Chapter 47: Military Law Disposition

  All the soldiers of the new recruit regiment were called from their barracks to the drill ground, standing in dense rows.

  The dim lamp cast a faint light on these soldiers who had just put on their uniforms, and they stared at the angry team leader Ye Shaoxing of the guard battalion in front of all the soldiers with terrified eyes.

  Commander Ye held a horse whip in his hand, and the long tube leather boots under his feet stepped on the playground, making a "kong kong" sound in this quiet night.

  Behind Captain Ye stood Deputy Officer Liu with a serious expression.

  In front of him, kneeling and drunk were the new recruits' company commander Xu Chunyong and instructors Zhang Fengsan, Cui Liansheng, and Shao Yingdi.

  Behind Xu Lianchang, on the right side, a row of soldiers were still kneeling. They were Tian Xiaoping and his fellow villagers who had just participated in the fight. On the left side, Zhao Erhu, Li Guoting, Ma Fei and the soldiers of the fourth squad were also kneeling.

  Two soldiers carried a jar of old wine from outside and walked in front of Commander Ye.

  "Report to Captain Ye, the wine has been purchased and brought back." Two soldiers placed the jar of old wine in front of Captain Ye and saluted.

  Xu Lianchang was so frightened that his face turned pale. He knew Captain Ye's temper, having followed him for so many years. So Xu Lianchang crawled to Captain Ye and begged for mercy: "Captain, spare me! I'm guilty, I'm not human. I'm a fool. From now on, I'll never drink again." As he spoke, in front of the whole company and Captain Ye, he slapped his own ears.

  The company commander, still fuming with anger, opened the lid of the old wine jar, took a wooden ladle from the soldier, scooped up a ladle of wine and splashed it on Colonel Xu's face. Then he cursed: "You look like a bear, I let you be the company commander, not to drink every day. It's for you to lead the soldiers. Where did you take my soldiers? Hmm, you led them to fight in groups. I'll shoot you." As he spoke, he pulled out his pistol from his waist.

  Liu Deputy, standing behind Captain Ye, hastened to step forward and said: "Captain, calm down. Don't get angry. You'll hurt your body. This Captain Xu is indeed not like a proper person, he should be punished." As he spoke, Liu Deputy looked down at the terrified and anxious Xu Chunyong, whose face was still dripping with wine. He then changed his tone and said: "Captain, although Captain Xu has committed the crime of dereliction of duty, considering that he has followed you for many years and has always been loyal, I think we can let him off this one time."

  Captain Ye listened to Deputy Liu's words and looked at Colonel Xu, who was in a sorry state, and scolded: "You little brat with a pig brain. Don't you even know how to lead troops? Damn it! A new recruit battalion, you've been leading for just a few days and it's already like this. If Deputy Liu hadn't pleaded on your behalf, I would have killed you by now."

  Liu Deputy Officer saw that Captain Ye's temper had somewhat subsided, and hastily stepped forward to pull up the trembling and fearful Colonel Xu who was kneeling in front of Captain Ye, saying: "The captain won't kill you now, why don't you quickly go forward and thank the captain?"

  Xu Lianchang hastily stepped forward, kneeling on both knees, and thanked Captain Ye: "Thank you, Captain, for sparing my life. From now on, I, Xu Chunyong, will definitely listen to your words..."

  Xu Lianchang had not finished speaking when Ye Tuanzhang interrupted him: "I can spare your life, but I won't let you off scot-free. Bring someone over..." Ye Tuanzhang shouted.

  Whoosh! Four soldiers came up. They raised their hands in a salute and reported to Captain Ye.

  "Take these four away and put them in solitary confinement for ten days," said Ye Tuanzhang, pointing at Xu Lianzhang and the three equally terrified instructors behind him.

  "Yes, Captain." The four soldiers saluted Captain Ye and then, with guns in hand, escorted Major Xu and the three instructors away.

  At this time, the playground was silent, and everyone knew that Captain Ye would be collecting the soldiers who participated in the fight next.

  As expected, Captain Ye ordered that each of the soldiers involved in the fight be given thirty lashes and confined for ten days. The ringleaders, Zhao Erhu and Tian Xiaoping, were each given fifty lashes and confined for fifteen days.

