There was a blazing bonfire at the Xinhekou dock. More than 500 boatmen, merchants, and armed guards on 47 large and small cargo ships were all being detained separately by the officers and soldiers of the Third Regiment in several small courtyards along the coast. The quartermaster and regimental headquarters of the Third Regiment
The brothers were counting the boatloads of grain, cloth, salt and groceries. The seized cash of more than 3,000 yuan and more than 30 long and short guns were neatly placed on the blue brick floor of the artillery headquarters. There were also other items beside the corner.
More than two hundred large knives and spears of various types.
An Yi, Hu Hu and others visited the injured brothers and returned to the headquarters. After listening to the reports from regiment leader Gu Changfeng and regiment deputy Wu Liheng and others, they suddenly hesitated.
The people who shot at the officers and soldiers who were ordered to inspect the ships were none other than the Da Dao Hui Gang, which had huge power in southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu. According to Gu Changfeng's interrogation, more than 380 of the more than 500 people were this person.
A member of a huge gang.
The Dadao Society has the same nature as the Red Spear Society, which has more than 200,000 members. They are both spontaneous gang organizations formed by the people. The gangs in various counties are interconnected. Strictly speaking, they are a branch of Taoism. Most of their members are young and strong people from rural areas.
Drinking talismans and reciting mantras, gathering people to practice martial arts, villages and villages jointly organizing meetings to protect themselves, and when traveling far away, they mobilized troops and went into battle together with swords and guns. They not only resisted foreign humiliation to protect the country and the people, but also violently resisted the law and killed officials and regular troops stationed there. Since April this year,
In southern Shandong, northern Jiangsu and northern Anhui launched large-scale attacks on more than ten county governments many times, killing officials and garrison troops, occupying county offices, opening cells, carving up all valuable items, and then scattered them. There were also a few
Gangs formed their own governments under the leadership of political parties and proclaimed their own laws. Warlords Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang suffered from the fierce offensive of the Northern Expeditionary Army and were unable to spare their hands to suppress these rebellious peasants. Various gangs were able to develop and grow, which greatly
It has the potential to start a prairie fire.
However, because gangs are a mixed bag of good and bad, many gang leaders use religious intimidation and private courts to bring trouble to the countryside. Many gangs also rely on their own force to plunder passing merchants and protect big businessmen in the name of protecting them.
, on the condition of "drawing two out of ten, drawing three out of ten", to help merchants escort goods across the state and county. Today, the Pi County Daohui, which is entrenched at the mouth of Luoma Lake in the east, does this business.
"Hutou, after brothers revealed their identities, the other party actually dared to shoot?" An Yi asked in disbelief.
Gu Changfeng replied angrily: "That's it. After I led the troops to tie up the two leaders, they still yelled, saying that they didn't even buy Sun Chuanfang and didn't believe anyone would dare to hurt him.
If we don't let go, tens of thousands of people will come to trouble us. Damn it! I have never experienced such cowardice in my life. If Lao Lu and Lao Wu hadn't hugged me tightly, I would have chopped off his head on the spot.
! Considering the seriousness of the matter, we can only report it."
Hu Jialin grinned: "The old bandits met new bandits."
An Yi couldn't help but smile. After calling a few businessmen to inquire about the situation of being forced, he pondered for a moment and immediately ordered the messenger: "Call Lao Ding and Xia Jian and let them get ready to go."
"yes!"
The messenger strode towards the telephone.
Huzi asked in surprise: "Really?"
"Why not fight? Don't listen to the bluff of those two bandit leaders. Not long after our friendly forces captured Pi County, a regiment of General He Yaozu is still stationed in the county. They are worried about harassment and attacks by daring local gangs. These heresy are not unreasonable.
The gang not only attacked Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang's troops, but also our Northern Expeditionary Army suffered a lot. In particular, Chief He Jingzhi's First Route Army was attacked many times, but there was no way to stop and attack the roaring troops gathered deep in the mountains and lakes.
