In September 1889, Mauricio, a small town in the south of Paraguay, became noisy and noisy due to the influx of troops.

In the center of the town, in a beautiful, classical Western-style building, Major General Getulio, commander of the 9th Division of the Brazilian Republican Army and commander of the advance force, is resting around a marble table with several cronies and staff officers.

The house clearly belonged to a powerful Paraguayan magnate and was luxurious. The spacious courtyard has a neat and beautiful lawn lined with green trees. There was a spring in the backyard with mossy smooth stones. Next to the path in the courtyard is a quaint stone statue.

The glazed brick roof and vermilion columns reflect each other.

The beautiful interior has a bit of Western Gothic architecture. Landscapes such as peonies and roses are painted on the ceiling, and gorgeous carpets are laid on the floor.

In the glass bookcase in the room on the right, there are good-looking clothes, shoes and hats. In the glass case in the room on the left, there are priceless jewels and ornaments.

The original owner of the house fled outside the city when the Brazilian army first entered the city, perhaps in such a hurry that he and his family did not even carry many of the precious belongings of the house.

However, from another point of view, in the era of war and strife, life is more important than wealth, and if you sacrifice your life in vain for the sake of property that you can't take away, then there is nothing.

Major General Getulio sat down in his chair contentedly, and while looking at the gold and silver belongings on the table, he smiled and said: "What a lucky fellow, I escaped with my family before we entered the city, and if it were me, I would not be able to let go of so many precious and luxurious possessions in the city." ”

"They may have heard some rumors fabricated by the Paraguayan government and had a misunderstanding of the Republican army, so they ran out early."

An officer sat across from Getulio and smiled.

"Haha, that's right, the Paraguayan government deliberately spread rumors that scandalize the army of the republic, and deliberately create unnecessary hatred between us and the Paraguayan people, all of this is the fault of the Paraguayan government, and the army of the republic is not wrong at all!"

"Yes, general, it's all a conspiracy of the Paraguayan government."

The other officer stared at the metallic gold and silver belongings on the table, and said greedily, "However, I hope that the more such rumors there are, the better, so that we can save us a lot of trouble." ”

"Hahaha, Colonel Gaspar is such an interesting person."

The other officers burst into laughter when they heard Gaspar's words.

"Colonel Gaspar is a loyal officer of the Republic, and the logistics and material transportation routes from the rear to the front line are not smooth, and the front-line troops often do not receive timely supplies, at this time, as the commander of 10,000 soldiers on the front, it is also very necessary for us to take some flexible measures to raise food and other living supplies for the soldiers.

Of course, during this period, it makes sense that we will take away some of the items abandoned by the Paraguayan people. ”

Major General Getulio made a very convincing excuse for their actions, and then continued: "General Rodriguez only gave us two hours to stay and recuperate, and now it's noon, and the time has just passed 1 hour and 35 minutes, and we have 35 minutes of rest left. ”

"No, General, you are mistaken, we should have 1 hour and 35 minutes left to recuperate from the time we received the telegram from General Rodriguez."

An officer reminded solemnly.

"Yes, we still have 1 hour and 35 minutes to trim from the time we receive the telegram."

Major General Getulio suddenly realized: "Tell the soldiers who are repairing in the city to hurry up and "rest", and the troops will assemble in one hour, and the troops will leave on time at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. ”

"Okay, General."

Oh, by the way, remind the soldiers that when you "buy" goods in the city, you must pay for them, and you can't directly rob the Paraguayans of their property and food. ”

"What a benevolent general you are."

"Don't worry, I'll bring your orders." …………

"Hey man, this silver coin is the first thing I saw, it's mine!"

"No, I got it first, whoever grabbed it first!"

…………

In Mauricio, on the side of a commercial street, two Brazilian soldiers quarrel over the ownership of a silver coin.

"Hi Gretel, Barcelomu, I've found something good, come and see!"

Another soldier who broke into a rich man's house shouted loudly.

"What's good? Is it a silver coin? ”

"No, it's worth more than silver coins, come and have a look!"

"We'll go now."

The words of the other soldier attracted the attention of the two soldiers, and the two of them quickly gave up the quarrel and quickly ran to the house facing the street.

"Look, what a delicate bronze, what a beautiful big fellow!"

“

Bancroft, that's what you're talking about? ”

"Yes, that's it."

The Brazilian soldier named Bancroft rejoiced: "

If I'm not mistaken, this thing is supposed to be a 15th century antique, and it's worth a minimum of £500, no, a minimum of over £2,000. ”

"Are you really sure this big bronze is worth £2,000?"

"Of course, I'm pretty sure!"

Bancroft's eyes were full of materialism, and he seemed to forget that this was a battlefield, and only indulged in finding something valuable.

"As you know, I worked in an antique shop before I joined the army, and I have been studying antiques for almost twenty years, and I rarely look away."

"£2,000? It's an unimaginable number, Bancroft, the two of us will help you carry this bronze away and hide it, and after the battle is over, after the bronze is sold, you must give us a share of the money from the sale! ”

"Of course, we are the best brothers, as long as we sell for money, I promise to give you a share of the money!"

