Chapter 92: Civilization

Hu Pingjia remained as arrogant as ever. Just a few steps into Shanxi City, a live chicken was already hanging from his bayonet. Someone nearby cursed, “Damn it, don’t pull it like the guy in front of us.”

“What’s there to fear? If I need to pull it, I will!” Hu Pingjia was a minor leader among the local infantry, and this status made him extremely proud. “What’s there to be afraid of? Can this thing be more terrifying than the Black Flag Army? Yet even with all those troops, they still have to form circles when they see us.”

He cursed loudly, “Long live France! Long live God! Let the Black Flag Army go back to hell!”

Just as Hu Pingjia was shouting happily, someone covered his mouth. He struggled briefly but couldn’t break free and pushed them away with his hands. “Are you crazy…?”

But the next moment, he realized he was the one who was crazy. Right in front of him was a large black flag with two thin willow leaf shapes, and the words “Xiliu” were written in Chinese characters. He gasped in shock.

He tried to stay calm. “Don’t be afraid, brothers! Us three can scare away a hundred of them just by shouting.”

But as soon as he said that, he wanted to turn and run. He could see right away that they had come to seek revenge, not just to argue.

There were hundreds of Black Flag infantry in front of him, almost all with bayonets, dressed neatly, radiating murderous intent as they charged toward them. “Surrender your weapons, and you’ll live!”

When he looked back, damn! Out of seven people, only five remained—two had already run. He also turned around. At that moment, the chicken on his bayonet crowed loudly, drawing the pursuers’ attention to him.

“Cut him down! He stole our chicken!”
“Cut him down!”

Such cries terrified Hu Pingjia. But after taking a few steps, he found enemies everywhere, all with murderous intent, shouting, “Cut him down!”
“Surrender your weapons, and you’ll live!”
“Chop him to pieces!”
“Surrender your weapons, and you’ll live!”

Hu Pingjia hesitated. A few people around him had already knelt down and surrendered their weapons. Gritting his teeth, he also knelt down and pleaded loudly, “Sir, please spare me! I just ate a few more chickens—there’s no other fault!”

Two patrol teams were almost simultaneously wiped out. The other patrol team fired two shots, but the two shooters were lightly injured on the spot. Then Zhang Biao shouted, “Don’t kill them! Don’t let them escape! Treat them well and take good care of them.”

The military doctor understood his meaning and promptly carried out rapid treatment—amputate if necessary, no conservative treatment; use folk remedies instead of Western medicine, as long as they stayed alive. “Bring me some ants. I’ll apply honey to their lower bodies… Hmm, wasps would be best. It’s said to have a good therapeutic effect.”

Zhang Biao’s plan was simple: turn the lightly injured into seriously injured, then hand over the two alive. After all, his side was in the right. Of course, experiments like electroshocking private parts for “coolness” would be done to everyone involved in interrogation.

In any case, they would send back two completely useless people. As for the interrogation of the others, it would be much more “civilized”: “Strip them naked, leaving only their underwear on!”

Come naked, go naked, but Hu Pingjia lacked such awareness. He only felt that the sky had darkened; the thugs in Xiliu Camp were extremely cruel, ready to strip him of his skin. They were all burly men, none of them weaklings—even the teenager among them was fierce: “They’re not screaming loud enough outside. Cut another small wound and sprinkle some salt on it!”

Normally, Hu Pingjia thought he already met the standards of a villain, but compared to these people from Xiliu Camp, he was like a pure little rabbit. Not to mention anything else, he had never seen at least half of the torture methods they used. The man outside was screaming loudly, and who could endure having salt sprinkled on their wounds? Moreover, Xiliu Camp was especially brutal—they would cut another wound for every three minutes of salt on the wound, and they said this was just an appetizer; the real torture was yet to come.

Hu Pingjia had also experienced this “appetizer.” Although he had no wounds on his body, all his usual arrogance had vanished, and now that fierce man was staring at him viciously.

Liu Yu said angrily, “That’s because you tried to steal my chicken!”

