Courtyard House: I only wiped out 30,000 Japanese pirates

It was already quite bright outside by then.

Three Japanese soldiers, bayonets already fixed to their rifles, stood in the middle of the courtyard. Two puppet soldiers stood behind them, their rifles pointed at the ground, their faces showing both tension and exhaustion.

It was clear that they had been tormented all night.

There was also a village headman wearing short sleeves, holding a booklet, talking to the translator.

The door to He Daqing's room was already open. He Daqing stood shirtless in the doorway. The whip marks on his body had scabbed over, but the deepest wounds on his back were not completely healed, making it somewhat difficult for him to move.

He Liushi huddled behind Sha Zhu, her face pale.

He Dajun limped to the middle of the courtyard, leaning on a wooden cane, and bowed to the leading sergeant, his face once again bearing that standard sycophantic smile.

"Sir, I am He Dajun, the captain of the Imperial Army personally appointed by Major Sasaki. As for the security of this courtyard, just leave it to me."

The translator translated the message, and the sergeant glanced at He Dajun, then at the Nambu pistol at his waist, and recognized him.

Before the citywide search last night, a list was sent down from above, which included several puppet army leaders appointed by the Imperial Army, and He Dajun's name was on it.

The sergeant nodded, his tone softening slightly compared to when he spoke to the residents, and briefly recounted the events of the previous night at Jingxi Park. They had discovered Great Xia resistance activity; although some were killed on the spot, some escaped.

This is obviously nonsense and a false report of war achievements.

They didn't catch He Dajun last night.

Then he began to give a speech: "From now on, every household must cooperate with the Imperial Army's search. If you find any suspicious persons, report them immediately. Anyone who knows but does not report will have their entire family shot."

Upon hearing this, He Dajun immediately puffed out his chest, patted the Nambu pistol at his waist, and loudly declared, "Rest assured, sir! I, He Dajun, am a member of the Imperial Army. Leave the security of this area to me; I guarantee not even a suspicious fly will be able to get in!"

"If I find any suspicious individuals, arrest them and send them to the Imperial Army for disposal! I arrested a pair of resistance fighters last night."

Many people in the courtyard thought He Dajun's appearance was disgusting, while others envied him.

The sergeant looked at He Dajun's desperate state and his lips twitched slightly, it was hard to tell whether he was satisfied or very satisfied.

He glanced at the village head beside him, who quickly opened his booklet and gave the order: "He Dajun, you are responsible for security patrols of Nanluoguxiang and the four nearby alleys. If you find any suspicious persons, you may arrest them directly."

He Dajun was overjoyed.

Sasaki had previously only given him an empty title, but now he had even drawn up a specific area of ​​jurisdiction and the power to make direct arrests.

This means that he is no longer a lackey in this area, but a legitimate local tyrant.

His face was filled with gratitude, and he bowed repeatedly, saying "Thank you, sir," as he saw the sergeant and his party out of the courtyard gate. He stood at the alley entrance for a while, watching them go, before turning back.

Once the Japanese soldiers had gone far away, the atmosphere in the courtyard relaxed.

But no one breathed a sigh of relief like last time. Mainly, this time the Japanese were somewhat exasperated.

In addition, although no one heard an explosion last night, seeing the Japanese soldiers acting like they were going crazy, everyone knew that something was very serious.

He Dajun did not go back to the house immediately.

He stood in the middle of the courtyard, leaning on a wooden cane, and once again swaggered around as the captain of the puppet army. Of course, he also gave a warning before letting everyone leave.

After everyone else had left, he slowly walked back to his own side room.

Bai Ling looked at He Dajun and felt that the situation was somewhat serious, but of course, she also felt a great sense of accomplishment.

After having breakfast, He Dajun rode his motorcycle to the steel rolling mill.

As usual, workers were busy on the ruins, the sounds of hammering and shoveling stones mingling together.

He didn't see Sasaki; the office was empty.

He went over and greeted Suzuki, explaining that he hadn't finished the task assigned by Sasaki-sama and needed to return to continue recruiting collaborators. Suzuki told him to wait, as Major Sasaki had new orders to personally deliver.

He Dajun had no choice but to sit in the wooden house and wait.

Half an hour later, Sasaki's Jeep drove into the factory gate.

When Sasaki got out of the car, He Dajun could see the dark circles under his eyes from a distance.

Two dark circles under his eyes, loose skin on his cheekbones, and stubble on his chin made him look like he had been up all night.

That's normal. The ammunition depot in Jingxi Park was bombed like that last night. No wonder he couldn't sleep well.

Sasaki walked into the office building, and a few minutes later, Suzuki came over and called He Dajun to his office.

He Dajun walked in, leaning on a wooden stick, and bowed in greeting.

Sasaki sat behind the table, a cigarette between his fingers, the smoke rising slowly in the lamplight.

He stared at He Dajun for several seconds before speaking. The translator stood beside him, translating his words sentence by sentence.

Sasaki's words were brief, but they carried great weight.

Within two days, He Dajun must recruit one hundred puppet soldiers. He will give He Dajun five rifles, plus the pistols he was given before, for a total of six guns.

He Dajun planned to use his courtyard house as a base and lead his hundred puppet soldiers to search for resistance fighters from house to house, starting from the upper district. They would search each house and arrest any suspicious persons they found, leaving no one out.

After hearing the translator's words, He Dajun's expression changed from respect to seriousness, and then from seriousness to difficulty.

He bent down, controlling his voice perfectly.

He was respectful yet conveyed a genuine sense of difficulty: "Sir, I will definitely complete the task of recruiting one hundred people in two days. Even if I don't eat or sleep, I, He Dajun, will definitely gather the required number. However..."

He paused, glanced at Sasaki to make sure the other was listening, and then continued, "It's just a matter of guns. Sir, the puppet troops don't have guns. They can't help the Imperial Army capture resistance fighters with just sticks and fists."

"If we encounter militants, it will be very troublesome. I am not afraid of death, but if I die, there will be no one to serve the Imperial Army."

Sasaki remained silent for a few seconds.

Looking at He Dajun's sincere face, and then at the bandage still on He Dajun's left leg, he suddenly felt that although this dog sometimes worked too hard, at least it was willing to put in the effort.

He said he would give him five rifles first, and ten more once he had recruited one hundred men, with each man receiving twenty rounds of ammunition.

He Dajun dared not negotiate any further; this was called knowing when to stop.

Besides, five guns may not seem like much, but it meant that his puppet army was no longer just an empty shell; they now had real weapons. More importantly, he could now nominally possess guns.

Of course, he also understood Sasaki; if the situation hadn't been critical, he wouldn't have been able to give the puppet army guns so quickly.

If there are resistance fighters here, it would be troublesome if they opened fire on the Imperial Army.

As for Sasaki, it didn't matter whether the puppet troops had guns or not, nor did it matter if he found that the resistance fighters had been killed.

Anyway, it was the people of Great Xia who died.