The main task of Liu Zhansuo and the others is to detect the situation of the bandits. Without knowing the details of the bandits, they cannot easily conflict with the bandits.
When they went out for reconnaissance, they were all wearing plain clothes and the weapons they carried were half-new Hanyang-made rifles.
They had already thought about how to identify themselves if they encountered bandits.
They saw a dozen bandits holding a variety of weapons and ordered them to hand over their guns.
So they obeyed the bandits' orders and put down their weapons.
A small bandit leader had their weapons confiscated, blindfolded the three of them with black cloth, and took them to the bandit's cottage.
Liu Zhansuo and others were brought into a spacious hall. The black cloth on their faces was taken off, and they saw that in the center of the hall, there was a three-story staircase with a chair covered with animal skins.
Sitting on it was a man in his thirties, of medium height and stout build. It seemed that he was the boss of this bandit village.
There were several chairs on both sides under the steps, and several bandit leaders were sitting there. They were all staring at Liu Zhansuo and the other three.
The leader of the bandits asked: "Who are you?"
Liu Zhansuo said: "We three brothers are the Three Tigers of Shanxi."
His words caused a burst of laughter from the bandits, and the tall and thin second-in-command of the bandit scolded: "You three are the only ones who brew the wine he made, and you still dare to be called the Three Tigers of Jinxi. I think the Three Rats of Jinxi are more or less the same."
Ha ha ha ha."
Liu Zhansuo frowned and said: "Don't laugh at people, workers are also capable."
The leader of the bandits asked with great interest: "What are your abilities?"
Liu Zhansuo said: "We are both Orions, and we are good with guns."
Hearing this, the bandits laughed even harder.
The third leader of the bandits smiled and said: "When it comes to marksmanship, no one in Mawu Mountain can match the first leader."
Liu Zhansuo said: "If you are not convinced, let's compete."
The boss asked: "What are you three doing here on my territory?"
Liu Zhansuo said: "We three brothers originally came to Qilinfeng Mountain Stronghold. Unexpectedly, it was occupied by the guerrillas of the Eighth Route Army. I heard that there is a group of heroes here in Duimafeng. They are doing justice for heaven and spreading wealth, so they established a stronghold.
I came here specially to join him."
The bandit leaders were all very happy when Liu Zhansuo called them heroes.
The leader of the bandits said: "Do you three really want to defect to my village?"
Liu Zhansuo said: "Seriously, I ask the master and all the masters to take him in."
The leader of the bandits nodded and said, "Here, bring the gun."
A small bandit leader brought a shell gun and a Hanyang-made gun.
The boss said: "I'm not talking about your marksmanship, just show me your skills."
Liu Zhansuo said: "I can't use this short gun. I'm used to using the old sleeve, so this is it."
With that said, he picked up the Hanyang made.
The bandits in the hall all raised their guns and pointed them at Liu Zhansuo to prevent him from violently injuring others.
Liu Zhansuo turned around, raised his gun and aimed it at an oil lamp dozens of meters away. He shot it and knocked over the oil bowl below.
"Not bad, my marksmanship is not bad."
The second leader of the bandits praised.
Then the other two soldiers also performed marksmanship, which won applause from the bandits.
The second leader of the bandits said: "First leader, show them your skills and let them see what real marksmanship is."
The bandits agreed one after another.
The leader of the bandits was sitting there, grabbing a shell gun in one hand.
The two young bandits ran to a place thirty or forty meters away from the leader of the bandits, and placed a fist-sized potato on their heads.
The bandit leader didn't even take aim. He fired his bow left and right and shot twice. The potato on the little bandit's head was smashed to pieces.
"He's a boss, he's good at shooting."
The bandits applauded one after another.
"Good marksmanship. The master is indeed a master of marksmanship, brothers admire him." Liu Zhansuo also complimented loudly.
The second leader of the bandits said: "First leader, I think these three guys are okay, how about accepting them?"
The boss did not express his position and said: "Take them down first."
Next, Liu Zhansuo and others were taken into a room and locked up.
They were imprisoned for more than ten days. The bandits were polite to them and gave them good food and drink, but they would not let them out.
Occasionally, bandit leaders would come over to chat with them and find out their details.
It turned out that the boss had indeed taken a fancy to Liu Zhansuo and the others and wanted to recruit them into his gang. However, he was always cautious and was not willing to do anything hastily without getting to know the details of Liu Zhansuo and the others.
The purpose of locking them up is, on the one hand, to temper their temperament, and on the other hand, to see if these three people have ulterior motives and if they have other accomplices.
A few days ago, Liu Zhansuo and others were released and the Hanyang artifacts they brought were returned to them.
The second leader of the bandits took them and more than twenty bandits down Tsushima Peak and came to a mountain ridge.
