In the early morning, the town has not yet woken up from its hangover.
Although this famous cavalry team was born out of the Northern Army, it did not prevent them from welcoming the soldiers into their respective taverns, casinos, brothels, and shops with the warmest smiles. They also interacted with the homeless people and nearby vendors. Compared with this, these rude soldiers spend a lot of money and are even more willing to spend the regular military pay in their pockets. After all, even if there is not a cent left in their pockets, the army will not let them starve and sleep on the streets. The most important thing is to be frightened by military discipline. , they would never dare to default on their debts and cause trouble easily. Together with these qualities, they are certainly the most popular customers of merchants.
Business has reached a climax in recent days. I don’t know where these soldiers got a large sum of money from. They spent all night whoring and gambling, immersed in alcohol and couldn’t extricate themselves. Bagley, who was known for his rigorous and ruthless military management, The major actually allowed his soldiers to stay away from camp at night, which shows that the entire company must have done something big that required the soldiers to vent their anger.
But what does this have to do with the small town's civilians and businesses? As long as they are not looting themselves, they would rather these soldiers come back to spend money after going out to burn, kill, and loot every day.
The sound of horseshoes trampling on the stone slabs resounded in the town's only street. The tavern owner struggled to stand up from behind the oak counter and looked out the window. On the saddles of several horses, the 7th Cavalry Brigade The blue military uniform is particularly eye-catching.
"What drunkard again..." He suddenly lost interest and continued to lie on the table to catch up on his sleep.
I don't know how long it took, but a sharp woman's scream made him regain his consciousness. "It must be these drunkards and thugs who are teasing some poor girl again." He cursed and pushed the door open. The next second, the boss's face was fat. His flesh trembled, and he fell to the ground, shouting unconsciously: "Oh my God!"
A huge cross was erected in the center of the square at some point, with a bloody man tied to it and twisting.
After receiving the news, Major Bagley came galloping with all the cavalry remaining in the camp.
"It's Second Lieutenant Jim!" a cavalryman yelled. Everyone put him down in a hurry. Seeing that the Second Lieutenant was still alive, they couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief. However, no matter how they shouted, the other party looked dumb and stupid. , no response.
Major Bagley had a sullen face, grabbed the guard's bottle of wine, poured it over the second lieutenant's head, pinched the other man's neck and said viciously: "Jim, you bastard, get up, what's going on! "
There was no response. Bagley threw away his arm and slapped the second lieutenant on the cheek, shouting: "Jim?! I order you in the name of major, get up now!"
The freckled second lieutenant finally came to his senses under Bagley's yelling, but instead of standing at attention and saluting as usual, he pushed Bagley away and shouted with laughter: "273 circles! 273 circles! Haha. Hahahaha, 273 laps, one lap, two laps..."
Bagley was furious, stepped forward, twisted his neck and said sternly: "If you talk nonsense again, I will shoot you. You know, I never joke."
Second Lieutenant Jim seemed unaware and kept shouting: "The devil... God... it's the devil! It's God! He looked at 273 circles, hey hey hey, hey hey hey..."
Looking at the standard shirt with "273" written in blood on him and listening to his incoherent words, everyone around him was horrified. The soldiers who killed people without blinking felt their legs were weak and their mouths were dry. He took out his flask and used alcohol to calm himself down.
"Major, I know what's going on. The second lieutenant must be possessed by the devil. Someone in our hometown has also had this situation. Send him to the church and sprinkle him with holy water. Maybe it will work..." A close aide of Bagley
The guard boldly suggested.
"The church in the small town may be too small to exorcise the devil from the ensign. You should go to Austin. The bishop there is very powerful." "No, no, no, go to Houston. I know an old priest who is very effective." "I think he was...
"People are cursed." "What do the numbers on the shirt and the numbers in the second lieutenant's mouth mean, are they US dollars? Did they get it from the creditor?" "Too little! The money is not enough to cover the cost of the curse ritual. Maybe it was a bad thing that was done?"
"It must be more than that"...
Everyone was talking about it, but none of them was serious analysis. Buckley looked at these guys with a headache. At this time, he couldn't help but miss Algren who left because of mourning. He was the only one in the company who was the worst.
He is keen, if he were here he would definitely be able to see something.
"Shut up!" Bagley really didn't want to listen to these people's increasingly outrageous words. He asked the guards to hold down Lieutenant Jim, and personally unbuttoned part of the shirt around his neck, staring at the neat circle.
The wound is thoughtful.
"It's not a curse, let alone a devil, it's someone seeking revenge." Bagley said firmly, "Look, the circle of wounds on the neck seems to have been caused by some special instrument of torture."
