Episode 148 Brother, Come On!!

On the opposite side of the river, the Qing army's patrol speedboats shuttled back and forth, and once they caught a southward escapee, the machine guns on the patrol boats would shoot him directly and kill him in the water. If the distance is close, the patrol boat will turn around and speed over, trying to catch it alive.

Xiang Xiaoqiang was in the observation fort on the east bank, looking through the cannon mirror at the cruel scene that was happening on the river 100 meters away.

A southward fugitive waved his arms desperately, desperately swimming in his own direction. A few meters behind him, a Qing army patrol boat followed unhurriedly with the waves, and the large searchlight on the boat shone firmly on him. Several soldiers on the boat looked at him indifferently. There were two Qing soldiers standing in the bow of the ship, both shirtless, one with an iron anchor claw in his hand, and the other with a large roll of iron wire. The two leaned over to look at the people in the water, and kept turning their heads to let the helm adjust its direction.

No matter how desperately the people in the water slapped the water or changed directions, they could not swim in the circle of the searchlight. Behind him, the black, huge patrol boat approached slowly meter by meter like a tiger leisurely playing with its prey. At the speed of a patrol boat, it was possible to catch up with him at once, roll over his head, and let the propellers grind him into meat sauce. But the Qing soldiers on the boat preferred to capture him alive.

Because for every time a southern escapee was captured alive, the Qing soldiers on the boat could get a piece of the ocean reward. Therefore, every Qing soldier stationed on the border of the Ming and Qing dynasties would be very active in arresting those who fled south. During the few years of being a soldier, if you are lucky enough to catch so many of the southward escapees, then after returning home, you will be able to improve the poverty situation of your family.

The Qing court also preferred to capture the fleeing alive. They were threaded in a bloody string of wires, led back to their hometowns, and then gathered their neighbors to see their miserable condition, humiliated them, and then executed them in public. This effect is much better than directly killing in the Yangtze River. This can not only intimidate more people who have the idea of fleeing south, but also make everyone form the impression that it is useless to flee south, and they will definitely be arrested. Make it even worse to get it back. As long as there is a glimmer of survival, just endure it. Don't everyone endure it like this, why isn't it a lifetime?

The bow of the patrol boat was almost cutting off the fugitive in the water. The man was still waving his arms desperately, but his expression was already desperate. The Qing soldier standing at the bow of the ship raised his iron anchor claws, aimed at the water like a fisherman, and slammed the iron anchor out.

A splash erupted next to the fleeing south, and the hook was empty. Putting on the Qing soldier, he pulled the rope and pulled the iron anchor up, took a look at it again, and pulled it out again.

Xiang Xiaoqiang stuck to the cannon mirror, and trembled all over his body at this time. Although he couldn't see if there was blood in the water, he knew by feeling that it was hooked.

Sure enough, the Qing soldiers at the bow of the boat began to pull up hard, and the people in the water struggled desperately. Now I can see clearly, the splash is red. But it seemed that it was only a hook on the shoulder, and the man in the water actually grabbed the anchor and pulled it off his shoulder at once. Brought down a large piece of flesh. He struggled in the water with one arm, turned around and shouted something into the boat, and pointed to his own head.

On the side of the East Coast Observation Fort, Xiang Xiaoqiang understood that he was asking the Qing soldiers on the ship to directly kill him and not capture him alive. He knew that once he was captured alive, it would be more terrible than death.

But how could the Qing soldiers on the ship refuse a piece of the ocean because of this, ignore him, still wave the anchor claw, and see the hook hard.

The man in the water struggled miserably twice, gave up completely, and accepted the arrangement of fate. The two soldiers in the bow of the boat happily pulled the rope and hooked a bloody man onto the boat. Then the ship's searchlights turned in a different direction, and soon another man was struggling to swim, and the patrol boat turned its bow and rushed towards him with a splash.

The patrol boat turned sideways, and now Xiang Xiaoqiang could see clearly, there were already four bloody people on the boat, all forced to stand on the boat, a thick wire through their shoulders, one end wrapped around the railing, and a Qing soldier was holding the other end of the wire. The other two soldiers held down the man who came up with the steel hook, and one of the soldiers took a tool like a long awl and pierced him in the shoulder. The fugitive struggled desperately, but his strength was exhausted, and in an instant a wire "walked" over his shoulder, threading him and the four men before him.

……

But this is just one of many tragedies on the opposite river. But more people were luckier than him, they were not "hooked back" alive like this, but were shot in the back and sank directly into the river.

So far, there have been dozens of southward escapees that can be seen on the river from the east bank. They are all swimming in despair. The person who swam the farthest has already swam to the center of the river. But behind him, most of the people were caught up by bullets or iron anchor claws, and the Yangtze River was stained with blood.

What's even more heart-shaking is that those fugitives are not all young men, and there are at least twenty or thirty percent of women!

Many of the fugitives fled south with their families. Because they know that even if they succeed in escaping, what will be the fate of their wives and children.

The men not only swam desperately on their own, but also pushed the women holding the planks. The women clung to the plank, desperately raising their pale faces, spitting out water and inhaling air, their feet flapping behind their backs, boosting the thrust for their men. There are also two adults, a man and a woman, who seem to be a young couple, and they seem to be very good in water, pushing a large wooden basin and swimming desperately south.

What was in the tub could not be seen on the east coast, but anyone could figure it out. …… That's their child.

