Episode 64 You're ruthless, I'm even more ruthless

Xiang Xiaoqiang was about to organize people to interrogate the two pirates, and the sailors came to invite him to the command room, so Xiang Xiaoqiang first asked the two pirates to be handcuffed to the railing of the ship, let the sailors guard them, and then ran back to the command room on the bridge.

The captain showed him a telegram, which was sent by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs. After looking at Xiaoqiang, I realized that Daming had a cargo ship hijacked in Malacca every year, and a luxury cruise ship was hijacked the year before last, that is, the famous "Xiangjiang" incident.

The telegram focused on the beginning and end of the "Xiangjiang" incident. "Xiangjiang" is a 24,000-ton luxury cruise ship, which set off from Guangzhou Port for Europe on June 22, 1934, and disappeared in the waters of the Strait of Malacca in the early morning of June 24.

At the time of the disappearance, there were 523 passengers and 225 crew members on board, and none of them returned. More than a year after the incident, a wealthy Chinese businessman happened to see a teenage Chinese in a brothel in Surabaya, who looked very much like his business partner, the second lady of the "Zhangji" trading company, and the whole family of the boss Zhang disappeared in the "Xiangjiang" incident. After he returned to China, he immediately informed the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs immediately organized people to go to various brothels in Surabaya to find out the information of the passengers of the "Xiangjiang". As a result, after more than ten days of work, 8 female passengers of the Xiangjiang who had been a ** for more than a year were found.

But because Surabaya is a Dutch territory, the personnel of the Ming Maritime Department are powerless. Two days later, the Ming government sent agents to Surabaya with large amounts of checks and cash in an attempt to ransom them. But in the end, only four were redeemed, and the other four were quickly sold over the course of two days, never to be rescued again. This incident was reported in the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming government organized more people and brought more money to major cities in Nanyang: Batavia, Semarang, Bandung, Palembang, Medan, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Brunei, Bangkok, Saigon......

This large-scale redemption and rescue operation has not stopped so far. The most recent woman was found and ransomed in May last year. She is the 73rd. These female passengers of the former "Xiangjiang" have all been reduced to ** without exception when they are found. After the Ming army captured Batavia Island, 9 female passengers of the "Xiangjiang" were rescued from several cities, and the number of rescued passengers rose to 82.

After returning home, 23 of the 82 women have committed suicide. There are also 15 with varying degrees of mental disorders.

Of the 523 passengers and 225 crew members of the Xiangjiang, 305 are women, which means that 223 female passengers have not been found so far. It can be said that the hope of finding it again is very slim. But of the 223 female passengers, 96 were older, all over 40. According to the traditional way of dealing with passengers on passenger liners in Malacca, it is almost certain that they were killed by pirates and drowned in the sea along with male passengers.

Xiang Xiaoqiang held the newspaper and saw that his hands were already shaking. There was an urge to kill all the pirates, and I wanted to run to the deck at once, skin the two pirates, and throw them into the sea to feed the sharks. Then he felt a sense of fear again, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

The Heung Kong had only 523 passengers, while the Yongan Princess had 735 passengers......

He continued to look at the telegram, which had been signed by the Minister of Maritime Affairs himself, and he asked the Kuimu Wolf to do his best to find and prevent the tragedy of the "Xiangjiang" from happening again. He said that the Kui Wood Wolf was the only force of the Ming Dynasty in that sea area at present, and he could only rely on them for a short time.

At this time, the second telegram came. This was sent by the General Staff of the Navy. The General Staff of the Navy repeated the statement of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, that is, the Kui Mu Wolf is the only Ming warship in this sea area, and now the Kui Mu Wolf is shouldering a heavy responsibility. At the Songkhla Naval Base, there is an albatross twin-engine water transport aircraft that will soon be ready to take off and arrive at the port of Singapore in the morning, where it can refuel and conduct an aerial search of the waters at the southern tip of Malacca. If the Princess Yong'an is discovered, the Kui Wood Wolf needs to rush there immediately to rescue and exterminate the pirates.

Since Xiang Xiaoqiang's delegation is on the ship, and the Kui Mu Wolf is a warship, and cannot enter the port of Singapore, their safety must be guaranteed.

