Vlaga is a small border town located on the west bank of the Sinca River. According to the Spanish Map Bureau 20 years ago, Vlaga should be listed within the administrative jurisdiction of the Aragon region, rather than the Catalonia region 10 kilometers away.

However, in February 1810, with the de facto victory of Catalonia, this small border town became a small border town. Implementing the defensive offensive strategy of the Duke of Desay and the Five-man Regiment, the Catalan Security Corps and a team of military police were ordered to cross the border line and enter Fraga, and declare to the outside world the Duke of Desay and Catalonia's lord-holding possession of the city.

In response, the Madrid Government (on behalf of King Joseph) and the Seville Government (on behalf of the Spanish revolt) respectively sent letters of protest to the Manresa Cabinet, but were rejected. The Manresa Cabinet argued that the Catalan Security Forces entered Vlaga only for defensiveness, and was invited by the interim Governor of Aragon and Marshal Ney (the commander of the Seventh Army of the French Army). The purpose was to maintain local public order, safeguard the interests of the people on the border, and defend against the increasingly rampant impact of illegal immigrants in Aragon on Catalonia.

The foreign affairs official who was "guided" by the Military Intelligence Bureau was not talking lies with his eyes open.

Due to the influence of continuous wars and changing climate factors, after 1810, famine in Madrid was not effectively curbed, but spread further to the former grain-producing area, Aragon.

In addition, the Duke of Desai has secretly ordered the Manresa cabinet to strictly blockade non-canned food in the Catalonian region and not be allowed to flow out of the border. At the same time, food officials have also purchased various barley and wheat in other places, striving to gradually increase the food security alert period in Catalonia from the original three months to 15 months by 1811.

This asymmetric entry and exit made the Aragon area not only unable to obtain food supply from other places, but instead allowed unscrupulous merchants to transport local food to Catalonia at high prices, which further exacerbated the famine in the Aragon area.

In the war years, food shortage was originally the norm, but food relief was a luxury. Marshal Ney, the interim governor of Aragon, had been transferred to lead the Seventh Army to the northern battlefield in Portugal around April 1810 and accepted the command of Marshal Massena. Therefore, the life and death of millions of Aragonese people had nothing to do with him.

As for the Madrid government and the Seville government, perhaps it is beyond the reach, perhaps it is because of no money or food, or other reasons, they can only make noises when it comes to rescuing the Aragonese victims. In various newspapers and magazines, they irresponsibly appealed to the Catalans to unconditionally save the Aragonese who were trapped in famine.

Due to the lack of access or difficulty in obtaining food relief, urban civilians and bankrupt farmers in the Aragon region had to choose to be displaced in order to survive and fled to other places. Catalonia, which has abundant food and a safe life, became the first choice for hundreds of thousands of exiles.

Facing the hundreds of thousands of Aragon refugees, the Manresa Cabinet, which has always been cautiously welcomed by foreign workers, was overturned by strong protests from local Catalonian officials, especially the people of Lerida Province, which borders Aragon. The administrative office led by Say almost overturned the original tolerant immigration policy overnight.

After some urgent consultations, the five-member regiment and the Manresa Cabinet agreed to accept the requests of officials and people of Lerida Province, and began to send a large number of troops, including five security regiments, including the Catalan regiment, and 1,200 military policemen, to enter the border area with the Aragon area, patrol the long border line, set up posters and immigration checkpoints to prevent the arrival of refugees.

In more than 10 immigration checkpoints on the border, the following groups will be given priority to obtain immigration qualifications in Catalonia:

Aragonese or Spanish who are proven to have Catalan ancestry, and their direct or partially collateral families;

Rich people and their family members who have a large amount of liquid cash are willing and able to invest in the Catalan group to meet employment opportunities of more than 100 people;

All famous scholars, scientists, university lecturers, engineers, senior professional technicians, and their families in the Aragon area;

A skilled copper smith, carpenter, blacksmith, stonemason, miner, sailor, etc., a profession urgently needed in Catalonia, and their immediate family members;

Willing to love the Duke of Dedesay, like serving God the oath priests, nuns and other clergy;

...

