deputy captain lowered his voice: "I just searched the flat ground and found no place where I can climb up with my bare hands."
"I don't know the situation up there, so I didn't dare to throw a rope up."
"Such a place is good as a base. It's easy to defend but difficult to attack." Yang Deshi didn't think about how to capture the stronghold, but he sighed at the terrain that was vaguely visible under the starlight.
"It's a pity that I didn't bring the sentry up when I was interrogating the sentry at the foot of the mountain. Otherwise, we can interrogate again to find out the situation on the cliff and find a way to get up." The scout was regretful.
"I wonder what the situation is like at the back door of the cottage where Captain Liu left?" Yang Deshi stopped thinking.
The vice-captain thought for a moment: "There must be bandits standing guard behind the mountain. Based on previous experience in suppressing bandits, it is estimated that it should not be much different from here, but the defense should not be as tight, and the chance of touching it is much greater."
Yang Deshi was helpless: "How sure are you if we attack by force?"
"This terrain is very special. Judging from the layout of the gate of the bandit's stronghold, there may be a shooting position above the gate. If the battle starts and the gate cannot be taken down in a short time, we can rush to the cliff and fight the battle."
"Can't you find a way to climb up from the cliff?"
"The bandits will definitely think about this problem, so there are bandits on the cliff. It is too difficult to climb up without any movement. Sooner or later, they will be discovered. There is really no better way except to attack by force."
"The bandits will arrange for people to be on guard at night? Are they still bandits?"
"It looks a bit like a regular army. If it doesn't work, we can make some noise to attract the bandits and wait for Captain Liu and others to catch them by surprise. Otherwise, we can only attack by force. But we don't have enough troops and firepower, so we really have no chance."
Behind the mountain, the situation is no different from that in the south.
It was still pitch dark, but Captain Liu led a class and moved smoothly to the back mountain.
It went smoothly. In a cave at the foot of the mountain, two bandits who were snoring and sleeping were eliminated. The team followed the cliff on the steep uphill road, carefully climbing up with hands and feet.
I was dumbfounded when I almost reached the top of the mountain. There was only a small area under the almost vertical cliff that could only accommodate seven or eight people standing together. Then, there was no road!
"Captain, look, the ground here is flat and the cliffs are a little smooth. It seems that there are a lot of people coming and going, but there is no way. This means that the bandits should be hanging up and down here with ropes." The scout judged based on experience.
"Can you throw a rope and hook it up?"
"Okay, the cliff is not very high, but I don't know what the situation is up there. If we are discovered, it will be all over."
"Let's rest for a few minutes and wrap the hook with cloth. The other soldiers will go back first." Captain Liu made a prompt decision.
"Captain, you are just fooling around. It's easy to go up the mountain, but it's difficult to go down the mountain," said the squad leader.
"We can't be discovered, can we all stay here as targets?" Captain Liu was helpless.
"It stands to reason that Captain Liu who came up from the front mountain should already be in place. It's strange that there has been no movement. Otherwise, he could have taken advantage of the chaos and touched it. Captain, look, why don't you send someone to the front mountain to check the situation first?"
"The agreed time should have passed. There is no movement in the front mountain, which means they are also in trouble. It will take an hour to go back and forth now, which is too long."
"Okay!" The squad leader turned around and asked softly: "Zhou Wenjie, are you ready?"
"Captain Hu, someone has been here before. He must have left not long ago. There is an earthen stove in the col, and the ashes inside are still hot." Wang Liujin rushed to Hu Yi's side.
Hu Yi sat on the ridge, looking at the light coming from the village on the road to the south. Hearing this, he turned his head to Zhangjiu: "Have you been to this village before?"
Zaijiu scratched his head and was silent in embarrassment. His subordinate quickly spoke: "I have been there before. This village is very poor and there are not many people in the village. Later, after the man named Gou took over this place, it was not clear. ”
"What other armed forces are nearby?"
Qianjiu knew much about the situation nearby: "There is a small village on the road into the mountains to the west. It is almost the same situation. To the north is the mining area. There are martial arts schools run by five big families and self-defense forces have also been organized."
"What is the background of the Self-Defense Forces?"
"Most of them are teams organized voluntarily by the people."
Hu Yi was accustomed to finding out the enemy's strength, firepower, and terrain before taking action.
He didn't intend to do anything to the unfamiliar place. He carefully looked at the hilly areas and mountains everywhere. He thought it would be a good place for a game.
What interested him most was that when he came along, he found a small river on the roadside. Even in such a severe drought, the water in the river did not stop flowing.
Where there is water, there is hope.
Hu Yi was silent for a long time: "What is the background of Commander Gou?"
Qianjiu thought for a moment: "He is different. The Japanese army dispersed the national army and later gathered a group of bandits in the mountains. After running here, he fought several times with the imperial army and the Japanese soldiers who were sweeping away the enemy. Being familiar with the terrain, he had no choice but to lose his troops, so he sent traitors to recruit troops. The man named Gou suffered a lot of losses, so he half surrendered to Xu Jinsen."
"Half surrender? What do you mean?"
"The Japs don't have enough troops, and they also have a headache for these bandits who are familiar with the situation in the mountains, so they simply send traitors to give them numbers without paying them or sending instructors. The two sides are not in conflict with each other and can still do business with each other. Hehe, we can deal with the Eighth Route Army by the way."
"Isn't this the security army? Why is it called the security group?" the girl sitting next to him asked casually.
"The security forces are paid. The security group nominally protects the safety of the people. The rich people from the nearby villages pay for the guns and are paid. The people are paid. The man named Gou was an officer of the national army a few years ago. He was driven into the mountains by the Japanese and sat on the ground. When I become a local emperor, I also do business with your mountain troops."
"Are they going to fight the Japanese?"
"Bah, Gou, in the name of the National Army guerrillas, is more ruthless than when the National Army was here. He bullies men and bullies women all over the country and commits all kinds of evil. He is also afraid of being wiped out by the Japanese, so he secretly hooks up with Xu Jinsen. Otherwise, he I don’t dare to show my face openly in Xujiazhuang.”
"Why is he not on the list of people to be eliminated?" The girl turned to ask Lao Zhou.
"Because most of the supplies Commander Gou obtained from Xu Jinsen were sold to us." Lao Zhou had no choice but to tell what he knew. Anyway, it was all open to the eyes of Qian Jiu.
"The man named Xu is also supplying supplies to the mountains? Why is he on the list?" The girl was confused.
"He deliberately drove up prices and arrested members of our anti-Japanese organization in the city." Lao Zhou said bitterly.
Brother Hanjiang Chuxue is too difficult to write
(End of chapter)