In addition, the General Staff asked the Kuimu Wolf what additional equipment would be needed for such a mission.

Xiang Xiaoqiang looked up and asked the captain:

"What gear do you need?"

The captain hesitated for a moment and said:

"If you really find the Princess Yong'an, then ...... That's mostly a matter of sailors and pirates. We had 204 officers and men on board, and about 120 of them could disembark to participate in the battle, but we lacked land guns, most of them pistols, and only a dozen submachine guns. Lord Xiang, you have a lot of experience in land warfare, can you give us a list of the weapons we need? ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and said, "No problem." ”

Then he asked for a pen and paper, went to the captain's room and turned on the light, and made a list of some small arms. For the 120 people who can get off the ship to participate in the battle, then these 120 people should be as well equipped as possible. 120 people can be organized into 4 platoons with one light machine gun each, 18 submachine guns, 10 rifles, 60 grenades. That adds up to 4 light machine guns, 72 submachine guns, 40 rifles, and 240 grenades.

He thought about it, and added 40 more smoke bombs, four ropes with anchor claws, and four rope ladders. There are already a lot of such things, and the military doctor on the ship has to write some more medicines. I don't know if the transport plane can be loaded.

Originally, against a target like a pirate's den, it would have been ideal to get a small mortar or two. However, specialized gunners are needed, and these sailors certainly can't. As for the light machine gun, Xiang Xiaoqiang thinks it's completely okay. Although these sailors have not been trained in light machine guns, the standard light machine guns of the Ming army are imitations of Czech light machine guns. The famous Czech, arguably the best light machine gun in the world. In addition to shooting accurately, one of the big benefits is that it's easy to use. Often, the machine gunner is killed, and the ordinary soldier next to him takes it, and he can quickly get into the groove, and usually fights well.

"It's okay, these can fit perfectly," the captain read through the list and nodded in affirmation, "Albatross I know, that kind of water transport plane is very large, and there will be a lot of space after loading these." Even with medicines. Drugs are no more than guns and don't take up much space. ”

"Well, in that case, that's ......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang took the list again and added it to it: one 60-mm mortar, two gunners, and as many shells as possible.

The telegram was sent back to the General Staff of the Navy. A telegram was also sent to the Ministry of Maritime Affairs reporting the capture of the two pirates.

After a while, the General Staff called back and ordered the Kuimu Wolf to arrive at a point 30 nautical miles southeast of Bintan Island at 7:30 a.m. and wait for a rendezvous with the Albatross water transporter.

The captain found the spot on the chart, about 40 nautical miles from the current location of the Timberwolf. And it's five o'clock now.

"Right rudder," the captain ordered, "the new course is 112, two-thirds of the way forward." ”

A telegram from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs also came back. The Ministry of Maritime Affairs said that the pirate organizations operating in the waters of Malacca, they are very familiar with each other, and it is necessary to ask the two pirates as soon as possible to tell the specific location, number of people, and equipment of their lair, whether it is their organization that hijacked the Princess Yong'an, and how long it will take to start "processing" passengers after hijacking a passenger ship.

The Minister of Maritime Affairs stressed that it was important to get them to confess as soon as possible, because time is of the essence now, and the pirates may soon start slaughtering the men on board and "disposing of" the women on board. Many of the traffickers from all over the South Seas are based near Malacca, and every time the pirates hijack a passenger ship, they get the news and pick them out as soon as possible. Once it is resold, it is difficult to find it again.

Xiang Xiaoqiang put down the telegram and asked the captain:

"How long will it take for us to get to the designated location?"

The captain looked at the chart, did a simple mental arithmetic and said:

"We can get to the designated location in one hour and forty minutes. During this time, we can interrogate those two pirates. ”

"That's right," Xiang Xiaoqiang's eyes burned with anger again, and he yelled, "Let's pry their mouths!" Damn, answer a little slower and peel them off! ”

……

On deck, the sky was already dark. The two pirates sat shirtless, leaning against the railing, each with one hand handcuffed to the railing. There were two sailors watching them.

