Panov was annoyed that a battalion commander was killed in the occupied area, not even knowing who the murderer was. He said to Xie Weilian: "Comrade Colonel, I will give you two days to find out the murderer, otherwise you will be punished accordingly." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Xie Weilian replied with some headache: "I will find out who the murderer is in the shortest possible time." As soon as he put down the phone, he asked the brigade chief of staff sitting next to him, "Do you know which battalion is stationed in that area?" ”

"Figured it out, Comrade Colonel." The chief of staff nodded, and replied, "The first to enter that area was the 1st Battalion, and later the 4th Battalion took over their defense. It was the commander of the first battalion who was killed, so the possibility that the commander and fighter of the battalion committed the murder should be ruled out, and I think the focus of the investigation should be on the fourth battalion. ”

Xie Weilian, who was anxious to solve the case, immediately agreed with the proposal of the chief of staff, and personally called the commander of the fourth battalion and ordered him to rush to the brigade headquarters immediately.

When the commander of the fourth battalion heard that the brigade commander was looking for him, he didn't know what was going on, and immediately hurried to the brigade headquarters. reported to Xie Weilian: "Comrade brigade commander, the commander of the fourth battalion is here, please instruct!" ”

"Sit down, Comrade Major." After Xie Weilian beckoned the other party to sit down, he asked, "How was the battle damage of your battalion in today's battle?" ”

"79 people were killed and 45 wounded, including 13 seriously wounded." The commander of the fourth battalion, who had just sat down, heard Xie Weilian say this, and quickly got up from his seat and replied respectfully: "At present, there are still 395 people in the whole battalion. ”

"Comrade Major, I ask you a question." After the chief of staff waited for the fourth battalion commander to finish speaking, he then asked: "Are the 395 people in the battalion all stationed?" ”

The chief of staff asked a cold question, and the fourth battalion commander was stunned. After a long while, he spoke: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't quite understand what you mean. ”

"That's right," Xie Weilian got up and walked up to the fourth battalion commander, and said to him with a serious expression: "The first battalion commander and two soldiers have been killed at the garrison of your battalion. According to our analysis, the perpetrator may be in your camp. ”

"It can't be." As soon as Xie Weilian's words were finished, the fourth battalion commander pulled his throat and said: "Comrade brigade commander, how can there be soldiers in our battalion who do such a thing? You must be mistaken. ”

After Xie Weilian and the chief of staff glanced at each other, he said helplessly: "I also hope that my judgment is wrong, so I called you here to learn about the situation." After confirming that this matter has nothing to do with the commanders and fighters of the 4th Battalion, we will investigate the other troops. ”

The fourth battalion commander waited for Xie Weilian to finish speaking, was silent for a moment, and then said: "Comrade brigade commander, please allow me to make a phone call back to the battalion, and I will soon find out whether all the commanders and fighters are in the battalion." ”

The chief of staff pushed the phone on the table in front of the fourth battalion commander and said to him, "Use this phone to call." ”

The commander of the fourth battalion picked up the telephone, connected to his battalion headquarters, and said to the instructor who answered the phone: "Comrade instructor, please immediately assemble the commanders and fighters of the whole battalion, count the number of people, and see if anyone is not in the camp." If someone isn't there, you have to know where they're going. Do you understand? ”

The work of counting the number of people cannot be completed in a short time. Therefore, after the fourth battalion commander made a phone call, Xie Weilian deployed the next combat mission to him.

After about half an hour, the instructor called the brigade headquarters. He hurriedly said on the phone: "Comrade battalion commander, I have counted it. There are 395 people in the battalion, and in addition to you and the 24 fighters on duty, there is also a soldier who is missing. ”

"Who is it?" The commander of the fourth battalion remembered that he had told him that no one was allowed to leave the station too far, lest he would not be able to summon his men in time when there was an urgent task, so when he heard that there was one man missing, he asked nervously: "Where did he go?" ”

"It's Corporal Gasang, the leader of the sixth squad of the second company." The instructor said on the phone: "I heard from the people in the company that after he left the camp, he never came back. ”

Xie Weilian vaguely heard the conversation between the fourth battalion commander and the instructor on the side, and hurriedly interjected and asked, "Major, what kind of weapon did he use to the missing corporal?" ”

"Instructor," the fourth battalion commander couldn't answer Xie Weilian's question, so he had to ask the instructor: "Do you know what kind of weapon the missing Gasang used?" ”

"It looks like a Bobosha submachine gun."

When the chief of staff heard this, he nodded at Severian and said in a low voice: "According to the report, the commander of the first battalion and the two fighters under him were killed by Popov's submachine gun. It seems that this Gasang has a big suspicion. ”

"Comrade Major, take me to your camp to have a look." As soon as he heard that the missing Corporal Gasang was the most suspicious, Xie Weilian couldn't sit still any longer, and hurriedly urged the commander of the fourth battalion to take him to the fourth battalion to find out the matter.

When he came to the station of the fourth battalion, Xie Weilian saw seven or eight soldiers standing outside the battalion headquarters, so he curiously asked the battalion instructor who came out to greet him: "Comrade instructor, what is the matter with these soldiers?" ”

The instructor snorted at those people and said, "Comrade brigade commander, they are the soldiers of the Gasang class. I thought they must know about Gasang's whereabouts, so I left them behind to find out what was going on. No matter how much I asked, they kept silent. ”

From the instructor's words, Xie Weilian realized that the reason for the soldiers' silence might be related to the truth that he wanted to find out, so he said to the fourth battalion commander: "Comrade Major, let's go and talk to these soldiers, maybe we can get the information we want." ”

Severian came to the fighters and said to them: "Hello, comrades! I'm the brigade commander, Colonel Severian, and I've come to see you. ”

As soon as his words fell, one of the soldiers said unconvinced: "Comrade brigade commander, we have not made a mistake, why should we be detained." After speaking, he pointed to the heavily armed sentry nearby, "There are so many people sent to watch over us, can you explain to us why?" ”

"I can give you a proper explanation." Xie Weilian waited for the other party to say, and said lightly: "But the premise is that you have to tell me, where did your squad leader, Corporal Gasang, go?" ”

"I don't know." When the soldier heard Xie Weilian's question, he quickly shook his head and said with an innocent face: "I'm sorry, comrade brigade commander, I don't know anything. ”

From the words of such a soldier, Xie Weilian realized that this person must be an insider, so he turned his head to the fourth battalion commander and said: "Comrade Major, bring this soldier to your command post, I have something to ask. ”

The commander of the fourth battalion nodded, called two sentries, and escorted the soldier towards his command post. The warrior, who was controlled by the two sentries, shouted in some panic: "Don't arrest me, I don't know anything, I don't see anything." ”

If this soldier didn't shout, Xie Weilian might not be able to tell whether he was an insider, and seeing that his reaction was so strong at this moment, he guessed that the murder of a battalion commander must be inextricably linked with this person, so he ordered the two sentries who were a little hesitant: "What are you still doing in a daze, why don't you take him to the battalion command post quickly." ”