According to the requirements of the newly established immigration bureau, the above categories of new immigrants must also be guided by the priests in the checkpoint. In nearby churches, they collectively swear to God in French or Catalan: they are willing to give up their original identity as Spaniards or Aragonese, always be loyal to the Duke of Desay, comply with various immigration laws and regulations of Catalonia, consciously maintain a good situation of stability and unity, report and expose any armed rebellion...

Compared with hundreds of thousands of refugees, more than 30,000 lucky people who were allowed to legally enter Catalonia were only a few. Most of them cherished the hard-won immigration qualifications and accepted the harsh conditions set by the Immigration Bureau without thinking. In the simple church, under the gaze of God, they swore allegiance to the Duke of Desay.

Most of the refugees who were refused visas were disappointed and had to choose to wander north (the French border of the Pyrenees) and east (the direction of Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean); the other people naturally did not want to give up the opportunity to be close. Usually, they would choose to walk together, brave the cold and cross the river, cross the mountains and ridges, just to bypass the border checkpoint and smuggle into Catalonia.

No matter which road you choose or whether you smuggle, it will be a miserable and sad journey for those who are rejected. More than half of the refugees, especially the elderly, weak, sick and disabled, will starve to death, freeze to death, and be exhausted to death in the difficult and helpless journey of death.

When Say received a report of a large number of refugees being killed continuously by the military police headquarters, the French professor, who was compassionate, sent an open letter, hoping that officials at all levels in Catalonia could take a humanitarian stand and accept more Aragonese refugees, but encountered firm opposition from various provinces and regions, from high-ranking officials and nobles to civilians.

During this period, the Duke of Desai also received a request from the official Sai, but he did not hesitate to kick the ball to the five-man Hruna. In fact, the emergence of the Aragonese refugee tide and the strong anti-immigration of the Catalan people were simply the result of the Military Intelligence Bureau following the Duke of Desai's wishes and secretly instigating them.

In this way, in the position of relieving refugees around the country, the Catalans with arrogant behavior and arrogant attitude will inevitably offend the Aragonese, Spanish, Valencians, and Catalonia will completely become isolated and helpless. Because they are worried about the counterattack of the Spaniards in the future, all Catalans can only hold the thick legs of the Duke of Desay.

...

In mid-to-late February, when the Catalan Security Corps entered Fraga and declared to the outside world that the town belonged to Catalonia to take over, it was immediately welcomed by the 4,000 residents of the City of Fraga. No matter men, women, young and old, everyone was arranged on both sides of the main street of the small town, and used the colorful strips, flowers and fruits in their hands to head towards the soldiers of the security regiments in line.

Thousands of residents in the city of Fraga understand that from this point on, they will bid farewell to famine, bid farewell to unemployment, and enjoy Catalans to obtain food relief and provide free education and medical care to their children.

I don’t know if it was because of the hard-won happiness that was cherished or the evil thought of human nature being at work, the residents of Fraga City were automatically becoming Catalans, and they actually followed the call of the priests and the mayor and spontaneously organized an armed picket of 200 people, cooperated with the security regiment and the military police to block illegal immigrants in the border checkpoint area.

The Fraga Border Checkpoint is located on the east bank of the Sinka River, across the river from the small town of Fraga. There is only a reinforced 3-meter-wide floating bridge in the middle, connecting the two places. Due to the continuous spring rain in recent days, the melting ice and snow in the mountains and the river water surges. The river channel, which is only 25 meters wide on weekdays, has now expanded to nearly 40 meters.

No matter day and night, wind, frost, snow and rain, there are always thousands of refugees gathered outside the double-layer barbed wire fence surrounding the border checkpoint. Although many of them have been rejected by immigration officials at least twice and will not get a legal visa within three months, the refugees still did not give up and continued to wait outside the 3.5-meter-high barbed wire fence.

Starting at 8 a.m. every hour, the fully armed military police will open the barbed wire corridor connecting the checkpoint to the outside world, allowing 80 to 100 refugees to enter the visa hall and accept interviews from the visa officer.

If the sound of immigration officials knocking on the seal three times from the wooden house of the checkpoint is heard, it means that another family has successfully obtained a legal visa. Ten minutes later, all lucky people will be arranged to a simple church on the side of the checkpoint, waiting for collective oath. Then, they will be together with their old and young, passing the pontoon bridge that is constantly shaking on the Sinca River and safely enter Catalonia.

