11 At the end of November 1950, the Zhenyuan Military Subdistrict Front Bandit Suppression Command decided to encircle and suppress hundreds of bandits entrenched in Liangsan Town, Hunan and Xuedong Town, Guizhou.
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Yuan Zongwu led the reconnaissance company to participate in this siege battle and was responsible for extermination of the enemies of Xuedong Town . In Company Commander Yuan’s memories, this fight of wits and courage in the bandits was very exciting.
Snow Cave area has high mountains and dense forests, rugged roads, easy to defend and difficult to attack. A few months ago, several nearby bandit teams gathered here and began to dig trenches and build bunkers, trying to use the dangerous terrain to fight the People's Liberation Army's bandit suppression team. These bandits are not simple. Not only are they numerous, but their weapons and equipment are also good. In addition to their rifles, they also have five light machine guns.
However, the reconnaissance company commanded by Yuan Zongwu has stronger combat effectiveness. At that time, they had rich combat experience, and the company added many Guizhou soldiers to their company, and they were very familiar with the local situation. Judging from the equipment situation, each person in the reconnaissance company has one carbine and four small grenades . In addition, each squad has six submachine guns and , each platoon has three light machine guns and two sixty guns.
So, the reconnaissance company can be regarded as special forces . They were ordered to attack the snow cave and annihilate the enemy in one fell swoop.
On the evening of the 29th day of the lunar calendar, the reconnaissance company, led by the guide, marched in the dark to a small village near the snow cave. It was already dawn, and the reconnaissance company quickly studied the terrain and prepared to start the battle. Let’s take a look at how the PLA reconnaissance company destroyed this tightly defended bandit nest.
Reconnaissance Company divided into four groups, and a sharp knife platoon quickly touched the snow cave. Company Commander Yuan led a platoon to advance from the right and ambushed on the east side of the enemy bunker. The instructor led a platoon to detour from the left and ambushed on the west side of the bunker. In addition, the deputy company commander led a platoon along the main road to attract enemy firepower.
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Everything was ready. As soon as the sky was dawn, the sharp knife raft quietly touched Xuedong Town. At this time, in a house on the street, several bandits were shouting and gambling, and the soldiers pushed the door open and quietly controlled them. After a brief interrogation, they confessed to the bandits on the streets and in the bunkers. After
, the sharp knife platoon continued to walk in and soon saw the solid bunker built by the enemy. At this moment, the bandit sentry found someone on the street and fired without saying a word. At this time, hundreds of bandits entrenched in Xuedong Town were already frightened birds. After hearing the gunshots, they were in chaos and all got into bunkers and fortifications and shot randomly. Seeing this, the sharp knife platoon could only rush towards the bunker quickly and beat the enemy before they could react.
However, the bandits' bunkers are big and sturdy and difficult to get close to. In an emergency, the artillery squad had set up the sixty-year guns, and the first gun was shot behind the bunker. Immediately afterwards, two more guns and the bunker was directly blown up. The frontal troops took the opportunity to launch an attack, and the bandits immediately dispatched their troops and fought back desperately.
At this time, the enemy mobilized almost all of their troops to the front, without any defense on the side. So, Company Commander Yuan ordered the machine gun to fire from the side, and at the same time ordered a squad of soldiers to rush up with bayonets. The bandits realized that they were surrounded. Seeing gunfire and cannons everywhere, the People's Liberation Army soldiers rushed up with bayonets again. They didn't even bother to fight back and could only run away.
The ambushed troops on both sides rushed up at the same time, quickly occupying the high ground, and shooting at the bandits who were scattered and fleeing. The bandits' lair that they had worked hard to manage for several months collapsed in an instant. A large group of bandits ran out of the snow cave, ran to the rivers and woods, hiding everywhere. The soldiers followed and chased and captured prisoners everywhere.
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Although the snow cave was captured, several bandit leaders ran away when they heard the gunshots.
It doesn’t matter if the little bandits run away, most of them will go home to farm. However, the bandit leader cannot escape. They will never repent and will make a comeback as long as they have a life. Therefore, the command center assigned a new task to the reconnaissance company to search for the fleeing bandit leader.
In order to prevent the bandits from counterattacking, the instructor led the team to stay in the snow cave. Yuan Zongwu and deputy company commander Gong Qianrang selected two squads and all changed into casual clothes. Gong Qianrang led a class to follow the Liangsan area, and Yuan Zongwu led a class to search the Pingguan area.
Yuan Zongwu and a squad of soldiers searched in the mountains for a whole night, but found nothing. It is obvious that the bandit leader is more familiar with the nearby mountains and forests, and it is very difficult to find them. In the evening of the next day, the soldiers came to a large ravine and found a small village.
Everyone stepped forward and knocked on the doors of several houses, but no one agreed. Perhaps the people were very scared and dared not open the door. Perhaps they temporarily left the village in order to avoid the bandits. Seeing this, Yuan Zongwu took the soldiers out of the village and rested in the nearby woods.
After it got dark, the sentry suddenly reported that someone had come out of the ravine. Yuan Zongwu took advantage of the moonlight and saw an old woman walking towards the village in a panic, which was very suspicious at first glance. A Guizhou soldier came forward and spoke, "Auntie, are there any Nine Route Army passing by here?" The so-called "Nine Route Army" is the claim of local bandits.
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In theory, a group of people holding guns suddenly appeared in front of him, and the old woman was already scared. However, the old woman was not nervous at all and asked back, "What are you asking about this?" "We are Commander Zhou's people, and we were disbanded by the People's Liberation Army. We want to break through here!"
