This is a very small mountain stream. The reason why it is memorized by the patrol members and has become a well-known area name is because this mountain stream is located at the resting point of a quarter of the patrol route.

The mountain stream has a height difference of more than 60 meters, and a pool is formed at the bottom. The water is clear, and there are small fish and shrimps at the bottom of the pool. The patrol team will take a break here every time, mainly to wash their faces and relieve fatigue.

Drinking raw water in the wild is absolutely prohibited, but as long as the name "Dongjian" is mentioned, everyone will laugh involuntarily while patrolling.

Especially on the return trip, it means that you can go home after a short walk. And the place is very cool, so you can wipe it with a few wet towels and it will be very comfortable.

Zhang Qingbao squatted by the stream, soaked the towel, twisted it until it was half dry, turned around and threw it to Hu Pingtao who was sitting on the stone.

Although they are both captains, their patrol schedules often overlap, and they do not deliberately arrange the positions of deputy and deputy.

Zhang Qingbao deliberately misbehaved and saved some energy when throwing the towel. Hu Pingtao, who was holding the mineral water bottle, had to move his butt away from the stone and took a few steps forward to catch the towel and prevent it from falling to the ground.

"You are deliberately retaliating!" Hu Pingtao put a wet towel across his neck, covered the mineral water bottle cap, and complained unhappily: "I didn't offend you!"

Zhang Qingbao soaked his towel in the stream and smiled without turning around: "There is no harm in young people being more active."

Hu Pingtao frowned and said, "Why did you take advantage of me again?"

Zhang Qingbao laughed and said: "Who makes you so good at drinking? Even my brother can't fuck you."

The Zhang Qing family's drinkers ranked first at the border inspection station, but that day at dinner, Hu Pingtao drank him to the ground. Zhang Qingbao watched the whole process, but Hu Pingtao didn't drink any fake wine, and even toasted him twice at the table in advance.

I drank several more drinks than my brother.

"Humph! Such a big person has such a small mind!"

Hu Pingtao made a gesture with his thumb on the top of his little finger. With a look of disdain on his face, he turned around and glanced at a tree not far away. Suddenly he felt as if he had captured some special substance. He quickly turned around and locked his gaze firmly.

in that position.

He stopped arguing with Zhang Qingbao, stood up, walked quickly closer, and stared at the tree.

This is a tree called "Chi Su Zi", whose scientific name is wild lychee. This tree is indeed very common in the southwest. Its fruits mature in September and are sour, sweet and delicious.

The chicken plant in front of me has already begun to bear fruit. It is small, green and unripe.

This is not Hu Pingtao's focus.

This tree grows by a stream. Because it is not artificially planted, some of its roots have been exposed since the seedling stage and cannot be submerged in the soil. As it grows, the roots exposed in the air gradually expand, and the growing location is close to water.

The environment is hot and humid, and a layer of moss is attached to the outside of the rhizomes.

There are obvious scratch marks on the moss on the tree roots, just like a wall that has just been painted with green paint. Someone has rubbed it hard with a hard object, leaving an ugly brush mark.

A patrol member came from the side, but Hu Pingtao raised his hand and shouted: "Don't go here, go around from the back."

In front of him, the space of more than three meters from the Jisuzi tree to his feet seemed to Hu Pingtao to be an absolutely forbidden area at this moment.

There are two footprints on the ground, one in front and one behind. Judging from the pattern on the soles of the shoes, they should be left by the same person, belonging to the left and right feet respectively.

Zhang Qingbao walked over from the stream and asked doubtfully: "Xiaohu, what's wrong?"

Hu Pingtao didn't know how to say: "Our patrol is once every three days, and there is a one-day interval between going back and forth. Last time, the octopus spirit led the team, but you can see these traces and footprints, they are all fresh. If I hadn't

If you guess wrong, it should have been left this morning."

Zhang Yujin is the captain of the border inspection station. This name has troubled him for a long time. Everyone calls him "Octopus Spirit".

The nearby patrol members gathered around.

Zhang Qingbao walked closer, squatted down, looked at the two footprints carefully, and asked doubtfully: "Could they be mountain people who got up early to collect mushrooms?"

The wild mushrooms in Yunnan Province are extremely delicious, but you must pick them early, otherwise the temperature will rise sharply when the sun comes out, the fungus canopy will open, the quality will be poor, and you will not be able to sell it at a high price.

"Where are the mountain people around here?" Hu Pingtao said seriously: "Our patrol route does not pass through villages, it is all deserted mountains and old forests."

This border line is more than 100 kilometers long, with multiple port inspection stations scattered around. From Xiluo to the border inspection station in the previous section, there are actually no natural barriers. They are all mountains, rivers, dense forests, and many seemingly inconspicuous.

A ridge and a small river are probably the border between the two countries.

The nearby border residents have already moved inland, let alone coming to such a remote place to pick wild mushrooms.

Zhang Qingbao looked serious: "Someone is crossing the border...smuggling?"

Hu Pingtao nodded and subconsciously tightened the assault rifle slung on his chest: "They may be fetching water from the stream, but only this side is soil, leaving two footprints. The other side is full of stones, so you can't see

There are traces. Judging from the direction of the footprints, the other party should want to take a detour from the northwest."

