Chapter 27: Greasy Meat Attracts Flies

  Tonight, a movie will be shown in the countryside of Zhuanghe County, which is an earth-shaking event. Quick update, no mistakes! In rural areas, not to mention watching movies, they haven't even heard of it. Hu Zhiyong has prepared a wheelchair for his mother and is tidying up the soft cushion on the kang to prevent cold at night.

  "Reports are coming in that large numbers of refugees are pouring in from the east, west and north, and several groups of bandits have also sneaked in to kidnap people for ransom!" The head of the reconnaissance department of the division headquarters arrived at the hospital and reported the situation to Hu Zhiyong.

  "Let's go to the teacher's office!" Hu Zhiyong hastily put on his outer garment, and Huo Feng came over to help him gather his things. Hu Mu furrowed her brow and muttered: "Third son, they are all homeless people, it's best to think of a suitable solution."

  "What's the solution? The Northeast is currently at war, and the refugees are all poor people who can't make a living. Those with money have already escaped to Beiping, what am I supposed to do now?"

  Zhuanghe has now become a safe haven, with stable living conditions and no war. Here, the able-bodied can find work, women and children can go to school, learn to read and write, and do jobs.

  What's even more hateful is that after the rich people escaped, the mountain bandits who made a living by kidnapping for ransom had their financial resources cut off. They had no choice but to take risks and come here to find opportunities to get rich. At present, it's icy and snowy, with temperatures already below 10 degrees. Hu Zhiyong let out a long sigh and hastily led Yinlong and Huo Feng towards the teacher's department.

  In the headquarters, the deputy commander and chief of staff were planning to deploy troops around the map. Hu Zhiyong came here for the second time, and everyone straightened their waist and scanned him with their eyes.

  "Tell me your opinions!" Hu Zhiyong pulled over a chair and sat down, asking straightforwardly.

  "Master, all the towns and villages have been mobilized and strict precautions have been taken. The refugee resettlement is a big problem that requires your decision." Li Erzhu pointed to the border area and said: "The total number of refugees in Guiyunhua Township, Hehua Mountain Town, Talin Town, Lizi House Town, Chengshan Town, and Mingyang Town has exceeded 1.7 million, most of whom are orphans, widows, elderly people, and children. According to preliminary statistics, there are only over 10,000 men between the ages of 18 and 40."

  "How are the troops arranged?" Hu Zhiyong was startled, and with so many people surviving, Zhuanghe suddenly increased its population by a quarter.

  "They are currently divided into units that patrol continuously, and there are troops guarding the refugee camp. Li Erzhu continued to report, knocking his own head: "The army's rations have been reduced by a third, which is far from enough to feed these people."

  Hu Zhiyong stood up, looked at the ceiling and thought for a moment. After a long time, he looked around at several commanders and said: "First, select all the orphans and bring them back to the county seat to concentrate in schools. Second, count the women under 40 who have lost their husbands, those who are willing to stay in Zhuanghe will also be brought back to the county seat. Third, arrange people with families to go to the forest farm and stone quarry, these people must be self-sufficient. Fourth, gather all the elderly without children together, first allocate a batch of flour from the county seat. Everyone, the pressure is unprecedented, we can only grit our teeth and persevere!"

  "Yes! I'll notify them right away and have each department take swift action!" Li Erzhu hastily picked up the phone, continuously shouting "Hello? Hello?"

  Hu Zhiyong thought for a moment, this matter must be communicated to the Japanese. He picked up the phone and dialed Kameyama's wharf command center, reporting the current emergency situation. Kameyama was silent for a long time, both of them were in silence.

  "Hu Shizhang, what do you need me to do?" Kameyama asked cunningly.

  "Captain, I need gasoline, diesel and flour. Can we exchange them for the canned goods we produce?" Hu Zhiyong didn't expect the little devil to take care of this matter, but he was indeed short of fuel for his vehicles.

  "Oh no, I can supply oil, but food is in short supply!"

  Hu Zhiyong hastily said: "I need to purchase a batch of grain from the United States, please approve five merchant ships for me. Of course, my two merchant ships will also join."

