Traveling through 1942 with space

Chapter 110 Military Appearance, Gift Giving

After the soldiers got off the bus, Hou Xiaoge began to observe the regular army of that era.

Captain Zhong was a colonel in the Central Army, so his uniform would naturally not be bad. However, the uniforms of these soldiers were a bit simple, and were a bit different from what was shown in later TV dramas. Instead, they looked like the Red Army.

Most of the soldiers were wearing thin single clothes and carrying bedding and luggage on their backs.

Because they were the Central Army, they still had a belt around their waists, but it was made of canvas, not a leather belt.

A weapon belt is crossed around the belt, and a rectangular ammunition box is hung on the weapon belt.

There are two wooden-handled grenades hanging on both sides of the belt, and a bayonet about 30 to 40 centimeters long is hung behind the soldier's waist, which will be mounted on the gun during a bayonet fight.

Everyone had a rifle hanging on the gun belt behind their backs. Hou Xiaoge could see clearly that the gun was similar to the one he had snatched from Yu Ba.

Although Hou Xiaoge didn't know much about guns, he could guess that this gun was either a Hanyang type or a Zhongzheng type.

Ordinary soldiers certainly don't have pistols, but most soldiers have a short dagger hanging around their waists, which may be used for close combat when the bayonet becomes ineffective.

After looking at the upper body, look at the lower body. It is just a pair of thin gray-green pants, but the Kuomintang soldiers also have leggings, so it looks quite neat.

Finally, let’s look at the shoes. These Kuomintang soldiers did not have leather shoes to wear. Most of them wore old cloth shoes. Very few of them wore rubber shoes or leather shoes. Leather boots were probably only seen in TV dramas.

This is what an ordinary soldier wears and is equipped with, very ordinary indeed.

There was a light machine gun among every dozen soldiers. Hou Xiaoge thought it looked familiar. It should be the Czech light machine gun that often appeared in TV dramas in later generations.

In the distant team, Hou Xiaoge also saw three heavy machine guns placed in front of the soldiers, plus two cannons.

Of course there are good ones too. Some of the officers wear nice uniforms, pistols on their waists, and helmets on their heads. Judging from their military ranks, they are at least platoon leaders or company commanders.

There is also a row of soldiers behind Captain Zhong. They are also well-equipped, wearing helmets, rubber shoes, and have seven or eight submachine guns. They should be Captain Zhong's guard squad.

"Let's go. Everyone from Nanjiagou, get on the bus quickly." After the soldiers got off the bus, Hou Yangmin and several elders hurriedly urged the villagers to get on the bus.

Most of the children have never ridden in a car in their lives, so they are curious and scared when they get in one.

There were more than 230 people in Nanjiagou, and two cars could not accommodate them all. Finally, Captain Zhong arranged five horse-drawn carts to barely accommodate them.

"Thank you, Captain Zhong, you are a good official." After getting on the bus, the people of Nanjiagou all looked grateful.

"Let's go! Live well." Zhong Weiguo is a soldier with little emotion, but he was somewhat moved by the shouting of his hometown accent.

The car started, and leading the way were two troop carriers carrying more than fifty soldiers. There were five or six machine guns mounted on the vehicles, which looked very majestic.

As the car drove by, the refugees on the roadside looked at the refugees in the convoy with envy.

At this time, although the bus was crowded, the villagers on board were very happy and proud. There was nothing they could do about it; this was the condition.

"Daniu, hurry up. If you don't hand it over, the money will stay in your pocket and lay eggs." In the carriage, Hou Yangmin laughed and scolded Daniu, who was sitting in the front of the carriage with a happy face.

"hey-hey!"

"Uncle clan leader, please let me keep the money for a while longer. It's not like the money will go away." Daniu touched the bulging French francs and dollars in his pocket and said reluctantly.

"Hurry up, I have to count the money. When we get to Hua County, I have to pay the soldiers for the transportation.

The soldiers are helping us for free and they are wasting fuel, what's the point?" Hou Yangmin said, looking at Daniu's reluctant expression.

He first took the forty dollars and two gold rings and handed them to the clan elder Seventh Master for safekeeping, and then began to count the French currency.

After counting, there were actually quite a lot, more than 1,200 yuan, with a few bills in between.

"Uncle Qi, why do the coins look different? What does the Guanjin fifty yuan written on it mean?" Hou Yangmin had never seen a Guanjin coupon and didn't know the exchange rate, so he asked the village's old accountant, Uncle Qi.

"This is a customs gold certificate, which is more valuable than the legal currency. I don't know exactly how much it can be exchanged for. Wait until we get to the city to ask." The Seventh Master took the customs gold certificate and said after taking a look at it.

"Seventh Master, I know this. One dollar can be exchanged for twenty dollars, which is just a little cheaper than the dollar." Hou Xiaoge, who was at the front of the car, turned around and said.

"Hey! How do you know everything, kid?" Hou Yangmin felt that his nephew was very amazing.

"I've seen it on the train. Those rich people took out a ten-cent Guanjin coupon and used it as two yuan of legal tender. It was very valuable." Hou Xiaoge had seen it in the second-class carriage of the train, so there was no need to make up an excuse.

“Are they really that valuable? Here are three fifty-dollar notes, two twenty-dollar notes, and one ten-dollar note. Let me calculate their total!” Hou Yangmin’s eyes lit up after hearing this.

"Uncle, don't count it. It's four thousand yuan."

Hou Xiaoge calculated it and found the total was exactly two hundred, and twenty times was easily calculated in his mind.

"Oh my god! These bills are only worth four thousand yuan?" Hou Yangmin was also shocked.

"Yes, the legal currency is worthless!" Hou Xiaoge said with a smile.

"Heiwa, you are smart. How much money do you think we should give to these soldiers after they send us to Huazhou?" Hou Yangmin suddenly had more than 5,000 French francs in his pocket, and he spoke with a straighter back.

“Give it to the fiat currency! The fiat currency has been depreciating more and more recently.

Some time ago, the exchange rate of one dollar for the legal tender in Tongguan was less than thirty. Recently, the rate has risen to one dollar for thirty-two legal tenders.

These more than 1,200 French francs are equivalent to less than 40 dollars, which is neither too much nor too little.

Let's give all the 1,200-plus yuan in French currency to the soldiers, and say that it's all collected from the whole village, so that it won't be noticeable even if there are both decimals and whole numbers." Hou Xiaoge said after thinking for a while.

"Heiwa, more than thirty dollars are a bit too little! In the past, when we ordinary people went to the government to do business, we would give at least three or five dollars as a tribute." Master Qi said with some concern.

"Seventh Master, we were instructed by Captain Zhong to send it to Huazhou. To be honest, it doesn't matter if you don't give it to us.

And I looked at these soldiers, the highest salary was platoon leader, and he was paid thirty or forty dollars, which was a lot. You have to know that the average soldier only earned three or four dollars a month.

Besides, we have lost all our food and luggage now, and it will be getting colder later, so we need to buy food and bedding, which will cost a lot of money, so we should save some more money." Hou Xiaoge explained.

After Hou Xiaoge finished speaking, the carriage suddenly became quiet. Everyone was so happy that they forgot about their luggage and food.

Now the team in Nanjiagou is all alone. If they didn’t have some money, they would even be worse off than other refugees.

"Heiwa's reminder is correct. It seems that the old man has grown old and has forgotten about this matter. It seems that he won't be able to take charge of anything in the future!" Qi Ye sighed and shook his head.

"Seventh Master, we were so happy that we forgot that the village needs you as a stabilizer." Hou Xiaoge smiled and comforted the old man when he saw his depressed face.