The commander of the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army saw that a group of bandits rushed over and surrounded the corpse of the big boss Tie Shou, and he couldn't help but feel anxious, and couldn't help but say that he rode forward, and shouted loudly: "Get out of the way!" Don't touch the corpse! ”

The big white horse under the crotch rushed straight to the stretcher carrying the iron hand, Xia Lianshan grabbed the reins hard, and the two front legs of the war horse rose into the air, and the posture was very fierce.

The bandits were taken aback, and the black donkey of the three masters was even more shocked and angry, pulled out the Mauser* from his waist with a sudden, raised the muzzle of the gun and pointed at Xia Lianshan on horseback: "What are you doing?" Lao Tzu's brother's life is gone, you still want to rob the corpse?! ”

The black donkey pulled out his gun, and several bandits who followed him also copied their guns in their hands, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.

Xia Lianshan rode on his horse, condescending, and without waiting for everyone to react further, he had already raised an empty right hand, indicating that he had no malicious intent, and at the same time announced in a statement: "The cause of Tie Shou's death is unknown, and the Eighth Route Army will first examine his wounds, so please don't move the corpse of the brothers in the Black Stone Cliff Cottage for the time being!" ”

"The cause of death is unknown! I think the Eight Achievements were done by you Eight Ways! The black donkey was still roaring angrily, and the muzzle of the gun was always aimed at the commander of the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army.

"Stop! Put all the guns down! A coquettish cry suddenly sounded out of thin air, and before the words fell, Liu Wumei, the female bandit leader, had already jumped over with an arrow step and inserted it between Xia Lianshan and the black donkey.

"The big boss, did the Iron Hand Brother get shot by the Eighth Road!?" The black donkey shouted at Liu Wumei again: "They are coming to rob people now, obviously they want to destroy the corpse!" ”

Seeing that the female bandit leader came over to suppress it in person, Xia Lianshan had more and more bottom points in his heart, and he looked at the big boss and the third boss of the Black Stone Cliff bandit gang at the same time unhurriedly, and said word by word: "Tie Shou broke away from the marching team without permission last night and ran to Lihuapu Village to prepare for robbery, and the identity of the person who shot him is unknown, and we are now about to track it down!" Please cooperate with the orders of the big bosses, and the Eighth Route Army will give you a fair explanation! ”

Liu Wumei had already learned from the mouth of the eldest brother Wei Xin that the Eighth Route Army had doubts about the identity of the person who shot and killed the iron hand, but because the war with the Japanese was in full swing at that time, and then the army retreated in a hurry, she never found time to examine the autopsy. Now that the team has arrived at the Guanmen Mountain Pass, they can hide in the mountain at any time, and the situation has become much safer, and the commander of the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army proposed to examine the gunshot wounds on Tie Shou's body at this moment, which is also reasonable.

"You all stand down," the female bandit leader gave an order to the sabre-rattling minions, "Let the commander of the Eighth Route Army come to the autopsy first." ”

With Liu Wumei's orders in front, plus a group of bandits, including the black donkey, noticed the ranks of the Eighth Route Army that were constantly coming up, and knew that they were outnumbered, so they had to retreat to the side stupidly.

At the foot of Guanmen Mountain, which was full of spring, three commanders of the Xu Brigade Detachment of the Eighth Route Army quickly gathered together and first briefly discussed the next marching plan. Wang Shuanglong was the battalion commander of the first battalion of the main force of the detachment, and most of the Eighth Route Army gathered near the mountain pass at the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain at this moment came from the first battalion, so he naturally became the one who gave the order.

"Lianshan, the cavalry is the hardest to fight at night, and the road after entering Guanmen Mountain is not suitable for horses to walk, so your cavalry company will retreat first."

Xia Lianshan nodded in obedience.

"Old Wei, you are most familiar with the people in the Black Stone Cliff Cottage, and Liu Da is willing to listen to you, you still take the people of the second battalion to walk with the people of the Black Stone Cliff; At the same time, let them send a few men to lead the way in front of the cavalry. ”

The people of the second battalion that Wang Shuanglong mentioned were the more than forty soldiers that Wei Xin brought with him when he broke out of Xiping Village.

"Dalong, I need to carefully examine the corpses of the two bandits of Iron Hand before entering the mountain, the people who attacked them at that time were really strange - I don't believe that our people did it." Xia Lianshan lowered his voice and said to the two old comrades-in-arms beside him.

Wei Xin glanced left and right, and also responded in a low voice: "The people of the enemy engineering team are short guns, and these days, the detachment leader has indeed arranged for the enemy engineering team to send a team to Gaomiao Village on Tongpu Road to reconnoitre; Maybe they passed through Ewhapo on their way back and bumped into the Tetsute......"

Hearing this, Wang Shuanglong couldn't help but be a little anxious - the detachment leader Wu Zijian had been planning to incorporate the Black Stone Cliff bandit gang recently, but obviously encountered a lot of resistance within the bandits. If the enemy engineer of the Xu Brigade Detachment had shot and killed the bandit leader at the entrance of Lihuapo Village at night, it would undoubtedly have made the relationship between the Eighth Route Army and this gang even worse.

"What then? I mean, if it was really our people who did it? The commander of the first battalion sharply turned his gaze to the commander of the second battalion and the commander of the cavalry company, and one hand had already subconsciously grasped the handle of Mauser*'s gun at his waist.

Xia Lianshan signaled the two old comrades-in-arms not to be in a hurry first, and everything would be decided after he had seen the wounds of the two bandits' corpses.