  "No problem at all! You can set off tomorrow!"

  Hu Zhiyong let out a sigh of relief, and Liang Chengfu puffed out hot air, saying: "If this goes on for long, no matter how much money you have, it won't be enough!"

  "What do you suggest we do? Drive them away or just ignore them and let them starve to death?" Hu Zhiyong sat down helplessly: "Money is external, once spent it's gone. As long as people can live in peace, all this is worth it!"

  The sky had darkened, and the orphans from all over the country had arrived. "Huang Shang", do you still remember that year's Ai Yi Literature Network? Ai Yi Literature Network has been beautifully revamped and is now online, with no ads throughout the site, returning a pure land to you!!! Hu Zhiyong and Liang Chengfu went to the school and were shocked by the tragic scene at the time. The youngest was over one year old, and the oldest was only eleven or twelve years old. This batch of orphans exceeded 40,000 people, which cannot help but shock anyone.

  "Even a child of one or two years old can escape here?" Hu Zhiyong smiled bitterly, this is no laughing matter.

  "Master, many of them have families and children. They beg us to take their kids with us so they can escape this desperate situation." The team leader shivered, warming his hands by the charcoal brazier, "Pitiful! Abandoning their own flesh and blood without a care. Damn this war, damn those little devils!"

  Chen Xinyu and Shi Yingshi arrived with the county government personnel, and Hu Zhiyong said to them: "Divide the children into four parts, one to five years old, six to eight years old, nine to ten years old, and older. From that batch of widows, select 500 people around 40 years old to cook, wash clothes, take care of children, and make sure the children eat well, live well, and also teach them to recognize characters!"

  "Three Shao, there is also a batch of 13 to 15 year olds, about 14,000 people. I sent this group of children to Hu Zhuang, preparing for militarized management. Now the only thing missing is cultural instructors, you see this matter——" Li Erzhu also came over, reporting on other situations.

  "Please arrange for the county government, the personnel on the troops cannot move!" Hu Zhiyong went to the classroom of that group of widows, and saw more than 3,000 women under the age of 30 sitting on the ground, each with a pale face and sparkling eyes full of panic.

  "Don't be afraid, everyone. We will arrange work for you and help you quickly settle down. Deputy battalion commander, divide them into four groups and send them to the four battalions to let the older brothers get married first." In an emergency, Hu Zhiyong didn't bother with nonsense.

  "Alright." Liang Chengfu began to get busy here, while Hu Zhiyong continued on his way to the gathering place of young men and women. Here, there were over 7,000 unmarried men and women above the age of 16, who shrank together in fear when they saw the officials arrive.

  "Send them to the Baidu Mountain base and decide what to do next after a month of training." Hu Zhiyong didn't say any comforting words, he had no strength left.

  "Older brother, those strong laborers are all concentrated in the marginal towns on the edge. I'm worried that with so many people, there will be trouble. In my opinion, it would be better to organize a few construction teams and take advantage of this opportunity to build houses and repair the watchtower!" The second battalion commander, Ma Xiandeng, was in charge of those people and was very concerned about problems arising in his jurisdiction.

  "Alright!" Hu Zhiyong said to Hu Da behind him: "Distribute all the clothes and food in the warehouse, but don't let a single person go hungry!"

  "Master, three groups of bandits have been driven to Laoheishan Mountain. The Guard Battalion, Instructional Corps and Special Warfare Corps have forced them into the mountain. Shall we attack?" asked Su Xiqing, commander of the Guard Battalion.

  "Each department has sent out elite teams, this is an opportunity for actual combat training. As for the specifics, you can take charge yourselves. Go!" The three northeastern provinces have been plagued by bandits since ancient times. What's even more peculiar is that these people are usually ordinary civilians, but when they gather together, they become a group of killers, arsonists and kidnappers.

  "Grandma, you think you can come here and cause trouble, but this place is really a piece of fat meat!" Su Xi Qing scolded as she walked out.

