Crabs have crab paths, snakes have snake paths, and the same is true in human society, although the North African continent is vast, but humans are still accustomed to walking on the road opened up by their predecessors.

These roads have not been developed casually, but have been tested by generations or even dozens of generations of tourists and merchants, and humans may not be as resilient as wild animals, but they will use their wisdom to make up for the shortcomings.

There is not only one route in the Gobi, there are often two or three paths to the same destination, which are distinguished by distance, difficulty and the amount of water on the way, some roads are only suitable for two or three travelers, while others can support a whole caravan of 100 people for long journeys.

Normally, caravans in North Africa would choose to travel along the coastline, many of these solid roads were built during the Roman Empire, and the Romans have always been known for their ability to build roads, which were once used by imperial legions and goods to move quickly, and are still used by the local people after thousands of years of wind and frost.

However, for smugglers, these roads are obviously not on the list, these roads are full of checkpoints, and there are heavily armed border patrol units, once they find out their smuggling, it is not a matter of breaking a little money, big businessmen can bribe customs officials and the military, while ordinary small businessmen can only take risks, choose to take the old path from the dry Gobi to bypass the border.

Normally, those Italian border patrol officers would not make themselves uncomfortable and risk getting lost and go deep into the wilderness, but now in front of the two officers is the corpse of an Italian officer.

"As an Italian officer, this man has obviously gone a little far." Hanst crouched down to scrutinize the decomposing corpse in front of him, seemingly unoblivious to the terrifying aura that permeated the air.

"Sergeant, carefully search the surrounding area and report to me immediately if you find anything unusual." The second lieutenant of the army ordered.

"Our men are the same, Sergeant Major, and the soldiers will search every corner of this place, and they can't let go of any suspicious clues." After Lieutenant Loire finished speaking, he immediately covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief, the smell was really disgusting.

"I've seen more terrible things on the battlefield, at least this guy is still intact." Hanst reached out and unfastened the pocket on the corpse's chest and pulled out a pamphlet from it.

"The Italian Army... The 15th Infantry Regiment ... Ensign Anthony, come and see," Hanst handed the pamphlet to Loire, who pinched the edge with two fingers in disgust.

"Rest assured, it's clean and not stained with any bodily fluids." Hanst deliberately smiled a wicked grin.

"Please, don't say any more, second lieutenant, I'm throwing up." Loire covered his mouth and nose and opened the document with one hand.

"The 55th Savona Infantry Division, second lieutenant ... This person shouldn't be here. After reading the content in the identity column, Loire also found a problem.

"This man is not a state gendarmerie, nor a border guard, but a regular army. If my intelligence hadn't lagged behind, the 15th Infantry Regiment would still be enjoying the tropical sun in Babidia by now, but the second lieutenant would have died in the Turbidity. In a deserted village in Nice. Hanst removed the belt from the corpse, unbuttoned his uniform, ignored the deceased's terrible purple skin, and reached into the inner pocket of his uniform, and the French lieutenant could not help but retch.

"The wallet and all kinds of bills are all there, let's see where was the last time he spends? Poseidon Restaurant? Have you heard of this place? The German major casually opened his wallet and whistled softly.

"This Monsieur Antony is a rich man, and there are about fifteen hundred lira in it, which is worth about two hundred marks."

"That's more than four hundred francs, what is he doing in the desert with so much money, does he think there is a seafood noodle restaurant here?" The French lieutenant had a rare touch of humor.

"Who knows, there are no external injuries, no belongings have been looted, and no weapons have been fired, so he shouldn't have encountered bandits." Hanst carefully examined the corpse's belongings.

"His uniform should be custom-made, the fabric is very high-quality, and the workmanship is very fine, look at this mark here, hey, dear Loire, turn your face to look here." Hanst lifted his uniform and showed the French lieutenant the secret mark on the placket on the inside.

"This is the best tailor shop in Rome, and I heard that Mussolini also made uniforms there."

"Could it be that this man is a big man?" Hearing this, the French ensign became somewhat interested.

"It may be just a small nobleman, but it's definitely not an ordinary person." At this moment, in the eyes of the French, the German in front of him is like a detective possessed by a certain book, almost with a pipe in his mouth.

"Then how do you think he died, Mr. Detective."

"The true cause of death has not yet been confirmed, and I have a guess that needs some evidence to verify." Hanst picked up the deceased's Italian military kettle and shook it, then unscrewed the wooden cork and poured out some water.

"He must have been dead for less than twelve hours, and the decay was entirely due to the temperature. After all, he is also a military man, and we should at least give him a decent military funeral. Hanst put down the kettle and stood up, bowing his head at the dead lieutenant's boot, and Loire put down his handkerchief and reached out to draw a cross on his chest.