Hu Pingjia burst into tears. “Sir! Sir! Please spare my life! I really didn’t mean to! I just stole one chicken, just this once! Sir, please spare me!”

The chicken was just an excuse. Liu Yu immediately laughed and said, “Good! Then take this chicken back to recover your strength, Zhang Biao!”

Zhang Biao came in with a fierce expression. “Commander, that bastard became obedient after we cut a small wound in him. You can go ask him questions in a moment.”

But Hu Pingjia was terrified. He saw Zhang Biao holding a cage of rats in his left hand and a cage of venomous snakes in his right. The snakes were large, their eyes fixed on Hu Pingjia’s lower body, clearly with evil intentions.

Liu Yu said bluntly, “I’ll give you another gift. Which one do you want? Say it! I don’t have much time—just one minute.”

Zhang Biao set down the cages, took out a strip of cloth, tied it around Hu Pingjia’s lower body, and then prepared to untie his pants. “Our commander’s time is precious. Tell me, do you want rats or snakes? Both are great for nourishing the body.”

“Yes! They can help recover one’s strength, since I only stole one chicken!”

Hu Pingjia shrank back. He wasn’t inexperienced, but this kind of brutal scene was something he had never encountered before. The rats had wide mouths, while the snakes were spitting venom. He was almost faint from fear, shaking violently. “No! No!”

The wooden stake binding him made strange noises as he shook, but no one showed pity. Liu Yu said, “It seems you like both. Well, that’s simple—send them both to nourish your body!”

The cages were opened.

Hu Pingjia let out a cry mixed with screams. “No! No! I confess! I confess!”

Obviously, Liu Yu was a civilized person. Compared to Sister Teresa, he was definitely the epitome of civilization.

Sister Teresa had already made plans with Liu Yu to act on the same day. Their counterattack also involved guerrilla tactics, and they brought over more than two hundred people at once.

She didn’t have Liu Yu’s enthusiasm, and Shen Sheng, an old cadre of the Tiandihui, was even more brutal—he simply started a blacksmith shop without any hesitation. He would scorch people with red-hot iron. That man was a stubborn member of the Hoa Kien religion, and now the police force was constantly at odds with them. “Tastes good, right?” Shen Sheng shouted. “More!” Another agonized scream echoed, shattering everyone’s composure—they knew this time the Hoa Kien religion and the Xi Liu Camp were really going all out. “Good! Does it feel good? If you say it does, I’ll spare you!” No matter how loyal that man was, under such circumstances he became weak: “Sister Teresa, Sister Teresa, I’m willing to convert, I really am…” Over two hundred people stood in the square, watching Sister Teresa direct the Black Flag Army in carrying out torture. Their methods were extremely simple—always using red-hot iron to scorch people. “I know your wife is from Hai Yang, but your brother is in Hanoi, right? I’m happy to send your whole family to heaven.” “Pity me! Please spare me!” “Kid, I have good news for you—I already know where your son is!” “Please! I beg you!” … The more than two hundred people captured were all loyal lackeys of the French, but now he had to weigh the pros and cons. Sister Teresa knew the Hanoi diocese inside and out; everything was under her control. This powerful woman held all their weaknesses in her grasp. Just looking at the torture was terrifying, and what was even more frightening was her threat: “This is just an appetizer. Next time we act, we’ll send an entire family to heaven! From eighty-year-olds to eight-year-olds, we’ll show the same mercy.” This meant exterminating entire families, but when spoken by Sister Teresa, no one thought it was an exaggeration. Just now, she shot a stubborn man in the thigh: “Wrap him up and send him home—make sure his wife stays quiet.” Yet Sister Teresa’s demands weren’t high. She didn’t require these Vietnamese to convert to the Hoa Kien religion; she only asked them to turn a blind eye. Some villages could operate with two governments—one village chief who believed in the Hoa Kien religion and another who believed in Catholicism. But she never allowed any negotiation. It was clearly sunny, and there were red-hot iron pieces, yet no one dared defy her will. Even the most loyal believers, no matter how devoted to the French, had to think of their families and their own lives: “Okay! We’ll do as you say!” “We all understand!” Sister Teresa glanced at those being executed—these people wouldn’t be able to get up for a month or two: “How were you injured?” “We fell by accident! It has nothing to do with Sister Teresa at all!” But one thing was clear: Liu Yu demanded ransom amounts far beyond their means for those fourteen captives. Even if there was no cash, he insisted on IOUs: “Kid, you’re bold. It doesn’t matter if you’re reckless and don’t pay—I’ll just exterminate your whole family!”