  "Isn't that right?" Hu Zhiyong rarely smiled: "The big households in the surrounding areas have all run away, only our county is still relatively stable. The little devils haven't taken a bite of this fat meat yet, but the bandits are taking the lead. Warn all the big households to donate some relief materials. Also let them be careful and report any abnormalities quickly!"

  170,000 people entered Zhuanghe County, and Kameyama also felt the unexpected development of the situation. When Hu Zhiyong was inspecting various places, he brought a group of Japanese soldiers to the school yard. The place was packed, his eyebrows were tightly locked.

  "Captain, we must send a notice to the surrounding counties. If this continues, even your model safe area may not be secure!" Hu Zhiyong led him to take another look at the actual situation, and Kameyama nodded and began sending telegrams to the surrounding counties.

  "My family can be exempt from the grain tax in Zhuanghe County for a year!" Kameyama clearly understood that he had to make a statement to handle this matter.

  "Major, 1.7 million people consume 30-40 million catties of grain per year, and you want to exempt one year? Are you trying to make me bankrupt?" Hu Zhiyong looked at him with dissatisfaction.

  "Two years!" Kameda hastily corrected himself, Hu Zhiyong burst out laughing: "The second year these people are tied up? Forget it, I know you also have difficulties, hope the merchant ship is open all year round, let me continuously transport goods back and forth without interruption!" Hu Zhiyong said with a smile, leading Kameda to the courtyard of the bank.

  "Alright, tea is ready," Hu Zhiyong said to Yin Long and Huo Feng beside him. "You two go and select 150 men and women each. The front yard of the bank will be given to you as a place for garrison and military training. Go!"

  "Young master, are you telling us to take the soldiers away?" Silver Dragon was astonished, could it be that the young master wanted to drive them away?

  "These three hundred people will be the defensive team here, I want you to train and select again after further screening. Just the two of you are too tired, this is to alleviate your pressure." Hu Zhiyong ordered the two to leave, only then did he turn around to discuss with Gu Tian about the merchant ship going out to sea.

  "I've allocated five merchant ships to you, adding to your two, making a fleet of seven. Commander Hu, each ship has a tonnage of 40,000 to 70,000 tons, are you planning to transport all grain?" Kameyama was puzzled, wasn't transporting over 30 million tons of grain enough, what's the point of transporting so much grain every year?

  "I want iron, oil, grain and cotton. To save ourselves, we must establish our own industrial and commercial system!" Hu Zhiyong said calmly: "Fuel is a military material, can you supply me for many years?"

  Kameida smiled slightly: "It's good to do so, this piece of fat will become even bigger!"

  "Hu Zhiyong was on the verge of fury: 'Lieutenant Colonel, since I took office as the Magistrate of Zhuanghe County, how many hundreds of millions have been embezzled? Others got rich, and I was slaughtered!'"

  "Report, bandits occupy advantageous terrain and attempt to resist stubbornly, should we eliminate them?" The head of the communications department walked in and reported on the situation at Lao Hei Mountain.

  "Lock them up first, I'll talk when I get there!"

  "Yes!" The head of the machine department walked out, and Hu Zhiyong stood up: "Lieutenant Colonel, you are a laborious person, even at night, you can't let me have a good rest!"

  "Good luck!" Kameyama hurriedly bid farewell, and Hu Zhiyong got into the car and was about to depart.

  "Master, wait for me!" Huo Feng rushed over quickly, but Xue'er was one step ahead and had already jumped into the car.

  "Aren't you going to pick someone?" Hu Zhiyong asked in surprise.

  "I made a deal with Yin Long, the two of us will take turns to train those newbies, and leave one to follow you!" Huo Feng panted as she sat into the car, covering her mouth with her hand, "Luckily I have an extra eye. I'm exhausted to death!"

  PS: The website had a problem yesterday, causing the uploaded chapters to be garbled without being noticed. Fortunately, readers reminded me and I corrected it. Update time has changed, updated at 8am and 4pm every day, special notice. Hope readers hurry up to collect, if you have any good suggestions, please leave them in the book review. Thank you! I love 123