The guns in the hands of these bandits were shotguns and homemade muskets; Before sending them out to find the way, the master of the cottage kept an eye on it, and did not bring them military standard guns, as a precaution that once they encountered the Eighth Route Army, they could pretend to be hunters and mountain people. However, these bandits, who were jealous of the Eighth Route Army, were in a mess as soon as they came up, indiscriminately opened fire first, and then turned around and ran.

After all, Wei Xin, the commander of the 7th company, was familiar with shotguns, and when he saw this group of people in uniform firing with shotguns, he immediately ordered several soldiers around him to lie down and find shelter and not to rush back fire.

The 8th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Lin Division had only told a few people at the battalion headquarters about the confrontation with the bandits in the North Mountain of Guanmen Mountain, and the battalion commander Feng Changzhi had only told the instructors and a few other people at the battalion headquarters before his death, and the company-level commanders, including Wei Xin, Wang Shuanglong, Xia Lianshan, and others, did not know about it. So Wei Xin didn't realize that these people were bandits for the first time.

"You may have met a fellow hunter."

The commander of the 7th Company, who was lying behind a boulder, whispered to the soldier under a large tree not far away.

"That's not right, company commander," the soldier put forward his opinion, he had just walked in the front, and was almost swept away by a shotgun: "How dare these people shoot first when they see the military uniform we are wearing?" ”

Awakened by a word, Wei Xin suddenly became nervous: Yes, how can ordinary hunters have the courage to take the initiative to provoke the army?

"Company commander," a soldier on the other side shouted in a low voice, "I heard what they were shouting just now, they seemed to be shouting - it's the Eighth Road, get out quickly!" ”

This time, Wei Xin became more and more vigilant, and the thought of "bandits" instantly flashed through his mind. When he was stationed in Xiping Village, he once heard from the villagers that many villagers in Xiping Village had originally lived in Hekou Village, but later because bandits had repeatedly entered and exited, burned, killed, and plundered the Guanmen Mountain Pass above Hekou Village, they abandoned their houses at Hekou and ran to Xiping to settle down.

Could it be that you met the bandits of the Black Rock Cliff?!

Although many people have not encountered it personally, the name of the Black Rock Cliff Bandit is still widely spread in Xiping Village. Wei Xin didn't know where the black stone cliff was in Guanmen Mountain, but he heard many villagers talk about it vividly, and he had a deeper memory.

The commander of the 7th company carefully observed the path of the retreat of the shotgun-wielding men, and found that he could outflank one of them, so he immediately ordered a soldier to go back and transfer two squads and bring Czech machine guns to hurry over. It was very close to the camp they had just cultivated, and Wei Xin didn't want to be threatened by unknown forces on the side of the couch.

The two squads were quickly transferred, Wei Xin asked one squad to be led by the soldiers just now, and follow the direction of the other party's escape, not to follow too closely, but to fire a gun to force the other party to reveal its location, he himself took the other squad and copied it from the side backpack.

The tactic worked so well that it didn't take long for the squad to catch up with the fugitive, and a few rifles began firing into the air. The panicked bandits ran and fired their guns indiscriminately at the pursuers behind them; The unique sound of shotguns and earthen guns clearly pointed out the direction for the squad led by the commander of the 7th Company, and they rushed forward with all their strength, speeding up from the flank to the front of the group, sealing their retreat.

Da-da-da-da!

The sudden burst of a crisp burst of Czech light machine gun almost scared the bandits into peeing their pants, and before they could understand what was happening behind them, a shout rang out from there:

"Stand still, put down your guns, we are the Eighth Route Army! What do you do? ”

These bandits were originally afraid of the Eighth Route Army, and this shout made them more and more frightened, and one person shouted "run", and suddenly these twenty or thirty people scattered in all directions; Many people risked their lives to burrow into the chaotic forest with steep slopes on both sides, and some people rolled straight to the bottom of the valley on the spot, screaming and exclamating endlessly.

Wei Xin, who was guarding next to the machine gun, did not expect this situation, he originally thought that after cutting off the other party's retreat, under the deterrence of the machine gun, this group of people would obediently tie their hands and arrest. But how did the commander of the 7th Company know that these were all bandits who had fought with the 8th Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Forest Division, and when they heard the word "Eight Roads", they couldn't wait to have a pair of wings on their bodies and fly away. For a while, Wei Xin didn't regret it: in case the other party was just an ordinary mountain hunter, wouldn't it be a violation of the mass policy and a big disaster!

The squad in charge of the pursuit had already covered up at this time, and the swarthy muzzles of more than a dozen rifles finally forced a number of bandits who did not have time to run far, and seeing that the situation was not good, these people quickly threw away the messy guns in their hands, raised their hands in surrender, and some even knelt on the ground and shouted for mercy.

Wei Xin couldn't bear it, and while shouting for his subordinates not to shoot, he jumped from the interception position and ran over.

However, under the interrogation, some bandits said in horror that they leaked their mouths, and immediately admitted that they were the identity of the Black Stone Cliff bandits, and the company commander of the Eighth Route Army, who was compassionate, suddenly realized - no wonder they knew that the comer was the Eighth Route Army, and they still wanted to shoot and escape, it turned out to be bandits who harmed one side!

However, Wei Xin still didn't grasp the old grievances between the Black Stone Cliff bandits and the 8th Company of the Second Battalion, he just had a whim: since it is a bandit, there must be a nest that has been operating for a long time, maybe there is enough food and ammunition, it is better to simply take people to kill it, if you can take that nest and use it as a foothold to enter the mountain, wouldn't it be a hundred times stronger than sleeping and hunting in the barren mountains and mountains?!

