Yuan Wenkui stared into the leopard's eyes and said, "Where have you been?"
"Third Master, I drank two too many drinks last night and stayed in the city all night...who knew I would end up like this." Hua Baozi sighed.
Yuan Wenkui said slowly: "I called Qiuyue Lou yesterday and said that you went to the opium den..."
Hua Baozi explained: "Well... I came out of the opium den, and my alcohol addiction came back, so I went to have two more drinks."
"Which restaurant?"
"Uh...Hongyun Tavern."
"Where do you live?"
"forget…………"
Yuan Wenkui slammed the table and shouted: "Hua Baozi, I now suspect that you are cheating and colluding with the enemy to leak military information!"
"I didn't!" Hua Leopard said in a panic.
"No? Then why can't you tell me where you live?"
"I drank too much and really forgot. It was pitch dark outside and I didn't know where I was. I just walked into a nearby hotel, entered the room and fell asleep."
"Doesn't the hotel register your identity?"
"I said I was from Yuan's army. They saw that I had a gun, so maybe they didn't dare to ask..."
"When you left in the morning, you didn't know the name of the hotel?"
"When I heard something happened to the army, I hurried back and didn't even pay for the room, let alone see the name of the hotel."
"You should remember which street the hotel is on, right?"
Hua Baozi sensed something was wrong in the atmosphere and said loudly: "Third Master, what do you mean by this? Do you suspect me of being a collaborator?"
Ma Xiaowu, who was standing next to him, advised: "Brother Hua, don't worry too much. This is a routine matter for Third Master. Everyone in this room has asked about it."
Liu Hei also said: "The Communist Army counterfeited Third Master's telegram, causing us to lose more than a hundred brothers. This matter must be investigated clearly!"
Yuan Wenkui said to Hua Baozi: "Did you hear that? I'm helping you clear your suspicions!"
Huabaozi was silent for a while and said, "It's Hexi Street."
Yuan Wenkui nodded and said: "Hexi Street, Hongyun Tavern... I remember there seems to be no hotel nearby, is it a new one?"
Huabaozi said with evasive eyes: "It seems so..."
After the meeting, Yuan Wenkui called a few close associates and told him: "I will go back to Yanjin immediately to verify what Hua Baozi said. You should pay more attention, he is very unusual today!"
"Third Master, don't worry! We'll keep an eye on him in shifts!"
"good!"
On the pretext of discussing the issue of wounded soldiers with Hattori Hikoo, Yuan Wenkui hurried back to Yanjin in a military vehicle.
In the evening, someone came in and reported: "Third Master, Liu Hei has sent someone here."
In the firefight last night, Yuan's unit's radio station was blown to pieces by the Aoki Squadron's grenade. The new radio station has not yet been sent, so for the time being, it can only rely on people to deliver the news.
Yuan Wenkui frowned and said, "What happened again... let him in quickly!"
After a while, Liu Hei's men walked in in a panic and said: "Third Master, something happened to the army!"
"What happened?" Yuan Wenkui felt his head buzzing, and he was afraid of hearing these words now.
"The leopard is gone."
"Gone? Where did he go?"
"During dinner, Hua Baozi told Captain Liu and Captain Ma that he quit and returned to the Eight Immortals Terrace."
"Why didn't Liu Hei and the others stop him?"
"He still has eighty or ninety people under his command, and the two captains are worried that they won't be able to gain much advantage by fighting..."
Because Hua Baozi was not in the army last night, his men suffered the least casualties and basically retained their strength. This was also the capital for him to dare to betray the enemy openly.
After preliminary investigation, it was found that a rich man invited Hua Baozi to drink wine last night and rented the Hongyun Tavern, so the story about Hua Baozi drinking wine is simply nonsense.
Hotels are even more unreliable. First of all, there are no hotels nearby, and several hotels a little further away all agree that they have never received anyone from Yuan's army.
In addition, Hua Baozi suddenly left Yuan's army privately, which fully demonstrated that he had a guilty conscience and that the revelation of the radio station code to the Communist Party was most likely coming from his mouth.
This matter was not trivial. Yuan Wenkui rushed to the military police and reported it to Hattori Hikoo in person.
"Are you sure the leopard has returned to the Eight Immortals Terrace?" Hattori Hikoo asked.
Yuan Wenkui thought for a while and said: "The Eight Immortals Terrace is his home base, and the terrain there is dangerous. I guess... it's about the same."
Hattori Hikoo thought for a long time and said: "You rush back to Xinjiadian overnight, lead Yuan's troops to the Eight Immortals Terrace, and be sure to capture the leopard alive!"
"Major, but... Yuan's army has lost one-third, and Hua Leopard has taken away part of it. It is difficult to form an encirclement with the current strength. In that case, he will still escape."
"I will send a garrison to cooperate with you. Don't cause accidental damage to friendly forces this time!" Hattori Hikoo reminded.
"yes!"
Yuan Wenkui bowed and saluted, then hurriedly left the gendarmerie and rushed straight to Xinjiadian again.
The firefight with the Aoki Squadron just occurred. If there is another large-scale defection of personnel, Hattori Hikoo will feel huge pressure. He was the one who facilitated this traitorous armed force, and he will at least bear indirect responsibility.
Taking advantage of Huabaozi's unstable foothold, immediately sending troops to clear it out would not only explain to the headquarters, but also serve as a warning to other members of Yuan's army.
Under the cover of darkness, the garrison and Yuan's troops suddenly appeared at the Eight Immortals Terrace, killing Hua Baozi by surprise. He also thought that the Japanese would not let him go, but he didn't expect them to arrive so quickly.
"Master, the back mountain is also blocked!" A bandit who was exploring the road ran back and reported to Hua Baozi.
Huabaozi thought to himself that if he fell into the hands of the Japanese, he would be dead, so he pulled out the shell gun in his waist and said: "Brothers, fight with them, follow me!"
If there is sufficient ammunition, the terrain of the Eight Immortals Terrace, and the fact that the opponent does not have heavy weapons, Huabaozi can at least hold on until dawn.
However, the Japanese have always been cautious in dealing with traitor troops. If there is no combat mission, ammunition is extremely limited. The purpose of this is to prevent mutiny.
The so-called "Those who are not of my race must have different minds" also apply to the minds of the Japanese. From the bottom of their hearts, they still don't believe in these traitors.
Already outnumbered and unable to provide enough ammunition, the Baxiantai bandits soon became unable to withstand the offensive at the foot of the mountain and had to retreat while fighting.
In this exchange of fire, more than half of the bandits in Baxiantai were killed or injured, and Yuan's troops who attacked the mountain suffered a lot of casualties. After two nights of fighting, the strength of Yuan's troops was not as good as before.
At dawn, Hua Leopard and the remaining forty bandits raised their guns and surrendered.
He originally wanted to shoot himself to avoid being tortured by the Japanese, but a few of his loyal men took away his pistol.
"Why are you stopping me..." Hua Baozi said with a bitter smile. He knew very well in his heart the extent of what he had committed.
One of the bandits said loudly: "The boss has not reached the last step, so there is no way to survive!"