The night was dark, and the number of night shift personnel on the Yunlong Lake construction site in Xuzhou was as small as usual. The roar of the machine was louder than usual. Digging the lake is of course extremely important work, and the core point is the 4,000-meter-long Bayi embankment. Now it is impossible to build a cement embankment, and the command uses a very traditional scheme of rammed earth. The soil is taken locally, and the soil dug out of Yunlong Lake is dried and used to build embankments.

Just as the machine shaft pumps groundwater, the steam locomotive pulls the ground for pre-ploughing, and a large number of new rubber-tired flatbed trucks are put into short-distance transportation, the temporary circular railway undertakes the largest transportation work. The rammed earth is not entirely manpowered, but preloaded with a large roller pulled by a steam engine. The embankment is 4,000 meters long and divided into several sections, and the steam engine slowly drags a large roller more than one person high, crushing and leveling the newly accumulated layer of soil on the already tamped embankment.

The skeleton of the large mill is made of steel, and the periphery of the skeleton is tightly plugged with wooden blocks to form a circular body, and then tightly tied with hemp rope layer by layer. Finally, the skeleton was stuffed with iron blocks. The whole mill weighs thousands of catties, and it cannot be dragged by human or animal power. According to the simple shaft gear disc, the conversion method of different arm lengths is used to slowly drag these thousands of pounds of behemoths. After this preparation at night, during the day, countless laborers would use manpower mallets to smash the soil even stronger, so that even a knife could not penetrate it.

The middle of the mill is made of wood and iron, but when it is moved, the tiny gaps between the pieces still make a tooth-aching "squeak" sound. The outermost cables are wrist-thick, and they are tightened because they bear the greatest force. The engineers wore steel helmets to protect their heads and faces, wore thick cotton clothes, and followed closely behind the big mill with gas lamps, and observed the situation of the cable attentively.

At the beginning of the attempt, the cables used for these large mills were not thick enough, and there was an accident where the cables were broken. A comrade was hit by a flying cable and broke three ribs, but fortunately no one was killed. Therefore, the engineering department immediately replaced it with a new thick cable, and at the same time strengthened its observation to prevent the same engineering accident from happening again.

Under the light of hundreds of gas lamps raised high, the entire construction site can be said to be brightly lit compared with the dark Xuzhou City. On the periphery, patrols come and go from time to time. It's just that these patrols are insignificant compared to the huge construction site of a dozen square kilometers.

Even with gaslighting and patrols, it is impossible for them to manage every corner. In the second half of the night, after the patrol passed, several figures suddenly slipped into the construction site. They avoided the dense lighting, many of which were excavation sites, and when the ground was ploughed, there was no one to guard it, and there was no need to guard it at all. Using the cover of darkness and ploughing ditches, the figures avoided the laboring machinery and reached for the less densely lit material storage area.

The material storage area was the focus of the defense, and several figures were parked far away in a newly opened ditch on the ground.

"Big brother, these people are watching very closely, should we wait a little longer or what should we do?" One of the guys asked in a low voice.

The one known as the eldest brother poked his head out of the ditch and looked at the guard carefully, and after a long time he retracted his head, and he couldn't help but scold: "The richer you are, the more you have no conscience, and you won't let everyone get some of these things." Look at what you're doing so tightly! ”

This theory peculiar to thieves was very supported by several other people, and someone immediately followed up and scolded: "That is, let everyone work for them, but even a flat pole and a basket are so tight." ”

The guys who were hiding didn't know that they had been discovered by the people on the watchtower. A patrol had already sent a message to the port with a flashlight, and the reason why the guards didn't do it was because they were going to wait a little longer to see if any other guys were coming, and then they were all gone. It's not a good thing to scare the snake too early.