They saw a large group of puppet troops passing through the valley.
Seeing that there were many puppet soldiers, the second-in-command did not dare to take action until seven or eight puppet soldiers who were lagging behind came over.
When the second leader of the bandits saw that there were no other puppet troops behind him, he said to Liu Zhansuo: "It's up to you, kill those guys below."
Liu Zhansuo raised his gun, aimed at a puppet army officer holding a pistol, and fired a shot. The bullet hit his chest, and he leaned back and fell to the ground.
Two guerrillas also shot down two puppet soldiers.
"Good marksmanship." The second leader of the bandits praised and directed the other bandits to shoot at the puppet soldiers.
The puppet soldiers were suddenly attacked and panicked. The bandits occupied favorable terrain and quickly killed two more puppet soldiers. The remaining two puppet soldiers knelt down and surrendered.
Liu Zhansuo and others rushed down the mountain, confiscated the weapons of the puppet soldiers, and then escorted the two puppet soldiers up the mountain.
Seeing that the bandits on the mountain dared to fight against the puppet troops, Liu Zhansuo and the others had a good impression of this bandit team.
On the way, Liu Zhansuo and others asked about the situation of the puppet soldiers.
It turned out that these puppet troops were members of the 7th Brigade of the Huang Xie Army that was besieging Mantou Peak. They passed by and fled to Yinping County.
Liu Zhansuo and three others shot and killed the puppet soldiers, which was equivalent to handing in a surrender certificate and winning the trust of the bandits. They released the three of them and put them under the second master as gunmen.
They wanted to send a message to Xu Dalong and others, but they could not find a chance to go down the mountain for the time being, so they could only wait patiently.
Wang Chengzhu, Wei Heping, Wang Youliang and others, after leaving Mantou Peak, did not go directly to the Duima Peak bandit village, but visited the people in this area.
They learned that there were about a hundred bandits in the mountains. They beat up Japanese traitors and traitors, robbed wealthy households, and although they also collected protection fees from ordinary people, they did not collect much, and they did not commit any evil deeds.
Wang Chengzhu, Wei Heping and Wang Youliang had some headaches about this matter. If the bandits on the mountain oppressed the people, they could go directly to wipe out this group of bandits. However, this group of bandits had no major evil deeds. According to Xu Dalong's words
, is an anti-Japanese force that can be fought for, but they are not good at how to do the work of these bandits. After careful consideration, they sent a telegram to Xu Dalong.
After Xu Dalong received the telegram, he asked Wang Chengzhu and others not to conflict with this group of bandits. He would deal with it after he arrived.
Just when Xu Dalong and others rushed to Tsushima Peak, an unexpected thing happened.
One morning, Wang Chengzhu and others came to a village to conduct anti-Japanese propaganda. An old couple in the village shed tears in front of Wang Chengzhu and begged the Eighth Route Army to help them save their daughter.
Wang Chengzhu quickly helped them up.
The situation soon became clear. The second leader of the bandits on Ma Feng heard that the couple had a beautiful 17-year-old daughter, so he came to pay the betrothal gift in person, saying that he would come early next month to marry this girl.
In order to prevent the family from escaping, they also threatened the people in the village, saying that if the family ran away, the entire village would be held accountable.
The family could not bring trouble to the whole village, so they had to stay in the village. Seeing that tomorrow was the day when the bandits came down to demand people, the family was so anxious that they didn't know what to do.
This made Wang Chengzhu and others very angry, and they decided to eradicate this group of bandits on Tsui Ma Peak.
That night, Xu Dalong came over after hearing the news and joined Wang Chengzhu and others.
Early the next morning, Xu Dalong and others set up an ambush in the village, waiting for the second leader of the bandits to come down the mountain, and planned to capture this guy first.
The guerrillas waited until lunch time, but still did not see the bandits coming.
Everyone felt a little strange, because for wedding receptions, people usually come before 9 o'clock.
When Xu Dalong and others were preparing to withdraw their troops and have dinner, the sentry responsible for monitoring the mountain road said: "Someone is coming."
☆☆☆☆☆☆
Sure enough, a small group of people came from a distance, about seven or eight people, with weapons in their hands and messy clothes. They were obviously bandits on the mountain, and everyone immediately ambush them.
The bandits had just entered the village when they heard many people shouting from around them: "Don't move, put down your weapons, and don't kill them if you hand them over."
The bandits looked around and saw many men in military uniforms with guns in their hands, and even two light machine guns.
The bandits only had a few weapons made in Hanyang, and some of them were armed with swords and spears. Seeing this formation, they dared not resist, so they obediently raised their hands and surrendered.
Xu Dalong and Wang Chengzhu heard someone among the bandits shout: "Captain, I am Liu Zhansuo."
