Wearing British clothes as a second-generation aristocrat

31. The guerrilla leader's lover

From the town of Omarachi onwards, the British officers in charge of the various safe villages heard about the guerrillas infiltrating the villages and attacking Major Duggan.

Fearing that their villages might harbor guerrilla members and that Dugan would hold them accountable, a large-scale search was launched in all the safe villages, quickly descending into a distorted competition and frenzy.

To demonstrate his "dedication," the commander of the safe village in the east, after only identifying a few villagers who had had sporadic contact with the guerrillas, immediately ordered the hanging of 10 suspicious individuals and displayed their bodies at the village entrance as a warning to others.

Upon learning of this, the chief of the western safe village was not to be outdone. Even without finding any clearly suspicious individuals, he randomly arrested 20 townspeople who seemed somewhat suspicious on ordinary days and hanged them in public. He even sent someone to inform Dugen, boasting about his "victory".

Not to be outdone, the official of the southern safe village saw that 20 people had hanged themselves in the west, so he directly arrested 30 townspeople and, without asking any questions, had them all hanged. For a time, hanging corpses could be seen everywhere at the entrances of the villages and on the streets of the various safe villages.

The soldiers' investigations became increasingly rigorous. Even a casual report of "suspicious behavior" or the presence of a machete or a few extra liters of grain in a home could be used as evidence of collusion with the guerrillas, resulting in immediate arrest and execution.

The townspeople were all on edge, afraid to say a word or make an extra move, lest they be mistaken for "suspicious persons" and lose their lives.

Some timid townspeople even voluntarily handed over all their valuables in exchange for temporary peace.

When the news reached Omarach, Tom immediately reported it to Dugan.

"Major, the officials in charge of the various safe villages are conducting investigations too frantically, resulting in many wrongful killings. If this continues, it may provoke a rebellion from the townspeople."

Dugan was standing at the window of the temporary command post, looking out at the street filled with corpses. Hearing this, he merely glanced at Tom indifferently.

"Resist? They only have fear left; where would they find the courage to resist?"

Dugan smiled slightly, "Better to kill a thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free. Only by making all the townspeople feel extreme fear, only by making those hidden guerrillas nowhere to hide, and making them compete to kill, is it good, saving me the trouble of supervising them."

Tom nodded in agreement. He wasn't worried about the lives of these Indians; he was simply concerned that a large-scale rebellion might jeopardize Major Dugan's future, and consequently, his own.

Like Dugan, Tom saw the lives of these Indians as nothing more than pawns in his game of controlling the land; as long as he could achieve his goal, he didn't care how many he killed.

Just then, a series of hurried footsteps came from outside the door, and Lieutenant Joffrey strode in, a hint of smugness on his face.

"Major, Mijija has been found! She's being escorted to Omarachi Town now, and will be there soon."

Joffrey saluted Dugan.

Dugan turned around, smiled, and said, "Very good, well done. Take her to the interrogation room; I'll interrogate her myself."

About an hour later, Mijiga was dragged into the interrogation room by two British soldiers.

She was dressed in a simple, coarse cloth dress, her hair was disheveled, and her face showed a hint of fear.

Dugan sat in the interrogation chair, looking calmly at Mijija, without speaking immediately.

This Indian woman looked to be about 30 years old. Although her clothes were rather plain and her skin was dark, she was quite attractive.

The atmosphere in the interrogation room was terrifyingly oppressive, with only the crackling of the oil lamp and Mijija's slightly rapid breathing.

After a long silence, Dugan finally spoke, his tone flat: "You are Mijija? Kamal's lover."

Mijija didn't answer, but just bit her lip tightly and turned her head to the side.

Dugan wasn't angry and continued, "I can tell you that Kamal is still alive. As long as you behave, I can let him stay alive, and I might even let you both leave so you can find a place to live a peaceful life."

Upon hearing "Let you leave," Mijiga's body trembled slightly, a flicker of wavering crossing her eyes, but it was quickly replaced by stubbornness. She abruptly turned her head and roared at Dugan, "I won't listen to you! You Englishmen will be driven out by the guerrillas sooner or later! Kamal will never surrender to you!"

Megawa, who was standing nearby, translated Mijija’s words to Dugen word for word.

"Surrender?" Dugan sneered, his tone suddenly turning icy. "I don't want him to surrender, I want you to persuade him. Go tell Camar that if he's willing to surrender to the British and truthfully disclose all the guerrilla strongholds, troop deployments, and supplies, I'll pardon his death sentence, and I'll also pardon yours, give you some money, and let you go far away."

Megawa translated Dugan's words verbatim to Mijija.

Before Mijija could answer, Dugan continued in a cold tone, "But if you don't want to, I won't force you. However, you and Kamal will both die. Just in different ways."

Dugan's tone sent chills down Megava's spine. Although Dugan's tone was calm and showed no sign of anger, it was the way he spoke of death in such a nonchalant manner that made it all the more terrifying.

It's as if we're not talking about a person's life or death, but about how to dispose of an object.

"You might die in two ways. First, I'll hand you over to my soldiers," Dugan said. "They've come from faraway Europe to India; they're all scum, scoundrels, bastards, a bunch of rutting stallions. I've already hanged two soldiers who committed rape. But you're different."

As Dugan spoke, he stood up and ran his whip back and forth across Mijiga's curvaceous body.

Despite having more than one man, Kamal, Mijiga still felt fear and humiliation from the near-violation she was experiencing.

Dugan returned to his seat and said sarcastically, "I have 1000 British soldiers who are stuck in safe villages all day because of those damned guerrillas and are worried about where to vent their energy."

Then, Dugan made a sudden realization and said, "Or perhaps, I have thousands of Indian soldiers serving me who might know better how to deal with a guerrilla leader's lover."

Mijija trembled, her face instantly drained of color, and the stubbornness in her eyes was gradually replaced by fear.

She muttered something under her breath.

Dugan turned to look at Megava, who hesitated for a moment, but still translated it as it was.

"Major, she said... Bishya (a Hindu demon) will bite off your... and make you a genderless monster in your next life."

Megawa thought Dugan would be furious and might even kill Mijiga. Megawa was even relieved that this would make Mijiga's death quicker.

But Dugan didn't get angry. Instead, he chuckled and said, "It seems you don't know enough about British men."

After saying this, Dugan said a few words to the soldiers, and then the soldiers went out and shouted a few times before a dozen or so British soldiers came in from outside.

"Soldiers, stop talking badly about me behind my back, saying things like 'Major Dugan made us suffer like ascetics,'" Dugan said to the soldiers in a sarcastic tone.

"Um... Major, we don't have any."

"Yes, Major, that's all nonsense."

The soldiers denied it coyly.

Dugan laughed and said, "You bunch of damned lecherous bastards, unable to control your own rams. Don't think I don't know anything..."

The soldiers chuckled awkwardly, which was taken as tacit agreement.

Dugan pointed at Mijiga and said, "Give this lady a good welcome. Remember, be a gentleman. She's still useful; don't kill her."

"Yes, sir." The soldiers' eyes immediately lit up.

"Megawa, what are you standing there for? Do you want to watch the whole thing? I don't think you have that kind of special fetish, do you?" Dugan waved to Megava.

Megawa quickly followed Dugan out of the interrogation room.

bang

The interrogation room door slammed shut, and a woman's pitiful screams echoed from inside.

Megawa dared not utter a sound and silently followed behind Dugan.

"Megawa, do you have a sister?" Dugan suddenly asked.

"No, no, esteemed Major." Megava was startled and quickly shook his head and waved his hands.