The comrades on the watchtower carefully watched the signals in the direction of each patrol, and at the same time rubbed their hands on their frozen cheeks. "Squad leader, why don't these thieves work hard? They work honestly on the construction site, and they don't get less than us. ”

The local people in Xuzhou were mobilized to participate in labor, and the People's Party paid a considerable amount of compensation. In terms of equal pay for equal work alone, the income of the masses is only a little more than that of the soldiers. These days, there have been many attempts at theft, but the actual success of theft has been minimal. Because the People's Party attaches the most importance to the system, Chen Ke believes that "the system is better than everything!" "The engineers knew very well that since these people came to participate in labor in order to get paid, if the system was not perfect, it was inevitable that there would be a large-scale loss of materials. Since the People's Party has not yet planned to impose such forceful control on the arrest and sentencing of ordinary people on a large scale, in order to protect the interests of the People's Party itself and the interests of the broad masses of laborers. In institutional considerations, it is imperative to treat all people as potential thieves.

In the case of digging soil, for example, the BJP does not allow people to bring their own tools. Neither entry nor exit is permitted. In line with the concept of "punishing the disabled without teaching" and "having a beginning and an end", it is necessary to publicize the system to every worker before entering the site. At the end of each round of labor, the remuneration must be handed over together with the receipt and the tools in exchange for the remuneration. At best, there was only a problem of broken tools, but there were not many thefts.

For those who are stubborn and try to steal during the day, they are never merciless in arresting. After being caught, they are tried in open court next to the construction site, and they are generally sentenced to 15 days of labor reform. Forced labor under the supervision of the public security department, and the wage is only 70% of normal labor. This kind of trial has become a form of entertainment for the masses when they are resting, and there is always a sea of people outside the trial venue, and laughter and angry scolding are resounding one after another.

On the contrary, this kind of hard-line method has established a very good reputation among the masses. These dishonest guys are not just starting to be dishonest now, and they are not good birds on weekdays. Seeing them arrested and forced to do labor, the masses were very happy.

Some thieves saw that they couldn't succeed during the day, so they changed their strategy and changed fishing in troubled waters to direct theft. The People's Party has implemented focused surveillance, and those with such guts have been arrested. The experience of arrest is also becoming more and more abundant.

Just like in the beginning, in order to catch a team of thieves, almost the entire guard team can be put into action, which will always affect the normal order of labor. Now the guards began to arrest them in full force at the darkest time before dawn, and when they had all these guys arrested, it was dawn, just in time not to delay the normal work during the day.

This time the situation is probably the same, even if the patrol sees a suspicious guy, they don't do it immediately, they just use flashlights to release the news. After the guards and outposts in various guard towers confirmed that they had tracked down those roosters and dog thieves, they would also use flashlights to communicate. If you lose it temporarily, you will have the patrol track it down again. It doesn't seem that the patrol is severe, but in fact, it feels like Skynet is recovering and not leaking. Even so, comrades with more experience still feel that things are a little different from usual.

From the emphasis on the wiping of weapons on the watchtower, to the more vigorous figure of the patrol, and the unusual calm in some areas of the construction site. All kinds of details made the loyal soldiers on the watchtower feel that something was wrong. A communications worker came to connect and used a flashlight to signal three long and three short that night at the bottom of the watchtower, and the comrades on the watchtower asked the correspondent to climb up.

"There may be a bandit attack tonight, and the commander asks everyone to be vigilant."

The correspondent's intelligence made the comrades not only vigilant, but immediately nervous. "How many bandits are coming to loot?"

"We have troops on the periphery, and it is unlikely that the battle will spill over into the storage areas of supplies. But be careful. Whenever anyone else rushed to the material storage area, the commander demanded that everyone immediately return fire and never allow the enemy to approach. ”

"Yes!" The comrades all cheered up.

"Also, don't be rash. If there is no fighting, do not aim your gun outside, and do not probe your body out too often. The correspondent gave the final request.

Half an hour after the correspondent left, the comrades in the watchtower were in high spirits. They pretended to be the same as in the first half of the night, as they were in the first half of the night. But everyone leaned against the wooden walls of the watchtower, glancing out of the window from time to time. They want both the battle to start and the fight not to begin.

