Chapter 2993
Zheng Agui is actually not sure that there are still Spanish activities nearby. After all, the Haihan Army has occupied Cebu Island for half a month, and these hidden strongholds built in the mountains and forests have been wiped out, even if there are still some that have slipped through the net. The number of fish is definitely not large, and they are definitely far away from the areas where the Haihan Army is active. Logically speaking, they will not continue to appear within the patrol range.
But since the naval patrol accidentally let the news slip, they must not miss the opportunity to make meritorious deeds. At worst, I'll just wait here for a day or two and just try my luck.
I waited for several hours, and there was no sound at all except for the activities of birds and animals nearby.
Just when they were about to lose patience and prepare to evacuate this place, a target finally appeared in their sight.
The two Spaniards crept out of the woods and looked around for a while. After confirming that there was no risk, they slowly approached the mine.
It is worth noting that these two people are actually carrying a shovel each. Looking at this posture, is it possible that they came here specifically to dig?
They walked to a certain place in the mine, took a moment to confirm the location, and then started digging.
Although Zheng Agui was a little confused, he didn't want to waste any more time watching the show, so he ordered an arrest.
These two people were so focused on their work that they didn't even notice that they had fallen into the encirclement. They were captured by Zheng Agui and others without any precautions.
Zheng Agui was most concerned about the things they were secretly digging. When he got closer, he saw that a hole had been dug out on the ground, and several boxes could be vaguely buried in it. But it may take a while to dig it all out.
"I would have told them to dig a little longer!" Zheng Agui touched his chin, wondering whether he should let the two prisoners continue to finish the work.
While he was thinking about it, he heard Qin Bo remind him in a low voice: "Squad leader, the navy patrol is here again!"
The naval officer whom he had seen before greeted him from a distance: "Thank you brothers for your help in catching these two criminals for us!"
How could Zheng Agui not understand the meaning of the other party's words? He quickly waved his hands and said: "No, no, this is the person we caught. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to take credit like this?"
The officer said: "We have been monitoring these two criminals for a day and a night, waiting for them to dig up things. Now we are just a little slow in closing the net, allowing you to get ahead. But it doesn't matter, I will report what happened. I’ll give you some credit too!”
Zheng Agui said: "It's empty talk, what's the proof?"
The officer asked calmly: "Then do you know what they are digging here?"
Although Zheng Agui hadn't had time to check the results of the battle, he could actually guess a bit from the posture, so he boldly responded: "It must be something soft like gold, silver, etc."
The officer smiled and said: "You only guessed part of it. I might as well tell you that buried here is not only gold and silver, but also various official documents and secret letters from the Governor's Office in Cebu. If you don't believe it, you can wait to dig out the box. See it clearly. If I am right and you are wrong, then stop taking credit from us!”
"Wait a minute!" Zheng Agui saw that the other party was swearing, and he knew that this matter was probably what the other party said, but he was definitely not willing to miss out on a military merit, and had to find a way to try again. The officer asked calmly: "What else do you have to say?"
Zheng Agui said: "Since such an important thing is buried here, only a few high-ranking officials must know about it. I think these two people are vulgar in appearance, and they are very good at digging dirt. They are not high-class people at all. There must be someone behind the scenes when you come here to dig, why not seize the time to interrogate and let them lead the way, and let’s find out the mastermind together!”
This insight made the officer look at Zheng Agui with admiration: "You are very thoughtful! But have you ever thought that I know everything in the box, so how could I not think that there is someone behind them?"
"This..." Zheng Agui was speechless for a moment.
It was obvious that the other party had much more information than him. If he wanted to approach the situation from this angle, Zheng Agui had no advantage that could convince him.
However, the officer had no intention of taking advantage of the victory to chase away Zheng Agui and others. Instead, he said solemnly: "According to the combat regulations, I am now temporarily recruiting you and your subordinates to participate in the arrest operation under my command!"
This naval officer is a captain, while Zheng Agui is just a noncommissioned officer. The military ranks of the two parties are actually several levels different. Zheng Agui's previous words were not polite. That was because the two sides belonged to different military branches. Although the other party had a high military rank, it had no jurisdiction over Zheng Agui.
But temporary recruitment is different. According to the combat regulations of the Haihan Army, senior officers can recruit, organize, and command non-direct combatants during wartime. This can also be used across arms. This provision is mainly to facilitate the recruitment of combatants who have lost their organizational structure, or when multiple forces jointly perform certain emergency tasks and require temporary command authority with higher combat efficiency.
Of course, this situation is also applicable at the moment. The opponent is a company-level or even deputy battalion-level officer, but Zheng Agui is just a squad leader and has no right to refuse.
Moreover, participating in the follow-up operations is likely to mean receiving military honors, and Zheng Agui does not want to miss out on such goodwill.
The two sides immediately formally informed each other of their names, positions and units. Only then did Zheng Agui learn that the opponent was Xiao Zhengyang, the commander of the second company of the Marine Corps of the Fourth Detachment of the South China Sea Fleet.
And this young Captain Xiao also has another identity, that is, the second son of Xiao Liang, the commander of the Luzon Region garrison, and a proper general.
While Zheng Agui was speechless, he was also secretly glad that his previous attitude was not too bad. Otherwise, if he had angered the other party, he might have sent him to a remote island as an island guard.
The three boxes buried in the soil were quickly dug out by everyone. After opening them, the contents were indeed as Xiao Zhengyang said. Two of the boxes were filled with Spanish silver coins, while the other box was wrapped in oilcloth. Several large piles of documents.
It's just that most of these documents are written in Spanish, and even Xiao Zhengyang, let alone Zheng Agui, can't understand them.
Fortunately, there was a Spanish translator in Xiao Zhengyang's team. After reading it, he confirmed that these documents were indeed all kinds of official documents. Xiao Zhengyang ordered these boxes to be temporarily sealed and transported back to the naval camp in Toledo Town after the operation.
The next step was to interrogate the prisoners, but it didn't take much effort to get the confessions they needed. The two prisoners probably understood that the situation was over and that it was important to save their lives at the moment, so they did not make any struggle at all and truthfully told Xiao Zhengyang the information he wanted to know.
(End of chapter)