Chapter 18 Interrogation of Prisoners
The news that the pirates had been repulsed spread in Lake Town, and residents took to the streets to celebrate in the central square of the town.
The next day, the count ordered a victory parade. The troops formed a square formation in company units and marched into the square along the street. A temporary review stand was set up due north of the square. Paul and Schroeder , Bryce and a group of senior officers reviewed the troops above.
The troops under review walked towards the reviewing stand from west to east. When passing the reviewing stand, the phalanx immediately changed to marching forward in accordance with the orders of their respective officers. The young men held their heads high and chests high, His face was filled with pride yet seriousness.
The onlookers exclaimed, followed by waves of applause and cheers. The old knights on the reviewing stand also nodded secretly. This peculiar way of marching is really impressive. A kind of indomitable momentum, the discipline and quality of the troops are fully reflected. Even the troops he served before could not achieve this level without long-term training.
After the troops were reviewed, they were followed by the pirates captured in this battle. Different from the flowers and applause just now, they were greeted with rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves. Because of them, the residents of Huxin Town were The life was extremely miserable. Not only were the people who went out of the town to work in the fields wary, but even the fishermen did not dare to go too far from the shore when going to the lake to fish.
In view of the great significance of this victory, on the afternoon of the day when the pirates were defeated, Paul and a group of senior officers suddenly formulated a temporary reward and pension system, and announced it during the military parade:
All those who were awarded temporary military ranks were promoted to regular ranks, and based on their performance in this battle, those who died in the battle were awarded first-class merit, those who were seriously injured were awarded second-class merit, and nearly a hundred others with outstanding performance were awarded third-class merit. According to the level of merit, different material and monetary rewards are given.
For those who sacrificed their lives in combat or were seriously injured and disabled and lost the ability to work, their families can go to the Lord's Mansion to receive a sum of 5 Aldo gold coins or other equivalent currencies. For civilian families in the Northwest Bay area I mean, this is quite a lot of money.
……
"You bunch of noble sons of bitches..." The bearded man had his hands tied behind his back. He was struggling hard and cursing as he was taken into the hall. Two soldiers worked together to knock him down to the ground.
"So, you are the 'great' Quaker I?" Paul looked at the dissatisfied pirate leader with interest. In the previous battle, the bearded man was trampled unconscious by his retreating men. I'm stunned, I'm stunned, I'm stunned... When I think of this, I feel like a great revenge has been avenged.
"It's your grandpa..."
"Let him speak more clearly."
The sound of slaps sounded in the hall, and a soldier fired his bow left and right. Kung Fu Quick's cheeks bulged high.
"You...you..." The pirate leader's curses gradually trailed off.
"Tell me all the information you know honestly. How many people are there? How many things have you stolen? Where are the other pirates?"
"Kill...hiss...me He won't reveal...hiss...even a little bit." Quake's nose was bruised and his face was swollen, and he couldn't even speak clearly.
"The bones are very hard. Is there any way you can pry open his mouth?"
Everyone participating in the interrogation brainstormed and came up with ways to punish the person, so the fun continued in the hall. staged here.
First, he used whips and sticks, and then the tiger bench, pepper water, and waterboarding. He gave Quick a good meal. What? Still not speaking? Since the hard one was not enough, he used the soft one, scratching the creaks and soles of the feet, and used a series of damaging tricks on Quick.
"Uh! Ah! Uh...haha...haha...ah...oh!!! Hahaha!!!"
The soft and the hard take turns, the bearded Quick Sometimes he is thrown into heaven, and sometimes he is thrown into hell.
"I'll move...I'll move..." After being tossed for a long time, Quick finally let go.
“It’s true that if you don’t eat the toast, you’ll have to drink the wine as a penalty. If you had spoken earlier, it would have been fine.” The little earl laughed eerily like a villain in a movie.
"Soldier, continue to interrogate other prisoners in the prison. Have you memorized the torture methods just now? Look at the tough talk of their boss, or the tough talk of these gangsters."
"Yes! Lord Earl." Two people. A soldier gave the just-implemented hand-raising salute, geared up, and went out with excitement on his face. After Paul laughed strangely for a while, he slowly said to Quik: "Then, the great Lord Quik I, tell me everything you know. If there is any conflict with what your men said, we Lake Xinzhen has always been hospitable, and you will receive even more wonderful 'hospitality'."
The bearded pirate lying on the ground trembled after hearing this.
……
After synthesizing all the pirates' confessions, Huxin Town finally figured out the enemy's situation.
There are three groups of pirates who invaded this time.
The first group is the Quaker Gang who just made a big mistake in Lake Town.
The second group is the Shark Gang. The leader of this group of pirates is named Shark. It is this group of pirates who ambushed old Paul.
The third group is the "Loach" Garden Gang who have just landed. They are the suspicious gang in this battle. After seeing the Quaker Gang overturned collectively, they quietly rubbed oil on their soles. Yes, he really deserves the nickname "Loach".
The Shark Gang came ashore first. After robbing the coast, they were lucky enough to defeat the old Graiman who came to conquer them. When they learned that there was only one kid left in the Graiman family, their arrogance became even more arrogant. They rose up and directly occupied the small seaport town of Fulan, and forced local residents to build fortifications, intending to occupy it for a long time.
After the Quaker Gang came ashore, the coastal area had already been robbed by the Shark Gang, so they headed inland. After plundering some villages and towns, they decided to go straight to the center of the lake for the big ones. It came from town, and then it overturned.
As for the "Loach" Garden Gang who came ashore in the third wave, Quick had just joined them and didn't know much about them.
But what worries everyone in Lake Town is that although these three pirates are just small gangs, they are jointly affiliated with another powerful force - the giant maritime pirate who roams the North Sea: Walker Edward.
Twenty years ago, Walker Edward suddenly rose to prominence and gradually annexed the large and small pirate gangs on the North Sea. The twisted pirates gave the lords of the Northwest Bay a headache, and they united to try to destroy Edward. .
But the process didn't go well. The pirates moved up and down the water, using guerrilla tactics and erratic tactics. As soon as the noble coalition retreated, they would attack ashore, and as soon as the main force of the coalition arrived, they would retreat back to the sea.
The nobles tried to build ships and go to sea to annihilate them, but the newly formed fleet was really no match for these veteran seafarers, and they failed repeatedly.
In the end, the nobles couldn't bear it anymore, and the two parties negotiated. The lords paid a large sum of money, which was regarded as a protection fee, and set aside a piece of land along the coast (including part of the Paul family's territory) , allowing the pirates to come for "supply" every few months, while Edward has to restrain his pirate gangs from going too far inland, and from entering the capitals of each territory and its surrounding areas.
In this way, the lords and the pirates "lived in peace" for twenty years, while the "supply ground" along the coast endured the double exploitation of the nobles and pirates.
When Quick explained this, the earl threw the water glass he just picked up angrily, "These son-of-a-bitch nobles!!!" A curse word exactly the same as Quick's just now. Break out. Not only Quik, who was kneeling in the hall, was startled after hearing this, but other people involved in the interrogation also looked at each other.
The butler whispered in Paul's ear: "Ahem... Sir, please be careful what you say. Your grandfather was also involved in the negotiations at that time. At that time, most of the lords of the Northwest Bay agreed, including a few including Graiman. Although several people were dissatisfied, it didn't make any difference at all, so they had no choice but to agree."
Paul asked coldly: "Oh, so, if the pirates hadn't crossed the border this time, wouldn't you have done the same? Just continue to be out of sight and out of mind?”
Everyone in the hall bowed their heads and remained silent for a while, only to hear a sigh from the old knight Schroeder...
( End of chapter)