The two battles between the Han and the Italians exposed the poor organization and coordination system of the Italian troops, and the gap between the Italian army and the British, French and German powers was undoubtedly revealed in the following battles, and the colonial forces around the Juba River valley were destroyed and eaten away by the guerrilla fleets little by little, which has been gradually weakened.

The offensive and defensive war in Kismayo has once again returned to a stalemate, the situation in various parts of Somalia is unstable, and after the Italians divided their forces to deter various colonial strongholds, the remaining forces have limited advantages and are not capable of eliminating the Han troops in a short period of time, so as to achieve the ambition of pulling out the nail of the Kismayo stronghold and monopolizing the whole of Somalia. …………

The peaks and loops, the mountains and rivers are intertwined, the Paraná River is constantly noisy, and thick thick smoke rises from the huge chimneys of the steamships, filling the low air on both sides of the riverbank, and it has not dissipated for a long time.

Commercial steamships are smaller, powered by burning coal, and are generally used for inland waterway transportation.

Most of the steamships sailing on the Paraná River were built by the two shipyards of Xinjing Shipyard and Xinghe Shipyard, as an experimental product of early accumulation of shipbuilding technology, the steam steamer because of the limited technical level, the lack of power of the ship, the short range and other shortcomings, usually each steamship is equipped with a small barge dedicated to transporting coal, so as to replenish in time after the steamer runs out of coal, and prolong the endurance of the steamer.

After the British expeditionary fleet withdrew from the coastal area of La Plata, the Han government promptly lifted the ban on inland navigation, and the Paraná River basin returned to its usual busy scene.

On an ordinary steamship,

Sun Bin and Zheng Huaide, ministerial-level officials of the Han Central Committee, and He Yanliang, deputy commander of the First Mixed Brigade, stood on the bow deck of the ship, looking at the dense ships on the river, but there was not the slightest smile on their faces.

The three of them came with a central responsibility and were ordered to investigate the local administration, the current state of commerce, and some serious cases of smuggling and lending.

"Some people are getting more and more bold, the current war between the country and England and Brazil has not yet ended, and 200,000 soldiers of the National Defense Force are stationed in various parts of the border to prepare for war against the enemy, but some officials and businessmen have the courage to collude with each other, blatantly forge land deeds, and embezzle national land, which is really damned!"

"Some businessmen brought the means of dealing with the English and Dutch in the South Seas to the mainland, the situation in South America was unstable in the first two years, and they were still a little worried, but now Argentina and Uruguay are occupied by the Wehrmacht, and the English have withdrawn their troops and left, and they see that there is no danger in the homeland, and they are naturally much bolder in doing things."

"It's not just bold, it's bold!"

Sun Bin said angrily, "Do you really think that the state gives preferential treatment to businessmen and accepts a large number of overseas Chinese businessmen and Chinese, and will allow them to oppress the people and act arbitrarily?"

Hum! His Royal Highness was only a little tolerant of some of their actions because of their investment in business and their small contributions to the country in previous years, but now? Look at the good things they have done, driving up prices, secretly smuggling arms to Paraguay, and even some people are willing to be the lackeys of the English and report to the British! If such a person is not dealt with strictly, I don't know what chaos can happen in the future! ”

"Some Nanyang businessmen and local officials have gone too far, and His Highness is very angry, and has issued an order to the local garrisons, and if necessary, the garrisons can cooperate with the government's actions and dispatch local garrisons to arrest the officials and businessmen involved."

He Yanliang stood behind the two of them and said solemnly.

"His Royal Highness has just appointed Lord Hu as a plenipotentiary envoy to negotiate an armistice with the British, and it is better to maintain stability in the domestic situation at this point in time, and to deal with the problems of the officials and businessmen involved, or leave it to be resolved after the war."

Zheng Huaide seemed to persuade He Yanliang on the surface, but actually reminded Sun Bin secretly.