The gang was suppressed and they were spoiled. This time they disobeyed the inspection and shot our brother first. Can I let him go?
This gang of rabble only has a thousand or two thousand people, even if there are tens of thousands of people, I will destroy him!" An Yi obviously made up his mind.
Lu Cambridge, the instructor of the group, said worriedly: "With this group of people, things will probably get serious."
An Yi said seriously: "We just want to make a big fuss and let all the gangs know not to provoke our Northern Expeditionary Army, otherwise there will be no good end.
During this period, the task of our entire division is to eliminate the remaining bandits and bandits, protect the territory and the people, and maintain trade routes. If we don’t take practical actions, there will be so many bandits around us that will not be afraid. They will rely on their familiarity with the terrain and their advantageous positions to harass them.
The villages and towns in Sifang took advantage of the war to commit crazy crimes, burning, killing and looting everywhere. When the war was over, they would follow the wind and join the victorious army. When the war resumed, they would leave the army and start their own business. If such hidden dangers were not eliminated, he would keep them.
what?
Don’t worry about offending the Sword Club or the Red Spear Club. Just remember one thing, that is, don’t mess with our independent division. If you do, you will get double revenge.”
"However, most of the people in the gang are desperate farmers! It is precisely because of understanding this that my subordinates and Lao Wu held the tiger's head to prevent him from killing people."
Cambridge Lu is indeed a good player in political work and thinks more thoughtfully than anyone else.
An Yi's words made Lu Cambridge lose his temper: "Since ancient times, murderers must be punished with their lives. What's more, they killed revolutionary soldiers and our brothers. If I don't avenge my brothers, how can I continue to be a teacher?"
Lu, I understand your concerns, please rest assured that we will only kill the culprits and not indiscriminately kill innocent people."
Gu Changfeng became more energetic: "Boss, just give the order as to what to do."
An Yi nodded: "Go and gather all the imprisoned people on the pier, pull out the six who fired the gun and declare their guilt and behead them on the spot, then pull out the prisoners and the leaders of the prison hall and law enforcement, and let the murdered people
Brothers from the Third Company are executed by firing squad!"
"yes!"
Gu Changfeng turned around and left to make arrangements.
Hu Jialin asked: "Will the others be released?"
"We must let them go, otherwise we will become executioners, but we can't let them all go now. Beard, you have to work hard. Aren't Old Ding and the others shouting and bored all day long? Like this..."
An Yi leaned on Huzi's shoulder and muttered for a while. Huzi nodded and quickly led the adjutant guards back to the division headquarters. An Yi waved to Wu Liheng and Lu Cambridge to come closer:
"Old Wu, you lead a battalion to go around from the southeast and set up a hidden ambush on the south bank of the river bend in Tushan Town, west of the mouth of Luoma Lake. I estimate that this group of people will probably come to rob people. Xia Jian's battalion will be there.
The river bank south of Nianzhuang will cooperate with you. Remember, after the encirclement, let the brothers with good marksmanship single out the bandit leaders to attack. If the bandits want to escape, I will seal them with machine guns and never let anyone go!"
"yes!"
Wu Liheng left eagerly.
"Lao Lu, organize the instructors of each battalion and company to do ideological work for the prisoners, tell them what kind of army we are, and let them know the difference between our revolutionary army and the warlords." An Yi said with a smile.
"Understood! I will prepare now."
On the brightly lit pier, as Gu Changfeng roared out "cut", six heads fell to the ground in the bloody light. Only then did everyone see in horror the iron-blooded style of this revolutionary army.
Then the seventeen bandit leaders who were escorted to the scene finally made a sad cry for mercy, but at the gunpoint of the angry brothers from the third company, they returned to the underworld in the blink of an eye.
The deafening gunshots and desperate wails frightened more than a dozen nearby businessmen and most of the gang into silence, until brothers from the newly formed engineer company of the third regiment rushed into the scene and removed the corpses and heads one by one.
