"It's not that we were stupid, at the time we just didn't understand the meaning behind Pei Qing's words. This was because no one had any knowledge of telegram studies, and for us, the concept of a telegram was only the sound of "beep beep beep" in movies. I believe that many younger brothers born 70 years later, if you heard a rhythmic tapping sound after watching a black and white film in your childhood, would you be able to associate it with a meaningful signal? I don't think so."
So at that time Pei Qing could associate with this, which we later thought was unbelievable. And during that era, only people who were extremely familiar with telegrams could possibly hear and immediately associate with this aspect.
"We didn't understand Pei Qing's meaning, and it was confusing. In the end, it was telegraphist Xiao Zhao who reacted and asked, "Pei, does this mean that the sound in here is a telegram?"
"You listen, pop pop pop pop, pop, repeated every 34 seconds," he raised his hand to check his watch, "Every time it repeats, it's exactly one second." He looked at us, "There's no one on the other end, it's an automatic reporting machine on the telephone loop."
"Are you sure?" Old Cat looked at Pei Qing and squinted his eyes.
"Pei Qing nodded and turned to Xiao Zhao: 'In your basic training as a signal soldier, have you memorized the Morse code?'"
Xiao Zhao nodded, but showed an extremely difficult expression: "But it's basic training, and I've almost forgotten it."
"Do you not remember even after listening to it?" Pei Qing handed the phone to Xiao Zhao and said to us, "Bring paper."
"I didn't even know what had happened, so I had to listen to him as he took out his workbook from his pocket. Then, Xiao Zhao furrowed his brow and, almost forced to do so, managed to make out a series of numbers that were extremely difficult to hear."
"I still have that notebook with me now, and the serial number is:"
281716530604714523972757205302260255297205222232
"After writing it, we stared blankly at this string of numbers."
After Xiao Zhao listened, he looked at the string of numbers again and was quite sure that it was a plaintext telegram. However, the Chinese plaintext was lengthy and even a professional telegraph operator might not be able to memorize all the characters proficiently, let alone Xiao Zhao, who only received basic training. After dividing the numbers into four parts, he got 12 sets of four-digit numbers, but he could only understand a few of the most commonly used ones.
x1653
x0604
x7145
x2397
x2757
x0255
x0522
x2232
"Based on these few words, we can only conclude that the person who created this automatic telegram is not a Japanese from that time, but rather a Chinese person. However, we do not know who this person is or what the code means."
We exchanged telegrams with each other, but it was merely a formality. In my eyes, these things were like mythical tomes that nobody bothered to read carefully. We simply accepted them symbolically, skimming over them quickly, particularly when we had to learn about lengthy reports during grassroots meetings.
"There were only two people, I remember very clearly, at that time there were only two people, one was Lao Mao, and the other was Pei Qing. They were watching very seriously. Lao Mao only glanced at it, frowned, while Pei Qing bit her lip and suddenly said to us: "I think I can understand it.""
"This statement was like a thunderbolt that caught our attention, and he said, "My father is the telegraph officer in the town. I have translated telegrams for him since I was young and have probably dealt with over a thousand codes. When sending telegrams, I write the code directly and do not need someone from the post office to translate them."
We were staring at him like he was a deity. Old Cat's face was very pale and he asked, "What did he say?"
"Give me some time, I want to remember carefully."
Pei Qing said as he leaned over the table, snatched my notebook and began to scribble. We gathered around him and pulled out a few cigarettes, smoking and watching him.
"I saw what Pei Qing wrote and knew the method he used at the time. He must have had memories of the deciphered codes, so he wrote down every group of numbers that seemed related to words. In the end, what he showed us was like this."
"Stop exploring immediately, it's extremely dangerous and we need rescue."
"It's a distress signal!" Several people gasped in shock.
What happened next happened very quickly. Old Cat looked at the translated telegram and began to sweat slightly. He immediately ordered Old Tang to gather people and prepare to leave. The telegram writer could tell that the current situation was quite dangerous. There was no more time to waste.
In fact, we all know that this ghost-like telegram has been sent here for a long time. Perhaps the person involved has already passed away. However, as a rescue team, we must judge the situation in the best way possible. In uncertain situations, we must unconditionally believe that the rescue target is still alive.
Just as we were packing up and getting ready to leave with them, Old Cat stopped us and asked us to stay. He said that there must be a problem inside or else the telegram wouldn't have been sent. We had no idea of the danger inside, and if the whole team entered and something went wrong again, we would all be doomed. As the second team, if they arrived safely, they would send someone back to inform us.
"At first we didn't agree, thinking how could that work. Wang Sichuan said, 'Either you become part of the second-tier team, or I'm not doing this cowardly thing.'"
Unfortunately, the old cat still shook his head and said, "It's a military operation now. Old Tang is in charge and this is his decision. Follow orders! Besides, you all are injured, so staying behind is for your own good!"
"Saying that he was going to leave, Wang Sichuan still couldn't accept it, but due to the words of Old Cat's command, he couldn't go crazy. Everyone knew that Captain Lao Tang was a softy, and this was definitely Old Cat's own idea."
"But he had only taken a few steps when he suddenly turned back to Pei Qing and said, 'You understand Morse code, and that may come in handy. They're staying here, so you can follow them!'"
Pei Qing seemed to have a premonition. He smiled faintly and looked back at us, saying with malice, "Take care of the house!" Then he followed him. Wang Sichuan was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
"We watched them board the ship and quickly leave the shore. The person leading the way shone a flashlight, searching for the cable. After about twenty minutes, the three boats disappeared into the darkness of the cave and the noisy voices gradually became more distant."
"The sudden silence makes me very uncomfortable. We turned around and realized that the only people left were me, Wang Sichuan, the deputy squad leader, and his three subordinates. I suddenly felt a sense of sadness."
"Wang Sicuan asked me what to do, so I had to say what Laomao said made sense. We have all been hurt, and he only had our best interests in mind."
Several people squat down, but there's nothing to do. I look at the deputy squad leader hanging his head in despair. Soldiers are not afraid of death, but afraid of not being able to go to the battlefield. I had to pull out some cigarettes to comfort them.
"When I touched it, I was stunned. I pulled it out and found another piece of paper in my pocket."