Xiang Xiaoqiang walked over with red eyes, followed by a Malay interpreter, and a sailor holding a toolbox.

Both pirates were in their thirties, tanned-skinned, muscular, and hideous. They looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang, looking very indifferent. They were accustomed to dealing with the Dutch navy, and they had already practiced extremely slippery. They know that it's not scary to be caught by a warship, as long as they make sure that the other side has no evidence of their own piracy.

The two pirates knew very well that they were not robbing the ship when they were caught, but were sailing normally. Although the fishing boat is equipped with a diesel motor, it is not illegal to install a motor. Although there were several guns on the ship at that time, when they were crushed, they all sank to the bottom of the sea, and the two of them were caught empty. In addition, it is true that he threw a grenade at the destroyer, but when he was tried, it can be said that he threw the grenade in a panic because of fear. As for why the fishermen have grenades, this is simple, the anti-Dutch armed activities on Pazia Island are frequent, and the Dutch army exchanges fire with them, which will inevitably cause some ammunition to be lost. In this case, the maximum sentence is several years in prison without being convicted of felony piracy.

While they were making their calculations, they saw the young man in civilian clothes staring at them with a non-smiling smile, while the sailor behind him "banged" the boxes on the deck, and then laid them on the deck one by one.

Vices, screwdrivers, electrician's knives, hammers, fire axes......

These metal guys "bang" on the deck, and each time they put one, they have one more bad premonition.

Xiang Xiaoqiang stared at them, took a deep breath, and said calmly:

"You two listen up, I know you're going to say you're not pirates, but that's okay. I've decided you're pirates, so don't bother saying no. Now I'm going to ask you a few questions, and if you don't answer, if you don't answer truthfully, if you answer too slowly, or if you don't like me, I'm going to use a vise to rip off one of your fingernails. I'll only warn you once, and I hope you take it seriously. ”

The translator said it again in Malay later. The two pirates looked at each other with a slight change of color on their faces. They looked at the ship again and made sure it was a warship, and common sense told them that a regular navy would not be so brutal.

They basically determined that Xiang Xiaoqiang was scaring them. Of course, not to mention the possibility of some beatings, this is inevitable. But if you can escape piracy, it's nothing to be beaten.

A pirate rushed at Xiaoqiang and smiled, saying something.

"He said they weren't pirates and we had to let them go," the interpreter said. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang also smiled at him, and then ordered:

"Hold him down."

Suddenly, two sailors rushed over and held him down, and one broke the palm of his handcuffed to the railing.

Xiang Xiaoqiang gestured to the third sailor. The sailor was a corporal, a big man, with a cold expression, he was a gangster before his service, ruthless, and usually a thorn in the ship. Now the captain specifically singled him out and was responsible for torture.

The corporal reached out and took the vice, grabbed the pirate's index finger nail, and after clamping it steadily, he turned his face to look at Xiang Xiaoqiang, waiting for the order.

The pirate was only now frightened, struggling and shouting. The translator hurriedly said:

"My lord, he said they really weren't pirates, and he was going to the governor to sue you."

"Governor?" Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said, "The governor escorted us back to Daming yesterday." It's almost time to hang in a few days. ”

When the pirate heard this, he was so frightened that he shouted again.

"My lord, he said they weren't pirates, they were fishermen."

Xiang Xiaoqiang shook his head and sighed:

"I didn't ask if you were a pirate. I'm just saying that I hope you take my warnings seriously. …… It seems that you are not taking it seriously. ”

When the interpreter had finished speaking in Malay, Xiang Xiaoqiang signaled to the corporal, and as soon as the corporal pressed his hand, a heart-rending scream suddenly sounded on the deck.

Several sailors around listened to such a scream, and their faces couldn't bear it. The interpreter's face turned pale and he muttered:

"Xiang ...... I don't think it's okay for us to do this...... This...... It's definitely against the law......"

Illicit?

Xiang Xiaoqiang thought about the tragic "Xiangjiang Incident", 539 passengers and ship crew were sunk into the sea, and 209 young female passengers were sold to various parts of the South Seas, forever reduced to sex slavery, never to see their families...... There are also many families on board. In other words, many women watch their loved ones being killed before they are sold...... Of the 82 people who were rescued and returned to China, 23 committed suicide and 15 went insane......