Zhang Qingbao has been patrolling the border all year round and is very sensitive to direction and location. He thought for a moment and asked: "You mean, go out between the No. 11 garrison checkpoint and our border inspection station?"

Hu Pingtao said "Yeah": "We patrol very frequently, and this road is also frequently used. Further south, there are new barbed wire fences and walls over there. Generally speaking, you can't get through, so you can only go this way.

"

Starting this year, a climbing barrier has been set up on the southern border. It is a concave wall, supplemented by barbed wire, which is difficult to climb.

Zhang Qingbao took off the assault rifle on his back and said solemnly: "Just follow what you said, hurry up and chase him!"

…

At noon, the sun shines high.

The temperature in the mountain forest is as high as 30 degrees, and there is enough water vapor here, just like a huge natural steamer.

Every step he took made him sweat, and everyone's clothes were soaked with sweat.

While walking on the road, the patrol members were talking a lot.

"Captain Tiger is very powerful. Just by looking at those two footprints, you can tell that someone is smuggling across the border."

"I think this is unlikely. I have walked this road back and forth at least twenty times and I have never encountered anyone crossing the border."

"There are also patrols at the No. 11 garrison checkpoint. They are not vegetarians. If someone had been discovered smuggling in, how could they wait until now?"

"Don't tell me, although Captain Tiger is young, he is really capable. That night when we checked the macadamia nuts, if Captain Tiger hadn't noticed that there was something wrong with the car at a glance, more than 300 kilograms of drugs would have been let go."

"This is different. They are two different things. If you ask me, those two footprints in Dongjian were left by the mountain people. If you don't believe me, let's wait and see."

Zhang Qingbao and Hu Pingtao walked side by side in front.

He looked nervous and his voice was much lower than usual: "Xiaohu, we didn't find any new footprints along the way!"

Hu Pingtao's expression remained unchanged: "There are still some, but Brother Zhang, you didn't pay attention."

Zhang Qingbao quickly asked: "Where is it? Why didn't I see it?"

"About a mile from Dongjian, some grass has been stepped on and the footprints are in this direction." Hu Pingtao paused: "We have to speed up, there are at least three people on the other side."

Zhang Qingbao looked at Hu Pingtao and his eyes changed: "How do you get those eyes? I didn't see anything wrong along the way!"

Hu Pingtao smiled and said nothing.

This kind of thing is really hard to explain.

Plants in tropical rainforests are very vigorous. Even grass stems that are trampled can recover again after a few hours. But no matter what, traces of trampling will still remain to some extent.

Those days in the "Northern Security Army" will never be forgotten. It was a real danger, and you had to be alert at all times if you wanted to survive. From soldiers to officers, they are particularly sensitive to any subtle changes in their environment.

.After all, Siam and the Burmese government forces are both enemies, and if you are slightly negligent, you will fall into a death trap.

It took Hu Pingtao a lot of time to learn to identify the difference between lynx and human footprints. It is also a one-legged step, and it is also a matter of judging the damaged position of broken plant stems and leaves that are restored after a few hours. This requires countless observations and countless personal visits.

test.

The police academy offers a course called "Trace Science," but the things in the books are not as clear as reality. Moreover, Zhang Qingbao has been working at the border inspection station all year round and specializes in the field. He has rich experience in drug searches and inspections. It can be said that

When it comes to identifying residual traces and following footprints, Hu Pingtao is a real expert in front of him.

"They rested here..."

Time was running out, so Hu Pingtao didn't explain too much. He said a few words casually without slowing down his pace.

Zhang Qingbao stayed close to him: "I have asked Xiao Li to send back the news of someone smuggling. Liu Zhan said that we should handle it on our own, and asked if you need support?"

"Based on the current situation, there is no need for it yet." Hu Pingtao's breathing began to become heavier, but he did not lose his rhythm: "Three...relaxed to five people, we can deal with it."

Looking at his slightly relaxed expression, Zhang Qingbao couldn't help but smile: "So sure? Don't say I didn't remind you that most of the people who smuggled across the border were desperadoes and carried weapons on their bodies."

Hu Pingtao said seriously: "They didn't bring much, just a little dry food at most. If they hadn't run out of water, they wouldn't have gone to Dongjian to get water. It's stuffy and hot in the forest, and there's no water to drink.

It’s really painful.”

Zhang Qingbao was a little surprised, but quickly recovered his emotions and asked: "You can tell from the footprints?"

Hu Pingtao nodded: "Their average weight per person will not exceed five kilograms."

Zhang Qingbao raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "You are quite powerful, can you even tell this?"

Hu Pingtao winked and laughed in a low voice: "I look handsome!"

These are completely two different things.

Not only Zhang Qingbao, but also the patrol members who were following them and heard this conversation also laughed.

…

Half an hour later, Hu Pingtao discovered new footprints.

This is a dirt road through a dense forest.

It is said that when the Xiluo Border Inspection Station was first established, in order to open up the connection with the No. 11 Garrison Checkpoint, people were specially sent to walk back and forth in the mountains. According to the mountain topography, rivers, height differences and many other factors, they used hatchets to force

This convenient passage was cut out and is still in use today.
To be continued...