Chapter 320 - Battle of Baopang Mountain
The troops set out after dark, marching rapidly through the night before entering the Baopang Mountain area to conceal themselves. After a full day's rest, they resumed their nocturnal advance. Aided by complete maps and night vision equipment, they reached Dang Namen's mountain stronghold at dawn, their arrival sudden and unannounced.
The stronghold stood atop a small earthen hill, encircled by sturdy walls of stone and wood interspersed with watchtowers. The fortifications were quite good—capable of withstanding ordinary attacks.
Through binoculars, the terrain around the stronghold appeared complex rather than precipitous. While such ground was easy to defend and hard to attack, once besieged, breaking out would prove equally difficult. For this reason, bandit strongholds were generally not built on particularly perilous dead ends; the ability to escape quickly when circumstances turned unfavorable was paramount. Had the transmigrators arrived with a mighty host, Dang Namen would have had ample time to withdraw and use this terrain to scatter and flee. But He Ming had commanded troops to seize all three main access passages before dawn, sealing off escape routes—thanks to modern maps and night vision equipment.
"All units have arrived at designated positions and are constructing fortifications!" the apprentice staff officer reported.
"Order all units to closely observe enemy movements." He Ming lowered his binoculars and glanced at the map.
"Stay sharp, everyone!" Pan Da urged his engineers and Education Soldiers. Sprawled on the ground, they dug pits for burying anti-personnel mines while another group constructed shooting breastworks.
Of the three potential escape routes, Datai Slope was hardest to choke off. The other two were narrow paths where twenty soldiers could block bandits with volleys and grenades. But Datai Slope was broad. If bandits broke through here, countless mountain trails awaited them.
Pan Da had no choice but to intercept on this open ground with an infantry platoon, an engineer squad, and thirty Education Soldiers armed only with bayonets and improvised spears.
Fortunately, he had landmines—primitive directional devices consisting of black powder, a fuse, a hardwood board for directionality, and crushed stones for shrapnel. His engineers buried these "earth mines" at every possible escape point. With friction primers finally available thanks to the chemistry department's phosphorus production, detonation timing was now controllable.
Datai Slope spanned sixty meters. Each mine covered about five meters. Pan Da set up three groups of fifteen cross-positioned mines.
"Set sights to one hundred meters," Yang Zeng briefed his soldiers. "Two-rank formation, volley fire on command."
"Understood!"
"Fix bayonets!"
Yang Zeng checked their equipment, then spoke encouraging words to the trembling Education Soldiers behind. He knew they couldn't be relied upon—he'd have to depend on the "veterans" who had trained a few months longer.
Pan Da checked every friction primer and pull-cord repeatedly. If bandits launched a "Pig Rush," he had one final option: grenade dischargers—cast iron tubes that launched No. 4 grenades fifty meters. Roughly one-third failed to detonate, but as he noted, "Even if it doesn't explode, smashing onto a head will make it bloom."
The sudden appearance of troops startled Dang Namen that morning. He had intelligence sources and knew the Australians intended to suppress bandits, but hadn't taken it seriously—the Thirteen Villages area had already submitted. There was no reason to attack him.
He climbed the wall. Dense crowds of gray-uniformed troops gleamed on a hillside a li distant. That such a force had marched through mountains at night and arrived silently chilled him. He summoned his leaders:
"Don't panic! The Bald Thieves have fierce firearms—we can't fight head-on. Prepare to Flow Water!"
"Flowing Water"—scattering to hidden camps until danger passed—was standard bandit practice.
"Boss Dang! The women, gold, silver..." Zhao Haiqing, one of his Four Heavenly Kings, protested.
"Forget it! As long as the green hills remain, we needn't fear running out of firewood. Lose your life, and it's all farts! Go quickly."
But the bandits ignored his orders, stuffing silver and jewelry onto their bodies until bulging all over. Dang Namen took his trusted aides and fled separately.
"Light the fires! Burn the stronghold!" If flames rose, the Australians would rush to extinguish them rather than pursue.
"Fire! There's a fire!" The stronghold gate burst open. Through binoculars, He Ming watched bandits split into groups, fleeing in all directions.
Shortly afterward, gunshots rang out. Puffs of white smoke rose amid green mountains.
He Ming tracked another breakout attempt where forty or fifty bulging bandits rushed toward pass slopes. White smoke sprayed from positions above; struck bandits rolled downhill. From one dying figure, white silver ingots tumbled from torn clothes.
So the bulges were valuables. "Men die for wealth," someone observed. "Without that weight, some might have escaped."
Then explosions sounded—earth-Claymore mines detonating. Excited staff officers shouted confirmation.
"Order First Platoon toward the stronghold gate. Occupy when possible. Don't fight the fire—eliminating bandits is the priority."
Bandits driven back from every intersection never dreamed ambushes awaited them. Several waves were beaten bloody, more than half killed or wounded.
Dang Namen rallied survivors: "Don't panic! Drop all silver—with life, there's money. Everyone break out from Datai Slope!"
More than a hundred gathered around him, panicked, waiting for his plan.
Note: Regarding Dang Namen's bandits, this is drawn from Republican-era accounts in Lingao literary history.