Chapter 282: Pirates

'Continue searching.'

'Three people in a group. You must be able to see each other.'

Zhou Yang ordered.

The guard platoon then spread out into the reeds.

Three people in a group, divided into more than a dozen groups. They searched carefully.

They were very vigilant.

The safety on the machine guns had long been turned off.

Everyone's finger is on the trigger. If anything happens, fire immediately.

Fortunately, in the reeds, the submachine gun is actually quite effective.

As soon as you see the target, just fire a burst.

For this kind of close-range shooting, the machine gun still has a big advantage.

Zhang Yong follows behind the team.

He is holding a submachine gun in his hands. It uses a 20-round long magazine. He is afraid that the firepower may not be sustained.

He dared not take this dangerous place lightly.

The displayed range of 200 metres in radius could not actually ensure complete safety. It was still possible to be sniped.

Even without a scope, some Japanese soldiers could shoot and kill from 200 metres away.

The Japanese veterans from the early days of the War of Resistance were all psychopaths. They could not be measured by ordinary standards.

Zhou Yang gradually fell behind the ranks as well.

He also realised the danger.

The enemy might be hiding in the reeds and shooting from ambush.

His guard platoon only had machine guns, and they might not be a match for the enemy. The range of the machine guns was too short.

'Sir!'

The second body was found.

It was still shot in the back. It was also a fatal shot.

After the bullet was dug out, it was also a 79 rifle bullet. The bullet had also split open.

'Stop advancing!'

Zhou Yang felt uneasy. He couldn't continue the search.

He only had a guard platoon of 30 men. Faced with the vast reeds, it was simply impossible to search the entire area. Going in would be a waste of effort.

If the enemy attacked by surprise and killed a few people, the loss would be great.

Since it was certain that the entire patrol had been killed, the next thing to do was to wrap things up.

He ordered the pace to be slowed and the halt to be called.

'There may have been two killers,' Zhang Yong said thoughtfully.

'How do you know?' Zhou Yang was puzzled.

'I guessed.'

'So there were two of them.'

'Yes.'

Zhang Yong did not explain.

Zhou Yang believed him completely.

Zhang Yong had calculated it from the angle of fire.

There was a map showing the angle of fire, which was very convenient. There were also obvious footprints on the beach.

If there was only one murderer, after killing this soldier of the security team, he would have to walk a long distance to get to another angle and shoot the last soldier of the security team. Obviously, there was not enough time.

Unless there were two of them. One came from the left. The other came from the right. The angle between them was about 30 degrees.

Sure enough, continuing forward, two rows of completely non-intersecting footprints were discovered.

At the same time, two more bodies were found.

They had still been shot in the back. This indicated that the killers were chasing them.

Then the remaining five people must be in front. In the depths of the reed swamp. It was more dangerous over there.

No one dares to go forward from here.

Zhou Yang quietly waves his hand. The soldiers of the guard platoon drag the bodies out.

The Hanyangzao rifles carried by the soldiers of the security regiment are also collected.

Zhang Yong inspects the rifles.

Both rifles show signs of firing.

The five bullets in the chamber have all been fired. But no new bullets have been loaded.

It is speculated that it may have been in a panic. There was no time to reload.

Examine the body again. There are indeed five magazines. Five rounds each. A total of 25 rounds.

When they set off on patrol, each soldier carried five magazines. And five rounds were loaded into the chamber.

What does this mean?

It means that the battle was short.

Otherwise, there would not have been time to reload. It's not difficult to load a magazine.

Look up.

Use the binoculars to observe.

All you can see is a dense reed bed. And in the middle of it, a crooked 'path'. Perhaps it was trodden by the soldiers on the patrol.

Otherwise, there are no other clues.

The murderer could have gone far away. But it is also possible that he is still hiding in the reed bed.

Basically, it can be confirmed that the other soldiers on the patrol are dead. Even if no bodies have been found yet. They will definitely be found if you continue forward.

However, here is the strange thing:

What was the killer's objective?

Or rather, why did the killer do it?

Just to shoot and kill nine soldiers on patrol?

That doesn't seem necessary.

Frankly, these nine soldiers on patrol were worthless.

They were all ordinary soldiers. It had been investigated before. None of them had any special background. Killing them made little sense.

If you say it was a demonstration, how can killing someone in a reed bed like this be a demonstration?

You can see that the gunshot was fired, but no one heard it.

What the hell kind of demonstration is that?

So. Was the killer simply bored?

Did he just want to kill a few people and let out his aggression?

It doesn't make sense.

There must be something else...

'Normally, who would hang out in the reeds?' Zhang Yong asked casually.

He looked at the sky to the east of the reeds. It was overcast.

It looked like a storm was coming?

Behind the reeds should be the mouth of the Yangtze River.

The map shows that there seems to be a large island in the middle of the Yangtze estuary?

Is it Chongming Island?

Unfortunately, the map does not yet have place names.

It is just a blank map. There are no place names.

'Apart from the occasional pirate,' Zhou Yang replied, "but there is no road here, so pirates don't bother.'

'Pirate?" Zhang Yong felt as if he had heard a very strange term.

What era is this? There are still pirates?

It seems to be the 24th year of the Republic of China. There are still pirates in the Yangtze estuary?

'You're surprised?'

'Aren't you?'

'Nowadays, there are pirates everywhere along the coast.'

'Really?'

'You really don't know much.'

'Hm...'

