The bandits wrote letters to provoke, and the People's Liberation Army used their tactics to catch the bandits who were entrenched in danger.

In November 1947, after the 12th Brigade of the Fourth Column of the Shanxi-Hebei-Shandong-Henan Field Army liberated Yunxi County, Hubei Province, they decided to clean up the bandits in the county.

At that time, there was a group of bandits entrenched in a natural stone cave in Zhaochuan, western Yunnan. The bandit leader was named Dang Wenbin.

This man was domineering and committed all kinds of evil. He was a wealthy, powerful and military-powerful feudal giant in this area.

In order to remove Dang Wenbin's thorn in the side, the 12th Brigade ordered Fu Xianhui (Colonel in 1955, Major General in 1961), commander of the 36th Regiment, to lead his troops to eliminate him.

On December 15, the commanders and fighters of the 36th Regiment braved the heavy snow and walked on the muddy mountain road. After two days of march, they quietly arrived under the big stone cave and hid in a cave about 200 meters away from the cave. In the mountains and forests.

Fu Xianhui used a telescope to conduct detailed observations and found that the entrance to the cave where the bandits were hiding was halfway up the mountain. From the top of the mountain to the entrance of the cave was a cliff of more than 200 meters, and from the cave door to the foot of the mountain was a cliff of more than 100 meters.

There is only a narrow plank road leading to the cave, but this plank road is very surprising: it inserts one end of the wood into the cracks and holes in the rocks of the mountain wall, and the other end is suspended in the air, with stones laid on it. There are short wooden slats and small wooden sticks arranged horizontally and vertically, and it looks like a pontoon bridge suspended in the middle of the mountain.

Following the plank road down the mountain, there is a sloping catwalk with a very steep slope.

In order to prevent the People's Liberation Army from attacking the mountain, the bandits have destroyed the trail and removed the wooden strips on the plank road.

Looking at the cave entrance from a distance, the shooting holes in the cave are vaguely visible. Light and heavy machine guns and mortars are set up at each cave entrance. It seems that it is indeed dangerous and strong, easy to defend and difficult to attack.

After the People's Liberation Army arrived in Zhaochuan, the gangsters all huddled in the cave and raised the only access point - the plank bridge on the plank road.

On December 16, the 7th Company of the 3rd Battalion was ordered to start the battle to attack Dashi Cave.

The soldiers of the 7th company first surrounded the cave. According to the terrain characteristics, they first sent out a squad. Before approaching the pontoon bridge, the special shooter of this squad broke the two ropes holding the pontoon bridge with two shots. Want to make the bridge fall so that you can rush over.

Unexpectedly, the force of the fall of the pontoon was too strong. In addition, the pontoon was exposed to the sun and rain for many years. As a result, the middle of the pontoon broke and fell to the rock. It is obviously impossible to rush across the pontoon bridge.

At this time, the bandits actually sent someone to deliver a letter.

It turned out that the soldiers of the 7th Company went under the cave the night before and brought over several animals in the cave. When the bandits found out, they wrote a letter to ridicule the People's Liberation Army.

Among the bandits, there was an old man who was very knowledgeable. He wrote in the letter: "Is it worthwhile for your army to enter the mountain stream at night, take away the animals, and surround our small cave? Why don't you go and fight? Xi'an and Wuhan, as long as these big cities are taken down, we are willing to use this place as the rear of your army."

What should we do in the face of the provocation of the bandits? All the commanders and fighters in the company were very angry.

At this time, some soldiers suggested that they should use a trick to write a reply to the bandits, send it over with a bamboo pole, and take the opportunity to measure the distance from the broken road to the entrance of the cave.

The company commander said this method was good, so soldier Lu Minghao drafted a reply.

Lu Minghao fired back in the letter: "We are going to fight in Xi'an and Wuhan. That is our business. How can you, a little guy like you, be the rear of the People's Liberation Army? Today's situation is different from the past. The People's Liberation Army has transformed In the counterattack, you should know the current situation and abandon the dark side as soon as possible."

A fellow villager who was once forced to work as a groom for the bandits volunteered to complete the task of delivering messages. He hung the letter on a bamboo pole, climbed to the suspension bridge, stretched out the bamboo pole, and handed the letter to the bandits. He also measured the distance from the broken path to the entrance of the cave, which played a vital role in conquering the big stone cave.

However, after the bandits received this letter, they did not surrender. Instead, they opened fire. It seemed that they were extremely arrogant, thinking that some armies in the past could not penetrate their holes, and the People's Liberation Army had no choice but to fight to the end.

The soldiers made ladders according to the measured lengths. Due to the difficult terrain, only a small number of troops and powerful firepower can be used.

The brigade leader was very concerned about the outcome of this battle, and specially equipped the troops attacking Zhaochuandong with a mountain cannon and a rocket launcher. The regiment also transferred two modified flat-firing mortars, and The machine gun companies of the 2nd and 3rd battalions were transferred to form a powerful firepower system.

Lu Zuyue, the instructor of the mountain cannon brigade, thought of many ways to transport the mountain cannon up the mountain.

It takes 9 mules to transport one mountain cannon. The soldiers dismantled the mountain cannon into small pieces. If they could not be dismantled, the soldiers carried them together and used manpower to transport the cannon to the mountain opposite the cave entrance and install it again. good.

The commando soldiers quietly hid in the jungle 10 meters in front of the pontoon bridge. Dozens of light and heavy machine guns were secretly aimed at the firepower point of the bandit's cave. The mountain cannon was placed closest to the entrance of the bandit's cave. Everything was ready on time.

Around the early morning of January 24, regiment leader Fu Xianhui, deputy regiment leader Dong Mingduan, and chief of staff Chen Ruyi all visited the position in person.

At about 8 o'clock in the morning, the attack signal was sent. Assault platoon leader Gao Longzhu led the first echelon composed of 2 squads to advance bravely under the cover of powerful firepower.

Due to the smoke and unclear vision, it was impossible to set up a ladder when approaching the pontoon. After the fog dissipated, the soldiers of the first echelon were all exposed to the firepower of the bandits. Immediately, the deputy squad leader of the 2nd squad and several Soldiers were killed or wounded.

Platoon leader Gao was not afraid in the face of danger and directed the remaining soldiers to bravely build the ladder. He threw several grenades, and they all hit the stone gate and rolled down the Longtan. He also died heroically.

The bandits were struggling desperately and resisting desperately. When Fu Xianhui saw them, he became furious and ordered all firearms to fire at the entrance of the cave.

At this time, the second echelon, led by company commander Feng Zuoji, punched up again. Squad leader Xun Shuming led several battles and finally erected the ladder.

Under my powerful firepower, the bandits' firearms suddenly became mute.

The soldiers of the second echelon rushed up the ladder to the front of the cave and threw a few grenades at the gun holes. They heard only explosions and cries in the cave. The warriors opened the cave door and were immediately Several bandits who resisted were killed, and the remaining bandits were all taken prisoner.

A fat guy whose stomach was burst by a bullet was lying on the ground groaning and dying.

It was learned from the captives that this person was Dang Wenbin, the bandit leader who had committed many evil deeds.

At this point, the cave that the bandits claimed to be "never to be attacked" was captured by the People's Liberation Army in one fell swoop.

In this battle, more than a dozen light and heavy machine guns, more than 100 rifles, and more than 20 pistols were seized. There was a lot of ammunition, food, and clothing. In addition to keeping enough food for the troops, they also had extra food. , clothes were all distributed to the poor people around who had no food or clothing.