afterglow

Chapter 164 Pretending?Keep pretending?

Sometimes the division of troops is a helpless move, such as the battle of Sarhu, but sometimes it is necessary to divide the troops.

Zhou Changfeng divided the six teams of the first battalion and the second battalion under his command into twelve "sweeping teams" equivalent to strengthened platoons; while the three teams of the third battalion stood still, and only after confirming the traces of the bandits would they get their turn attack.

The soldiers were divided into twelve groups, and the sweeping width of the Marine Regiment was as high as fifty miles. Each sweeping unit was separated by four miles, and they tried to advance in unison, so as not to leave opportunities for the cunning and stubborn bandits.

The dense trees in the deep mountains and old forests will affect the radio signal, so the voice communication distance of the trial-produced 3-type radio talker has dropped from 2㎞ to about [-]㎞, which is why the distance between each team is four miles.

Six of the teams have additionally strengthened a dog team to enhance the search capability as much as possible.

It is now February of the lunar calendar and early March of the Gregorian calendar. In mid-spring, the temperature in the mountains of western Hubei is still low, and the humidity in many places is very heavy.

The officers and soldiers trudged through it with one foot deep and one foot shallow. It took only a moment for their boots, socks, and clothes to be soaked with dew, and they were all wet and uncomfortable.

The frequent occurrence of snakes and insects made everyone miserable. In just half a day, nine of the twelve teams were bitten by poisonous snakes.

"Ah! Grass! Damn it! There's a snake!"

A short and stout soldier shouted while clutching his left hand. Everyone followed the sound and saw a snake spit out a letter in the grass next to it.

Flat round head, circles of white patterns... Is this Coral Snake? !
What could be more unlucky than being bitten by a frightened coral snake while burrowing through the undergrowth?

"Medical soldier! Someone was bitten by a snake!" Someone shouted sharply.

Without saying a word, the medical soldiers who rushed over directly took out the tourniquet from the first aid kit they carried with them, and stabbed the soldier's upper limbs to death.

Then he took out a small aluminum cylinder that looked like the second half of a syringe, and put it directly on the two small wounds of the snake bite, and then pulled the piston head hard.

The soldier screamed in pain, because it was not transparent, and everyone couldn't see what was going on inside. In fact, the small piece of skin was sucked out by the huge pressure difference.

The venom was sucked out, the wound was rinsed, and the snake bite pills were taken, and the hapless soldier was sent to the rear; if the situation worsened, he might have to be sent to Yiling State Hospital for injection of antivenom.

This kind of situation happened in several teams. The ubiquitous snakes and insects made the officers and soldiers of the whole regiment very helpless, so they had to be careful, careful, and careful.

Even more unbearable are molluscs such as... leeches.

Sometimes after getting through the bushes, a few leeches hang on the body. This gray-black or brown, finger-thin thing is adsorbed on the skin and sucks blood; There is no pain and abnormality.

Just imagine how horrifying it would be to have a few of these molluscs hanging from your arms, calves, and neck, sucking blood constantly. Some soldiers who grew up in the city were trembling with nausea.

Faced with many difficulties and obstructions, the twelve teams struggled to search and move forward in the mountains.

In the evening, the damp and wet people spent the night in the mountains. They gathered around the campfire to dry their clothes and check each other shirtless.

The soldiers who grew up in the city did not dare to touch them, so they had to ask others to help them.

The soldiers from the countryside were not afraid, they grabbed the leeches hanging on their bodies carelessly, and then threw them into the campfire, and then they could hear a "beep".

The search operation continued the next morning.

Although it was difficult to distinguish the sun in the dense forest, it was estimated that it was about three poles high when the leading group of the fourth sweeping team encountered two young men dressed as mountain people.

They were led into the procession.

"Sir, these two people are sneaky, they don't seem like good people."

The leader of the team was Zhao Rong, who was famous for being taciturn but alert and calm. After returning from Batavia with Zhou Changfeng, he continued to follow him to the First Marine Regiment, and now he is the deputy captain of the First Battalion Second Team.

He looked at the two young mountain people, "It was announced a few days ago that this area is a restricted area, why are you still here?"

"No...we don't know..."

"What do you do?"

"Going into the mountains to collect herbs."

Although there was no contradiction in the words, and the clothes were indeed like mountain people collecting medicine, Zhao Rong keenly noticed that the expressions of the two were a little flustered.

This kind of panic is not the kind of fear of ordinary people meeting Qiu Bahou, but the kind of anxiety of being afraid of being found out if they have done something bad.

Zhao Rong stretched out his hand calmly, randomly grabbed a few herbs from the basket carried behind one of them, then turned around and walked to a sergeant.

The two whispered a few words, then Zhao Rong came back and asked nonchalantly, "The Atractylodes macrocephala and Gastrodia elata that you both picked are of good quality. You have been collecting herbs in the mountains since you were young?"

The two youths hurriedly nodded and bowed, and quickly replied: "Yes, I have been doing this for a living since I was six or seven years old."

Because of the dialect and accent, Zhao Rong only understood a rough idea, but it didn't prevent him from making a judgment.

Damn it, the herbs just now are Fubaiju and Artemisia argyi, they have nothing to do with Atractylodes macrocephala and Gastrodia elata!
"You can't tell the difference between herbs, and you have been collecting herbs since you were a child?" Zhao Rong snorted coldly, and said lightly: "Take it! Ask me!"

So the two grandsons wanted to get away with it?

All of a sudden, several soldiers around rushed forward, punching and kicking, "Fake it, why don't you pretend it?"

The so-called "Walking along the river often does not wet your shoes", the two bandits are also considered to be planted.

These herbs were collected by the brothers who knew herbs in the gang, and they were used as a cover for those who went out to investigate in disguise.In the past, this trick has never been suspected, and today it is really unlucky.

At first the two wanted to quibble, but they didn't survive the beating.

The soldiers who suffered all the way were suffocated, and a few teeth of one of them were directly smashed with the butt of a gun.

After a while, the two confessed, frankly speaking of the stronghold located in the northeast of the main peak of Lijia Mountain.

"I don't cry when I don't see the King of Hades, I'm talking about you." Zhao Rong waved his hand, and the two were dragged behind.

Immediately, this unit reported the situation to other units by radio.

This group of bandits also sent people in disguise to check their own progress?

After learning about this, Zhou Changfeng looked at the map and pondered for a while, then pointed to a point on the map and said, "Let's go, let's go here."

Xie Wancheng on the side thought he had misread it, and said doubtfully, "But this is different from what the captured bandits said."

"Do you think they might only send two people to investigate? There is a high probability that they already know that the stronghold has been exposed, and they will definitely move it immediately." Zhou Changfeng replied as a matter of course.

Zhao Hanfeng also nodded in agreement, "This bandit must have some ability to fight wits and courage to survive to this day. If you still go to that hiding place now, I'm afraid it will be in vain."

(End of this chapter)