But it is obvious that such fugitives have almost never escaped death because of the "burden". Patrol boats also seem to be particularly fond of chasing such "family escapees". Because they don't swim fast with their families, they are easy to find and chase, and once they catch up, they can usually be captured alive by the whole family. Men will not leave their wives and children to wander alone......

For the Qing soldiers on the ship, who were also poor, they could get several oceans at a time. They laughed from ear to ear each time, and like fishermen in a good harvest, they happily dressed their prey like a fish and fastened it to the gang.

……

In the dark, I only heard Zhu Yourong crying in a muffled voice. But the ministers and generals in the entire observation fort were also in a shocking scene that they had never seen with their own eyes, and no one would even open their mouths to comfort His Majesty.

Xiang Xiaoqiang has never seen such a human tragedy. He felt like his blood was going to go cold.

He was so uncomfortable that he moved his body and felt his toes touch a person next to him. But the man's feet immediately retracted as if they had been electrocuted. He put down his binoculars and turned his head to see that a dark figure beside him was Fourteen Gege.

Fourteen Gege also held the binoculars, looking stiffly at the scene in the distance. Her upper body swayed slightly, as if she was about to fall.

Xiang Xiaoqiang couldn't help but wonder if in the past few years, when Fourteen Gege was in charge of the sticky rod, whether her sticky pole had also participated in "detecting" such a "collective smuggling case" and "smashing" such a "human snake group......

The answer is probably self-evident......

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked at the weak Fourteen Gege, and wanted to stretch out a hand to her and let her lean on him. But he sighed inwardly, did not do so, turned his head, and continued to hold up the telescope.

…… Let's wait until the mood calms down......

……

The first few fugitives had already swam through the heart of the river. But their movements were noticeably slow, and the extreme panic and exhaustion had brought them to the brink of collapse.

Suddenly, several lights lit up on the nearby river, illuminating more than a dozen Ming flags.

That's a Ming army patrol boat! They had been waiting here for a long time, and as soon as the fugitives swam past the dividing line in the middle of the river, they immediately turned on the lights and leaned in to meet them.

The exhausted fugitives saw hope in an instant, and swam towards the brightly lit Ming banner. More than a dozen patrol boats were brightly lit, shining with the Ming Navy flag on the boats, rolling the waves, and taking the initiative to approach the fugitives. The sailors on the boat took lifebuoys and threw them at the people in the water one by one.

But the people in the water were about to collapse, and several lifebuoys did not catch. But the boat was filled with lifebuoys. On the way closer, the sailors kept throwing it, as if the Ming Dynasty's lifebuoy didn't want money. …… Of course, at this time, compared with human life, the lifebuoy certainly doesn't need money.

A few dozen seconds later, a Ming army patrol boat approached a fugitive. The two sailors jumped into the river and swam quickly towards the exhausted man. Soon, two sailors caught him and rescued him. Immediately after that, the patrol boat galloped towards another person who swam across the river's center......

On the hull of each Ming army patrol boat, there are a few big characters written in white paint. The words were written in large sizes, and they were all crooked, as if they had been written by the sailors themselves.

The distance was very far, the waves were undulating, and Xiang Xiaoqiang looked through the telescope for a long time, but he didn't recognize what those words were.

……

After discovering that there was a Ming patrol boat on the opposite side, the searchlights of the Qing patrol boat in the west shone over and dangled around the Ming patrol boat. They knew that those fugitives would concentrate in the direction of the Ming army's patrol boats, and it was best to fight at this time.

Sure enough, several people's heads were illuminated by the pillar of light, and then the machine guns of the Qing army on the opposite side flashed, and the water splashed in strings.

This is also the reason why the Ming army patrol boats did not dare to appear prematurely. This will certainly attract more fugitives to find their way, but it will also attract more bullets to harvest their lives.

The bullets of the Qing army crossed the Jiangxin line, and they had already hit the side of Nanming. As a result, several Nanming patrol boats also erupted tongues of fire, and larger water columns jumped around the Qing patrol boats.

This is a warning shot, warning the Qing army not to shoot bullets in this direction. The tongue of fire of the Ming army was louder and louder, and it could be heard in the observation fort. Because the Ming army's patrol boats were much more advanced than those of the Qing army, not only machine guns, but also the newly equipped "Erlikon" 20-mm machine gun.

Sure enough, after a warning shot, the Qing patrol boat reined in a lot and no longer dared to fire machine guns to the east. But they still shuttled across the river to the west, and carefully lowered the muzzle of their guns so that the bullets did not "cross the line".

The weather is beautiful, and the wind speed on the river is weaker. The smoke screens that had been fired on the Yangtze River defense line took effect, and the smoke screens began to spread one after another. Although it did not have the same effect as the fog, at least several more lives were saved.

One by one, the fugitives swam alive to the river on the Nanming side. Now there are more than 20 people who have swam through the heart of the river.

But behind them, there were at least sixty or seventy people who died under the machine guns of the Qing army and were hooked onto the ship by anchor and claw.

Still, in the darkness and smoke screen, every few moments, a man would be seen coming out, exhausted and floating on the water. At this time, the Ming patrol boat would speed over, and the sailors jumped into the water to rescue him.

At this time, one of the nearest patrol boats turned around and ran towards another person who swam over. Xiang Xiaoqiang suddenly saw the big white paint on the hull of the boat. It turned out to be:

Brother, come on!!

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang, a big man, was also moved by a sour nose at this time.

Ah, these sailors...... They are simply ...... Too...... It's so loving.

As for the Qing sailors on the other side...... Alas, the same nation of the same culture and the same species, the young people who have been cultivated, why is the gap in life so big......