Until a single gunshot rang out in the distance, and several flares were fired into the sky. If the gas lamps on the construction site are brilliantly lit, the dazzling light of the flares gives the comrades in the watchtower the illusion of dawn. Just a moment later, there was already gunfire in the southwest. It seems that the comrades in the material storage area have been ordered, and even with such fierce battles, no one has appeared.

At this moment, the little thieves who thought they had escaped the watchtower surveillance, came out of their hiding place. A few of them were really daring, not only did they not escape, but they didn't care about life and death and touched towards the material storage area. I want to fish in troubled waters.

There was no need for any orders, the comrades in the watchtower set up their rifles at the window, pulled the bolt and aimed at the guys.

As described in the training session, it is extremely difficult to get the first shot hit. Three comrades on the watchtower opened fire at the same time, hitting only one. The effect of the training came out, and without the slightest hesitation or remorse, the three comrades continued to shoot at their targets. Three rounds of fire passed, and all four people who rushed out were knocked to the ground.

Ignoring the screams of the four guys who were knocked down, the guns of the comrades all turned to the positions where they rushed out. Everyone has already seen clearly that there are five people hiding there, that is, there is still a guy who stays there.

The waiting time was difficult, and I don't know if it was a long time or just a moment. Holding his breath and paying attention to the mound without saying a word, always ready to spot the enemy in action, this gives people a great illusion of time. According to the daily training, the comrades silently counted in their hearts. When he counted to more than 300, the cunning guy who stayed behind finally looked outside. This immediately calmed the hearts of the comrades. The guy didn't run away.

Everyone waited with bated breath, and the guy looked at the probe a few times, and then tried to crawl slowly down the channel. He thought he could hide in the channel, but from the condescending vantage point of the watchtower, the guy's body was completely exposed to the gun. Each of the three comrades fired a shot, and the area available for shooting was so large that the comrades could even see the small opening that the bullet exploded when it penetrated the cotton clothes. I saw that the guy's body bounced a few times, and he lay in the channel and didn't move.

Several comrades on the watchtower saw that they had finally killed the five guys, and their tense nerves suddenly relaxed. Everyone gasped for breath, and one of them even sat down on the wooden floor with his legs limp. Excitement rushed through the nerves like an electric current, and everyone trembled, wanting to see their results, but there seemed to be a great resistance that made it impossible for them to lean out to see.

Before dawn, the gunfire on the construction site completely stopped. The guards examined the guys who had been knocked down, and for those who were not dead, the military doctor in a white coat immediately treated them.

The operation was commanded by the People's Internal Affairs Committee, headed by Liu Yongsheng, who had attended a meeting of the Political Department, and after inspecting the battlefield, Liu Yongsheng took a middle-aged man in civilian clothes with him into a makeshift tent on the construction site. After the two sat down, Liu Yongsheng said slowly: "Mr. Ren Jizhou, thank you for providing us with the news of these bandits. It helped us a lot. ”

Ren Jizhou replied a little awkwardly: "I only learned about them by chance, and I'm afraid that your army won't believe me." Or think I'm in some kind of collusion with them. ”

Liu Yongsheng laughed a few times, "We try not to wronged anyone." These people are just staying in Mr. Ren's inn. If it is only because of this, we directly link Mr. Ren with these bandits without investigation, which is unreasonable. Mr. Ren is relieved that we, the People's Party, are working hard to prevent this from happening. ”

Listening to Liu Yongsheng's words, Ren Jizhou's expression relaxed, and he nodded again and again, "I don't ask for any reward, I just want not to be affected." When Comrade Liu said this, I was relieved. ”

"You can really rest assured that we will never wronged anyone." Liu Yongsheng comforted.

