The work of the Military Investigation Section became apparent at this time.

Two guides and informants who were familiar with the local area were waiting on the hillside more than two miles away from the village, and guided the horse team to the entrance of the village smoothly.

Chen Er arranged for the management team named Lei Meng to lead a cavalry company to encircle and suppress them.

Raymond's cavalry company has a total of four platoons, and the two platoons of cavalry are divided into twelve warning points on the periphery to prevent the gangsters from escaping and other gangsters from coming for reinforcements and sneak attacks.

There were two other combat platoons, all of whom dismounted and formed into infantry soldiers, concealed themselves in the village.

Near this most chaotic house, the attack formation was deployed and surrounded. The surrounding residents were knocked on the door from door to door and forcibly driven outside the shanty town to avoid unnecessary casualties.

Ten minutes later, the soldiers began to shout. A soldier who was proficient in the local dialect held a loudspeaker made of cardboard and ordered those still hiding in the house to come out quickly. The gangsters only had to put down their guns and surrender.

Before he could even finish his words, in an instant, gunfire burst out from everywhere in the house.

"Bang bang bang..."

"Ta da...ta da da..."

The branches in the forest were crackled.

"Shh...boom..."

"Shush...boom..."

"..."

More than a dozen wooden-handled grenades were thrown out with dazzling tail flames, and the explosions were very harsh in the middle of the empty forest.

In this sudden attack, seven or eight of the new army members who were not well concealed were knocked down, and several others were injured.

Company officer Raymond, who was standing behind a big tree, suddenly felt his face turn red and was very embarrassed.

Chief of Staff Ji was right. I didn't expect these bandits to have wooden handle grenades in addition to machine rifles.

Paralyzing, this kind of wooden-handled grenade had just begun to be officially installed in the new army, and these bandits immediately had it.

If we continue like this, will we encounter more terrifying mountain cannons, rapid-fire cannons, and grenades in the future?

The Laoshushan bandits, who rely on poppy cultivation and opium processing, naturally have a lot of money, and they don't care at all about the investment in weapons and equipment.

Therefore, the gangsters' firepower was very fierce, and the bullets were fired as if they were free, and grenades with wooden handles flew out every few minutes.

Although these gangsters were having fun, they were definitely unlucky this time. They kicked the steel plate and ran into the tough Sixth Standard Regiment of the New Army.

Their weapons and equipment have not yet been unveiled, but they are better than any new army of the Qing Dynasty, including Yuan Shikai's Beiyang direct line equipment.

To be honest, with this little firepower of these gangsters, if they say something ugly, it is just a slap in the face.

"All personnel retreat and hide, keep a distance, and wait for the second battery of machine guns to fire before launching an attack. During this period, they are not allowed to enter the battlefield privately. Anyone who violates the order will be subject to military discipline!"

Following the order of the camp commander Chen Er, the base camp's newly formed second machine gun company, with a total of eight 75mm field guns and ten American Gatling heavy machine guns, was rolled out.

With railway transportation lines, the largest artillery can be transported in.

These field mountain guns and Gatling heavy machine guns were copied from Germany and the United States by the Hanyang Arsenal, and Chen Tianhua happened to be doing a practical test.

With the wave of the small red flag in the hand of the artillery commander, the eight field mountain guns all pulled the firing ropes.

"Shh...boom"

"Shush...boom..."

"..."

After a while, each cannon fired a basic number of shells, that is, 8,864 shells, covering the area with direct firepower and reducing most of the wooden houses in this mountain village to rubble, including their foundations.

Immediately afterwards, the ten Gatling heavy machine guns set up all around began to spit out tongues of fire.

"Ta da...ta da da..."

"Da da da... da da da da..."

"..."

It was like playing a "Symphony of War", which was particularly harsh and terrifying in the silent wilderness.

The shelling and heavy machine gun fire lasted for about twenty minutes. The machine gun battery was equivalent to the end of the live ammunition test firing. They each fired the prescribed benchmark artillery shells and machine gun bullets.

This is simply like using a cannon to kill mosquitoes. It's too luxurious. A group of people were dumbfounded when they saw the result in front of them.

Is there anyone alive on this ground?

Next, under the personal leadership of company officer Raymond, two combat platoons with a total of more than seventy people began to advance forward with guns in hand.

Dozens of heavily armed New Army soldiers came to the ruins, where corpses were strewn across the ground. There were more than sixty dead gangster corpses counted, but not a single corpse was complete.

The soldiers finally found a dozen survivors, all of whom were missing arms or legs. The one with the least serious injuries was thrown against the wall by the blast of the shell, causing multiple fractures all over his body.

Then, the entire company, with a total of more than 160 officers and soldiers, began to clean the battlefield and check whether there were any gangsters hiding among the mountain people.

Sure enough, they found a passage hidden underground, as well as a small warehouse of 70 to 80 square meters and two guards. In addition to a large number of bullets, grenades and other weapons, more than two tons of finished opium were stored inside.

The search platoon of the assault company followed the tunnel into the cave and captured seven gangsters who were busy transferring gold and silver treasures in the warehouse. They intercepted many gold ingots and a large number of silver dollars, which were worth hundreds of thousands at least.

Come to think of it, Chen Tianhua surrounded and suppressed these opium-dealing horse bandits. They were all extremely rich. In general, they didn't suffer any loss, and they might make a lot of money in the end.

The firepower just now was too fierce, and the gangsters did not expect to lose it so quickly. There was no time to move the belongings in the cave.

These guys were just lucky enough to take part of the goods away, but ended up falling into the hands of the New Army's sixth bidder.

After interrogation, it was discovered that this underground passage also had a secret door and was the most important transportation line for the Laoshu Mountain Sow Ridge gang to abscond from the mountain and organize opium smuggling.

Approximately 17 or 18 tons of opium pass through here every year. The results of this attack can be said to be brilliant.

Of course, it would be impossible to get so many goods through ordinary transportation lines, so this time it was just a coincidence.

Everyone was very happy to win the first battle. If all these five or six tons of opium were leaked out, how much private wealth would be wasted in the Jiangnan area, and how many drug addicts would be created?

Of course, the laoshushan gang's base is not limited to this village. There are not even a hundred gangsters here.

Chen Er's 1st Assault Battalion is still far from completing its mission. This is just an appetizer, the fun is yet to come.

After cleaning the battlefield and handing it over to officials from the Autonomous Region Political Affairs Committee, Chen Er led his troops to sweep the entire area of ​​Laoshu Mountain, including occupying the main peak.

To completely liberate this place, we must establish a unified local government, eradicate poppy cultivation, destroy opium dens, and then carry out infrastructure construction.

Of course, these tasks are the business of Liao Yunpeng and others of the Autonomous Region Government Affairs Committee.

The garrison of the Meiguang Autonomous Region destroyed an important opium warehouse and a smuggling line in Laoshushan. For this reason, the Anhui Governor's Yamen and the Xuancheng Magistrate's Yamen sent congratulatory letters and many condolences.
Chapter completed!