The old woman looked up and down, feeling that the people in front of her were indeed a bit like bandits, so she revealed that there was a bandit leader Captain Yang, who was also chased here, and she was cold and hungry. When Yuan Zongwu heard this, he immediately asked the old woman to lead the way to meet Captain Yang.
The soldiers followed the old woman over a hill and saw a temporary shack on an open space. The people inside were frightened when they saw someone coming. The Guizhou-born soldier hurried forward and said, "Captain Yang, we are Commander Zhou, we are ready to stick out and come to find you!"
When this person heard that he had a local accent, he carefully looked at Yuan Zongwu and others. Maybe because it was dark, he believed it so. So, Captain Yang followed Yuan Zongwu and others to continue on the road. After walking for several miles, Yuan Zongwu suddenly pressed his gun on the back. Captain Yang was very angry and immediately said, "Don't get me wrong. I am Yang Hanzhang, deputy commander of the 12th Column!" Yuan Zongwu smiled knowingly and said to him, "We are the People's Liberation Army, we are looking for you!"
caught the bandit leader Yang Hanzhang, and Yuan Zongwu immediately escorted him back and continued to search for the bandit leader Yang Yongqing along the way.
Three days later, Yuan Zongwu and the soldiers accidentally met Deputy Company Commander Gong Qianrang in a small hill in Huang County. Seeing that they were also escorting a few bandits, one of them was also a woman, Yuan Zongwu hurriedly asked who these people were. Deputy Company Commander Gong Qianrang replied, "It's Yang Yongqing and his wife."
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Next, Gong Qianrang told the story of wisely capturing the bandit leader.
Yang Yongqing is a 2 person in Zhijiang County. He was the commander of the Kuomintang’s Hunan Zhijiang Security Bureau. After liberation, he recruited a large number of bandits and occupied the mountain as king. He was very arrogant. On the day when the snow cave was broken, Yang Yongqing escaped from the encirclement with only a few personal guards and hid in the mountains.
Deputy Company Commander Gong Qianrang led the soldiers to search the mountains for two consecutive days, but still found nothing. That afternoon, they came to the neighborhood of to the Toad Tang and asked for information about the people in the villages. Unexpectedly, the nearby villages were empty and there was no one. There was no choice, so the team continued to move forward and came to a place called Lanmud Gully .
There is also a small village here, but there should be no one else. Unexpectedly, before everyone entered the village, they saw smoke from a family emitting cooking smoke from a distance. There were even ordinary people at home, and a Guizhou soldier immediately went up to inquire about the situation.
The soldier's name is Dai Shengfu, and he is smart. He looked around and found nothing unusual, so he entered the village. Gong Qianrang and other soldiers were waiting outside, but unexpectedly, they waited for more than half an hour.Everyone was anxious. Did something happen to Dai Shengfu? Not right. If he encounters an enemy, why doesn’t he shoot?
waited for a while and two people walked out of the village. A woman was walking in front, and Dai Shengfu was walking behind, holding a large pot of boiled sweet potatoes. After walking in front of him, Dai Shengfu didn't say anything. He waved his hand and everyone naturally understood and followed directly.
Walking on the road, Gong Qianrang had guessed that this woman was probably a person around the bandits. She ran away for several consecutive days, and there were no ordinary people in the nearby villages, so the bandits must be hungry. So, they asked a woman to come out to get food, which was a little safer. Dai Shengfu must have been a bandit pretending to flee and gained her trust. Now, there is no need to search everywhere, and this woman will take everyone to the place where the bandits hide.
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Afterwards, Gong Qianrang realized that this woman was the wife of bandit leader Yang Yongqing. Yang Yongqing was hiding in a nearby ravine at this time, and was so hungry that his chest was pressed against his back, and he couldn't walk anymore.
The soldiers followed Yang Yongqing's wife for a while, and suddenly a bandit with a gun jumped out on the side of the road, shouting: "What are you doing?" Yang Yongqing's wife quickly explained: "Don't misunderstand, this is the person sent by Commander Zhou!" In this way, the soldiers pretended to be bandits, carried a pot of cooked sweet potatoes, and passed three levels, and finally met Yang Yongqing.
Yang Yongqing was very worried when he saw outsiders coming. He held a gun in his hand and kept scanning the soldiers of the reconnaissance company. Seeing this, Dai Shengfu quickly brought the sweet potatoes and said, "Please eat, Commander Yang!" Yang Yongqing was still worried and never took action.
Dai Shengfu saw that this was not a solution, so he smiled and said, "The Commander-in-Chief doesn't eat it, let's eat it first!" After that, he grabbed a sweet potato and ate it, saying it was delicious while eating it. When the other soldiers saw it, they understood it and reached out to grab the sweet potatoes to eat. Yang Yongqing's wife was anxious. This was the sweet potato that she had finally found. She couldn't let others eat it. She also started to grab the sweet potatoes to eat.
Yang Yongqing's confidants couldn't hold back when they saw it. They threw the gun and rushed to eat it. Seeing that the sweet potatoes in the pot were about to come to an end, Yang Yongqing couldn't hold on anymore, so he had to put away his gun and grabbed two sweet potatoes and ate them voraciously.
Several bandits fought and robbed, and were completely out of defense. The soldiers then took out their guns and shouted, "Don't move!" Two bandits threw away the sweet potato and wanted to pull out their guns to fight back. The squad leader Jiao Zhilin shot them twice and knocked them to the ground. Yang Yongqing was stunned and turned around and wanted to run away, but Jiao Zhilin grabbed the back collar and could only surrender...
Reconnaissance Company fought wits and courage with the enemy, pretending to be a bandit and going deep behind the enemy, and successfully captured two bandit leaders, which was extremely exciting!