The commander of the 7th company became excited, and immediately began to interrogate the least daring, and scared him with a gun, and the other party really explained the location, manpower and firepower of the black stone cliff clearly like a bamboo tube pouring beans.

But this stumped Wei Xin - obedient! In the past, I only heard the villagers tell how fierce the Black Stone Cliff bandit gang was, but I didn't expect that this gang of bandits had one or two hundred people, as well as machine guns, and the cottage even planted a few earthen cannons at critical checkpoints! The company he had in hand now only had more than 100 men left (another platoon went to chase the main force of the battalion headquarters first, and his whereabouts are still unknown), and the crooked handle of the two machine guns had few bullets. If you really want to compete with the bandits of the head snake for the lair, I am afraid that there is no chance of victory, and if you don't do it, you will further lose your troops.

He ordered the dozen or so bandit captives to be taken back to the camp, and light and dark sentinels were sent around the camp. Then, he called a few platoon commanders and squad leaders to hold an emergency countermeasure meeting - if you want to choose to fight, you must immediately let the prisoners lead the way to the Black Rock Cliff, otherwise, once the escaped bandits run back to the lair and report the news, the Eighth Route Army will at least lose the opportunity and initiative to raid.

"That Black Rock Cliff, how far is it from us?"

A platoon commander asked.

"It's about half a day's journey," Wei Xin briefly repeated the words of the cowardly bandit just now, and then said: "The distance is not the key, the key is whether we are sure that we can finish that bandit's den in one fell swoop?" ”

These battle-hardened platoon commanders and squad leaders looked at each other and didn't say anything for a while.

Of course, Wei Xin understood the difficulty, not to mention that his team had just experienced a fierce battle with the Japanese army, and the people were sleepy, hungry and cold.

"Company commander, I'm afraid it's not very sure to attack hard, can we consider negotiating with the bandits?"

An old squad leader from Shaanxi said sullenly. When he was in northern Shaanxi, he once participated in the Red Army's invasion and suppression of a small local bandit gang, because of the treacherous terrain of the bandits' nest, the Red Army had no choice but to besiege and confront each other for more than two months, and finally the two sides held talks, and the Red Army promised that once the other side disarmed and surrendered, all its owners could be sent home to the fields and farms, and as long as the grass did not fall into the grass in the future, they would not be blamed for the past.

This example of battle couldn't help but make the eyes of the company commander of the Eighth Route Army light up: Wonderful, instead of storming the Black Stone Cliff with no certainty, it is better to come to the other party's door and then negotiate. It is estimated that it is unlikely that the bandits will vacate their nests for the Eighth Route Army to enjoy, but it is still very realistic to ask for a batch of baggage from them to replenish their own side - no matter how strong the bandits are, they must always be afraid of the official army and the regular army, and they can not offend as much as possible.

"We still have more than a dozen captive hostages on hand, and we are not afraid that the other party will not give us!" Another squad leader said excitedly after listening to Wei Xin's plan.

"Damn, this is the case, our dignified Eighth Route Army is like a bandit who kidnaps meat tickets and asks for ransom!" 7 The company commander scolded himself deprecatingly, which immediately caused several squad and platoon commanders to burst into laughter.

"Whoever let them bandits provoke our Eighth Route Army first, this is called being able to invite God, and you must be able to send God!" Someone laughed and explained matter-of-factly.

"Good!" Wei Xin waved his big hand and made up his mind: "It's decided!" Rest for the night and head to the Black Rock Cliffs tomorrow! ”

As Wei Xin expected, the bandits who escaped ran back to the Black Stone Cliff one after another and reported the sudden situation to the master.

Liu Wumei, the female bandit leader, was shocked when she heard the news: There is the Eighth Route Army in the canyon in the north, why did you also encounter the Eighth Route Army in the south?! If these regular soldiers don't fight the Japanese outside, do they all have to run to the mountains to be the king of the mountains?!

The master seriously questioned the details of the escape back to the minions: the location of the encounter with the Eighth Route should be closer to another mountain pass at the western foot of Guanmen Mountain, so it is obvious that the Eighth Route Army stationed in Xiping Village has entered the mountain!

The big boss is about to go crazy: these eight roads are clearly the back road of the Black Rock Cliff Cottage! Could it be that he and his cousin are really going to be trapped alive in this deep mountain and old forest?!

However, this was only Liu Wumei's reaction when she learned that Shannan had the Eighth Route Army. Just a day later, the minions suddenly reported that a large force of the Eighth Route Army had appeared near the Black Rock Cliff, and released the two minions they had captured to come back to spread the word!

The female bandit leader suddenly had a fear and despair that the end was coming.

She still stubbornly thinks that this is the Eighth Route Army that accidentally had a firefight and friction last time, and followed the clues and came to the door to seek revenge!

The black donkey of the third master is running around angrily, arranging manpower to fortify the defense, Liu Wumei has no intention of restraining him, but immediately sends someone to find the master, she has to make up her mind with the master first: The Eighth Route Army has hit the door, is it a battle or a surrender? !

Unexpectedly, the master hurriedly ran first, and the news he brought was that the two minions who were put back confirmed that the group of eight roads that were in the cottage with great momentum was not the same gang as the last time! They are not here to seek revenge, but to "borrow grain" from the cottage!

Liu Wumei almost fell to the ground, and looked at the master dumbfounded: Borrow grain? This is too authentic! Borrowing food from bandits? Who the fuck are the bandits between us and them?!