Episode 53 4,000 people are executed

Three divisions of the Ming army, with 54,000 follow-up troops, arrived at the port of Batavia on March 4, and during the week, a large number of transport ships shuttled back and forth in the South China Sea, bringing more tanks, armored vehicles, artillery, vehicles, motorcycles, and even bicycles to Batavia. Its use of the word "march" is not accurate, and it should be used as "march". Because the resistance was extremely weak, there were not many battles, and the time was spent building bridges and paving roads, as well as walking.

However, with the increase in the number of vehicles of the Ming army, the speed of the eastward advance is also getting faster day by day. At first, it was more than 20 kilometers a day, and in the next few days, it was 60 to 80 kilometers a day. The "front-line airfield" of the Ming army was often repaired on the first day, and it became a "rear airfield" on the second day, which could not keep up with the pace of infantry advance.

By March 9, the day Batavia had captured 4,000 locals, the Ming army had captured Semarang, and the front line had advanced to the west bank of the Solo River, controlling three-quarters of Batavia. The last big city in the east is Surabaya.

On the evening of March 9, Xiang Xiaoqiang held a "Wanhu Conference" with several officers of the People's Guard in the conference room of the Governor's Palace to arrange how to execute the 4,000 indigenous murderers tomorrow.

Xiang Xiaoqiang put forward a principle: that is, the process of execution was all completed by the police system, and the Ming army closely monitored it, but never killed people with their own hands. He knew that in today's twentieth century, no matter how righteous the reason, killing thousands of people who could not resist in one fell swoop would be a serious tarnish on the reputation of an army. Moreover, the psychology of their own soldiers will be seriously distorted by the massacre. There are few people with excellent psychological quality like Xu Xiangde, after all. This "dirty work" must be done by the local police system.

First, discuss the method of execution. Hangings began to be proposed, gallows were erected in the center of Batavia, and hangings were carried out in batches. This has the greatest deterrent effect. However, some people pointed out that this is too slow, after all, the gallows must be specially erected and dismantled at times, and there are not many erections, and hangings are much slower than shooting. Hang 4,000 people in this way, and I don't know if I want the year of the monkey.

So the opinions focused on the shooting. Shoot quickly, and anywhere, inside the city, outside the city. Xiang Xiaoqiang also agreed to be shot. For the so-called "deterrent effect", he is not very cold. The execution of 4,000 people, no matter how they are executed, the deterrent effect is enough.

And, on the contrary, he felt that the hanging of thousands of people in the center of the city had too much negative effect, and the whole world saw it, enough to shift the balance of sympathy from the Chinese side to the indigenous side. If they were taken outside the city to be shot and buried directly, then although the whole world knew that there was such a thing, because they did not see the execution process with their own eyes, 4,000 people were just a number for them. No photos, no reporters, it would be much better.

Xiang Xiaoqiang admired Xu Xiangde very much, promoted him to lieutenant, and asked him to select 200 ruthless and ruthless People's Guard soldiers to form an "action team", armed with submachine guns, machine guns and other automatic weapons, and monitored the police to escort death row prisoners to the city for execution in batches to prevent them from rebelling.

Everything was agreed, and the tasks were assigned and arranged that night.

……

On the morning of March 10, Batavia's only Chinese-language radio station, "Voice of the South Seas", began broadcasting again. A new female anchor from the Singapore headquarters sits in a new, spacious broadcast hall with a black veil wrapped around her arms. She looked up and saw that all the colleagues in the broadcast room were wearing black gauzes, and there was a mourning table on the wall, lit incense candles, offered fruits, and placed the photos of the former female anchor Zhou Rumei and two other male reporters who died at the same time.

The director wearing a headset also wrapped a black yarn around his arm and compared with the female anchor with his hand: five, four, three, two, one, start!

The female anchor said into the microphone in a sweet but heavy voice:

"Ladies and gentlemen, after 16 days of silence, "Voice of the South Seas" is finally able to broadcast to you again today. I'm your new streamer, Lina Ho. …… Now in our broadcast room, there are offering tables, incense sticks, and a posthumous photo of my predecessor, Miss Zhou Rumei. Sixteen days ago, she jumped off a building to her death in order not to fall into the hands of the mob...... After 16 days, we were finally able to say to her: Rumei, you can look at it today. Because today, the Batavian Military Administration and the Batavia Police Department will carry out the death penalty for 4,000 murderers. General Xiang Xiaoqiang, the top commander of the Military Management Commission, has signed the death warrants for these 4,000 thugs......"

