Chapter 1248: Turn over and become the master
When the coalition forces went south to attack the Xingdao base, they wanted to use sneak attack tactics to achieve a quick victory. As long as they could quickly capture Haihan's villages and strongholds, there would naturally be a large amount of supplies available. Therefore, in order to implement the tactics of rapid marching and light equipment, the rations carried by the troops at that time were relatively limited, only enough for two or three days. The generals believed that even if the war did not go well, the subsequent food shipped from the northern landing point on the island could meet short-term supply needs, and they seriously underestimated the military risks faced by this supply line. After two consecutive days of setbacks in the battle, the troops were dispersed, and the logistics base was captured by the enemy, the fatal supply problem was immediately exposed.
Many soldiers only carry enough dry food to sustain their consumption for one more day. After that, they may have to rely on picking wild fruits and hunting to supplement their food, but the Haihan pursuers behind them probably will not leave them such free time. Soon they will be on the run and starving.
Hogg and Bapen don't have to worry about food shortages for the time being. They even brought a special cook with them during the expedition, and the food they brought was enough to last them a few more days. However, the most likely problem at this time is not to worry about scarcity but to worry about inequality. If the officers have enough to eat but the soldiers are hungry, mutiny will easily occur under the pressure of the external environment. But before the senior military officers could discuss a reasonable food rationing plan, the Haihan Army had already reached the outskirts of their temporary camp and engaged the vigilant sentries.
Taking up the fight is undoubtedly asking for death. According to yesterday's experience, more Haihan troops will soon flock here upon hearing the news. Therefore, the coalition forces immediately fight and retreat, just to get out of the battle as soon as possible. Then they suddenly discovered that the Haihan Army was not only pursuing from the east, but also a large group of enemy troops appeared in the south. To the north is the Strait of Johor. Under the pressure of Haihan firepower, the only way out for the coalition forces is to flee westward.
All the way to the west, there is also the coastline a few miles away. The space left for the coalition forces to escape has been squeezed into a small area by the pursuers. The southwest corner of Star Island is dominated by swamp terrain, and it is extremely inconvenient to trek through it. Therefore, when both warring parties considered possible landing sites, they did not include this area at all. The coalition generals never thought that one day they would be forced to step into this quagmire.
Haihan's pursuit stopped at the edge of the swamp area and did not pursue further. Although no one can drown in this swamp, there is no need to continue to hold on unprepared. As long as the southeast two directions are blocked, and then the fleet is transferred to block the Johor Strait, the enemy will naturally be unable to fly. There were not even a few dry firewood to be found in the swamp, and there were very few things for the large group of people to eat. Even if they hid in there, they wouldn't be able to survive for a few days.
After Roger and Mu Xiabai deployed their encirclement fronts, they finally met at the edge of the swamp. The last time these two met was last year. After a few brief greetings, the two quickly got to the point and briefly communicated about the deployment of the encirclement and the subsequent battle plan. They estimate that it will take at least four to five days to completely clear out the enemy forces on the island. Fortunately, the Johor Army still has a large amount of food supplies piled on the nearby coast. They can deal with them nearby in the past few days without having to travel long distances from the south of the island. The base sent food over.
"The battle is over, what are you going to do next?" Mu Xiabai asked curiously.
Roger had already planned for this, and responded without thinking: "Then we have to pay a huge sum of money! The British we captured, as well as the senior officers in Johor, should be able to get a large amount of ransom money." . If they are not willing to pay to redeem them, they can stay on the island as slaves. We are also in a long-term labor shortage, and these people should be of some use."
"Then do you plan to resolve this matter privately or publicize it publicly?" Mu Xiabai continued to ask.
"I don't think there is any need to save face for the British. The Dutch and Portuguese should be happy to see their jokes." Roger said eloquently: "Expelling the enemy invaders and promoting our country's prestige is a matter of giving ourselves face." , Besides, Xingdao can also use this record to increase its presence. Maybe the number of immigrants allocated to the next batch will be larger. By the way, Lao Mu, you have many news channels. Go back and help me get some. Light the fire and help spread the word.”
