The arrival of Sonoda Kensaku also gave the prisoners a glimmer of hope to survive. The fact was exactly as they expected. The next day, they came to a small town.
This is a small town with a permanent population of only more than 2,000 people. Most of the people living here are a group of Burmese people at the lowest level. After the Japanese army arrived, they drove all the people out and lived in it openly.
But strictly speaking, it was more of a simple shack than a house. After all the Japanese soldiers moved in, some of the shacks were still vacant, so the prisoners of war were fortunate enough to be allocated some houses.
The prisoners of war who did not find a place in the hut were gathered in a large open space outside. Qi Xueqi, the highest-ranking prisoner among the prisoners, and Colonel Royce, the highest-ranking British and American prisoner, were also lucky enough to live in the hut. This was
Qi Xueqi spent the night in a house for the first time since setting off a few days ago.
The air of the simple shack is filled with the sour smell of sweat and the strong smell of urine. This simple shack made of wooden boards and wicker like a stuffy pot is probably only suitable for livestock to survive here. The shack is filled with
The pungent smell of urine and feces is obviously a trace left by the Burmese who previously lived here.
The permeating stench, the desperate groans of the dying wounded, and the moans of the captives who had become weak and unable to move due to the long journey made it unbearable.
In order to prevent himself from having a nervous breakdown, Colonel Royce had no choice but to stuff a corner of his clothes into his ears and lie quietly in the corner of the shack to rest. Who knew how far he would have to walk tomorrow?
But the conditions here were so bad. The smell of sweat and urine in the shack was so disgusting that he almost suffocated.
"I hope the new Japanese major will keep his word. If this continues, not many people here will be able to reach their destination alive." I thought to myself silently, Royce was in this smelly shack.
fell into a deep sleep...
Apparently, God seemed to hear Royce's prayer.
The next morning, the prisoners actually heard news that surprised them. They had to rest here for three days so that they could better travel on the road.
At noon, a baggage team consisting of more than a hundred people arrived, accompanied by dozens of doctors and nurses. These doctors and nurses also treated the wounded.
Not only that, each prisoner was very surprised to receive an enamel lunch box, and actually received half a box of batter soup that was probably made from biscuits and vegetable leaves.
When the prisoners of war drank the hot salty noodle soup, everyone was immersed in the excitement of eating hot rice for the first time in more than ten days, especially when the hot noodle soup entered the intestines and stomach, they felt the long-lost warmth
The feeling gave most prisoners of war renewed hope of survival.
It's late at night
In some invisible corner, an officer wearing the rank of lieutenant was quietly reporting to an officer.
"Your Excellency Ihara, after eating two hot meals and undergoing examination and treatment by doctors and nurses on the wounded, the prisoners of war have begun to calm down. I believe that in two or three days, their physical conditions will be improved.
Improved to a certain extent.”
"The time is still too short. It would be nice if we could give them another half month to recuperate."
The lieutenant shook his head: "This is impossible. Major Ribayashi Ryuu cannot agree. Giving three days is the biggest concession he has made."
"Yes, but let's just say three days. I believe that in these three days, our preparations have been completed."
After that, he patted the lieutenant on the shoulder and said, "Tell our people to work hard. As long as this mission is completed, everyone will get a reward of one hundred dollars. As a lieutenant, you can get three hundred dollars."
If you add in the bounties paid by Your Excellency the General in the past two years, it will be enough for you to return to the countryside to buy more than ten acres of paddy fields and become a farmer after the war is over."
When he said this, the dark clouds in the sky were blown aside by the strong wind, revealing the figure of the moon. A ray of moonlight happened to shine on him. This person was undoubtedly Sonoda Kensaku who joined the escort team halfway.
But instead of calling him Sonoda Kensaku, it would be more appropriate to call him Ihara Heihachi.
As a team composed entirely of Japanese created by Gao Hongming himself, the size of the Japanese National Guard Army at this time has reached over a thousand people, which is the size of a brigade.
As the commander of the National Defense Army, Ihara Heihachi's status also rose with the tide.
Power is like the sweetest poison. Once you have tasted it, it is difficult to let it go.
In just two years, Ihara Heihachi went from being a superior soldier who was marginalized by his superiors to becoming a major commander in charge of thousands of lives and deaths. This was already a promotion like a rocket.
And he is also very clear about who gave him his rights. The fate of both him and the National Protectorate is firmly tied to Gao Hongming. If we want to talk about the person who hopes to rise to the top, Ihara Heihachi will definitely be in the top three.
This time, the task given by Gao Hongming to Ihara Heihachi was to rescue the prisoners of war from the Mandalay Prisoner of War Camp.
The staff members of the staff of the rescue expedition force also conducted special research and deductions.
Now, all the large forces of the expeditionary force are engaged in fierce battles with the Japanese 55th and 56th Divisions, and there are simply not many troops available to participate in the rescue of prisoners of war.
Moreover, once the Japanese army is alerted, it is very likely that the Japanese army will jump over the wall and attack the prisoners of war first.
After intense consultations, the staff agreed that according to the photos, the prisoners in the prison camps were basically severely malnourished, and it was basically impossible to escape to areas controlled by the Chinese army with such physical conditions.
In order to complete the mission, the prisoners of war must be fed and refreshed, so that the prisoners of war can have enough physical strength to escape from the Japanese-controlled areas.
The first person to propose this plan was a small staff officer. When he revealed the plan, everyone was amused. The Japanese were not crazy, so how could they possibly provide nutrition to the captives?
But one person noticed it, and that person was Gao Hongming.
Others thought it was impossible, but Gao Hongming didn't think so, because he happened to have a special force that could perform such a task.
So...the Japanese Protectorate Army, a unit that had been idle for a long time, appeared.
Ihara Heihachi, under the pseudonym Kensaku Sonoda, disguised himself as the Kurume Regiment of the 18th Division and infiltrated into the garrison guarding prisoners of war. He forced Ribayashi Hashiryu to agree to rest for three days on the pretext that Shan State needed a lot of labor to build railways and roads.
conditions of.
During these three days, although Ihara Heihachi could not explicitly feed the prisoners of war good food, he could still provide some hot soup made of compressed biscuits and dehydrated vegetables.