"There's no way to get sick," said the hippopotamus, "but by quinine." We brought quite a few with us. If it is not enough, Lingao still has a large amount of inventory. So I'm not worried about mortality – you can survive with quinine. However, once there is an explosive epidemic, I am afraid that there will be a shortage of beds or nursing staff, which will seriously affect the recovery of patients. ”

"We listen to you about this, what do you say?" Wang Luobin said, "All in all, there can be no explosive epidemic

The loss of labor due to epidemics is a serious matter, whether it is death or illness. From the point of view of brutal and ruthless pragmatism, the dead are better off than the sick when there is an adequate new labor force to fill them, and the sick need to occupy far more resources than the healthy ones. Not only can they not work, but they also need manpower and material resources to take care of them.

The crossing group has not yet reached such a level, and labor is still quite valuable. The period from the beginning of the containment in Guangzhou to the official use of each basic labor force is 90 days, and the cost of food, medicine and labor consumed in these 90 days is a huge expense.

"If you take medicine, you still have to focus on prevention. In particular, it is necessary to increase the supply of mosquito nets," says Hippo, "so that there is one per person." If you can't make it up at this stage, at least the windows should be covered with gauze. ”

"As for burning Artemisia annua to repel mosquitoes, I reported to the Executive Committee, and Director Liu said that dried Artemisia annua can be supplied openly, and it is not enough to purchase it on the mainland. It's best to send someone to handle this. ”

"Is there a preventive effect of boiling artemisia soup for everyone to drink?" He Fang interjected, "Didn't you say that artemisinin is a new generation of antimalarial drugs?" ”

"Artemisia annua has no killing effect on malaria parasites, what is effective is actually Artemisia annua, and secondly, even if there is Artemisia annua, it is still very difficult to extract the active ingredients at the current level of our pharmaceutical factory. Let's be honest with the patient. "To be cautious, all the patriarchs should take preventive medicine from this day on." ”

Subsequently, the group launched a vigorous sanitation campaign, cleaning up the buried garbage, filling in the low-lying areas, removing stagnant water, and installing window screens. A large number of dried Artemisia annua were transported from Lingao, and there were special pottery cages - with the smokers, it was not easy to cause fires. The dormitories in the camp are all wooden houses, and if you are not careful, it will be a catastrophe.

The whole camp was emitting the smoke of Artemisia annua day and night, in fact, there were very few mosquitoes on the beach, Artemisia annua was mainly smoking people, up to Wang Luobin down to the basic labor force were all disturbed by this terrible smoke, and they were all crying bitterly.

But this set of measures did not seem to have been very effective, and after a few days, malaria began to enter a major outbreak. At first, it was a few people a day, but then it became a dozen or dozens a day, and the hospital soon became unaccommodating, and the hippo care immediately vacated a number of independent barracks and dormitories as special isolation wards, and when there were not enough hygienists, all the women in the migrants were mobilized to serve as temporary caregivers.

Antimalarial drugs are distributed according to the disease, and the malaria parasites in this time and space are not resistant, and the effect of the drug is almost immediately after taking it, but even such a person has at least ten days from the onset of the disease to the return to work. As the number of sick laborers grew, the hippos went crazy - they didn't have so many anti-malarial drugs on hand

The malaria situation in Hainan was not estimated to be very serious, and the antimalarial drugs carried were mainly prepared for the future landing in Taiwan and the development of Southeast Asia. After arriving in Lingao, malaria was only sporadic in most areas of Lingao, and it was more common in places close to Li District. This led them to misestimate the severity of malaria in Hainan.

In this way, in order to ensure that workers can work effectively, it is necessary to give each worker prophylactic oral antimalarials, which greatly exceeds their reserves. We will have to wait several years for the mass production of quinine, and what if all the reserves are exhausted? Moreover, for malaria, quinine is not the best, and it is far inferior to chemically synthesized chloroquine and primaquine in terms of therapeutic effect and curative effect.