  Now that's done, Zhao Erhu's old wound has healed, and his butt has added new wounds. This beating from the board almost killed Zhao Erhu twice. The next fifteen days of confinement made Zhao Erhu wish he were dead. In his heart, Zhao Erhu especially hated Tian Xiaoping. He thought to himself, "I followed Li Guoting and Ma Fei, who also kidnapped people for ransom. I personally killed those kidnapped people. Why should I be afraid of you, Tian Xiaoping? Although I may not be able to beat you in a fight, I can still kill you. Just wait and see, Tian Xiaoping, Zhao Erhu's grudge against you is settled. When the opportunity arises, Zhao Erhu will definitely take revenge on you. You'd better watch out."

  Let's not mention Zhao Erhu in the dark confinement room, enduring the heart-piercing pain on his buttocks. In secret, he had become sworn enemies with Tian Xiaoping. As for Tian Xiaoping himself, he was also pressed to the ground by soldiers from the military law department and beaten with fifty heavy slaps. His sturdy body was knocked unconscious once by this beating. When the soldier who beat him scooped up a ladle of cool water from the nearby bucket and splashed it on him to wake him up from his unconscious state, he opened his eyes and the first words that came out of his teeth were: "Zhao Erhu, your mother! I'm going to kill you."

  From this day on, Tian Xiao Ping also had a deep-seated hatred for Zhao Er Hu.

  Li Guoting and Ma Fei were punished with thirty lashes and ten days of solitary confinement for participating in the brawl, just like all the other soldiers who had joined in.

  Li Guoting was beaten to the ground for the first time, and he was originally a person who did not want to suffer humiliation. Moreover, with the strong desire for revenge in his heart for the death of his father, mother, and sister, he gritted his teeth and accepted the beating. When he was pressed to the ground by the soldiers of the military law office, he didn't make a sound. Even his eyebrows didn't frown once.

  Liu, the deputy officer in charge of on-site supervision, also felt that Li Guoting was a tough guy despite his small stature.

  Ma Fei was the last soldier to be flogged after all the soldiers involved in the group fight had been punished. Just as the military law enforcement soldiers were about to flog Ma Fei, Ye Tuanzhang's daughter Ye Xinyi suddenly appeared in front of Liu Fuguan. When Ye Xinyi saw Ma Fei being pressed to the ground by the military law enforcement soldiers and was about to be flogged, she stepped forward to stop them: "Stop! You can't hit him."

  The soldiers recognized Ye Xinyi and knew she was Commander Ye's only precious daughter, so they raised the wooden board in their hands again and put it down.

  Liu Deputy Officer saw the situation and said to Ye Xinyi: "Miss, he has committed a military offense. It's Team Leader Ye's orders to handle it according to military law. Not hitting him with a board might not be good."

  Ye Xinyi twisted her neck and pouted: "Deputy Liu, I don't care. Can't you just not hit him?"

  Liu Deputy Officer looked at Ma Fei who was being pressed to the ground by the soldiers, then glanced at Ye Xinyi and said: "Miss, this is in the company, if Captain Ye finds out..."

  "Alright, I won't let you hit him. Let him go right now." Yexinyi said with one hand on her waist, facing Liu Deputy Officer.

  "Miss, this......" Deputy Liu hesitated.

  "Liu Deputy Officer, now that you're a deputy officer, do you look down on me Ye Xinyi? Don't forget, it was my dad who promoted you. I'm his daughter. I'm telling you to let him go. Will you or not?" Ye Xinyi's two phoenix eyes stared fiercely at Liu Deputy Officer's face, staring him into not daring to meet her gaze.

  "Yes, yes, miss, I order them to release him immediately." Deputy Liu had no choice but to give in. He turned his face and ordered the soldiers holding down Ma Fei: "Release him at once."

  The soldiers immediately let go of Ma Fei's horse.

  Ma Fei got up from the ground, brushed off the dust on his military uniform and said to Ye Xinyi: "Thank you, Xinyi."

  Liu deputy officer said to Ma Fei: "You little devil, pay attention, this time it's Miss Ye who begged for you, I spared you, if you commit again next time, absolutely no mercy. Hurry back to the barracks."

  "Hey, don't go yet. Ma Fei, I have something to say to you." Ye Xinyi said, reaching out to grab Ma Fei's arm and pulling him towards the outside of the military camp.

  "Ah, miss——." Deputy Liu saw the situation and stretched out his hand to stop her, but then thought again and swallowed back the words that had reached his lips. He helplessly looked at Ye Xinyi and Ma Feiyuan's departing figures, spat on the ground, and muttered: "You little scoundrel still wants to eat swan meat like a toad, just wait, you'll have a good time later." After finishing speaking, he angrily left the military camp and returned to his own garrison.