, only then bursts of panic came out from the crowd.
Gu Changfeng, who was standing on the stone slab, loudly announced: "Listen, your gang has been robbing and persecuting passing merchants and lone travelers for a long time. It is lawless and endangers all parties. Today, it has the audacity to kill and injure our National Revolutionary Army."
The five officers and soldiers of the Independent Division of the First Army committed extremely heinous crimes that cannot be pardoned!
Considering that many of you, like our officers and soldiers, come from poor families, but you were confused and fell in love with the wrong person, our department has decided to allow your gang to redeem you with money, ten oceans each.
Not even a penny less! Now I will release seven of you to raise money. If the ransom is not delivered by noon tomorrow, we will shoot the remaining 355 people in accordance with military law!"
As soon as this order was issued, the whole place burst into mourning. The boatmen immediately distanced themselves from the more than 200 gang members. The businessmen were worried about being retaliated by the gangs, so they all beat their chests and lungs and pleaded loudly for the gangs. Gu Changfeng remained unmoved.
, personally picked out seven gangsters with angry eyes and resentment, ordered his officers and soldiers to escort them to the dock, pushed them into a small boat, and let the seven people go back down the river to report the news.
More than two hundred panicked gang members were separated into two courtyards, and more than a dozen instructors led by Lu Cambridge dispersed in to launch a political propaganda offensive.
The merchants on the dock begged Gu Changfeng not to kill so many people, and made a lot of pedantic remarks such as "the law does not punish everyone", "God has the virtue of good life", and "when will retribution be repaid?", who knew that Gu Changfeng
Instead, he smiled and said that if he didn't pay a penny less, he would kill one more person. Military law is like a mountain, who dares to disobey it?
The merchants, who were deeply afraid of being retaliated by the gang, saw Gu Changfeng's resolute attitude and knew that the matter was irreversible and would be subject to crazy revenge from the Gang. After discussing with each other for a moment, they all dropped their goods and fled overnight. Most of them were in two groups.
The family moved south within a day, and merchants from Chuzhou, Huai'an and other places no longer dared to set foot in this land. They knew very well that if the goods were lost, they could get them back in the future, but if they moved their heads, they would have nothing, not to mention the Pi County Broadsword Club.
Retaliation has always been carried out by exterminating families.
After everything settled down, An Yi left Xinhekou with satisfaction and returned to the division headquarters in Daxu Town. As soon as he entered the door, he ordered Zhan Huanqi to report that the third regiment under his command was attacked by a local gang and the three battalions under his command decided to clear out the gangsters.
An urgent call was made to Bai Chongxi's office, and less than half an hour later, a reply was received from Bai Chongxi requesting "vigorous raids to protect the territory and the people."
At nine o'clock in the morning the next day, more than 2,300 members of the Pi County Broadsword Association, led by the leader and a dozen hall masters, divided into two groups, by land and water, and headed toward the mouth of the Xinhe River with great momentum.
The crowd was full of broadswords, guillotines, and spears. There were five or six old Qing Dynasty-made carrying guns carried by two people. There were also seven or eight native cannons made of pine wood mounted on the bow. The heads above the hall were belted.
There were shell guns tied with red ribbons, and the little bosses were carrying old sleeves. They were full of energy and kept shouting. The long fleet of boats and the teams on the shore marched hand in hand. The voices of swearing and swearing came one after another, and there was a lot of hatred.
Not repaying one's oath is a sign of failure.
This mob never expected that on both sides of the river bend three miles ahead, seven or eight pairs of telescopes were silently pointed at them. Dozens of light and heavy machine guns had already been set up on the slopes and weeds on both sides of the bank. More than sixty people were waiting one after another.
The shooters occupied favorable terrain and were waiting calmly. They did not know that after this outburst, their old nest at Hukou would soon be in danger, and the little money they had accumulated over the years would be looted by the brothers from the independent division's guard battalion.