Chapter 99: County-Wide Bandit Suppression

The collection of intelligence on the bandit situation in Lingao began in full swing after the Political Consultative Conference. With the liaison system in place, the intelligence department was able to obtain first-hand, direct information from the local natives, which was much more in-depth than the objective observations made by the reconnaissance teams who were unfamiliar with the area. The ins and outs of the situation also became clearer.

To ensure the accuracy and objectivity of the intelligence, the Intelligence Committee cross-referenced and compared the information provided by each village.

Because bandits often had strong regional characteristics, the various villages, due to kinship or hometown ties, often sheltered the bandits from their own area. And most bandits also followed the rule of “a rabbit doesn’t eat the grass near its own burrow,” leaving the locals alone and specifically preying on villages from other areas.

In this social ecosystem, the liaisons were no exception. Therefore, their reports would inevitably conceal or exaggerate information based on the bandits’ relationship with their own village. Moreover, there were feuds between villages and clans, and it was not out of the question that some people would deliberately mix in false statements to slander and frame others. Therefore, it was necessary to compare the intelligence from each village to see the true picture.

After more than a month of investigating the liaisons, the intelligence department had gathered a great deal of information about the bandit situation in Lingao. Another important source was Wang Zhaomin. Although he was an outsider, he had been living here for more than five years and usually assisted the county magistrate in handling political affairs. He knew a lot about the various situations in the county, especially regarding the bandit situation, and the yamen had rich materials on this. The intelligence department met with him several times alone and obtained a large amount of useful material from him.

“Although the bandits in Lingao are as tangled as a mess of hemp, the most important one is the stubborn bandit gang of Dang Na Men,” Wang Zhaomin said in a low voice in a private room at the “Half the Sky” restaurant. “The others are all small gangs that can’t stir up any big waves. These two bandit gangs are deeply rooted and very difficult to deal with. As long as they are eliminated, the scattered bandits in Lingao will naturally lose their support, and Lingao will be at peace.”

Most of the bandits were “stay-at-home bandits.” By destroying their mountain strongholds and eliminating the bandit leaders and core members, the “stay-at-home bandits” would lose their backbone and lair. Naturally, they would have no heart to continue their evil deeds. With some further pacification, the bandit problem could be quickly resolved.

“The usual practice in suppressing bandits is that the ringleaders must be punished, but the followers are not prosecuted,” Wang Zhaomin said. “The four words ‘leniency and severity combined’ must not be forgotten.”

“Yes, yes,” Luo Duo just agreed. He then asked, “Why do you say this gang is the most difficult to deal with?” He filled his cup with wine. “Please enlighten me, sir.”

“It’s a long story,” Wang Zhaomin said, already slightly drunk, but his mind was very clear. He knew the intentions of this group of Australians; they were most likely clearing the “side of the couch.” But this was also good. Since the government could neither deal with the bandits nor eliminate the Australians, letting them tear each other apart might even yield some benefits. So he pretended to be drunk and began to speak:

Dang Na Men, whose real name was Dang Guodong, was a native of Daolu Village. After his parents died, he herded cattle for a living for the villagers. When he grew up, he became a small peddler. Because he had no relatives in the village, he was often bullied. His own homestead was even seized by a family in the village.

Dang Na Men later often engaged in petty theft. In the late Wanli period, he was sent to the county yamen by the villagers and imprisoned. The following year, he escaped from prison, gathered a few like-minded brothers, returned to the village, and killed more than a dozen villagers who had feuds with him. He then plundered their property and went to Baopang Mountain, on the border of Lingao and Danzhou, to become a bandit.

“Don’t look down on Dang Na Men just because he came from a poor background. He can read, and he loved to study since he was young. It’s a pity that no one supported him. A good seed for a scholar fell into the evil path,” Wang Zhaomin sighed. “Having studied and then taken the wrong path, he is even more difficult to deal with than ordinary bandits.”

Because Dang Na Men could read a few characters, although he had not read any proper military books, he had read many novels like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin. From them, he learned strategies and tactics. Therefore, the bandits he led often made unexpected moves, and the ordinary local militias of the county were no match for him.

“Take his attack on Longbo Village, for example,” Wang Zhaomin said, getting excited. “Dang Na Men led dozens of men, disguised as farmers going to the market, and entered Longbo Village with their goods. They used the opportunity of paying taxes at the market to sneak into the militia headquarters. A few men guarded the gate, while others set off firecrackers outside. He led his men to rush in and kill the militia instructor. The militia was thrown into chaos, and Longbo Village, with its more than one hundred militiamen, was broken by his thirty men. Isn’t that impressive?”