After speaking, Liu Yongsheng poured a glass of water for Ren Jizhou, and seeing Ren Jizhou holding the water cup and thanking him for his kindness, Liu Yongsheng persuaded: "Mr. Ren first drink saliva to calm down, this night, you are also tired." ”

Since Liu Yongsheng was so polite, even though the cup was only white water, Ren Jizhou also took it and drank most of the cup in one go. As soon as he put down the cup, he heard Liu Yongsheng say: "Mr. Ren, I have something I want to ask you, you are a high-level spy in Beiyang, I don't know how many oceans you can take in a month?" ”

If this is said in a questioning tone, or by slapping the table and yelling, it may give a sense of intimidation. When Liu Yongsheng said it slowly and in an extremely ordinary tone, Ren Ji didn't even understand whether Liu Yongsheng was joking or not, the muscles on his face twitched a few times, and then said in a trembling voice: "Comrade Liu, I really don't have the same group as those bandits. ”

As soon as he finished saying this, the two comrades of the People's Internal Affairs Committee standing behind Ren Jizhou had already pounced, twisted Ren Jizhou's arms behind his back, and handcuffed him. But that's all, after handcuffing Ren Jizhou, the two let go of Ren Jizhou's arm and took a step back.

Ren Jizhou tried to stand up and argue, but the two had to step forward again and press Ren Jizhou to the seat.

Wait for Ren Jizhou to finish shouting injustice. Liu Yongsheng spoke slowly, "I'm still saying that, I don't think you have any collusion with the bandits." We've looked into it. However, you are a spy in Beiyang, and we have also investigated. Your real name is not Ren Jizhou, your name is Wang Jizhou. It is a distant relative of Wang Shizhen, and when the Manchu Qing Dynasty was not destroyed, Wang Shizhen sent you to Xuzhou to inquire about the intelligence of our People's Party. You just happened to find an opportunity to buy a shop and become an innkeeper. Since then, you have been working as a spy for Beiyang. ”

When Ren Jizhou heard Liu Yongsheng say this, he even cried out for being wronged.

Seeing Ren Jizhou's flustered look and resolute opposition, Liu Yongsheng smiled helplessly: "Hehe, Mr. Ren." You know what? We, the BJP, oppose torture to extract confessions. Why? Because we have conducted scientific research, the information obtained by torture is often something that the torturers want to force the beaten person to confess. What we want to hear is the truth. ”

mentioned torture to extract confessions, Ren Jizhou's face had turned pale. He's also been an innkeeper for so long, and he's been a great deal of people, and he knows that after this initial opposition, with the word "but", everything will change.

Sure enough, Liu Yongsheng continued: "However, I think this still has to be fought." Why? Because some people think that we are scientific and do not approve of torture to extract confessions. So I don't have to suffer from flesh and skin, so I don't have to tell us the truth. So, my personal interrogation habit, I don't ask you any questions, I'll be punished first. Change the fight to see your ability to bear the pain, how to fight can make you the most painful and uncomfortable. Let's get rid of this rule first, and I don't think you will be misunderstood. Think we're not going to do anything but ask. ”

Even though it was winter, Ren Jizhou felt a cold sweat on his back. If Liu Yongsheng was wielding a leather whip, or his face was full of hideous threats and threats, it would not have caused him so much psychological pressure. On the contrary, Liu Yongsheng is scientific and reasonable, and what he said is not nonsense. Not only that, Liu Yongsheng also hopes that Ren Jizhou himself can understand the reason for Liu Yongsheng's torture. This really frightened Ren Jizhou.

I don't know when, Ren Jizhou suddenly found that his forehead was also full of sweat. If Liu Yongsheng's purpose in torture was just to get Ren Jizhou to explain something, Ren Jizhou could still make up some nonsense. But this time the torture did not pursue what Ren Jizhou said at all, but just a "killing stick". So what more murderous means are waiting for Ren Jizhou after killing the mighty stick?

The fear caused by imagination is even more frightening than the pain itself. Just when Ren Jizhou was sweating profusely and was at a loss. Liu Yongsheng asked slowly, "How is it, Mr. Ren, what do you think?" ”

Ren Jizhou subconsciously said: "I'm really not a spy, I said at the beginning, I'm not a spy." ”

"Hey!" Liu Yongsheng sighed, "Mr. Ren, if you weren't a spy, you would have been trying to prove yourself just now. Now that you say that, you can only say that you are thinking about whether you should admit that you are a spy. So we'll ask questions when we're done. ”