So, at the foot of the mountain, under a dense old elm tree, the corpses of the bandit leader Tie Shou and another minions were placed there, and a full squad of soldiers of the Eighth Route Army were on guard all around; Xia Lianshan specially greeted Liu Wumei, the female bandit leader, and conducted an inquest together.

In the bright light of the morning light, the parts of the two corpses were clearly shot: Iron Hand was shot twice, one in the chest and one in the forehead; The minion was shot three times, one in the left shoulder and the other two in the head!

The commander of the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army leaned over and took a closer look for a long time, then raised his head and said to Wei Xin and Liu Wumei beside him: It doesn't look like a shell gun.

Liu Wumei didn't know what she was saying, but Wei Xin's heart was full of joy - the enemy engineering team of the Xu Brigade Detachment used all Mauser*, that is, the barge gun mentioned by the cavalry company commander. If Xia Lianshan's judgment is correct, then the possibility that the attacker and killer is the Eighth Route Army should be ruled out.

Next, they summoned the little minion who had narrowly escaped and forced him to recall the circumstances of the shooting. Although the little minion did not see the shape of the short spear in the attacker's hand, it was certain that the other party fired two shots in succession, knocking down Iron Hand and the other minion on the spot; And in the process of desperately fleeing, several gunshots rang out behind him one after another.

At this moment, a squad leader under the commander of the second battalion of the Eighth Route Army quietly called Wei Xin to a place more than ten steps away from the old elm tree and reported a situation.

The situation in this latest report has suddenly become clear.

At that time, the squad leader, together with a soldier from his squad and several members of the Black Rock Cliff bandits, were ordered to touch the north entrance of the village and carry back the remains of the two Iron Hands before the battle of the attack on Ewhapo began. Since he had heard in advance that the person who shot the iron hand was holding a short gun, this veteran of the Lin Division Xu Brigade who had been on the battlefield for a long time and had rich combat experience deliberately searched for the bullet casing near the corpse of the two bandits on the ground. And now he quietly called out his battalion commander and handed over the bullet casing.

This brass forged cartridge case is not a Mauser* bullet from the naked eye, nor is it a Browning pistol cartridge equipped by some Nationalist officers. In terms of caliber, it is thicker than the 7.6 bullet used in the pistol mentioned above, and the length of the cartridge case also appears to be shorter.

The commander of the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army under the old elm tree pinched the bullet casing transferred from Wei Xin's hand, compared the wounds of the deceased, and affirmed that this was the pistol bullet used to kill the two bandits - the survivor claimed to have fired several shots at that time, so if it wasn't for the darkness of the night and the haste of action, it is very likely that the squad leader veteran of the second battalion would have found more bullet casings of the same caliber near the corpse.

"The sister-in-law in Ewhapo Village, who was rescued by the cavalry company, was kidnapped by the Japanese. She was about to be loaded onto a truck and taken away! If the Iron Hand had hit the same gang of Japanese plainclothes, then it is very likely that the bullets were fired by the Japanese army*. Xia Lianshan analyzed with a solemn expression.

The commander of the second battalion of the Eighth Route Army stared at the bullet casings picked up by his subordinates and muttered: "Japanese army*,*? ”

Although Xia Lianshan and Wei Xin have both heard of the Japanese-made Southern 14 pistol, commonly known as "*", they have never fiddled with their own hands so far, let alone seen the appearance of the gun with ammunition. However, this did not affect the conclusion of the two commanders of the Eighth Route Army that it was a Japanese soldier in civilian clothes.

"Lao Wei, if you take a closer look at the position where these two guys were shot in the head, it is clear that they are shooting at close range - this should belong to the replenishment of the gun, and the purpose is very clear, that is, to ensure that the two of them are killed."

Looking at the deceased with bullet holes in his head and hideous face, the female bandit leader, who is known for her ruthlessness, can't help but be secretly frightened: The Japanese are really fierce, and this guy with Iron Hand just bumped into this gang of evil stars, which is really unlucky.

"Big boss, now I can tell you very clearly," the commander of the cavalry company of the Eighth Route Army swore and turned his head to Liu Wumei and said: "The one who killed the iron hand is definitely Japanese plainclothes; Nothing to do with our Eighth Route Army. ”

Wei Xin also nodded approvingly: "Sister, don't worry, the Eighth Route Army will not let this matter go easily; For now, let's hurry up and go into the mountain, and you will carry the dead back to the cottage and bury them well. In the future, the two of us will think about it in the long run. ”

Liu Wumei also seemed very relaxed - as long as the Eighth Route Army hadn't killed the iron hand, she would have an explanation for the cottage and the black donkey: "Okay, big brother, Chief Xia, we will carry the corpse away." Let's go into the mountains, and I'll send someone to lead the way. This account owed by the Japanese will have to be settled with them sooner or later! ”

Words are deeds, and everyone under the old elm tree began to act separately. Wang Shuanglong, the commander of the first battalion, who did not participate in the autopsy, was already deploying an operation into the mountains just now. A few minutes later, the southern foot of Guanmen Mountain was noisy, and hundreds of teams set off one after another according to the order of deployment.

But the suspicions in Xia Lianshan's heart have not yet been dispelled: the mysterious Japanese plainclothes that appeared in Ewhapo, if he is on a military mission, why did he go to great lengths to arrest female villagers with ordinary backgrounds? Is it just for the purpose of venting*? And when the Japanese plainclothes accidentally bumped into three Black Rock Cliff bandits at the entrance of Ewhapo Village, for what reason, after shooting the murder, they brutally carried out the head shot to kill the mouth - what did they want to hide?!