Torture instrument? A soldier boldly responded: "Sir, where can I find such a torture instrument? Maybe it's a knife..."
"Idiot! If you can use a knife to cut a circle with the same depth, same width and no visible end point, asxs, I will immediately promote you to second lieutenant! Think about it with your pig-like brain, only torture instruments can do this.
, you idiot who can waste half of an apple even if you peel it for me!" Bagley finally couldn't bear it anymore and yelled directly.
Bagley was Bagley after all, and he could see at a glance that the origin of this unusual wound was not simple. He thought gloomily, who would kill Jim? Algren? Impossible! With the other person's arrogant personality,
Even if he wanted revenge, he would go directly to him, Major Bagley, openly and honestly, and he wouldn't even bother to take action against a little second lieutenant.
Of course, it's even more impossible to do it for the sake of money. No one dares to do this openly, let alone the money in the hands of a few big-headed soldiers.
"Where are the five people who went out with the second lieutenant?!" Only then did the soldiers realize that Jim's cronies had not followed.
"Something happened!" This was the first thought that appeared in everyone's mind. "Who is so bold?" The second thought followed closely, "We must take revenge!" The soldiers looked at each other, with no fear in their eyes.
Rather, it was a momentum that was condensed in an instant.
Bagley stood up, looked around and shouted angrily: "Listen, I don't care who you are and whether you can hear it, but I swear on the honor of the Bagley family that I will catch you and peel off your penis with my own hands.
Then hang them here and hang them!" It was quiet all around, and no one dared to make even a sound.
"Within half an hour, call everyone in the town back to camp. I don't care if they are sleeping in the butt of a prostitute or under a table in a tavern. No matter who it is, if I can't see him in half an hour..." In Bagley
With a sinister glance, the surrounding soldiers dispersed silently. Without any delay, the group of policemen immediately rushed to every corner of the town to summon their comrades back to camp.
Under the protection of two guards, Bagley silently looked at the freckled lieutenant who was still talking nonsense, not knowing what he was planning in his heart...
Half an hour later, in the military camp next to the town, no matter how listless the soldiers were, they all fastened their collar buttons and stood neatly in front of Bagley.
News in the military has always been the fastest. Even if there is no threat from the highest officer, facing a comrade being tortured into a lunatic, and the life or death of the other five comrades unknown, this group of elite soldiers will be quickly condensed into a powerful force by anger. In the United States, Under the national flag, crush the enemy with iron and blood - anyway, this is what they think and do, and they firmly believe in it.
"Soldiers, I think you already know this. Once, we swore under the stars and stripes to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies at home and abroad. Today, the enemies are slaughtering our comrades and torturing our brothers! Pick up the Hold your guns and your knives tightly, the enemy will pay the price with blood! Now, I order..."
Under Bagley's orderly orders, the soldiers cheered up and began to perform their respective tasks.
The six soldiers got into trouble while dealing with the aftermath of the massacre of Indians. As the source of all these incidents, Major Bagley took it very seriously and sent two combat teams with a total of 30 cavalrymen to the Cheyenne tribe to investigate. This was equivalent to Half the strength of the entire cavalry company!
In Bagley's view, unless five times as many troops were deployed, it would be impossible for so many elite cavalry to be completely wiped out. Even in the chaotic West Texas, a large group of bandits of this size would not be possible. existing.
Moreover, Bagley, who was well aware of the other party's urinary nature, knew that the other party did not dare to openly attack the army, because the gangsters knew very well that even if they fled to Mexico, the U.S. government would use diplomatic means to force the Mexican government to surrender. No one could escape this Sanctions, even to the ends of the earth!
The remaining troops should be in groups of at least 10 people, and they should search out the town and gather information. Since the other party can kill six soldiers, yes, in Bagley's mind, the remaining five people should not be able to do it. But he sent 10 heavily armed cavalry to patrol nearby. He didn't believe that anyone could eat them quietly. Once the murderer was caught, there was no way to escape in this vast western land.
He himself stayed behind in the town's only telegraph office and sent telegrams to all directions. Of course, it was not to ask for help. He, Bagley, could not afford to be embarrassed, but to appease those of his own faction or businessmen who wanted to invest here. After all, if something like this happens in this town, it cannot be hidden. Instead of spreading rumors, it is better to explain it in person.
However, Major Bagley, who is experienced in war, always has an indelible shadow in his heart. Behind the deeper events of this incident, he always feels that there is a pair of eyes staring at him all the time, and the bloody "273" is always there like a curse. It was swirling in his mind.
"There will never be another victim under my arrangement...don't let me catch you..." Bagley thought secretly in his heart.