If it were "legal", these two would not even recognize their status as pirates, let alone recognize the location of their lair! Soon, there will be a "Yongan Princess Incident"!

Xiang Xiaoqiang turned his face and glanced at the translator, and asked lightly:

"What did you say?"

"I say ......," the translator swallowed and said with difficulty, "what to do...... It should be against the law......"

Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't bother to reason with him anymore. He just said coldly:

"As long as you ask, it's okay to die. I'm carrying it. …… In Batavia, we tortured hundreds of dead natives like this. ”

The pirate, whose nails had been lifted, was half-crouched on the railing, clutching his right hand, and his whole body was convulsing, and he could no longer cry out in pain. The pirate next to him had a face like white paper, and his legs were already weak with fright.

They didn't expect that it was obviously a warship, and it was obviously a regular navy, how could it be more ruthless than their pirates.

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang regained that smiling expression, and slowly paced in front of another pirate.

The pirate was so frightened that he couldn't stand still, and looked at Xiaoqiang like a devil, desperately hiding back, saying something in his mouth.

Xiang Xiaoqiang asked:

"Ready to answer the question?"

The pirate listened to the translation and nodded vigorously.

"Very good," Xiang Xiaoqiang said, "The first question is, are you pirates?" ”

The pirate listened to the translation, and without hesitation for a second, he nodded his head one after another.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:

"You say yes? Why do you convince me that you are a pirate? Show me the evidence. ”

The pirate stared at him dumbfounded, his face a mixture of horror, bewilderment, and depression, and he seemed at a loss for a moment.

Xiang Xiaoqiang says:

"Second question: if you're a pirate, what are you going to do tonight, which ship is targeting?"

After listening to the translation, the pirate's eyes rolled slightly, paused for two seconds, and said something. Translator says:

"My lord, he said he didn't do anything when he came out tonight, just go around."

Xiang Xiaoqiang shook his head, and then gestured. The three sailors immediately pounced on him and held him down, and the cold corporal grabbed his index finger nail with a vice, looking like Xiao Qiang.

The pirate was so frightened that he struggled desperately and shouted loudly.

The translator quickly said:

"My lord, he is willing to tell the truth, he is willing to tell the truth......"

"It's too late," Xiang Xiaoqiang said coldly, "I said, I only warned once." He was the one who didn't take my warnings seriously. ”

Terrible screams resounded on the deck again. The three sailors let go of him, and he rolled on the railing with his right hand in his hands, so painful that he lost his voice.

Xiang Xiaoqiang turned to the first pirate. The first pirate was half-sitting on the deck, paralyzed, his face was pale, and he was drenched in cold sweat, his left hand was tightly clasping his right hand, trembling uncontrollably, and he looked at Xiang Xiaoqiang almost deathly.

Xiang Xiaoqiang squatted in front of him and asked lightly:

"The second question: what are you going to do tonight, which ship is the target?"

The pirate held his right hand, blood continued to ooze from his fingers, and his throat was "smacking", but he still didn't dare to slack off for a second in the severe pain, and he gritted his teeth and said a few words with all his strength.

After hearing this, the interpreter was immediately overjoyed and said:

"Lord Xiang, they are so lucky, they are the same group of pirates who robbed the Princess Yong'an! He said that when they were caught by us, they had just finished hijacking the ship and were on their way back. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was also overjoyed, and immediately asked, "Where is the ship?" Where is the ship? ”

The translator asked, and then said to Xiang Xiaoqiang:

"My lord, he said that they were only responsible for sending people away, and they secretly leaned next to the Princess Yong'an, and then the others climbed up with ropes to rob the ship, and after success, they drove the boat back."

"How many people hijacked ships? Where is the ship now? ”

The interpreter asked, and then said:

"He said there were two small boats, and there were 25 people in his small boat, and 20 people climbed on the big boat. He didn't know how many people there were in the other boat, but it was probably about twenty. ”

The two pirate ships were full of about 20 people on board, and there were more than 40 pirates on board. These forty or so pirates want to control the Yong'an Princess, which has more than 700 people, and they will definitely not be able to use only machetes. There must have been quite a few guns.

