Chapter 54: 54, Suppressing Bandits In Fuyang, Air-ground Coordinated Combat
As soon as bandits were mentioned, it immediately became quiet.
This word carries a lot of weight in Fuyang.
A gentry stepped forward and said, “County Magistrate, let me explain the situation to Mr. Fang.”
“Very well, you’ve been in this county for many years and know the situation best, so you speak.” The county magistrate nodded in agreement.
This man seemed to recall some past events, and before he even started speaking, a sorrowful emotion appeared on his face.
“Our Fuyang is located on a plain with abundant grain, originally a good place. But these years, bandits have been rampant, each more brutal than the last, turning this fine granary region into a place of panic and misery where people have no means to live.”
Fang Wen listened, and his expression changed accordingly.
In his understanding, bandits were at most dozens of people robbing homes.
He had not expected them to be as brutal as the gentry described, with thousands at times.
The problem stemmed from Fuyang’s geographical features.
This was the border area of several provinces, and due to warlord era divisions between provinces, bandits who committed crimes elsewhere would flee here.
Warlords from other places could not cross borders easily, and local forces could not defeat these bandits.
Over time, bandit forces grew strong in Fuyang.
They plundered villages, occupied land as kings, and even village massacres and exterminations happened frequently.
At their strongest, they even attacked the county town, received amnesty, and transformed into local warlords.
Now, though the warlords were gone, there were still two bandit groups remaining.
One was several thousand deserters led by a former Kuomintang regiment commander.
They had many warhorses and moved quickly, roaming across the Huainan plain.
The other was local bandits, gathered from dozens of groups, the most brutal of all.
Both bandit groups knew the terrain well and had secret ties with locals, so they always got advance news of encirclement and suppression operations and escaped.
Now they were harassing the suppression forces on the periphery but could never be tracked.
After hearing the gentry’s words, Fang Wen looked at the two military officers.
“What do you think about this?”
Regiment Commander Ning Hangsheng spoke up: “I’m a soldier, straightforward by nature, so I’ll speak plainly. The bandits always evade our encirclements in time, which means someone local is colluding with them, and not just anyone. I suspect it’s likely among you gentlemen. What we discuss today will probably reach the bandits’ ears by evening.”
The local officials and gentry present immediately became noisy, wanting to argue with the officer.
The county magistrate stood up to stop them: “Regiment Commander Ning’s words are not without possibility. For the success of suppression, I think everyone should avoid suspicion.”
Under the county magistrate’s persuasion, though the officials and gentry were somewhat indignant, they still went downstairs with him and left.
Everyone was gone.
Ning Hangsheng smiled: “Mr. Fang, I had to play the bad guy, but now it’s convenient to discuss proper business.”
Deputy Ni Shinai stood up, “I’ve arranged guards around, so there will absolutely be no leaks this time.”
With Ni Shinai leaving, only Fang Wen and Ning Hangsheng remained on the restaurant’s second floor.
Ning Hangsheng took out a map, his face serious.
“Both bandit groups have their own territories. The deserters operate around Fangji and Gongqiao, the local bandit gang around Chaiji.”
“The orders from above are for me to annihilate the local bandit gang, defeat the deserters and then incorporate them and send them elsewhere. Afterward, my regiment will garrison here.”
“My idea is, Mr. Fang, you do aerial reconnaissance, mark the bandits’ activity areas on the map, then I’ll send people to encirclement and suppress them. This way, no third party knows my plan, and we can surely annihilate the bandits.”
Ning Hangsheng’s words were clear and logical, with the entire action planned out.
If it were another pilot, he might follow Ning Hangsheng’s suggestion.
But Fang Wen would not. With knowledge from the future, he saw more clearly than Ning Hangsheng.
He gave an example.
“Regiment Commander Ning, two months ago during our air raid on the Japanese Army, we encountered interception by their enemy aircraft. Friendly forces from Nanjing Airport and Jianqiao Airport directions were blocked. They had no spies inside our side but stationed people outside the airports to record flight numbers and times, send them back, and Japanese Army staff officers analyzed the information to arrange interceptions.”
Ning Hangsheng’s expression changed.
“I get your point. Even a temporary action plan can’t escape the eyes in the city. Once my regiment moves, they might send the news to the bandits. It’s indeed troublesome. Mr. Fang, since you say this, you must have a response method.”
Fang Wen nodded, “There is a method, and it doesn’t fear the bandits knowing. It’s called ‘air-ground coordinated combat’.”
“Air-ground coordinated combat—from the name, it sounds like joint operation between my forces and your airplane? How exactly?” Ning Hangsheng asked puzzled.
“The airport control tower has radio equipment that can communicate in real time with airplanes, but it needs power to operate, so you need to arrange a military vehicle to carry the radio equipment and diesel generator.”
Fang Wen described the prototype of a future battlefield command vehicle, feeling a bit proud inwardly. He could claim to be the first in the world to propose the battlefield command vehicle concept.
Ning Hangsheng, after hearing Fang Wen’s explanation, was astonished.
War could be fought this way.
It was completely unlike anything he learned at the military academy.
But he could grasp its ingenuity.
Fighting was nothing more than knowing oneself and the enemy, defeating them first.
If done as Fang Wen said, airplanes in the sky could report bandit movements to the ground in real time, so his army could strike wherever indicated, with no worry about bandits getting advance notice from informants and transferring.
“Excellent, my regiment has a truck for transporting military supplies that can be arranged exactly as Mr. Fang said. Let’s head back now.”
Ning Hangsheng eagerly pulled Fang Wen downstairs and hurriedly left the county town with the deputy regiment commander and guards.
The Fuyang officials and gentry waiting outside were baffled, not knowing what these soldiers were up to, so they dispersed to await results.
Fang Wen returned to the airport, and at the same time, Ning Hangsheng’s regiment headquarters moved inside the airport.
They began setting up for the action plan.
Soldiers carefully moved the equipment from the control tower down and placed it into the military truck.
Then they lifted a twenty-horsepower diesel generator into the truck.
This way, with power supply from the diesel generator, the aviation radio equipment could be used in the truck.
After debugging by airport staff, it was confirmed the radio equipment worked normally, and the plan began.
The next morning, Ning Hangsheng’s entire regiment assembled and waited.
Fang Wen boarded the Qingyun Hao airplane and flew into the sky.
At high altitude over Fuyang County Town, Fang Wen was confirming directions.
On the map, Chaiji was marked southwest of Fuyang.
He turned the fuselage and flew southwest.
Soon, in mechanical perception state, he spotted a cluster of buildings on the ground.
That was Chaiji.
But where were the bandits?
Fang Wen focused intently, trying to find anomalies.
Below, cooking smoke rose faintly—people making breakfast.
In these times, they burned wood or coal, producing heavy smoke.
But one spot had particularly dense smoke.
An ordinary family wouldn’t need that much fuel, not even three or five households.
There was definitely something wrong there.
Fang Wen shifted his attention there.
It was a compound on an earthen slope.
Around it were crudely built stone walls, for defense and blocking outside views.
Inside the stone walls, a large group of people were eating in front of several large pots.
About 200 to 300 people.
And behind the earthen slope, there was more abnormality.
Dozens of horses were grazing, with a group of people sitting on the ground nearby making a fire.
Combining these, they were clearly not ordinary people.
Chaiji had no local militia forces, so they could only be a bandit branch hiding here.
Fang Wen picked up the radio microphone.
“Eagle calling Jackal, respond if received.”
“Jackal received, go ahead.”
“Target discovered, 200 to 300 people, with cavalry. Location on the earthen mountain east of Chaiji. Your forces can depart; I’ll provide ongoing feedback if needed.”
