Chapter 2992
When Zheng Agui woke up, he heard the chirping of evil birds coming from outside the house, and felt like he was back in Bangui's barracks. But even when he woke up soon, he found that although there were bitter birds where he was, it was about two thousand miles away from Bangui, and he wouldn't be able to go back for a while.
Although the Haihan Army has cleared out all the Spanish temporary settlements that can be found so far, there is no guarantee that no fish will slip through the net. Therefore, after the large forces evacuated, a small number of people remained in these settlements to prevent the Spaniards who were still hiding in the nearby mountains and forests from continuing to use this place.
Zheng Agui's company is one of the remaining troops. The place where they were stationed was a full two days' journey from Cebu City, and it was considered a relatively remote settlement. There were less than two hundred original residents here, and they were all escorted back to the city two days ago.
This settlement is not large in scale, but according to the prisoners, it has just been built and put into use not long ago, and the houses are all newly built wooden houses this year. In addition to residences, there are also sentry buildings, stables, warehouses and other facilities here.
The refugees fleeing the war here probably haven't had time to open up wasteland and grow food. The food piled in the warehouse is also all kinds of, some are packed in clay pots, some are packed in cloth bags, including corn, rice, soybeans, potatoes and so on. These grains must have been brought by each household on their own, and then the officials gathered them together for unified distribution, but now they have become military rations for the Haihan Army.
There is also a lake with an area of about thirty acres next to the settlement. Using the fishing nets and sampans left by the Spanish, a lot of fish and shrimps can be fished out of the lake every day, which is enough to supply the company's food needs.
The task of the remaining troops is very simple, which is to patrol the surrounding area with a radius of ten miles every day, centered here, to ensure that there are no more Spanish activities nearby.
The headquarters did not specify the deadline for this task. It may be ten days and a half, or it may last several months. In short, it depends on the direction of the situation. But for the troops left behind, this is actually a vacation in disguise.
Are there any Spanish activities around here? In fact, two or three patrols can help you get a general idea of the situation. Even if there are sporadic Spaniards rushing to the area, seeing that this place has become the headquarters of the Haihan Army, they will only hide far away and will never actively seek death.
Therefore, the daily patrols of the left-behind troops have become hunting activities, and the patrol tasks are carried out in turns by each platoon, which means that there is no need to be on duty every day. If you work for one day and have two days off, what is the difference between this and a holiday?
The only thing I'm a little unhappy about is probably that this place is too quiet. There is primeval dense forest within a ten-mile radius, and you can't find a place to spend money for entertainment.
Today it was Zheng Agui's team's turn to take on patrol duties. After breakfast, Zheng Agui set off with his men.
Zheng Agui's patrol direction today was a highland south of the station. The headquarters had designated it as a key area a few days ago. The reason was not that there were still Spanish hiding there, but because veins of copper ore were discovered there.
Although the copper mine is not yet ready to be mined, the command believes that it is necessary to take some measures to ensure the safety of this area.
In addition to guarding against the Spanish sabotage, Haihan also had to guard against the island's indigenous tribes declaring it their own territory. Although the fighting power of these natives is far from comparable to that of the Spaniards, if there is a dispute over land ownership, it will eventually cause trouble for future mining activities.
This was not the first time that Zheng Agui led a team to patrol this area. He led the team to the destination with ease, and confirmed that all the markers left here by the previous patrol team had not been damaged, and he felt relaxed. few.
Many deep holes have been dug into the ground nearby, and there are even shafts several feet deep. It is said that these are traces left by the ore samples that were mined earlier. There are also several cabins built by the Spaniards here, probably as residences for miners, but these facilities have been idle since the Haihan Army found this place.
Qin Bo asked: "Squad leader, when I was delivering things to the company headquarters a few days ago, I heard someone say that we went to Cebu just for this mine. Is this true?"
With Zheng Agui's level, he has no access to these inside information, and naturally he cannot give a definite answer: "You ask me, who should I ask? But having said that, if you want to open a mine here, you must not build a road to the sea. Okay? If such a large project is left to the Spanish, it will probably take ten or eight years to complete it. Only when the mine is put into our hands will it be fully utilized.”
While he was talking, a sharp whistle sounded. This was a signal from Qiu Yong, who was responsible for the lookout from a high place, indicating that unknown persons were approaching. Everyone quickly threw away the cigarette butts in their hands, grabbed their rifles and entered combat mode.
After a while, the alarm was cleared. Those who appeared nearby were not Spaniards or natives, but a naval patrol from the town of Toledo on the west coast.
"Aren't you taking time off from us to patrol?"
After the meeting between the two parties, Zheng Agui asked questions to the naval officer leading the team. According to the arrangements of the headquarters, Zheng Agui's patrol of the mining area is conducted every other day, and the naval patrol stationed in Toledo Town is responsible for this interval. Since the Army is on patrol today, it stands to reason that we won't encounter a Navy patrol here.
"The mission has changed." The other party replied calmly: "Yesterday, during our patrol, we found signs of Spanish activities. In order to confirm the situation, we will continue to perform the patrol mission today. We will continue to keep an eye on it here. If you are okay, you can come early. Go back and rest.”
But Zheng Agui got a taste of the other party's answer: "It's worth sending a special patrol here to stay here. I'm afraid what you found are not ordinary Spaniards, right?"
The naval officer just smiled but did not answer Zheng Agui's question.
When Zheng Agui saw this, he was even more sure that the other party was hiding something. The previous rhetoric was just to send him away, so he immediately ordered: "Since the brothers in the navy have discovered the enemy's situation here, it is our duty to stay and cooperate with each other."
Sure enough, the naval officer's expression became a little embarrassed, and it seemed that he did not welcome Zheng Agui and his team to stay and assist him.
Zheng Agui didn't care what the other party's reaction was, and immediately called his men to hide in a nearby vacant wooden house. Seeing that they refused to evacuate, the naval officer had no other choice but to lead his team into hiding in the forest.
Zheng Agui watched the naval patrol disappear in the forest and snorted: "I want to see what's weird here! Keep an eye on me and don't desert!"
(End of chapter)