Zhang Yong obediently accepted his lesson.

He really didn't know much. In fact, he didn't know anything.

After arriving in this era, many things had overturned his understanding. Pirates were one of them.

'It's a time of war and chaos. Just think of the bandits everywhere.'

'You're right. Bandits. Pirates...'

Zhang Yong immediately understood.

Yes, banditry was very serious everywhere these days.

Almost every slightly remote place had bandits running rampant. Some had as many as 200 or 300 men. They even had guns.

Anyone with a few guns in their hands dared to seize a mountain and become a king. They robbed people's homes and killed people to steal their goods.

If you put this situation at sea, it's no surprise that things would be the same.

Those who live by the mountains live off the mountains. Those who live by the water live off the water. If you can become a bandit on land, you can certainly do the same at sea.

'There are several gangs of bandits on Chongming Island.'

'You know about this?'

'Yes!'

'Why don't you go and wipe them out?'

'Why should we?'

'Why...'

Zhang Yong was at a loss for words.

He couldn't even think of an answer.

You're the staff officer of the garrison headquarters, and you're actually asking me why?

I'm damned...

You are an officer and a soldier! Isn't it only natural for officers and soldiers to fight bandits?

Why do you have to ask why?

If you are in the instructor's team, with this kind of awareness, you will have to write at least 5,000 words of self-reflection...

'Pirates are the business of the navy. What do we have to do with it?'

'No. The navy...'

Zhang Yong was speechless.

The navy with those few broken ships?

Expect them to fight the bandits?

But he had to admit that there was really a huge gap here.

No matter how many soldiers there are, without ships, there is no way to go to sea. No matter how elite the troops are on land, they are all landlubbers at sea. Their combat effectiveness is zero.

The ocean is a bottomless pit.

No matter how many armies you send in, it's never enough.

If you send elite troops like the 87th or 88th Division to eliminate pirates, it could be suicide.

The Japanese army will deeply taste this in the coming years.

Those fierce Japanese army divisions, which were so determined to die, could fight 100,000 Nationalist troops on land with just one division. But at sea, their fighting power was zero. A few bombs could send an entire wing to feed the sharks.

In the huge Pacific War, the Japanese army that was sunk at sea during transport numbered at least several tens of thousands.

If you count the formations, there were at least 15 main wings.

If it were on land, it would be really, really, really difficult to destroy a Japanese army unit.

But at sea, it's just like stealing.

US planes bombed back and forth, sinking the Japanese transport ships one after the other. No matter how many Japanese soldiers there were, they would not be enough to die.

The same goes for the Nationalist army.

Who would use the army to clear out pirates?

That's the job of the navy.

But the navy only has so many people and so much strength, so how can they clear it all?

Even for such an important waterway as the Yangtze estuary. As long as the pirates don't target important ships, the navy basically doesn't care. Even if they wanted to, they couldn't. They don't have the strength.

The result is...

the pirates are running wild!

As long as they don't target important targets, they're basically fine.

But!

The problem is still not solved.

What is this patrol doing here? There's no motivation!

What do pirates have to do with the patrol?

If the patrol didn't come here on their own initiative, no matter how arrogant the pirates are, they would not have gone to Baoshan County to kill them.

So, there must be some reason for this...

Suddenly, a red dot cut across the edge of the map from the east.

Zhang Yong's body suddenly tensed.

There are Japanese!

Could it really be the Japanese who killed them?

He couldn't help but grab a Hanyangzao. This is the standard equipment of the National Army.

Except for a few elite German-equipped divisions, which were equipped with the original Mauser 98K, the Hanyangzao was used by most troops. It was not too old.

Oh, and one more thing. After the last explosion at the Jinling Arsenal, Zhang Yong learned that the Zhongzheng Model rifle had not yet been officially put into production.

The production line had not yet been fully deployed. It might not be officially put into production until the end of the year.

The output was also not high. Three thousand per month.

If all goes well, it will be 30,000 rifles a year. The production volume is very low.

Therefore, two years later, when the full-scale war broke out, the number of Chinese standard rifles in service was less than 100,000.

Most of the army was using Hanyang models. Or other locally made rifles.

Compared to industrial powers, this rifle production volume is really pitiful. It is less than a fraction of others.

The famous Garand M1 semi-automatic rifle has produced more than 5 million units.

Another type of M1 carbine, the production volume is even greater. A full 6 million plus.

The famous Poposha is also ferocious, and it is also more than 5 million at any time. It is simply terrifying.

'What are you doing?'

Zhou Yang noticed Zhang Yong's actions.

Without thinking, Zhou Yang himself also grabbed a Hanyangzao.

He saw the signs and noticed the danger in Zhang Yong's movements.

'There is a Japanese.'

'What?'

'I can smell him.'

'Where is he?'

'To the east, about 50 zhang away.'

'Fall back!'

Zhou Yang ordered immediately.

It was too dangerous to engage the Japanese invaders in the reeds.

They quickly retreated to the front of the reeds.

Zhang Yong retreated. He came to a sandbank. There happened to be a firing position here.

He crouches down. He raises his Hanyang-made rifle. He aims at the position of the Japanese invaders. His finger is on the trigger. He waits quietly for the Japanese invaders to get closer.

Unexpectedly, the second red dot has entered the edge of the map again.

Oh, there really are two Japanese invaders.

They must be the ones who killed the patrol.

Perhaps if they capture them alive, they will find out the answer.