Mu Xiabai agreed casually. The Amborna Island he was in charge of had a special status in the South China Sea, and the news channels were more reliable than folk rumors. If he spread the news, it would also make the countries in the South China Sea more convinced of the war. The result of victory or defeat.
The enemy army collapsed faster than they expected. After surrounding the enemy army in the swamp for about two hours, enemy soldiers began to surrender one after another. There was no other reason. These people had no dry food on them, and the Haihan Army outside the swamp had been holding tin trumpets and loudly preaching "Disarm without killing" in multiple languages. Some soldiers who did not want to continue fighting chose to surrender.
"At this rate, it shouldn't take more than four or five days, at most two or three days, to return home." Looking at the bundles of bundled prisoners of war, Mu Xiabai couldn't help but sigh.
"It's better to settle it as soon as possible, so as not to affect the construction and development of the island." Roger responded casually.
Mu Xiabai said: "You never thought about beating Johor again?"
"I've thought about it!" Roger immediately admitted: "Of course I also thought about taking advantage of the situation to counterattack Johor, but then I thought about it, it doesn't make much sense. We have too few troops and can't control too much territory. Even if we capture a few We can’t even occupy the city. Let’s finish the Star Island first!”
Roger's ideas are undoubtedly very pragmatic. It is not difficult for Haihan to attack a country like Johor, but if the purpose is not clear, winning such a battle will not have much practical significance. Judging from the current situation of Haihan, there is no lack of land resources. On the contrary, the population is far from keeping up with the needs of national development. It is difficult to significantly promote national strength by occupying more land. Let's not talk about the distance. Just the enemy troops who invaded Star Island still need to be resettled after they are captured. It is not easy to suddenly have one or two thousand people on the island who need to be strictly managed. You must know that the island now has a total population of less than 3,000 including the garrison. Suddenly there are so many prisoners, turning the good Star Island into a large prison. There is a lot of work that needs to be done in the meantime. It is not just about setting up a hard labor force. A problem that can be completely solved by just one camp.
Tan Juren is currently directing the operation of the hard labor camp in the south of the island, but it is his police chief Han Zhengshan who is responsible for the specific work. Although Tan Juren had received relevant training courses before coming to Xingdao, he was not as familiar with the operation of this hard labor camp as Han Zhengshan. Han Zhengshan has a unique advantage in this field that others cannot copy, that is, he once spent a period of time in a hard labor camp as a prisoner of war. Han Zhengshan had personal experience of the daily operations of the hard labor camps and what kind of management measures could make the prisoners obedient. This was an "advantage" that Tan Juren, who had only received management training, could not match.
Of course, Han Zhengshan was also dumbfounded by the errand he was receiving now. When he left the hard labor camp, he secretly swore that he would never step into a place like this again, but he didn't expect that this oath would not matter at all. Within a few months, he entered the hard labor camp again. But fortunately, he no longer enters the camp as a prisoner, but as a real manager, and his superiors give him great autonomy. He can even kill the prisoners here and make decisions by himself, without even the reporting process. . This is much greater than the power he had when he was the head catcher in Hangzhou.
Han Zhengshan is not a soft-hearted person. He also understands that most of the prisoners held in places like hard labor camps are not honest people. What's more, the newly built hard labor camps are all prisoners of war. These people are genuine enemies of the enemy. Soldiers, their best skill is probably killing people, and they belong to the same army, so their danger is much higher than that of prisoners in ordinary hard labor camps. The only way to subjugate these people is a more stringent management system and punishment mechanism than the military camp.
The reality was not beyond his expectation. There were indeed some thorns among the prisoners of war who had just been brought in. Not only did they not obey orders to work, they also tried to incite other prisoners of war to join forces to resist. Han Zhengshan was not in a hurry to stop them. He calmly identified the troublemakers from a distance and then ordered them to enter the hard labor camp.
It would definitely not be possible for Han Zhengshan's few policemen to manage a forced labor camp of this size, so Tan Juren handed over to him an army platoon left behind to assist Han Zhengshan in managing these prisoners of war. The men he recruited into the hard labor camps were all soldiers with guns and live ammunition.
