Early the next morning, the strong wind subsided and the sun rose as usual.
The air defense force camp slowly returned to life and noise. The officers and soldiers who were tortured by toxins and cold walked outside their tents to bask in the sun.
The young second lieutenant and Lieutenant Du who had scolded the Japanese spies the most last night were no exception. They found a place leeward, squatted on the ground with their armbands and started talking nonsense.
"Lao Du, are the planes at night controlled by the military? When did these spies have an air force? If they don't sleep at night, they are trying to catch spies in the sky."
The second lieutenant expressed his dissatisfaction with the military commander in a sarcastic tone. This was normal. He was poisoned and was restricted to the camp and could not leave. Anyone who encountered such a thing would be resentful.
In comparison, Lieutenant Du next to him was much more mature. He didn't say much to the military commander with a notorious reputation, but only made a professional guess about what happened last night.
He looked due south and said thoughtfully: "This should be simulating the flight path of Japanese aircraft. It seems that the people living in the Huangshan official residence are not simple.
First, we were sent to protect him, and after something happened, military special agents came to investigate. Maybe something happened to a big shot in the Junwei Association. This is a serious matter. "
"Big shot?"
The second lieutenant repeated it softly and said in disbelief: "Lao Du, you are saying that all of us and anti-aircraft guns are just to protect one person. This is... unlikely, right?"
Their unit is equipped with 20 76mm anti-aircraft guns purchased by Red Russia, priced as high as 400,000 U.S. dollars. With 40 spare barrels, the total price reaches 460,000 U.S. dollars.
This does not include the cost of shells, personnel training, etc. It sounds a bit incredible to spend so much money just to protect one person.
Lieutenant Du heard the other party's question and replied seriously: "Of course it is possible, otherwise the commander would not be so nervous, and no one would poison us."
It seemed that he was frightened by what he said. The second lieutenant opened his mouth but said nothing. The two chatted for a while, and they didn't get up until they heard the sound of putting food on the table.
Since all the original kitchen members had been killed, the military urgently transferred several chefs from other units to be responsible for the meals of the air defense force until the case was solved.
Perhaps because of conscience, or because they were afraid that the officers and soldiers would cause trouble, the logistics department of the Guo Army, which had always been stingy, became very generous this time, and the food level was improved by several levels.
In the morning there were meatless steamed buns with porridge and pickles, at noon it was rice and broth, and in the evening it was a hodgepodge of leftovers from breakfast and lunch.
Don't think this is bad, although according to the army food standards promulgated by the Ministry of Military Affairs before the war, each soldier of the Fruit Army could receive 22 taels of rice or 26 taels of flour per day.
At the same time, 4 taels of canned meat are provided for meat, 2 taels of dried vegetables and 2 taels of pickles are given for vegetables, and other condiments, such as salt and soy sauce, are given 4 taels and 3 taels respectively.
This is only the food situation during daily training. During the war, the food standards will be improved. For example, each person can receive 2 taels of soju and one tael of sugar per day.
If this standard is followed, the food of the fruit army will not be as good as the United States, which has a lot of fish and meat, or the United Kingdom, which has jam and fresh vegetables, but it will not be a problem to keep the soldiers full.
However, the actual situation is slightly different from the meal standards planned by the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs. In fact, even the direct troops of the Guo Army cannot enjoy the meals planned by the officials of the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs.
The reason is very simple. 10% of the funds come out from the Ministry of Finance and only 60% is left. Then the Ministry of Military and Political Affairs passes one hand, the war zone another hand, and the regiment army again.
The officers at all levels of the military division, brigade, and corps have repeatedly manipulated and deducted money like plucking feathers. When the funds for grassroots combat units are still 30%, it is a waste of money.
Even if the air defense force is an elite and technical unit, the food situation is a little better than that of ordinary troops, but it is still better than the above. After all, there is still vegetable soup to drink.
As for the local and miscellaneous troops who want to drink soup? Go ahead and drink the shabu-shabu water, or don’t dream. There is everything in the dream. Some troops are forced to have no choice but to survive in the wilderness.
They went into the water to catch fish, climbed trees to dig out bird eggs, and dug wild vegetables. They did everything they could to feed their stomachs. With such a level of logistics, it was surprising that the fruit army could defeat the Japanese.
Therefore, even though dozens of comrades were poisoned to death a few days ago, after the meal was served, the soldiers of the air defense force were still more active than the other, lining up with lunch boxes.
Of course, officers do not have to crowd with the big soldiers. Lower-level officers can jump in line. Senior officers have their own orderlies to serve. In addition to staple food and vegetable soup, the dishes are also made separately.
If they were in fixed barracks, officers would still have small stoves and small canteens, but now in field barracks, the conditions are simple and they can only aggrieve the elites of the Fruit Party.
The second lieutenant put his hands in his pockets and Lieutenant Du followed the flow of people towards the newly built kitchen. For some reason, there were so many people coming to receive meals today, and as they walked, the two of them were squeezed into the middle of the crowd.
"Damn it, what are you going to do..."
The young and energetic second lieutenant was hit several times and couldn't help but curse. But before he could finish speaking, four military agents in military uniforms rushed over.
However, the target of these people was not him, but Lieutenant Du next to him. Two of them kicked him, and the other two firmly grabbed each other's arms.