Xiang Xiaoqiang asked:

"What about the boat? Where did it go? What weapons did the pirates have on board? ”

The translator asked:

"My lord, he said that the hijacking was done by two groups of pirates, and that the small boat belonged to the other group, and that after the hijacking was successful, they went back separately. The people on the boat, on their side, were led by the leader, the leader was holding light machine guns, eight people were holding rifles, four people were holding pistols, and the remaining seven people were all machetes. He didn't know about the twenty or so in that group. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang was a little surprised, the pirates actually had light machine guns! In this case, their level of equipment is really a bit unexpected. This is definitely a professional pirate, or even a pirate controlled by the ** armed forces.

He asked:

"What kind of light machine gun? Where did it come from? How many people are there in their group? What weapons are there? ”

"My lord," said the interpreter, "he said that he had a disc on it and a small flare on the muzzle. He didn't know what it was called. Light machine guns were bought from the guerrillas, who once robbed a Dutch convoy with a number of light machine guns. The partisans couldn't take it, so they took the new machine gun and left, leaving the old turntable machine gun for them. The guerrillas come to them every month to collect protection money. There were more than thirty pirates in their group, that is, a dozen rifles, a few pistols, plus this light machine gun, and the rest were knives. ”

That's a Soviet-style turntable machine gun. Not to mention, that kind of gun is simple, clumsy and durable, and has a large ammunition load, with more than 40 rounds in one cartridge, which is really suitable for pirates. The Ming army's standard imitates the Czech style, and one magazine has a load of only 20 rounds.

There is such a guy, which is really a big threat to the lives of the sailors of the Kui Wood Wolf.

Xiang Xiaoqiang began to think about his beloved "woodpecker" again.

Here's one of the most important questions.

"Where is the Princess Yongan now?"

The pirate's face quickly turned pale after listening to the translation, and he muttered something with a look of despair.

After listening to this, the interpreter knew that he would inevitably hear the screams again, and said with a hint of unbearability:

"Your Excellency...... He said he didn't know. …… He said he really didn't know. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang took a deep breath, anger and frustration filling his chest again. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and said:

"No, I'm not satisfied with this answer."

The pirate immediately begged with a loud voice, and his voice was full of tears. But the three sailors, who had become accustomed to the rules, held him down again, and the corporal skillfully pulled off the nail of his middle finger.

This time it was obviously not as loud as the last time, but the voice was even more miserable, almost crying and grabbing the ground, revealing an indictment of the injustice of fate.

Then Xiang Xiaoqiang turned to another pirate. The pirate collapsed on the side of the railing, huddled in a ball, and looked beggingly at Xiaoqiang, the muscular man who was already in tears.

Xiang Xiaoqiang squatted down again and repeated the question "Where is the Princess Yong'an". The pirate shook his head in despair. And so, the screams rang out again.

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang was annoyed and ashamed, he was very annoyed that such a key issue would be stuck here. In the next moment, all the nails of the two pirates' right hands were ripped off, and one of the pirates had passed out, but still didn't know it.

The only thing that came out was that after hijacking such a passenger ship, it would be taken to a secret place to be "dealt with", and that place they didn't know about their little minions.

It seems that this is really not known.

So, he retreated and asked where their nest was. This time the question went well, and the pirate, who was not yet in pain, spoke up very cooperatively. This place was more than fifty nautical miles west of it, at the mouth of the Gamba River on the island of Pazia, and he could lead the way.

Xiang Xiaoqiang smelled the bloody smell of the deck and stood up. He looked into the distance, licked his lips, and said:

"Good. If you can run, the monk can't run the temple. Let's go meet the seaplane first and get our weapons off. The Yongan Princess was handed over to the plane to find it, and we turned around and headed west to raid their lair. ”

He suddenly remembered something, lowered his head and asked gloomily:

"Your boss's wife and children are all in the lair, right?"

The pirate cowered on the deck, listened to the translation, and nodded with a pale face.