"Damn!" Xiang Xiaoqiang was in the bedroom of the Governor's Palace, listening to the radio while getting dressed, and smashed the bed when he heard this, "No, these media are too blind, obviously it wasn't signed by me, it's the police chief, the Dutchman!" This kind of Zhiyang Shou word, can I sign it myself! Yes, 4,000 lives, count on my head......"

Before he finished speaking, he heard firecrackers from far and near. Soon, the sound of gongs and drums came from the street. Xiang Xiaoqiang hurriedly lifted the curtain and looked out, there was already a lion dance team on the street, beating gongs and drums on the street.

Qiu Yun hugged him gently from behind and said softly:

"Xiaoqiang, there's nothing wrong with this, listen, the firecrackers and gongs and drums outside, this is what people want!"

"yes."

Xiang Xiaoqiang turned around and hugged Qiu Qiu, and the two of them looked out through the gap in the curtains. There were more and more places to set off firecrackers, and after a while, many Chinese were already beating gongs and drums on the streets.

Qiu Yun is right, this is what people want. There is nothing dishonorable about punishing the murderers and upholding justice, and there is no need to cover them up. Xiang Xiaoqiang is just out of disgust with the "massacre", he always feels that this kind of thing is very sensitive, and he wants to keep a low profile if he can keep a low profile. However, the majority of Chinese people do not care whether the death warrant is signed by the police chief or signed by Xiaoqiang, they will only automatically count this "credit" to the hero Xiang Xiaoqiang in their hearts.

Yes, that's what people want. What is there to hide?

……

A few days ago, when the Chinese people in Batavia saw the natives being seized in batches, they bought firecrackers, incense candles, and offerings, and waited for this day. The radio just said that these murderers will be taken to the outside of the city in batches at 10 o'clock this morning to be executed, and the Chinese people can bring their own incense candles and set up incense tables on the side of the road to pay tribute to their dead families.

Now there are still three or four hours before ten o'clock, so more Chinese people are buying incense and candle offerings, and the shops selling these things are almost crowded.

At ten o'clock in the morning, the large iron gate of Batavia Prison slowly opened, and a convoy of cars drove out. This was the first mob to be carried out outside the city, a total of 200 people. The cars escorted were mainly military trucks and buses. There are only ten military trucks, because there is still a war, and military vehicles must support the front line as much as possible. There aren't many that can be used for this. There are also more than a dozen buses, which are also requisitioned all the buses that Batavia can requisition. Moreover, every car cannot be filled with death row inmates, and considerable seats must be reserved for the police and people's guards who escort them. So the carrying capacity is very small, with a maximum of 200 people per batch.

A convoy of death row prisoners drove through the streets of Batavia, and the road was crowded with Chinese on both sides, who were holding incense tables, placing portraits of their relatives, lighting incense candles, and weeping bitterly.

"Daughter, rest in peace, the Ming army avenged you today......"

"Wife, you can close your eyes today...... Those brutes are now being escorted out and killed......"

"Dad, Mom, little brother, little sister...... General Xiang avenged our family today......"

"Son, don't worry...... Even if your parents don't have you in the future, you don't have to be afraid...... There is our Ming army here...... Those natives don't dare to bully us Chinese anymore......"

In addition to crying to mourn their relatives, there are many people who beat gongs and drums, set off firecrackers, and even many lion dancers on the side of the road.

……

The convoy drove south out of the city, through flat farmland, for more than 20 kilometers, into the mountains, on the edge of the primeval forests of Batavia. This is the ideal "slaughter site" determined by Xiang Xiaoqiang and their "Wannsee Conference". In the inaccessible dense forest, it is ideal to dig a pit and bury it after being shot.

More than 20 cars were parked in the woods, and Xu Xiangde's People's Guard Corps first jumped out of the car, removed a large bundle of barbed wire from the carriage, wrapped and pulled it around the trunk, and quickly enclosed a barbed wire area, and then arranged four heavy machine guns at the four corners, and 200 soldiers of the action squad stood on the outside of the barbed wire with submachine guns in their hands. Xu Xiangde then directed a prisoner cart into the barbed wire, and the police escorted a cart of a dozen death row inmates down and made them kneel in a row underground.