When everyone took a look, it turned out to be the missing Liu Zhansuo.
Xu Dalong asked in confusion: "Liu Zhansuo, why are you here? Where are the two soldiers?"
Liu Zhansuo said: "Captain, it's hard to explain in one sentence. Let me explain it to you slowly."
Liu Zhansuo explained how the three of them were forced to become bandits. Because they could never find a chance to leave the mountain, they did not report back to the guerrillas.
Wang Chengzhu said angrily: "Where's the second-in-command of the bandits who wants to rob civilian girls? Why didn't he come?"
Liu Zhansuo said: "I am about to report this matter to the leaders. The leader of the bandits on Ma Feng is still a very decent person. In addition to beating up the Japanese and traitors, he does not bully the common people and does not agree with his men to bully men and women.
things.
When he found out that the second leader of the bandit family forcibly paid betrothal gifts to people in this village, he reprimanded the second leader and said he would be severely punished.
The second-in-command said that he really didn’t dare to rob a girl by force, so he gave that person a betrothal gift to ask for her hand in marriage. As for scaring the people in the village, it was just talk. Even if the person really didn’t marry his daughter to him,
He also did not dare to harm the people.
The bandit leaders in the village knew each other relatively well, and the first leader also believed what the second leader said, but he still angrily reprimanded him, saying that ordinary people could not tell the difference between his behavior and that in fact he was still robbing civilian girls.
Therefore, I asked him to call off the marriage immediately and apologize to the fellow villagers."
Because Liu Zhansuo was outstanding in marksmanship and had made meritorious service in the last battle against the puppet troops, he became the bandit leader. He was thinking of reporting a message to the guerrillas when he had an idea and told the second boss to go, which might cause misunderstanding among the villagers. He
I am willing to go down the mountain and explain to the people on behalf of the second boss.
The bandit master thought what he said made sense, so he asked Liu Zhansuo to lead a group of small bandits down the mountain, get back the betrothal gifts, and explain to the fellow villagers.
He asked Liu Zhansuo to give the fellow countryman five yuan to express his apology.
After all, not long after Liu Zhansuo went up the mountain, the bandits did not fully trust him, so they only allowed him to lead people down the mountain, leaving the two guerrillas who went up the mountain with him on the mountain, effectively serving as hostages.
Hearing this, Xu Dalong nodded and said: "It seems that this bandit leader still has a sense of justice and is a worthy target. What is his name and his origin?"
After Liu Zhansuo went up the mountain, he paid great attention to the situation of the bandits in the village and tried every means to find out the origins of the bandit leaders. Naturally, he knew the most about the bandit leaders.
He said: "I don't know what the real name of the big boss is, I only know that he has a nickname called Wang Pao."
"Haha, hahaha."
When Xu Dalong heard this, he couldn't help laughing. He said, "That's not his nickname. His real name is Wang Pao. We are old friends."
To Ma Feng.
After breakfast the next day, the bandit leaders were discussing matters in the Juyi Hall. The second leader said: "Big Boss, my brothers haven't come back yet. I'm afraid something happened. How about I take someone down the mountain to have a look?"
"
The third master said: "The first master, maybe it's because the second master wanted to marry someone else's daughter, so they invited reinforcements and arrested our people. The second master is gone, I'm afraid the misunderstanding will be deeper. I'm willing to go down the mountain for a walk."
trip."
The boss nodded and said: "The third one is right. There is a misunderstanding about this matter. You go and act according to the situation. It would be better if you can resolve the misunderstanding. If it cannot be resolved, don't intensify the conflict."
The third master said: "Don't worry, I'm going down the mountain."
With that said, he stood up.
At this moment, a bandit on guard ran in in a panic and said, "Oh no, boss, a large army has come down from the mountain. There are many people with machine guns and cannons."
The bandits were all startled, thinking that things were getting a bit big.
Wang Pao pulled out his rifle and said, "Brothers, you guys, don't shoot without my order." Then he led the bandit leaders out.
The leader of the bandits stood behind the wall next to the gate and looked down the mountain. Sure enough, he saw a large number of people in military uniforms down the mountain, hundreds of them. In front of the team were a large number of machine guns and a row of mortars.
Just as he was about to send someone down to ask about the situation, he saw a few people coming out from behind the team at the foot of the mountain. They were dressed in common people's clothes and looked familiar.
Those people walked up the mountain, and one of them shouted: "Brothers on the mountain, don't get me wrong, I am Liu Zhansuo."
When the bandit leader saw Liu Zhansuo and others entering the stronghold, he asked: "Who are these people at the foot of the mountain? What is going on?"
Liu Zhansuo said: "The team at the foot of the mountain is the Eighth Route Army. The officer leading the team said he is an old friend of yours."