On the contrary, refugees who have not been visaed will be forcibly moved out of the checkpoint by the security regiment or military police team and rushed out of the barbed wire. For all violent elements who do not obey discipline or try to resist, the soldiers have the right to shoot and kill them on the spot without firing a warning.

Refugees with gold coins and coins in their pockets will buy high-priced food from the lucky Fraga through barbed wire to maintain a livelihood of being out of food at some point; refugees with adult daughters at home will continue to promote their relatives to the soldiers of the police force patrolling in the isolation zone. Once successful, they will also obtain priority visa qualifications;

Most of the refugees who do not have beautiful daughters and have no coins in their pockets will choose to take a dark night to cross the river and seek the legendary molasses land. However, the skyrocketing river surface, the turbulent rivers, the cold rivers, and the armed pickets that ruthlessly kill stowaways will kill most of them.

Where a large number of refugees gather, there are always the existence of desperate people. They sit in groups of three or five, like vultures eating scattered, coldly watching the flowing old and new refugees, paying attention to the coins in the latter's pockets, food in their backpacks, and beautiful women. These violent and cold-blooded madmen do not immigrate to the happy place on the other side of the river, but are determined to rob and oppress their fellow Aragons who are more miserable than themselves.

Sergeant Sergeant of the Border Checkpoint, Silva, was witnessing these human tragedies sooner or later, and he was already insensitive. After finishing his morning inspection, Silva, who had hurriedly used lunch, returned to the military police duty room. The sergeant took off his rain jacket, grabbed a diary, flipped into the contents of today's form, and lazily wrote down the words "Safe and nothing".

Silva raised his head again and looked out the window helplessly. The continuous spring rain lasted for 5 days, causing the 20-kilometer road leading to the provincial capital Lerida to become muddy and difficult to ride.

Although the Manresa Cabinet and governments at all levels have always focused on the construction and expansion of new construction and expansion, widening and strengthening of road traffic in the Catalonian region as the top priority, the time is too short after all. According to the construction period plan, only in December 1811 can the entire Catalonian region be completed, between cities and many townships, with gravel, sand and limestone paved. As for the legendary asphalt avenue, experiments are only conducted on the 28-kilometer road leading to Barcelona by Manresa.

In his heart, the military policeman silently cursed the damn rainy day and got out of here and never ruin his good deeds. Because the afternoon after tomorrow, Silva will rush to Lerida City to participate in a crucial interview.

A month ago, the five-man regiment issued an order from the Duke of Desay, which would openly select the second batch of reserve officers to go to the Saint-Sil Military Academy for short-term training in the Desay Division, the Ministry of Military Police, and the Catalan Garrison Division, rather than directly designated by the commander.

There are three main qualifications for the application of reserve officers: First, they must be active non-commissioned officers (including corporals, sergeants and sergeants) who have served in the Duke of Desay for more than two years, and are under 30 years old; second, they must receive written recommendations from military chiefs at the regiment level or above; third, they must pass the B-level assessment of French culture courses, that is, they must know how to read and write fluently in French; fourth, they must pass the open interview with interviewers composed of three randomly selected officers.

In 1810, the total number of trainees in military academy was 62, more than doubled compared to the 30 in 1809. However, the competition became increasingly fierce because there were more reserve candidates. The Desai Infantry Regiment, which had less than 1,000 people, suddenly became a Desai Legion with a main division, a security division, a military police brigade, and a 35,000-person Desai Legion.

Even the military police headquarters, which was specially taken care of by the Duke of Desay, was enviable to obtain 15 reserve officers' admission quotas. However, including Sergeant Silva, 114 non-commissioned officers at all levels who meet the first two conditions actively participated in the competition for reserve officers. Until the last round of the officer regiment interview, 40 people still existed on the list. This means that in the afternoon of the day after tomorrow, another 25 unlucky people must be eliminated.

In fact, in the eyes of his comrades, Sergeant Sir Silva's nervousness was completely unnecessary. It was a written letter of recommendation submitted by the latter, written by the commander of the military police, Colonel Carls. This ensured that Silva received a military academy's turnover; not to mention that Sergeant's Marseille fellow and friend, Captain Penduwas, was also a confidant and entourage of the Duke of Desay.
Chapter completed!