The dozen or so death row inmates were already paralyzed from fright, trembling on their knees, and some were muttering something in their mouths. The soldiers of the task force all smelled a distinct smell of urine. There are many death row inmates who are so frightened that they pee on their crotch when they are in the car.

Originally, the idea was to fence up a barbed wire fence and let the death row inmates dig their own pits in it. But now it seems that one by one they are paralyzed into thin mud, and it is obviously unrealistic to want them to dig a pit for themselves. Xu Xiangde smoked irritably, and it seemed that the police were going to dig their own pits. But there are only 30 policemen, and the manpower is too small, and I don't know how long the big pit of these 200 people will be dug.

"Captain," a subordinate of the squad came over to ask for instructions, "to be punished first or to dig a pit first?" ”

Xu Xiangde looked at these death row inmates and those local policemen, and always felt that it was not appropriate. After all, they are all locals.

He waved his hand:

"First execution! It's not too late to dig a hole when you're done! ”

This way you avoid long nights and dreams. They shot 200 death row inmates and then had the policemen dig holes in the barbed wire fence while their own team watched them. That's the best way to go.

Several squad soldiers took fifteen rifles out of their vehicles and handed them out to fifteen policemen. Then they were given a bullet each.

A Dutch police officer shouted:

"Standing upright - loading - raising the gun - "

Fifteen local policemen raised their rifles in unison and aimed them at the backs of fifteen death row inmates.

"Ready-go!"

"Bang Bang Bang ......"

A burst of gunshots rang out, white smoke cleared, and fifteen death row inmates were already lying on the ground bleeding. The various birds in the forest flapped their wings and flew in a large area, rushing among the treetops of the forest.

Fifteen policemen then handed their rifles to the squad soldiers and moved the bodies aside. The Sentai soldiers loaded each of them with a bullet and handed it back to them.

The first empty prison van exited the barbed wire fence area, and the second prisoner van drove in with 15 more condemned prisoners.

……

In this orderly manner, car by car executions were carried out, and it was not long before all the cars were empty, and in the barbed wire area, there were 200 bodies of death row inmates lying on the ground, and the soil was completely red with blood.

Xu Xiangde looked at his watch, it was already more than two o'clock in the afternoon. The execution process was not long, mainly because the journey of more than 20 kilometers was time-consuming. But an even more difficult task is yet to come: digging holes.

Although there are 200 people in the People's Guard Action Team, it is responsible for monitoring the local police, and they must not throw down their weapons and dig holes with them. The policemen also understood, and instead of asking for help in a boring way, they considered themselves unlucky, rolled up their sleeves and dug a hole.

It took three hours to dig this pit and finally be able to throw 200 corpses into it. It was already six o'clock in the evening until the site was buried, the site was cleaned up, and the barbed wire fence was removed.

The primeval forest at dusk has begun to be terrifying, and the cries of all kinds of animals are strange, ranging from the roars of man-eating beasts to the strange cries of various unknown birds. There is also a particularly high-pitched, mournful cry, which is endemic to the East Indies and orangutans.

It's getting dark, and you can't stay in this forest for long. Xu Xiangde commanded all the staff to pack up their things and get into the car, and took advantage of the darkness to find the way, drove out of the forest area, and drove back to Batavia.

By the time the convoy returned to Batavia, it was past seven o'clock in the evening.

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang was very dissatisfied. In a whole day, only 200 people were executed. If this continues, it will take 20 days to execute 4,000 people! This must not be allowed. Within a few days, the Ming army would completely take Batavia, and then it would likely be possible to negotiate with the Dutch. Even before the complete capture of Batavia, the Netherlands could sue for peace. At that time, such large-scale executions will affect the negotiations.

"My lord," Xu Xiangde stood beside him, staring at Xiang Xiaoqiang and said, "I have an idea for my lordship, I don't know what my lord thinks." ”

"Say."

"My lord, executed at sea!"

Xiang Xiaoqiang was startled, turned his face and stared at him. Xu Xiangde was not stunned at all, and said his thoughts to his gaze.