However, this will make the hippopotamus have no choice, and the number of people who are sick is increasing day by day, and there are many people who have poor physical fitness, coupled with overwork in the previous stage, and their resistance is very poor, even if they use special drugs, they cannot support the past. Mortality rates are rising. From no one died at the beginning, it grew to three or four people a day, then seven or eight, and then a dozen. The bodies of the deceased were carried to a remote beach and incinerated on a firewood pyre. At its peak, more than twenty bodies were cremated on the beach every day. So much so that the newly developed cemetery was full in less than a week, and He Fanghui had to urgently develop the second phase.

The smoke of burning corpses every day caused great panic among the workers. Rumors spread that working on the roadbed site would infect you with miasma (not a rumor, but mainly road construction workers), and morale in the camp was declining, and there was an atmosphere of fear in the camp. Although no one dared to raise objections in the face of the strong force of the Crossing Group, they knew from the reports of the internal work network members that the resentment and fear of the workers were growing.

However, the construction progress has not decreased, and in order to show that he leads by example, Shan Daoqian goes to the front-line construction site with the engineering team every day. He has been taking his medication on time and is confident in its efficacy.

But the laborers did not see it that way, and were full of fear and resentment at continuing to work in the "miasma". Netters are starting to issue orange warnings: Soon, there will be a storm*

The people of the construction headquarters held an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures. Make... Resolution: From now on, all veterans, regardless of their positions, will lead by example on the front-line construction site in shifts, and they do not need to work or sit in an exemplary role to calm people's hearts; secondly, the standard of food supply should be greatly improved, and the complaints should be soothed and the physical fitness of workers should be enhanced. Thirdly, the combination of antimalarial tablets, which had previously been distributed only to veterans and soldiers, was distributed to workers working in the interior of the country. At the same time, the hippopotamus was sent back to ask for more antimalarial tablets, so that everyone could take the medicine.

However, events came sooner than they expected. On this day, a strike broke out in the camp, and a labor team sent to the road construction site, led by the captain, refused to work. Several other teams also kicked out the team leader and team leader who were going to take them to work, or directly detained them.

Zhuo Tianmin was in the office of the labor camp when he heard the commotion and came out to talk to them, and he was greeted by a tiled smoke cage and other miscellaneous items.

"We're not going to work," the laborers shouted at him, "we're not here to die."

Zhuo Tianmin knew that the problem was getting worse minute by minute: although many labor teams did not explicitly call for strike, they were also waiting and watching, refusing to go out of the camp to work.

Wang Luobin used the walkie-talkie to contact Zhuo Tianmin: "How is the scene?" ”

"No, they won't go to work." Zhuo Tianmin touched the sweat on his head, and said with a disgraced face, "I'll work hard......

Zhuo Tianmin continued to ask them to give up the confrontation, continue to work, and promise that as long as they take the medicine on time, they will not get sick. The current patients are all infected in the past.

“…… After taking this pill, you will not get malaria, I will also take it, I can accompany everyone to the construction site......" Zhuo Tianmin did not have a tin horn, so he had to shout at the top of his voice.

"your medicine" The laborers who were stuck in the barracks threw out the pills that were given to them, "keep the medicine for yourself, we will live"

"Don't be afraid—" Zhuo Tianmin's words were not finished. A few people who couldn't bear it for a long time rushed up with a punch, and he was knocked to the ground by a punch, and then more than a dozen hands squeezed over and grabbed him one by one. Someone was shouting "Kill him", and in an instant, he had already eaten a few punches and kicks. Zhuo Tianmin was so stunned that he couldn't move, and a huge fear came to his heart: he was going to be beaten to death

When he was knocked down, the labor camp instantly rioted, someone set fire to the public office and looted goods, and began to beat the hygienist and the labor team leader, captain and other "lackeys", several female hygienists were distributing medicines, and they didn't run away for a while, and in the chaos, Zhuo Tianmin's clerks escaped from the camp and rushed to Yulinbao to report the news. Those labor teams that were not involved in the commotion were quickly taken away from the scene by the captains, and the infantry squad in charge of the guard duty outside took control of the key points in time according to the plan, preventing the further expansion of the riot.

Wang Luobin had already received the news that there was a riot in the camp, and he would hear that the public office was burned, and Zhuo Tianmin was arrested by the laborers and was taken aback.

Xi Ya had arrived, and he was fully armed. Brandishing a pistol in his hand.

"I think it's better to send out the army."