Luo Duo nodded. This Dang Na Men was indeed quite cunning. This tactic of coordinating from inside and outside, and striking the snake at its head, was quite brilliant. No wonder Wang Zhaomin said this bandit gang was formidable.

“And he also knows how to win people’s hearts!” Wang Zhaomin tapped the table lightly. “Dang Na Men has always advocated ‘robbing the rich, not the poor’ outside, which has attracted a group of ignorant and foolish people. The villagers in several places like Jialai and Meitai have been incited to resist paying rent, causing the landlords to complain endlessly. They often come to the county yamen to file complaints. Fortunately, a few years ago, Master Huang helped, leading his braves to inflict heavy losses on Dang Na Men’s gang, and their arrogance was somewhat curbed.”

“Master Huang?”

“It’s Huang Shoutong of Huangjia Village, Master Huang,” Wang Zhaomin said, noticing Luo Duo’s reaction. “The braves he leads are very formidable. Dang Na Men is no match for them. It’s a pity that the villagers are ignorant and often cover for him and hide his tracks. In the end, he still managed to escape back to Baopang Mountain, and they couldn’t achieve a complete victory! What a pity…”

“So Master Huang is a man of public spirit.”

“Naturally, naturally,” Wang Zhaomin vaguely knew that the Australians wanted to establish themselves locally, but the Huangjia Village militia was the only force the county magistrate could rely on. He couldn’t let the Australians use the pretext of suppressing bandits to win them over or wear them down. “It’s a pity that Master Huang was injured last time, and his health has not been good. I’m afraid he won’t be able to help with the bandit suppression.”

Luo Duo was noncommittal, just nodding.

“…According to intelligence, the Dang Na Men bandit gang mainly occupies the Baopang Mountain area on the border of Lingao and Danzhou. This is their main camp,” Luo Duo said, pointing at the map with a pointer. “The bandits in the stronghold number over three hundred year-round. They have firearms.”

The officers below looked at the markings on the map with concentration. Luo Duo continued, “But their base of support is in the ‘Thirteen Villages’ area on the border of Jialai and Meitai. They get their supplies and personnel from this area. In case of trouble, they can raise a force of four or five hundred men from here.”

A low murmur went through the crowd. Someone asked, “Doesn’t that mean that in Hongdong County, there are no good people? The able-bodied men in this area are all suspected of being bandits?”

“That’s right,” Luo Duo nodded. “The Dang Na Men bandit gang treats this area as their private domain. They never harm it themselves and don’t allow other bandits to encroach. They are very popular.”

“So it’s a de facto independent state!”

“No, it’s not quite an independent state. According to Wang Zhaomin, the taxes in the ‘Thirteen Villages’ area are never underpaid. It’s just that the county doesn’t get any benefits.”

“Actually, Dang Na Men’s thinking is similar to ours. The official tax is not a penny less, and there are no extra levies. With guns as their backing, the county can’t do anything about them.”

“Did the ‘Thirteen Villages’ area send representatives to the Political Consultative Conference?” He Ming asked.

Luo Duo said, “They all came. I checked the relevant records of the meeting. The representatives did not speak and basically just went with the flow. They agreed to everything, including grain collection, corvée labor, and sending liaisons.”

“Dang Na Men is quite skilled in the art of struggle.”

“That’s right,” Luo Duo answered cautiously. “He has some ideas on the strategy of struggle.”

“The Dang Na Men gang is mostly made up of poor people, and he himself came from a poor background and was persecuted. He also knows to ‘rob the rich, not the poor.’ He should be considered to have some revolutionary consciousness,” someone said. “Actually, is it wrong to define them as bandits? Shouldn’t they be a spontaneous peasant resistance organization? We can try to win them over.”

“Not harassing the people is relative,” Luo Duo said. “It’s only slightly better in the Thirteen Villages area, but they cause a lot of trouble in other places.” This bandit gang had committed all sorts of crimes, including robbery, murder, kidnapping, and rape. They harmed not only the rich but also the poor. To call it a “peasant resistance” or “uprising” would be self-deception.

He Ming explained, “The reason the bandit suppression command chose them as the first target is, one, they are the most powerful, and defeating them will have the effect of ‘beating the mountain to frighten the tiger’; two, this gang is deeply hated by the people. We have a just cause.”

