At this time, Taro Tanimura and the Japanese who came later saw the severely deformed corpses in the dug pits under the cold and frozen ground.
These corpses were basically stripped down to their crotch cloths, and not even half of the socks on their feet were left.
On each hard corpse, the cyan or white faces were twisted and ferocious, looking so terrifying and heart-stopping.
Taro Tanimura turned his head, not daring to continue looking at these deformed and swollen faces, but a bit of sadness arose in his heart.
After all, these corpses are his comrades and companions.
Japanese soldiers kept coming over to watch, and then walked away in silence.
Some of them are angry, some are afraid, and some are indifferent. But no one spoke. At most, they just muttered a few words that no one could understand.
The atmosphere of the whole scene was so solemn that it was breathless.
Mizoguchi Yushu looked at the outline of the mountains in the distance with his binoculars, knowing in his heart that this group of volunteers would not be able to find them in the short term.
They had either entered the unknown mountains ahead, or they had already crossed the railway and ran deep into the dense forests of the Yanshan Mountains. To find and eliminate them was beyond the capabilities of a few hundred engineers.
"Exhume the bodies of these warriors and burn them on the spot. They died fighting for the Japanese Empire. They are all warriors of the empire. We must send the ashes of the warriors back and let their souls return to their hometown." Mizoguchi Yushu ordered. road.
"But, Your Excellency, Captain, there are not enough wood and branches around here." His adjutant said.
"Lieutenant Koyama, are you blinded by the corpses of these imperial warriors? There are none here, there must be them in that village." Mizoguchi Yushu pointed in the direction of Shoal Village.
"Pass my order to surround the village and then go in to investigate the ambush. This place is not far from the village. The villagers inside must know something."
"Hey!"
So, half an hour later, more than 700 Japanese soldiers surrounded Qiantan Village.
Qiantan Village can be regarded as a large village in the surrounding area. It originally had nearly two hundred households. Before Zhou Wen and the others left, after Chai Youde's mobilization and persuasion, more than a hundred households were willing to follow Zhou Wen to evacuate to the pass. Now the village has There are only about seventy households of villagers left.
You must know that in Chinese society during this period, there was a traditional thought that it was difficult to leave one's homeland, and that people would be humbled if they left their hometown. Most people were generally unwilling to leave their hometowns, unless they had no choice but to do so.
Even those who go out to study, do business or serve as officials, when they grow old, they also pay attention to returning to their roots and eventually return to their hometown.
Therefore, there are always people who take chances, and there are always people who do not believe that the Japanese are not humans, but animals.
Among them, there are several elderly households with relatively high seniority in the village. Due to their old age and frailty, they are even more unwilling to live a life of uprooting and wandering.
If they don't want to leave, their descendants and family members will stay behind.
In addition, no matter which household there are, there are several neighbors and fellow villagers who get along well with each other and influence each other, so there are dozens of households who are unwilling to leave their hometown.
These people were unwilling to follow Chai Youde's words even though he said so. Some of them were still thinking: "Every grievance has its owner, and every debt has its owner. It was you who killed the Japanese. Now you have all run away. When the Japanese come, we will Just tell the truth, can they still kill us all?"
The leader was Chai Jinxi, whom Chai Youde respectfully called Laobashu.
Chai Jinxi is almost 70 years old, and he thinks that his experience and knowledge are not inferior to those of Chai Youde, his distant nephew.
In the years he has experienced, the village has not experienced military disasters. There were even many bandit troubles in the early years, but he has never seen this village like this.
Even if some money and food were robbed, even if some families were robbed of several wives and daughters, wouldn't they just grit their teeth and get through it?
Back then, people in the village were also beaten to death by bandits, and no one wanted to fight the bandits with knives or guns. They could only blame themselves for their misery.
Therefore, when he heard that Chai Youde's son and daughter-in-law were killed by the Japanese, while he sympathized, he was very disapproving of Chai Youde's behavior of beating the Japanese wounded soldiers to death.
In these turbulent times, who has never had anyone die?
If someone's family suffers a disaster and someone dies, they can only complain about their fate. It is because of their bad luck that they deserve this calamity.
But if you insist on fighting those with guns, isn't that like throwing eggs at rocks? Moreover, you have caused so many people to leave their hometowns with you. Isn’t this a crime?
Therefore, Chai Jinxi not only refused to leave, but also did not allow his family to follow him. He also specifically ordered his family: "When the Japanese soldiers come, tell the truth whatever you ask. Anyway, Youde and the others ran far away and were overtaken by the Japanese soldiers. That means he is destined not to escape this disaster, and it is his fate not to be caught. There is no need for us to help them hide it, so as not to injure ourselves."
Therefore, when the Japs entered the village, every remaining household in Qiantan Village closed their doors, waiting for Chai Jinxi, who was now a respected figure in the village, to explain things to the Japanese soldiers.
If the Japanese soldiers want money or food, just give them. As long as you pass this hurdle, you will be willing to live a hard life for a few years.
What's more, winter has just passed, and most people still have some food in their ice cellars. Even if the Japanese soldiers looted everything in the house, they wouldn't starve to death.
Moreover, the people who left still have a lot of food in their ice cellars, so they can just take it out and share it when the time comes. They won't be able to come back anyway.
Besides, it was Mr. Chai who caused the disaster this time. He is the richest family in the village. After the Japanese soldiers leave, there are still many good things in his house that have not been moved away. When the time comes, let Mr. Chai make the decision and give it to everyone. I've already divided the children, so it's a way to make up for everyone, right?
At this time, the door of Chai Youde's house had been smashed open.
Just because his two-story white-walled building is the most conspicuous in the village.
At this time, Mizoguchi Yushu, escorted by a group of Japanese soldiers, walked into the compound of Chai Youde's family.
The yard was quiet, and there was no sign of anyone, but Mizoguchi Yushu found some clues.
The main reason is that it was only one day before the Chai Youde brothers killed several Japanese in this yard. There is always a faint smell in this yard.
Mizoguchi Yushu, who was used to seeing murder and dead people, made a preliminary conclusion that people had died in this yard, and there were quite a few.
He frowned and looked at the people coming in and out. He searched the two courtyards inside and outside and the two-story building, but found nothing. He said: "Dig the underground of this courtyard."
It turned out that after he came in, he found that the ground under his feet was a little soft, and some stone slabs were even loose. There was also a fishy smell coming from under his feet, so he guessed that there might be a body buried under his feet.
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I would like to apologize to my book friends here. Lao Shan looked back at the previous content and found that Qiantan Village was written as Qianshui Village, Qiantang Village, Qiantang Village and other names. He had messed it up and was really ashamed. Now it is collectively called Qiantan Village. I have to find time to change the previous ones. I apologize to everyone again.
