Chapter 3001
The only good thing was that the battalion commander immediately announced that a group of prisoners of war would be assigned to work as coolies on the dock construction site. It was said that the number was more than 1,500 people. If this news is true, the labor intensity required by Bangui Camp will be greatly reduced.
As for how low it can be reduced, it depends on how many prisoners of war the battalion commander can win from his superiors.
The hard labor camp on Mactan Island opposite Cebu Port is already overcrowded. It is said that there are more than 3,000 prisoners of war detained there. The official will obviously not let these people stay in the hard labor camp to eat free food.
"The construction period given by the division headquarters is only one hundred days." The battalion commander emphasized in a deep voice: "At that time, these coolies will be transferred to work as miners. If the dock is not completed on time, we will have to do the rest of the work ourselves. Let’s do it! If you don’t want to get to that point, supervise the work these few months and don’t let these coolies be lazy!”
The reason is simple. If you don't want to suffer hardship, then you have to let the prisoner-of-war coolies do as much work as possible. Regarding this point, the people present did not have any doubts and reached a tacit agreement.
Apart from this, the rest are basically daily affairs in the military. Let me emphasize the military discipline requirements during the stationing period, which is basically a commonplace.
After the meeting, Zheng Agui was about to leave, but was stopped by the battalion commander. It turned out that the division headquarters had issued a formal appointment, promoted his rank to second lieutenant, and issued a new rank epaulette.
The battalion commander personally put on his new epaulettes and told him: "Commander Yu said that after the Spring Festival next year, he will arrange for you to go to the military academy in Manila for further training. You boy, do your best and don't let the big shots down! ”
Zheng Agui quickly raised his chest and raised his head and simply agreed. It seems that the superiors have not forgotten their arrangements. After waiting for so many days, they finally have a clue.
That's not all the good news. The Battle of Cebu and the armistice treaty signed after the war were of great strategic significance to Hainan, so the Ministry of National Defense specially rushed to produce a batch of commemorative medals for the participating troops and sent a speedboat directly from Hainan Island to Cebu.
The commemorative medal is made of die-cast copper and is heavy and heavy. In the center of the small medal is a long and narrow outline of Cebu Island, surrounded by small words "Battle of Cebu Island Commemorative Medal". There is a pin on the back of the medal for easy display on clothing.
Because this commemorative medal was produced in large quantities and everyone participating in the war had a share, there was no awarding ceremony. Officers at all levels organized and distributed the medals themselves after receiving them from division headquarters, battalion headquarters, and company headquarters.
However, the military medals related to this war are still going through the approval process of the Ministry of National Defense and will not be issued for a while. People like Zheng Agui who are determined to get military medals can only continue to wait patiently.
Along with the commemorative medals, there is also a special combat bonus as an economic reward for those who participated in the war. Although it is not a big amount, it should be enough for the soldiers to spend a while in Cebu.
It was only when Zheng Agui and his brothers left the camp and planned to go to the city to spend some money that they discovered that the situation was not what they expected.
Although there are still many people in Cebu City, almost all the shops originally run by Spaniards have closed down. The reason is of course very simple. Most of the Spaniards either died on the battlefield, or were locked up in hard labor camps at this time, and could no longer continue to operate their businesses.
Most of the businesses still operating in urban areas today are shops and vendors licensed by the Haihan Army and closely related to people's livelihood. For example, rice stores selling grains, oils and sauces, grocery stores selling daily necessities, firewood sellers, fruits, vegetables and seafood, these small businesses can basically still operate normally.
But those taverns, restaurants, and sensual places were all controlled by the Spaniards in the past. Now these places are gone, and there are no good places to spend money in the city.
"Why don't you buy some ingredients and some wine, and then go back and cook it yourself?" "How about that? There are so many people watching at the camp, and there will be a long line of people coming to take advantage!"
"Even if we want to do it, we don't have cooking utensils! We have to borrow a kitchen from the cooking class, which is very troublesome!"
"Hey, brothers, stop arguing...look over there, it looks like the gendarmerie!"
While everyone was busy discussing alternative plans, someone noticed that the gendarmerie wearing armbands appeared on a street corner not far away, and they suddenly became quiet.
"Looks like someone is going to be in trouble!" Zheng Agui muttered, but didn't move his feet. He planned to take a look at the excitement before talking.
Seeing that Zheng Agui did not move, everyone naturally stood still and waited to see what the military police would do.
As the law enforcement agency of the Haihan Army, the Military Police has great authority. In addition to maintaining military discipline in the camp, it also has the responsibility of arresting those who violate military law.
Usually it is not a trivial matter for the gendarmerie to leave the camp to perform tasks. The group of gendarmerie on the street corner has at least ten or twenty people. For its limited establishment, it is considered a large-scale dispatch.
Not long after, I saw the military police escorting several people out from the houses on the corner of the street. As expected, they were all Haihan soldiers in military uniforms.
Zheng Agui saw that the arrested people were all walking in a hurry, so he thought they were probably drunk and causing trouble. There are still several battalions of troops stationed near Cebu City. After the armistice, it is inevitable that such a situation will occur.
After those people were taken away, Zheng Agui went over to ask the military police who were responsible for the aftermath. Seeing that his military rank was second lieutenant, the military police did not dare to neglect him, so they briefly explained the situation.
Zheng Agui's prediction was correct. The people arrested by the military police were indeed drunk and causing trouble. However, they made too much noise and got into fights with the people, killing two of them on the spot.
"If you cause trouble after drinking, you can avoid the death penalty, but you can't escape the punishment of living." The military policeman who talked with Zheng Agui made an assessment without hesitation.
As an occupying force, beating someone to death in Cebu is not a serious crime. If you admit your mistake with a good attitude, the military has many ways to exonerate the person involved. But making trouble while drunk is a violation of military discipline. If the trouble cannot be ended, the military police must be dispatched to deal with it, and you will have to bear the corresponding consequences.
Zheng Agui curiously asked about the unit to which the perpetrator belonged, and sure enough, he was from the Subic Battalion.
This unit, which is composed mainly of indigenous soldiers, has performed poorly several times in previous battles and has even been criticized. It seems that the previous setbacks did not make the people in Subic Camp sober, and they were still causing trouble after the war.
Although this matter had nothing to do with Zheng Agui and his party, if something like this happened, the gendarmerie would definitely strengthen patrols in the city. Now everyone was not in the mood to have fun in the city anymore, so they could only go back home in low spirits.
(End of chapter)