Chapter 3028
It was getting dark, but a bonfire was blazing on the coast somewhere in the southeast of Phuket Island. Many young and strong men were gathering around the fire to eat meat and drink wine. From time to time, some people took advantage of the drunkenness and shouted loudly, but the languages used by these people were all kinds of, and they did not seem to be of the same race.
They are not residents of Phuket Island, but armed pirates who have been rampant in nearby waters recently. This place on Phuket Island is one of their temporary residences.
This place originally belonged to a group of indigenous islanders, but their livelihood was also pirates. The so-called companions were enemies. After they chose this place, they mercilessly cleared out the original owners, and also removed the shacks built by the indigenous people. Keep it all to yourself.
Shao Tianhu was standing under the eaves of one of the sheds at this time. He did not take the initiative to join in, but just watched his men drinking and having fun from a distance. This was not because he was pretending to be arrogant, but because he was waiting for telegram instructions from his superiors.
After leading his troops to leave the station at Badang Port, he had to ask the signal soldiers to turn on the radio at the agreed time every day, report the progress of the operation, and then receive the latest instructions from the Star Island Command.
After completing this fixed task that he had to clock in every day, he could settle down and enjoy the food and wine.
Objectively speaking, during this mission, the living conditions were of course far inferior to those at the Badong Port station, but fortunately, the material supply was sufficient, and at least they had no worries about food and drink.
When the first battalion led by Shao Tianhu was stationed in Phuket, two batches of supply ships had already arrived, bringing them a lot of supplies, including livestock such as pigs and sheep, and fine wine produced in Sanya.
For people like the mercenary group, having meat and wine is the most basic guarantee of combat effectiveness. As for the poor living conditions, it's not a big problem. Anyway, in their line of work, it's common for them to eat and sleep in the open.
The First Battalion has been playing pirates in the nearby waters for almost a month. According to the instructions Shao Tianhu received in Badong Port, it is almost time to end the operation. The instructions received a few days ago also confirmed this. The headquarters asked them to create traces of fighting in Penang and Langkawi Island, and then withdraw to Phuket Island to stand by.
According to the information provided by the headquarters, Shao Tianhu knew that Xingdao had sent troops, and its purpose was to wipe out the pirate gang he played. The purpose of creating traces of the battle was, of course, to show the outside world the results Haihan had achieved after sending troops.
The superiors strictly ordered Shao Tianhu to pay more attention to this link, so the day before yesterday they even burned and sank an old ship near Langkawi Island, and then reported the location to the headquarters via telegram. This ship was originally a supply ship for the First Battalion, and was used as a one-time prop. It can be said that a lot of money was spent.
However, such losses are no longer a big problem for the First Battalion. All personnel involved in this operation will be transferred out of the Star Island area after the operation, and they do not need to worry about missing a supply ship in the future. Many inconveniences.
The signal corps sent the telegram they had just received. After Shao Tianhu opened it and confirmed the content, he immediately set it on fire.
The telegram informed him that the army going north to "suppress bandits" would arrive in the waters of Phuket one day later. The first battalion immediately packed up and prepared to evacuate the next day.
Of course, before evacuating Phuket, the First Battalion still needs to leave some necessary evidence locally to prove that this place is one of the main pirate lairs. In this way, the Haihan Army will have sufficient reason to station troops here.
The next day, a few hours after the mercenaries evacuated Phuket, the Haihan Army's fleet appeared near the coast. Like several previous landing operations, Takahashi Minami was still one of the first batch of combatants to land on the island. However, this time is probably much simpler than the operations he participated in in the past. The area near the landing point has long been cleared by the mercenary group, so there is no need to worry about encountering any resistance.
After landing, there was no need to search. In front of them was the temporary station of the mercenary group on the island. All the evidence needed by the Haihan Army had been arranged in advance, and there was even a sailboat left on the beach as an indispensable trophy for the naval battle.
The soldiers who landed ashore quickly found "witnesses" in a nearby cave, which were dozens of indigenous pirates detained by the mercenary group. As for how to deal with these people, it depends on the needs of the Haihan Army.
"It's a pretty good job!" Although Takahashi Nan showed no expression on his face, he admired the mercenary group's performance in his heart.
Takahashi Nan really wanted to meet the commander of the mercenary group, but unfortunately he could not meet the Haihan Army and had already evacuated the place in advance. He made up his mind to inquire about the commander when he went back to meet Roger.
The area of Phuket Island is only slightly smaller than Star Island. In order to completely control this place, Haihan must station a certain size of troops. In addition to Qian Tiandun's special operations division, some troops from Annan will also be stationed here.
The temporary garrison left by the "pirates" on the coast is obviously not suitable for use as a garrison base. The troops will probably have to act as engineers to build military camps and port facilities here.
Two days later Roger arrived in Phuket with Lopez and Kaza. As with the previous process, they first took them to see the results achieved by the Haihan Army here. In addition to the large amount of stolen goods, weapons, and a sailboat destroyed near the coast, they finally met Haihan here. A group of pirates captured by the army.
Although Roger claimed that these prisoners were members of the pirate gang that had recently caused trouble in nearby waters, Lopez was still reluctant to accept it. It was really hard for him to imagine how these seemingly inconspicuous indigenous islanders built and operated those sailing ships to go out to sea to plunder.
"I'm sorry, Lord Roger, it's really hard for me to believe that just these guys can sink the British armed merchant ships at sea."
After much thought, Lopez still raised questions. According to the information he learned, the British sailing ship that was sunk last month was a large ship with a crew of hundreds of people, and it was equipped with at least six to eight artillery pieces. Ordinary pirates wouldn't even have a chance to get close to such a sailing ship, let alone sink it.
The ragged natives in front of them looked like they didn't even know how to use muskets. It would be too unrealistic for them to go out to sea to rob an armed merchant ship from Europe.
Roger had a prepared answer for this: "These prisoners are just minions. As far as we know from the interrogation, there are other people who organized and commanded them. However, they have not been arrested yet, and we are still continuing to hunt."
Lopez didn't believe what Roger said, but he didn't understand these indigenous languages, and he couldn't verify whether Roger's statement was credible at the moment.
(End of chapter)