My own war game

Chapter 215 Traitor to the Nation

"Baga! Slow down! Don't bump into anything!" The captain in charge of guarding kept scolding the prisoners who were carrying supplies.

The prisoners carried the sacks one by one into a cabin of the Gufeng and then piled them together. When the cabin was full, the captain named Chunshan came to He Chi and said, "Tomorrow there will be another batch of supplies on board. All the prisoners will be locked up in the bottom cabin. You and the soldiers will have a temporary rest room."

"Sir, I have the duty to guard these prisoners, and I request to live next to them." He Chi didn't want to be separated too far from the prisoners, so he stood at attention and responded to the other party.

"Don't go to the cabin where supplies are stored. You can go to the rest as you like." Captain Chunshan nodded, turned and left.

Behind him, Iguo Kojiro came up and whispered in He Chi's ear, "Sir, something's not right here."

This private from the Daban Division is now very obedient. After knowing that He Chi is of Chinese descent, he even changed his accent to half-familiar Chinese.

"Speak properly, I can understand you. Your Chinese doesn't sound right to me." He Chi frowned and scolded.

"Hai! Sir, I feel that what they are transporting are not military supplies." Kojiro then switched to Japanese.

"Oh? Tell me about it?" He Chi turned around and looked at the skinny Fanguo Xiaojiro. He really didn't expect that this private who was forced to join his gang could still exercise some initiative.

"Hai," Kojiro bowed again. "So-called military supplies are nothing more than munitions, food, fuel, and simple daily necessities. Bullets, canned food, soap, and other things all have standard packaging boxes, and sacks are not used. Moreover, Captain Haruyama seems to be too cautious about the contents of the sacks."

"That makes sense..." He Chi nodded but then questioned, "But what if it's other daily necessities? Like towels or something."

"Sir, there are only about 200 soldiers on a destroyer. They don't need such a large amount of daily necessities. And I heard that there will be more tomorrow." Kojiro replied with his head down.

"So what do you think they are transporting?"

"Sir, some of the sacks were damaged and I found some samples inside." Kojiro handed over the things in his hand respectfully.

He Chi observed carefully and found that he actually had a handful of dried tobacco leaves and a pinch of sugar in his hand, as well as the fur of some animal and some local medicinal herbs.

Tobacco leaves and sugar can barely be called military supplies, but fur, a raw material for ready-made clothing, has nothing to do with the word "military".

"Do you mean that these sailors are taking advantage of the opportunity of sailing on the ocean to smuggle goods?" He Chi turned around and asked.

"Hai, that's what I mean. The navy octopuses have this tradition. The bosses of our Fourth Division sometimes purchase goods from the navy, and usually they smuggle local specialties when they return home." Kojiro answered respectfully.

He Chi only then realized that these merchant soldiers from Daban had the habit of doing business on the battlefield, and even dared to sell military supplies in the late World War II. As the upstream transport team, the navy should be very familiar with these operations.

And Kojiro's last words caught He Chi's attention. "Are you saying that this ship is going to Japan soon?"

"Ha!" Xiaojiro continued to bow. He Chi thought for a moment, then glanced coldly at the second-class soldier in front of him. After the other party muttered a few words in the smallest voice, he told his plan, and then asked, "Xiaojiro, what do you think?"

"Kojiro, I will follow your orders!" The private lowered his head and tried to appear calm, but his shaking shoulders still revealed his thoughts.

Hearing the answer he wanted, He Chi's expression did not change. Instead, he lowered his voice and asked in Kojiro's ear, "Why do you cooperate with me so well? Even betray your own country? I need a reason to continue to believe in you."

"Sir, since that night, Kojiro has no way out. If you get caught, no matter who gets those photos, I will die a miserable death." Iikuni Kojiro answered respectfully.

"I know, but that's not enough." He Chi did not give in.

At this point, Kojiro paused, straightened his body slightly, and said slowly as if he had gathered his emotions, "Sir, Kojiro is from Ooban."

"I know. Aren't all of you in the Fourth Division from Daban?" He Chi didn't care.

"But there are differences among the Osaka people." Kojiro lowered his voice, as if he was lost in some memories. "I am a full-body apprentice of the Osaka merchant shop. I sold myself to the merchant shop when I was young." (Full-body apprentice: a feudal remnant of Japan's modern reforms, which is similar in form to my country's contract labor, or even more excessive.)
"I worked very hard. I started working for my boss, Mr. Dale, for ten years without pay when I was eight years old, because he promised that he would let me become a formal employee when I came of age."

"The work was hard, and the food was not even as good as the military horses. My arm was once swollen from being strangled by a hemp rope while unloading goods, and the pain was so severe that I could hardly sleep. But I believe that as long as I work hard and continue to save money after becoming a clerk, I will have my own shop sooner or later."

"This dream may seem insignificant to you, but it is the only wish that Kojiro has in his first half of life."

"But just three years ago, when I just came of age, I was drafted into the army through a postcard, and the person who replaced me was the son of Boss Dale."

Kojiro's face began to turn grim. "From that time on, I lived only for myself. Japanese nationality could not bind me because I never got anything from Japan."

"If Japan wins, those masters won't give me anything. On the contrary, only if Japan loses will people like me have a chance." Kojiro's face flushed with a desperate look.

"During the time I've been with you, I know that you are an absolutely strong person. Although I don't know your true identity yet, you are definitely at the top of the social class. I hope to follow you until Japan fails. When I stand by your side, by the side of the American army, by the side of the victors, I will be regarded as a hero."

Then Kojiro fell to his knees and bowed once again, "I sincerely submit to you and will do my best. I will never rebel. I am not doing this for justice, but only for my own wealth and glory. Please!"

He Chi looked at Fanguo Xiaojiro, who had become somewhat neurotic, with a complicated expression, and remembered a sentence in his heart: "Traitors to one's own nation are often more vicious than the enemy."

"Okay, I'll trust you for now." He Chi nodded and asked the kneeling Kojiro to stand up.
"I will give you a task, which is also an assessment of you."

"Hi! Please give me your instructions, sir!" Kojiro changed his posture and even his address.

"In the next period of time, you must get acquainted with the people on the ship as quickly as possible. The more people, the better."

(End of this chapter)