The air was filled with the foul smell of burnt smoke, and from time to time you could see dust drifting down overhead as if it were raining.

This is not because of the war, but because Rabaul is located in the heart of an active volcano...... Rabaul is just a few dozen miles from the harbor and erupted six years ago, in 1937, in a said eruption that killed more than 500 people.

More than 500 casualties may not sound like a big deal, but it was the result of a timely evacuation of people, and the entire city of Rabaul was destroyed in that eruption.

Now, in its place is a military fortress built by the Japanese.

The soldiers of the new regiment had heard about Rabaul Volcano when they were on Kuah Island for a long time, but they had never seen a volcano and still cast curious glances at the volcano that was still emitting black smoke from time to time.

This made Zhang Chi can't help but curse in his heart: "These guys, seeing that they are about to fight, still have the heart to see the scenery!" ”

However, Zhang Chi didn't stop them, because on the contrary, this would make them more relaxed, or that the "North Korean sappers" would be more like ...... "North Korean sappers" If they came to this island for the first time, they would be afraid that they would also look at this smoking mountain curiously!

"Tuanza! Look at ......" Just when Zhang Chi was immersed in thinking, the staff officer next to him lowered his voice to remind Zhang Chi.

Zhang Chi followed the gaze of Staff Officer Liang, and then couldn't help but be stunned...... I saw two long lines of coolies on both sides of the road widening the road.

It is not surprising that the road should be widened, as the war intensified, and the Japanese needed to transport more fuel, supplies, or parts for fighter maintenance to the airfield, so a wider road was absolutely necessary.

The problem is the coolies...... They were clearly not Korean sappers, because they were not wearing Japanese uniforms, and certainly not Japanese, because they worked under the supervision of Japanese bayonets.

"Chinese!" Zhang Chi quickly came to this conclusion: "And it is also a Chinese soldier!" ”

Because Zhang Chi noticed that their tattered military uniforms had domestically only logos, but the fabrics and styles of their military uniforms were somewhat different, and the common point was ...... Without exception, their eyes showed hatred for the "Japanese army" marching on the highway.

Zhang Chi guessed correctly. These coolies are none other than Chinese soldiers.

To be exact, they were prisoners of war...... The construction of Rabaul by the Japanese required a large amount of labor, not only from North Korea, but also partly from China.

In fact, because at this time Korea was a more obedient "obedient people" to the Japanese.

This is mainly due to the fact that Japan has ruled Korea for thirty-three years, that is, since the Japanese ruled Korea, the newborn child who has received a full Japanese education is already thirty-three years old. (Note: Japan annexed Korea in 1910)

Therefore, a considerable number of Koreans take it for granted that they should be enslaved by the Japanese, because this is what they were born with, and the Japanese brainwashed and educated them. So he willingly worked for the Japanese.

This is one of the reasons why Zhang Chi was previously skeptical about Park Jung-hyung and others' participation in this mission, but now it seems that this worry is unnecessary.

But the Chinese are not "obedient people", and they will take up arms against the Japanese at every opportunity.

As a result, in this case, North Korean laborers, such as "Korean engineers", can even be sent to the battlefield with weapons to fight in conjunction with the Japanese army.

And the Chinese, naturally, will be strictly guarded and forced to work with bayonets.

In particular, these Chinese were former prisoners of war...... Some of these prisoners of war were from the Kuomintang army. Some of them came from the New Fourth Army, and the Japanese, regardless of which army they belonged to, fought with them and were defeated and captured.

Among them, some prisoners of war were part of the 800 strong lands from the famous "Four Elements Warehouse" battle.

In the battle of the "Four Elements Warehouse", they repelled several times the Japanese army with 800 men and attacked again and again. Eventually, he retreated to public lend-lease. But public lease does not protect them...... When the Japanese army had not yet launched the Pacific War, it did not dare to provoke Britain and France for the time being, and once it turned its face, it had no scruples to occupy the public concession and capture some of the 800 brave men.

(Note: The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and occupied the Public Concession on December 8, the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.)

Zhang Chi couldn't help but feel emotionally when he looked at these Chinese coolies, he really didn't expect to see his fellow countrymen in this far away place. And they met in this way, and what was even more uncomfortable was that they couldn't recognize each other at this time, not only could they not recognize each other, but they would also be hated by each other.

The fighters of the new regiment apparently also recognized the coolies on the side of the road as Chinese. Suddenly, there was a small commotion in the troops, which aroused the puzzled eyes of the Japanese soldiers who were watching the Chinese coolies with bayonets.

Zhang Chi hurriedly ordered in Japanese: "Hurry up and hurry, there is time to find the Chinese for revenge!" ”

On the one hand, this was to remind the soldiers of the new regiment of the task in front of them, and on the other hand, to dispel the doubts of the Japanese army, who would take it for granted that the "Korean sappers" in front of them might have suffered the losses of the Chinese army, so they couldn't help but see the Chinese coolies composed of Chinese prisoners of war at this time.

While the soldiers of the new regiment were looking at the Chinese coolies, there were also a few people in the Chinese coolies who were quietly observing the new regiment.

"Tuanza!" A diminutive coolie quietly approached a bearded man and said, "The devil seems to have increased his troops!" ”

"Hmm!" The bearded man frowned and said, "There is about a brigade, and it looks quite good!" But the equipment is very poor, strange! ”

The beard is called Wu Yan, who is a lieutenant colonel, and the short man is Chen Guoliang, the battalion commander of the New Fourth Army.

Because they heard the news of the Allied siege of Rabaul, they felt that Rabaul was likely to be liberated, and they were worried that the devils would kill the prisoners at the last minute...... This is what Japanese people often do. So more than a thousand Chinese on the island were organized, and the "Chinese Brotherhood" was formed, which organized an uprising at every opportunity.

The head of this "Chinese Brotherhood" is Wu Yan, and the deputy head is Chen Guoliang.

Hearing Wu Yan's words, Chen Guoliang couldn't help nodding secretly, he also had the same thoughts as Wu Yan just now.

As the saying goes, "good steel is used on the blade", generally speaking, the equipment used by the troops with good quality will not be bad, but this is not the case with the troops in front of them. (To be continued.) )