Luo Duo continued, “In the ‘Thirteen Villages’ area, this bandit gang has two important members stationed there with twenty to thirty men to maintain control. Their leaders are named Xin Nari and Wang Wushu.”

“Xin Nari and Wang Wushu are two of the four great heavenly kings under Dang Na Men,” Wang Zhaomin told Luo Duo. “The so-called four great heavenly kings are just for show, but these two men should not be underestimated.”

Xin Nari had been an idler since he was young. After growing up, because he was lazy, he curried favor with the “fast hands” in the county yamen and became a “public servant.” A “public servant” was not an official yamen runner but a kind of “temporary worker” without official status. Their income depended entirely on various illegal fees and extortion. Illegal activities that the yamen runners could not openly engage in were handled by these people. If something went wrong, these people would take the blame. Fortunately, they had connections both inside and outside, so they were let off lightly. Even the county magistrate couldn’t do much. After the storm passed, they would continue to be “public servants.”

Xin Nari was very active as a “public servant,” not only bullying the common people but eventually becoming so greedy that he targeted the gentry. In the end, he could no longer stay. The “fast hands” were unwilling to offend the gentry for his sake—after all, there were plenty of “public servants,” one more or less didn’t matter. Xin Nari lost his job and simply went up the mountain to become a bandit.

“…This person is clever and has some small tricks. He is also good at currying favor and flattering people. So although he is now a bandit, he has connections with many yamen runners and local ruffians. The slightest trouble, and someone will tip him off,” Wang Zhaomin reminded. “Our Master Wu and Master Huang have tried to arrest him several times, but he has always managed to slip away.”

As for Wang Wushu, although he was not very clever, he was extremely brutal and cruel, known for killing without batting an eye. He had practiced martial arts since he was young and had some hard qigong skills. When he was young, he was involved in a brawl and was said to be immune to knives and spears, which was quite legendary. This pair, one cunning and one martial, were stationed in the “Thirteen Villages” area, keeping it under tight control.

After Luo Duo finished his introduction, the attendees discussed how to suppress this bandit gang. There were basically two plans. One was to first attack the “Thirteen Villages,” clear out the bandit influence, and cut off the bandits on the mountain from their supplies of food and personnel, causing them to fall into disarray without a fight. When the time was right, they would then besiege the mountain stronghold.

The other was the idea of “capturing the leader to capture the bandits,” advocating for a direct attack on the Baopang Mountain area to destroy the bandit lair, and then forcing the bandits in the Thirteen Villages to surrender without a fight.

Both plans had their pros and cons. After comprehensive consideration, it was finally decided to attack the mountain stronghold first.

“If we attack the Thirteen Villages first, it will be difficult to handle the local civil affairs,” Wu De, as the Civil Affairs Commissar and a member of the bandit suppression command, said. “The local people will have concerns and will be unwilling to have much contact with us. The bandits will have their old lair to fall back on and can use the cover of the people to launch rampant attacks against us. If our army is stationed there, we will be very passive. In the end, we may resort to indiscriminate retaliation due to endless attacks, which will create a hostile relationship and make it very difficult to clean up later.”

The form of combat would be a surprise attack by a small, elite, combined arms force. It was not worth it to deploy a large force to suppress bandits in the mountains. A large force would be difficult to keep secret, and the bandits could transfer all their supplies and personnel beforehand, leaving only an empty stronghold. Not to mention deploying one or two infantry battalions, even a force of thousands of troops searching the mountains would have a hard time finding the bandits. A large force could not stay in the mountains for long due to supply problems. After a long time, the troops would have to withdraw. In the past, bandits had always used this method to deal with government encirclement campaigns—and it had always worked.

Yang Zeng, a platoon leader of the 1st Infantry Regiment’s rifle company, was marching through the mountains. The late spring forest was very stuffy, and sweat had soaked through his uniform. He carried his beloved rifle on his shoulder and two hundred rounds of ammunition.

Behind him followed his rifle platoon, then a mountain howitzer and all its equipment: shells, gunpowder, cleaning rods, and so on. All this miscellaneous equipment was transported by men, a total of forty “education soldiers”—soldiers who had not yet been formally granted the rank of private and were still in training. After them was an infantry company, then another hundred or so education soldiers, carrying a large amount of supplies and equipment. They were called “military laborers” but were actually what Xi Yazhou called “substitute pack animals.” The new recruits were not of much use, but they could always carry things. Bringing up the rear was the engineering platoon, personally led by the engineering company commander, Pan Da.