"Okay, we've decided, one for each person when the money is divided."

The other soldier repeated the sentence again, and then the three of them worked together to quietly carry the bronze utensils placed in the house to the garden in the backyard of the house.

"Okay, this is the place, Gretel, Barcelomu, let's bury the bronze as soon as possible while no one is paying attention, it will be easy for others to find it when it is late."

"Yes, yes, we'll do it now." …………

There was chaos in the city of Mauricio. Completely lost its original order, Bancroft, Grett, and Barsaromu hid the bronze artifact and walked out of the house.

Seeing many soldiers looting goods in the streets,

At the door of the nearest shop, the owner of the shop and a few Paraguayan guys stood by the door with sad faces. Looking at the looting Brazilian soldiers in the shop, they didn't dare to stop it.

"Oh my God, look how many good things they robbed, sugar, raisins, and cigarettes!"

The soldier named Basaromu, who was the most greedy of the three, said with hot eyes: "Bancroft, Gretel! Let's get over quickly! It's late, and they have robbed all the good things in the store! ”

"The brown bread in the army is so bad that if you can eat a sweet dish baked with sugar and raisins! That's such a blessing! ”

"Bancroft, don't hesitate, let's go!"

Another soldier named Gerrit urged.

"The food supply in the rear is really too poor, and we should prepare some food for ourselves to fill our stomachs."

Of the three, Bancroft had a faint tendency to become the leader, and after roughly considering the current situation of the three, he quickly agreed to the proposal of the other two.

Three soldiers with different intentions joined the looting, and three more uninvited intruders were added to the messy shop.

Like the hungry wolves of primitive societies, the Brazilian soldiers greedily plundered everything they saw.

"Raisins taste good," said Barçaromu, who stuffed a handful of raisins into his mouth with one hand and snatched a box of raisins with the other.

"Orientals are all badas, but their canned beef is delicious, and they all have it." ”

"Cheese was also needed. You won't be able to take a cigarette at all. Throw away the black bread allocated by the army and replace it with the biscuits made by the Han Dynasty. With granulated sugar, the flour must be more delicious, and the fine flour made in the Han Dynasty should also be taken in a bag.

Heck, there are rubber raincoats and rubber-soled cloth shoes, which you can't do without when it rains. Take less of this thing, just take two pairs. …………”

Barçaromu looked at the wide variety of items in the shop, and while trying his best to put it into the package he was carrying, he said reluctantly: "The tent of the Han country is also very useful, but the package is full of it, and it is a pity to lose it." ”

"Basaromu, we've got enough, let's leave the tent to the Paraguayans."

"Well, leave the tent to the Paraguayans." ………… The three of them picked out what they needed, each carrying a large package on their backs, and walked out, just in time to meet the army gendarmes who were patrolling, "Who allowed you to take things indiscriminately?" ”

Pointing to the crowds of well-harvested soldiers on the street, Basaromu replied with a big grin: "I came in with them, we are all soldiers of the 4th Regiment of the 9th Division, and our commander is Colonel Gaspar, who allowed us to take things. ”

Hearing Colonel Gaspar's name, the gendarmes instantly lost the confidence to question, and their tone softened: "Did you pay the money?" If you don't pay, pay as soon as you want. "We're going to pay now!"

Barsaromu put the silver coin he had just grabbed back into his pocket, then took out a small Paraguayan coin from his other pocket, returned to the door of the shop, and held out his hand to a clerk who was clearly a white Indian.

The clerk was probably angry and tossed the coin back to Barsaromu.

Barsaromu probably felt disgraced by his act of looting someone else's shop, picked up the coin, shoved it into the clerk's hand, and then quickly ran out regardless of the clerk's subsequent reaction.

In an ordinary small town, the soldiers of the company where the three people of Basaromu were in saw them with bulging bags on their backs, and they all cheered as if they were waiting for Santa Claus.

Shouting here and there, the Brazilian soldiers who had returned early were amazed at the amount of plunder that the three of them had plundered.

Following the three of them, after the last six soldiers of the 7th Company of the 4th Regiment of the 9th Division of the Brazilian Republican Army returned with a full harvest, the food that the 7th Company had grabbed had already filled the large wooden table in the middle of the camp. The Brazilian soldiers of the 7th Company, who often complained that they could not eat good food, struggled to get the food this time, but it was impossible to eat it, and in the end the rest of the company could not be transported.

Therefore, they took advantage of the time before the start of the pull, and each soldier stuffed it into his stomach until he wanted to vomit.

Eat raisins, preserved fruits, canned food, desserts, fried cakes, until the troops are pulled out, and many soldiers do not stop eating until they loosen their trouser belts.

The soldiers of the 7th Company of the Brazilian Army proudly embarked on the road of no return to meet the war, and on the march, the Brazilian soldiers, who did not know what kind of cruel blows they would face in the future, also proudly shared with each other the sense of accomplishment of plundering: "This is not plunder, it is expropriation." It is a must-do levy for the victor's army! ”

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