Based on his own observations, Han Zhengshan directed the soldiers to pick out three troublemakers from the crowd and dragged them away without waiting for them to understand the situation. After escorting the three men out of the hard labor camp, Han Zhengshan asked the soldiers to hold the three men down on their knees in the field, while he slowly took out the revolver from his waist.
His boss, Tan Juren, had already made it very clear to him about the idea of killing one person to serve as a warning to others. According to Han Zhengshan's personal experience, the sooner this kind of thing is done, the better the effect. Use examples to set a standard for these prisoners on what can be said and what can be done. However, in the past, he usually let the cell boss or jailer do this kind of thing, and he rarely brought people directly to death. Even if he wanted to do it to this extent, he would definitely not do it himself.
But Star Island is very different from the environment he stayed in before. No one among his current subordinates can handle this kind of errand for him, and his boss probably prefers that he do it himself so that he can better establish Give the peace officer the prestige he deserves.
Han Zhengshan had killed people while arresting prisoners before when he was a head catcher, but he had absolutely zero experience in executing prisoners in public. Moreover, this revolver is still a relatively unfamiliar weapon to him. He did not expect that the first time it was used would be to execute prisoners. The three prisoners didn't know that they were about to expire, but they were still muttering and complaining in a language that Han Zhengshan couldn't understand, which made people feel quite irritated.
Han Zhengshan suddenly remembered that after he took office, Tan Juren once said to him that after becoming a peace officer, he would be the master of his own family from now on. Since he is now the master, he naturally has to show some skills to prove his ability. These troublesome prisoners of war can be regarded as the sacrifices he will use to sacrifice the flag after he takes office.
Thinking of this, Han Zhengshan no longer hesitated, steadily reached out his hand, and pulled the trigger on the back of the first prisoner's head. The bullet fired at close range entered his head, and the prisoner fell down before he could even grunt. The other two were shocked and tried to struggle, but their arms and shoulders were firmly locked by the soldiers on both sides behind them, making them unable to move at all. Han Zhengshan moved over and killed each of them with one shot. He waited quietly for the smoke from the gun to dissipate before inserting it back into the cowhide holster on his waist.
After checking the conditions of the three prisoners, the soldiers confirmed the death results to Han Zhengshan. Then a group of people carried the three corpses into the hard labor camp and showed them to the prisoners. In fact, the place where they were executed just now was also within the sight of the prisoners. I believe most of the prisoners could see the entire execution process clearly, so when they returned here now, hundreds of prisoners were silent and silent. .
Han Zhengshan took the tin trumpet from the side and shouted to these prisoners of war: "Remember that you are prisoners of war. If you don't follow the arrangements, you will die! Those who make trouble, die! Those who escape, die!"
After finishing speaking, he handed the tin trumpet to the interpreter next to him and asked him to repeat it in a language that these Johor prisoners of war could understand. Then he ordered the bodies to be taken away for burial, and others continued to work.
After Han Zhengshan ruthlessly staged a show of killing chickens to scare monkeys, the labor order was greatly improved. The prisoners of war were not sure how low Haihan's standards for executing them were, so they could only work hard to avoid being randomly accused of it. He was dragged out and killed. And what Han Zhengshan wants is this kind of obedience. After allocating labor tasks and implementing the labor points system, the corresponding pressure will be reduced a lot
However, after killing three people in one go, Han Zhengshan still felt a little uneasy. On the one hand, it was due to the nervousness after killing people with his own hands. On the other hand, he was worried that his actions would be too big, and his boss Tan Juren would I don’t think this move is too harsh.
Tan Juren did not witness Han Zhengshan's handling of the matter, but after hearing the report, he sent someone to send a message to Han Zhengshan, telling him to do his job well and not have too many scruples. This can be regarded as a reassurance for Han Zhengshan, so that his subordinates will not be hesitant, which will affect normal decision-making. Next, a large number of prisoners of war will be escorted back one after another. If the rules of this hard labor camp are not established quickly, the more prisoners there are, the harder it will be to deal with them.
(End of chapter)