Sister Teresa simply imposed a fine directly: “If you don’t pay, you’ll face punishment!” In the end, Sister Teresa managed to raise enough funds for the activities of the Hanoi diocese and Shen Sheng for half a year, and the captives and hostages were returned at the appropriate time. Sister Teresa was relatively civilized in this regard; at most, some injuries occurred. But Liu Yu was much more brutal—amputations were performed on the wounded without anesthesia, let alone any anesthetics at all. They made their intentions clear: “Since you dared to resist our Xiliu Camp, we’ll just destroy you. If the rest of you still owe money, this will be the perfect example.” Fourteen of them returned almost naked and covered in wounds. Hu Pingjia’s face turned pale, and it wasn’t until they left Shanxi Province that he collapsed from exhaustion and sat down. If a tiger doesn’t show its strength, people think it’s a sick cat. Though the Xiliu Camp was weak, it was still a large force of over a thousand soldiers. He had made a huge mistake this time and would never approach this place again. Li Weiyeh’s all actions in Hanoi relied on Vietnamese assistance. Especially under these circumstances, he needed at least two French companies to guard Hanoi City, leaving fewer troops available for mobility. As for the indigenous infantry, there were differences among them. The indigenous infantry recruited in Hanoi were expendable, but those brought from Cochinchina were valuable reinforcements. When he learned that multiple attacks had taken place and soldiers were captured and subjected to horrific abuse, he was furious: “These are real bandits! I must eliminate them!” But with limited troops, he remained determined to wait for reinforcements before engaging in battle. Losing the equipment of fourteen indigenous infantrymen from Tokyo wasn’t a big deal—he could quickly rearm them. Yet this confrontation also helped both sides understand each other’s limits. Li Weiyeh knew that as long as his troops didn’t enter Shanxi Province and didn’t attack the Huajian Sect first, the other side would tolerate his actions to some extent. He decided to suspend active operations. He still needed a marine battalion; with two battalions, he would have complete confidence. Until then, he had to rely on the strength of the indigenous infantry from Tokyo. This defeat didn’t diminish Li Weiyeh’s expectations for them. According to his observations, even with the same weapons, as long as the indigenous infantry received sufficient pay, their combat effectiveness far exceeded that of the Vietnamese regular troops. Under French command, their combat strength could increase even further. After all, the core of this force consisted of stubborn Catholics and many reckless troublemakers. With improved training, they could become quite formidable. This defeat was solely due to one squad being split into two and attacked by thousands of Black Flag Army soldiers. He planned to expand the ranks of the indigenous infantry from Tokyo, Catholic groups, and colonial police. To buy weapons, he allocated some funds from customs taxes, intending to purchase arms from Hong Kong. In terms of mobilizing the Vietnamese, he had a clear advantage over the Xiliu Camp—the customs could provide enough pay for thousands of people, while unlimited weapons could be acquired from Hong Kong.

Only after such a turmoil did Vietnam’s lackeys become much more cautious in their actions; for at least a month or two, they moved with extreme care. Although Li Weiyeh tried to take retaliatory actions later, even the parties involved did not want to escalate the situation. Hanoi finally experienced rare peace, as both sides strengthened their own forces—everyone knew this was the calm before the storm. Li Weiyeh was still waiting for his reinforcements; he exaggerated the situation in his reports, but everyone understood that deploying a battalion in a foreign country was easy, while sending an entire regiment into a full-scale war was a difficult decision. Meanwhile, something of moderate significance also happened in Shanxi.