"The collusion between overseas Chinese businessmen and officials is too deeply involved, and just catching a few exposed businessmen and officials can't solve the problem."

After Zheng Huaide's secret reminder, Sun Bin remembered Li Mingyuan's entrustment before leaving, and said cautiously, "The purpose of our trip is to investigate the extent of involvement of local officials and businessmen, unless the matter is exposed, and the officials and businessmen involved want to escape in advance, and then mobilize local garrison forces to participate in the arrest, otherwise, no one is allowed to act without the order of me and Lord Zheng!" ”

……

Not long after the steamer on which Sun Bin, Zheng Huaide and others were riding left, two transport ships carrying a full load of goods slowly stopped in the middle of the river.

"Why did the ship stop?" A sturdy man stepped out of the deck and said with a fierce expression on his face.

"The steam boiler leaked again, and a few guys were inhaling gas and couldn't do heavy work, so I had them taken to the deck to breathe, and when they regained their strength, they went to the bilge to burn the boiler."

"Hurry up, the owner is urging tightly, I missed the time of this batch of goods, and you don't have any wages this month!"

"Hey, Master Wu, don't worry, you can't delay the time, just rest for a while, guys."

"Go and go, don't disturb your rest!"

The sturdy man waved his hand impatiently, turned and walked into the cabin.

"Shanzi, how about a few guys? Do you smoke a lot of gas? ”

Seven or eight coal burners carried the four gas-poisoned men to the deck, and the foreman asked eagerly.

"It's not a big deal, the brothers added a little too much charcoal to the boiler, the charcoal burned insufficiently, and they took a few more breaths of gas."

"Tell the guys to be careful the next time you work, charcoal is no slower than coal, it burns slower;

The boiler room at the bottom of the cabin is small and closed, opaque, and the ventilation is not good, don't add charcoal to the boiler without stopping like when you burned coal in the past, otherwise you may not have the good luck you have today. ”

In the hot weather of August in the northern valley of the Paraná River, the foreman instructed his coal burners on the deck, and when he could not stand the scorching sun, he left quickly.

A few gas-poisoned coal burners lay on the deck, enjoying the rare fresh air while slowly recovering their strength.

"Brother Liu, I heard that you are going to quit your job next month, have you repaid the money you borrowed from Lin Dong's family?"

After a few minutes of rest, the faces of several coal burners improved, and a younger man spoke.

"There are still two taels of silver left, and with this month's salary, it will be able to be repaid."

The man who spoke was more than ten years older than the others, looking at the three young people around him who were only seventeen or eighteen years old, thinking that he was about to get rid of the profession of selling coolies as a coal burner, and kindly advised as a person who came over, "Although you make a little more money as a coal burner, after all, it is not a good job that can be done forever, listen to the advice of the old brother, work on the ship for a year and a half, and pay back the original boat to South America, owe the owner the money (usury), find a new job to do, if you don't want to live in the city, no longer good, It is much better to go to the north or south, take an official residence certificate, and borrow money from the government to buy farm tools to open up the wasteland and cultivate the land, than to work as a coal burner on a steamship all the time. ”

"The brothers understand that it is not a good livelihood to burn boilers on a ship, but the money we owe to the owner has not been paid off, and our work certificate and residence certificate when we arrived in South America are all in the hands of the owner, and the owner does not speak, we can't leave even if we want to."

"What if you sue the official? No matter how powerful Lin Dong's family is, can there still be a powerful government? ”

Another young man with a young face still on his face was uneven.

"Shhhhh

The elder coal burner lowered his voice and admonished, "Don't say this kind of thing in the future, the county lord of our county and the big man in the state are all old acquaintances of Lin Dong's family, and they were partners in business together when they were in Nanyang, you go to sue Lin Dong's family, can you end well?" ”

"Brother, who did you listen to, the Lin Dong family is really so powerful?"

"You still need to listen to whom, you go back to the county to inquire, who doesn't know the relationship between Lin Dong's family and the county and the state."

…………