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

Liu Haizhong didn't even glance at him. He waved to the puppet soldiers behind him, and the two of them rushed into the kitchen, turning over the rice bins, flour bags, and the pile of firewood under the stove.

Old Chen huddled in the corner, watching his freshly pickled jar of vegetables being kicked over. His lips trembled, but he didn't dare utter a single word.

The search lasted all morning.

Liu Haizhong's team searched more than a dozen courtyard houses and found three old hunting rifles hidden in the houses, a box of bullets that someone had buried in the yard, and several banned books.

Every time something was found, Liu Haizhong would have it laid out in the courtyard, then stand beside it with his back ramrod straight, and have his men herd all the residents into the courtyard to stand and interrogate them one by one.

Some people were hit on the shoulder with gun butts, some were kicked in the back of the knee, and some women were so frightened that they cried and were dragged to a corner with their mouths covered.

Liu Haizhong watched this scene with a satisfied expression, feeling that this was the true prestige of the puppet army.

Xu Wood wasn't idle either.

In the area he was in charge of, two tunnel entrances were discovered: one in the backyard of an abandoned grocery store, and the other in a dry well behind a public toilet.

Both tunnels led to a nearby underground network, but they were empty; the people inside had clearly been moved long ago.

Xu Wude stood at the entrance of the tunnel, shining his flashlight inside. He could only see rammed earth walls and a few rats running past.

He turned around and told his men to seal the tunnel entrance, then led them to the next house.

He Dajun walked at the very back, leaning on a wooden stick.

He didn't personally lead the team to search the boxes and smash the jars; he just stood at the entrance of the alley and watched, occasionally walking into a courtyard for a stroll, his gaze sweeping over the residents before turning around and coming out.

He walked very slowly, his left leg still limping, the wooden stick tapping on the bluestone slabs with a thud, like some kind of metronome.

The sounds of banging on doors and crying coming from the alley ahead seemed particularly jarring.

When He Dajun turned to the third courtyard house, he noticed a detail.

It was a very ordinary courtyard, inhabited by five or six families, all of whom were long-time residents who knew each other.

Xu Wude and his men searched every household's chests and cabinets from top to bottom, but found nothing.

But He Dajun noticed that an old woman was standing in the corner of the yard, constantly glancing towards the woodshed out of the corner of her eye.

He Dajun did not make a fuss.

He walked up to the old woman, leaning on his wooden cane, and stopped.

The old woman looked up at him, her face etched with deep wrinkles, her lips pressed tightly together, her eyes cold and hard.

"Auntie," He Dajun squatted down, his voice low, "who's hiding in the woodshed?"

The old lady's face changed instantly, her lips trembled a few times, but she couldn't utter a single word.

He Dajun looked into her cloudy eyes and sighed inwardly.

He knew he had asked the right question, but he couldn't continue asking in front of Hüwood, who was known for his loose tongue.

unreliable.

He stood up, turned around, and told Xu Wude to go check out the situation in the next yard. Xu Wude responded and led his men out of the yard.

When He Dajun was the only one left in the courtyard, he walked to the door of the woodshed with his wooden stick and slowly pushed it open.

The woodshed was piled high with chopped firewood. In the corner squatted a person wearing a gray cloth shirt, with a pale face and a dagger in his hand, the veins on the back of his hand bulging.

He Dajun recognized the person.

She was the girl who participated in the execution of Liu Shengyun at the vegetable market, and a member of Deng Hanyong's group of four.

After Chen Asi committed suicide, she followed Deng Hanyong to a new contact point, unexpectedly finding herself hiding in this courtyard.

She clearly hadn't expected He Dajun to come in. She still held the dagger in her hand, her eyes fixed on He Dajun, like a wild cat cornered against a wall.

"Put it down." He Dajun's voice was low, but his tone left no room for doubt.

The girl was stunned. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but He Dajun had already closed the door.

He turned to Hulwood, who had just returned, and said that there was no one in the woodshed, only a pile of firewood, and to go search the next house.

Xu Wude nodded and led his men out of the courtyard.

He Dajun followed behind, leaning on his wooden cane. When he reached the door, he looked back and saw the old woman still standing in the corner of the yard, her hand on her chest, her lips trembling slightly. She nodded gently at him.

The search continued until nightfall.

When Liu Haizhong and Xu Wude handed in their search report for the day, He Dajun sat in the wooden shack, flipping through it page by page. They had found quite a few items.

In addition to weapons and banned books, more than a dozen suspicious individuals were arrested, some of whom were being escorted to Japanese outposts.

He Dajun closed the report, told Liu Haizhong to continue searching, then stood up, leaning on his wooden cane, and walked out of the wooden house.

He didn't go home; he went to Baolin Pharmacy first.

Old Yang was sitting behind the counter weighing medicinal herbs, while Xiao Zhou was sweeping the floor beside him. When he saw He Dajun come in, Old Yang put down the copper scale in his hand and told Xiao Zhou to go to the backyard to dry the medicinal herbs.

After Xiao Zhou left the store, He Dajun lowered his voice and briefly recounted the day's search, instructing him to tell Lao Chen not to go home tonight, but to hide in the tunnel for a few days until things calmed down.

As for the girl hiding in the woodshed, if possible, Old Yang should move her out of the city. The Special Higher Police are comparing household registrations with actual residents these days, and her identity will be found out soon.

Old Yang was silent for a while, then said that there was an abandoned kiln outside the city that served as their backup contact point, and that they would arrange for people to be evacuated tonight.

He Dajun then asked about the situation on Deng Hanyong's side.

Old Yang said he hadn't received any distress signals yet, so he probably hadn't been affected.

He Dajun asked Lao Yang to find a way to inform Deng Hanyong that the search in Shangcheng District would continue for a while, but the focus would shift to checking household registrations and they would stop ransacking the place.

When the next phase begins, he can reveal the key areas to Lao Yang in advance, giving them time to evacuate.

Old Yang nodded, looking at He Dajun's tired but determined face in the dim light, and suddenly felt that this man's mind was more complicated than all the people he knew combined.

During the day, he led the puppet troops to search for resistance fighters from house to house; at night, he came to the pharmacy to tell himself how to avoid the search the next day.

By day he was Sasaki's most trusted henchman, and by night he was the underground organization's most reliable informant.

They're fighting each other with both hands.

"Be careful," Old Yang said, only these four words.

He Dajun smiled, leaned on his wooden cane, and turned to leave the pharmacy.

At this point, the first of He Dajun's two wicked schemes was already in effect.

The second point was quickly implemented in Sasaki's office.

On the fourth day of the city-wide search, Sasaki convened a meeting of all relevant departments and officially announced that starting from the first of next month, i.e. the day after tomorrow, all grain in the city would be requisitioned and distributed by the Imperial Army.

No private individual may possess more than three days' worth of grain; violators will be treated as traitors.

Grain rations were distributed per household, with each household allotted a fixed amount per person: 300 grams per day for adults, and half that for the elderly and children.