"Second Lieutenant, we've found out—" The German sergeant ran briskly into the room, where only four earthen walls remained.

"We found the bodies of some buried Italian soldiers, four have been exhumed, and there should be more below." The sergeant gave Hanst a military salute and reported loudly.

"That's the evidence I was trying to find." Hanst excitedly turned to Loire.

The pit was not far from here, behind a half-collapsed building, and it was evident that the people in charge of the burial were lazy, and the pit was dug so small and shallow, perhaps that they thought that few people passed through it, so they did not disguise it at all.

A few attentive German soldiers soon discovered the traces of excavation and burial here, and when they used their infantry shovels to dig through the sand on the surface, they were startled by what they found.

A full fourteen corpses, plus the second lieutenant in the house, this should be a reinforced squad-standard Italian army squad. Unlike the second lieutenant, the bodies of the soldiers were completely ransacked, several of them had their clothes, pants, shoes and socks stripped off, and those who buried them took all their weapons and personal belongings.

"I found out before that the second lieutenant wouldn't be here alone, he would have at least a guard with him." Hanst lifted the shirt of one of the Italian soldiers, whose bodies were slightly better decomposed than the second lieutenant because they had been buried in the sand.

"How do you tell, second lieutenant?" Loire asked curiously.

"When I saw his well-trimmed nails, I knew that there was no way such a person could travel alone. Moreover, the Italian lieutenant was wearing brand-new riding boots on his feet, and the soles of the boots showed not much wear and tear, and it was clear that he had not come here on foot. So do we see his horse? No. Hanst crouched down to examine the body of another soldier.

"What does it mean that someone took his mount and his luggage and the second lieutenant didn't stop him?" Hanst asked, looking up.

"He didn't have the power to stop it, or he was dead." The French lieutenant felt a little dizzy in his head.

"He should have been alive at the time, he should have been hiding, and those people were not able to find him, so this second lieutenant was not buried here with his men." Hanst stood up, took out the kettle on his waist, poured out some water, and washed his right hand.

"These men died almost simultaneously, and like the second lieutenant, there was no sign of any external wounds on them, and someone took their belongings, horses, and weapons after their death, I think you should have guessed why, Loire." Hanst said with a smile at the French lieutenant.

"I've heard some veterans talk about similar things, and I always thought that they were just making it up to scare people, but I didn't expect that this time I came out, and I actually saw a real case. They were poisoned before they all died at the same time. Loire's face turned unusually ugly.

"What worries me is that the guys who poisoned these Italians, their real purpose." Hanst said with a serious expression.

"Isn't it a plot to rob these people of their property and weapons?" Loire looked at the German lieutenant in surprise.

"It's a possibility. But beware, these are not patrols, but elite infantry of the Italian Army, and they shouldn't be here at all. Hanst said in a deep voice.

"If my guess is correct, these Italian soldiers who have quietly crossed the border to this place must have something to do with the goal of our operation."

"In this way, the purpose of poisoning these Italians is very suspicious." Loire thought as he stroked his chin with his hand.

"Now it's just a guess, there's not enough evidence to prove anything. But I now have an ominous feeling that our target may be targeted by some ill-intentioned person. Hanst said with a frown.

"So what do we do now?" The French second lieutenant was deeply impressed by the other party's careful thinking at this time, and decided to take the lead of the other party in this operation, although the command of this unit was also in the hands of the other party, but it did not mean that he was sincerely obedient.

"The troops turned around and searched in the direction of the Loire Springs, and if those men were prepared to be against their target, they might have been ambushed there by now." Hanst said aloud.

"Our Lady is on board, and everyone immediately mounts and prepares to go, hoping that everything will be in time." Loire hurriedly gave a loud order to his subordinates.

"Second Lieutenant, should you replenish your water first?" A non-commissioned officer asked.

"Do you want to be like these people? Who knows if the poison that poisoned these people was in the well? ”

"It should be fine, we just drank horses." The non-commissioned officer replied with a look of astonishment.

"They should not have poisoned the well, Loire, the gang took the horses carried by the Italians, which were apparently not poisoned. Give everyone five minutes to replenish their water, and everyone has to fill their carry-on water bottles, and they don't know when the next replenishment will be. Sergeant Ludvik, please help me fill them up. Hanst untied the two water bottles hanging from his waist and handed them to the non-commissioned officer beside him.

PS: I came back too late today, but I finally caught up.

This is the full chapter, the last chapter of the subscription control test,

Thank you for your continued encouragement, the author needs your monthly pass support, thank you. (To be continued.) )