Lieutenant Du did not have time to react, and his body jumped forward and fell forward. As soon as he landed, he was pinned down by the attacker, and his hands and feet were instantly locked.
This sudden change stunned everyone. Anyone who dared to take action in the military camp was risking his life. The second lieutenant was the first to react and scolded him sharply.
"What are you doing? Release them quickly!"
"Da~da~"
Along with his shouting, a burst of footsteps slowly came from a distance. Under the protection of Gu Qi and a group of small agents, Zuo Zhong arrived at the arrest scene.
Looking at the indignant second lieutenant, Zuo Zhong said with a cold tone: "The military commander is doing something, if you don't want to die, get out of here. This is our certificate, don't make any mistakes!"
After saying that, he took a certificate from Gu Qi and threw it to the other party. His speech and behavior were full of arrogance. The officers and soldiers on the side dared not speak in anger when they saw this, so they could only stare angrily.
On the other hand, the second lieutenant stared closely at the certificate that was flying towards him. He subconsciously took his hands out of his trouser pockets and stretched them into the air. The next second, he felt a strong wind blowing behind his head.
"Bang~"
A fist hit the pillow of his head hard, and the nerve center responsible for breathing and heartbeat was hit hard immediately. The second lieutenant felt his vision go dark before he was knocked down.
Then several hands quickly groped his body and pinched his mouth open, tearing off his collar along the way. When they searched the pockets of his pants, someone shouted.
"Report to the deputy seat, there is indeed a weapon, and there is no poison on the teeth."
While reporting, Gui Youguang slowly took his hand out of the target's trouser pocket, and a White Browning pistol with the hammer cocked suddenly appeared in front of everyone's eyes.
"Let me go, let me go!"
"Brothers, the military commander bullies people, fight them."
"I'm a soldier, there's nothing wrong with carrying a gun with me."
The second lieutenant was struggling desperately and shouted, trying to incite a conflict. Some officers and soldiers who did not know the truth saw that one of their own people had been arrested, and they pointed at the spies and demanded their release.
Facing the imminent situation, Gui Youguang carefully reset the hammer, removed the magazine, pulled the slide, and a bullet jumped out of the magazine and fell to the ground.
"Ding Dong~"
A clear crash sounded. Although the sound was not loud, it was like a heavy hammer hitting everyone's heart, and the roaring noise was stopped.
The members of the air defense force present, including Lieutenant Du, who had been released by the agents, stopped making noises and looked at the second lieutenant with eyes full of surprise.
In non-combat conditions, it's not strange for the opponent to carry a pistol with him. What's strange is why he would carry a loaded gun. Aren't you afraid of accidentally misfiring it?
In the military, there are countless accidents involving casualties due to fire accidents. As officers and veterans, the other party should know that doing so is irresponsible to themselves and their colleagues.
But the other party still did it, so what was the purpose? There was no need for self-defense in the military camp, and there were no enemies. Poisoning was a non-war crime. Could it be...
There are no real fools in this world. The officers and soldiers watching seemed to have guessed something. They all looked at their former comrades with complicated expressions or angrily.
The young second lieutenant was still squeezing his neck and asking for help from his companions, but he didn't notice that the situation had changed until he found that the only sound left at the scene was his own shouting.
At this time, the golden bullet rolled down the slope to Zuo Zhong's feet. He bent down, picked it up, put it in front of his eyes and admired it for a while, then looked down at the second lieutenant and chuckled.
"Your name is Xin Lisheng, right? Maybe you don't know the rules of the military yet, so let me tell you, we won't arrest anyone unless we are completely sure.
Similarly, as long as we suspect a person, we can arrest him, regardless of whether there is evidence or not. This is a privilege granted to the military commander by the National Government and the Military Council.
I advise you to stop wasting your efforts and tell your identity honestly. Of course, you can also wait until we bring your family to the mountain city.
But when the time comes, it’s hard to say how many of your gray-haired old parents and loving brothers and sisters will survive. Think about it carefully. "
Zuo Zhong told the other party the consequences of stubborn resistance and waved his hand. The little agent immediately cleared a passage and formed two teams holding hands to separate the crowd.
Gui Youguang immediately led someone to carry the pale-faced Xin Lisheng out of the camp. The case involved high-level officials and could not be tried in public.
After his men walked away, Zuo Zhong glanced around, his eyes resting on the expressionless Lieutenant Du for a moment, then turned around and told Gu Qi to go away.
The officers and soldiers who witnessed all this did not know what to say. After a long time, a non-commissioned officer spat in the distance, then three, five, and more and more soldiers expressed their hatred for the traitors.
Ironically, their actions were exactly the same as what Xin Lisheng did last night, except that the object of rejection was himself instead of a spy.
Lieutenant Du was also in the crowd at this moment. When he found out that his comrade with whom Tingshi had a good relationship had become a spy, he turned around and squeezed out of the crowd without saying a word.
When he passed by the soldiers who came after hearing the news, he wiped the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief and hid it in the palm of his hand and slowly unfolded it. Half of his bloody tongue lay in the handkerchief.
But contrary to such a shocking sight, even though the pain hit him in waves and his body trembled slightly, he still had a smile on his face, as if nothing had happened.
(End of chapter)