The boss asked doubtfully: "My old friend? What is his name?"
Liu Zhansuo said: "He said his name is Xu Dalong."
Wang Pao was overjoyed and said happily: "Oh, it turns out to be Brother Dalong. Brothers, don't be afraid, my brother's team is at the bottom of the mountain. Everyone put away the guns and call the trumpeters. Also, hurry up and prepare for the banquet.
I want to welcome Brother Dalong."
Not long after, the gate of the cottage opened, and some trumpeters came out, where they started playing loudly.
Then, Wang Pao led the leaders in the village and walked down the mountain.
Xu Dalong also led Wang Chengzhu, Wei Heping and others to greet him.
Wang Pao admired Xu Dalong very much and shouted affectionately from a distance: "Brother Dalong, what kind of wind brings you here?"
Xu Dalong also said affectionately: "Brother Wang Pao, I didn't expect that we would meet here."
Wang Pao said: "Brother Dalong, I heard that a group of powerful Eighth Route Army soldiers came from the east of Mawu Mountain and drove away the Japanese army. I didn't expect them to be your men."
As he said that, he glanced at the Eighth Route Army team behind him and said with envy: "Brother Dalong, you are really strong."
Wang Chengzhu couldn't help but said: "What is this? Our guerrillas now have thousands of troops."
Wang Pao said enviously: "Brother Dalong, I knew you were a talent, but I didn't expect that you would make such a big fuss in such a short period of time."
Xu Dalong smiled and said: "I never thought that after we broke up, you actually came here and gathered a team of hundreds of people. It's amazing. How are you, sister-in-law?"
Everyone entered the bandit's village chatting and laughing.
There was a big banquet inside the village, everyone exchanged cups and cups, and the atmosphere was very lively.
At the banquet, Wang Pao's woman also came out to meet Xu Dalong.
Now she not only learned good marksmanship from Wang Pao, but also helped Wang Pao manage the logistics of the village, looking shrewd and capable.
She also had a very good impression of Xu Dalong and came over specially to propose a toast to Xu Dalong.
After the banquet, Xu Dalong talked to Wang Pao alone and invited him to join the Eighth Route Army.
Wang Pao said that he was used to being idle and could not stand the discipline of the Eighth Route Army, so he politely declined.
This was also expected by Xu Dalong, and he did not force it. He just told Wang Pao that if he needed anything, he could send someone to Qiligou Village to find him, and he would definitely help.
Xu Dalong was about to say goodbye and leave, and Wang Pao led the bandits to see him off.
Xu Dalong asked someone to bring a Czech light machine gun, ten 38-guns, ten Hanyang-made guns, and some bullets. He said to Wang Pao: "Brother Wang Pao, this is a little bit of my kindness, brother, please accept it."
.”
What Wang Pao lacked the most was weapons and ammunition. He said happily: "Brother Dalong is so generous. Without the 1,000 oceans you gave me, I wouldn't have been able to raise this team. I won't say anything about my gratitude.
, as long as there is any use for me, just open your mouth."
Xu Dalong and others went down the mountain. On the way, Wang Chengzhu asked: "Captain, didn't you say that you want to build the entire Mawu Mountain area into our anti-Japanese base area? What will happen to these bandits in the future?"
Xu Dalong smiled slightly and said confidently: "Wang Pao is not a bad person, so don't worry, sooner or later he will embark on the road of resisting Japan."
Xu Dalong and others returned to the base area and did not go out for half a month. They just took the time to train the troops.
Ichiro Sakamoto and Yuriko Toyoda stayed in the guerrillas, and their main job was to help the guerrillas learn Japanese.
On this day, Xu Dalong also went to observe their lectures.
Yuriko Toyoda is actually a mixed-race child. Her mother is Chinese. Therefore, she not only speaks fluent Japanese but also Chinese very well. She is mainly responsible for teaching the guerrillas.
Yuriko Toyoda has a high level of education, lectures in simple and easy-to-understand terms, and has a good teaching attitude, making her very popular among the guerrillas.
While everyone was applauding enthusiastically, Xu Dalong said to Ichiro Sakamoto: "Sakamoto-kun, you are so lucky to have such a confidante."
Ichiro Sakamoto smiled proudly.
Xu Dalong asked: "When do you plan to get married? I will definitely help you organize your marriage properly."
Ichiro Sakamoto said: "I haven't discussed this with her yet."
At this moment, Wang Xiaohu walked in and whispered a few words into Xu Dalong's ear.
Xu Dalong stood up and followed Wang Xiaohu out.
Xu Dalong went out to take a look and found out that he was the third in command of Wang Pao.
Seeing Xu Dalong, the third boss said anxiously: "Captain, our village is in trouble. The boss sent me to ask for help. I also ask the captain to lend a helping hand."