Get a big ship, load the remaining 3,000 or so death row prisoners on board, drive out to sea, and execute them on deck. Death row inmates were housed in cabins, carried to the deck in groups, shot by firing squads and thrown directly into the sea. This solves both the problem of transportation and the problem of burial.

Xiang Xiaoqiang thought about it for a while, and felt that it was very good and feasible to pay attention.

"Very good, go ahead and arrange it! It just so happens that there are two Dutch cargo ships in the port of Batavia, which we captured after we captured the port of Semarang, and I will sign it, and you can take someone to requisition one! ”

……

The next day, at around seven o'clock in the morning on March 11, the convoy of death row inmates in Batavia Prison drove out again, except that this time it was not south, but north, bound for Batavia Port. The convoy shuttled back and forth, transporting all 3,800 death row prisoners to the port in the morning and loading them onto an 8,000-ton Dutch freighter.

At noon, the freighter moved slowly and sailed north out of the bay of Batavia and into the ocean forty nautical miles away. There is no land in sight, no other islands in sight, just a vast sea all around. The freighter dropped anchor.

With Xu Xiangde's order, the execution of nearly 4,000 people at sea began.

The first 20 Aboriginal death row inmates in the cabin were lifted onto deck. Two heavy machine guns were mounted on the ship's floor, and dozens of squad soldiers with submachine guns stood around. The local policemen had to pick up their rifles again and continue to shoot their compatriots.

"Raise the gun-prepare-!!"

After the platoon, 20 natives collapsed in pools of blood on the deck with their arms tied.

The police then carried the bodies and threw them into the sea.

The second batch was brought up again.

When there were already forty or fifty corpses and a large amount of blood floating on the surface of the sea, not far away, a large gray dorsal fin suddenly appeared on the surface of the water, paddling like a submarine and quickly approaching the waves. Immediately after that, a large triangular head suddenly emerged from the water, opened its bloody mouth, and dragged a corpse down in one fell swoop.

Immediately, a second and third dorsal fins appeared on the surface of the water, and two more corpses were dragged down, and soon they were torn into two pieces and floated up, the flesh and blood blurred, and the misery was unbearable.

After a while, a group of sharks surged around the ship, competing to tear the corpses, and for a moment the water in the vicinity turned completely red.

Xu Xiangde leaned on the railing, looked at the scene on the water, gritted his teeth, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and Zhou Rumei's frightened and angry voice that he heard on the radio that day echoed in his mind:

…… Now the shopkeeper has been dragged out...... The locals have **, with sticks and machetes, and they are cutting him...... He fell on his knees and begged them......

…… The owner's head ...... was cut off with a knife...... Ground...... The ground was sprayed with blood......

…… Now they have dragged the owner's wife and daughter out...... Those...... The locals showed them the shopkeeper's head......

…… Yes! Now they're on the street...... and put them to the ground...... The girl was at most twelve or thirteen years old...... She...... She screamed so badly......

…… Now the Chinese mother and daughter are not moving...... They were naked, covered in scars, and there was no good meat left...... A local was still using a knife to carve something on the mother's chest...... Their nakedness...... They are all stuffed with sticks and bamboo sticks...... There seems to be a wire hanger, taken from the store...... The man and woman who were dragged out of the car are also dying now...... The man's lower body seems to have been castrated and he has passed out......

…… They saw me in the window! They rushed into the building! Help, what should I do! …… Two of my male colleagues were pushing against the door, and they were desperately trying to hold the door with their desks and sofas...... Locals are banging on the door outside...... They are shouting, let's resign ourselves to our fate, let's obey the Allah's arrangement...... I...... What should I do, I don't want to die...... Help me!!

…… Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes the broadcast of "Voice of the South Seas", thank you for listening, I ...... I'm going to jump off the building, goodbye......

……

Bursts of guns rang in my ears, and sharks swarmed in the sea right now. The thugs of that time are now lying in the sea, torn apart and devoured by sharks......

Many of the soldiers of the squad also stretched out their heads to look into the water, and most of their faces showed unbearable expression.

Xu Xiangde looked at them, suddenly took a deep breath and shouted:

"Listen up! Now we just shoot them and throw them down! …… If it were us who were tied up now and they were the ones with the guns, they would have thrown us alive! And they would scream frantically and watch us be bitten alive by sharks for fun! …… That's the difference between a beast and a man! Always remember! ”