"Zhuo Tianmin is trapped inside, will it be ...... to rush in rashly" Wang Luobin hesitated.

"Now the people inside haven't reacted yet, and when they react, they will take Zhuo Tianmin seriously, and use him as a hostage to bargain with us. It's hard to save people, and now it's chaos inside, so it's a good opportunity. "The Qian Shui Association is also in favor of an immediate assault.

"Okay, assault. Zhuo Tianmin must be rescued intact. Wang Luobin gave the order, "Try not to cause casualties." ”

"Let's get started." Xi Ya ordered the heralds around him.

Infantry companies with explosion-proof equipment marched into the camp in a horizontal formation. The stones rained down on the rattan and steel helmets with a crackling sound. The infantry, with their heads bowed and their shields, advanced without hesitation. The few who tried to resist were quickly routed under the sticks. In a few minutes the infantry took control of the situation - the laborers had neither weapons nor organization, they did not even know what they wanted to do, and a few tried to set up an organization, but before they could organize it they were scattered.

The workers who participated in the strike were driven out and sat in the open space without disturbing the situation and waiting for the strike.

Zhuo Tianmin was beaten with a blue nose and swollen face, but his life was fine, and some people thought of taking him as a hostage, so he could be considered to have escaped.

"Lao Zhuo, you have suffered." Seeing Zhuo Tianmin, who was carried out on a stretcher, Wang Luobin comforted.

"I'm fine." Zhuo Tianmin raised his body and raised his hand, "This is not a big deal, don't make a big fuss......"

"Alright, alright, you have a good rest." Wang Luobin comforted him, "We'll take care of it." ”

Zhuo Tianmin still wanted to say something, at this time, several female hygienists who were clad in tattered clothes and limping supported each other and walked by crying, and then carried a few stretchers, some of them were humming in pain, and some of them were silent.

He sighed and lay down silent.

Wang Luobin took care of Zhuo Tianmin and moved him back to his bedroom in Yulinburg, and let Colgate serve him. Zhuo Tianmin's briefcase, documents and pistol were all recovered. These things were in the cement safe of the public office, and they escaped.

The smoke had cleared, and the office in the labor camp had been burned to the ground as a pile of charred wooden shelves. If it weren't for the timely firefighting, I am afraid that the boiling would have been delayed, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

Ten people died in the riots, three hygienists, five were the leaders and captains of the labor team, and two were clerks. The dead were all personnel trained by the Crossing Group. Such a loss of personnel made Wang Luobin very painful. The office was burned down, causing a batch of files that had not been backed up to disappear forever.

The punishment was swift and severe. The consensus was that beating the elders, burning buildings, and killing the indigenous clerks went beyond the scope of a strike, and that the Crossing Group had never recognized the right of the natives to strike. Taken together, the senators thought it was a rebellion.

"This matter should be dealt with in the bloodiest way," Xi Yaya said excitedly, "How can you let them know that the patriarch is sacred and inviolable if you don't kill a group of patriarchs?" ”

"If you don't kill a hundred people, you can't make an example." He Fanghui also resolutely supported, "If we make trouble, we will kill many indigenous staff, and if we don't punish them severely, how can the indigenous people who serve us feel at ease?" The murderer must be found and executed in public."

The Qian Shui Association disagreed. In his view, it is normal for workers to strike for power. It was just a bit of a stretch - but he wisely didn't object. However, there was no approval of it.

On that day, all the laborers stopped working and gathered at the gate of the labor camp, where all the troops at the disposal of the army and navy were concentrated, and the guns were pierced. It looks very solemn and coercive. The natives knew from this atmosphere that they were going to kill.

A cremation pile had been erected on the beach directly opposite the main gate of the labor camp, on which eleven bodies were placed, wrapped in white cloth. Several carpenters were installing gallows not far away.

A brief trial was held in front of the cremation pile. Accused of participating in the beating and assault of the patriarch; beating the captain of the labor team and the hygienist; ** All laborers who worked as female hygienists were sentenced to death. One after another was dragged to the gallows and executed under a brief sentence of "in the name of the Senate and the people, to death". At the time of the hanging, the cremation pile was set on fire, and the flames reflected the bodies that shook on the gallows—twenty-five were hanged at the end of the trial.