Chapter 220: Please Overcome These Difficulties!
The ten light machine guns for support, combined with the one brought by Cao Weida, made a total of thirteen light machine guns plus around thirty rifles that opened fire in an instant. Their firepower in that short time was undoubtedly formidable.
Under such fierce firepower, the truck drivers and escort personnel were caught off guard and fell one after another after being hit by bullets.
The escort personnel at this time clearly hadn’t expected such a sudden change, and they were instantly stunned.
Attacking with intent against the unprepared, with such fierce firepower, they simply couldn’t react.
Especially those standing in the truck beds, they were practically live targets!
Most little devils didn’t even have time to scream before they dropped dead, while the unlucky ones who weren’t hit in vital spots let out agonized howls from their mouths in an instant.
“Charge!”
Comrade Qingshan showed no pity for these little devils. He gave a low shout and was the first to rush out from their hiding spot, holding a light machine gun and advancing with suppressive fire.
The other guerrilla team members followed closely behind, unleashing a frenzy of shooting at the trucks.
“Finish them all off, leave no survivors!” After rushing near the truck beds, Qingshan ordered without hesitation.
The group moved forward in tacit understanding, not caring if those on the ground were dead or alive, and fired a shot into each of their heads.
Only after all the finishing shots were done did Cao Weida walk out from the ambush position.
A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall; he didn’t want to risk his own life.
After confirming there were no survivors, he said to Qingshan: “Call a few people to try if the vehicles can still start!”
As for himself, he quickly jumped onto a truck. He wanted to see just what these little devils were furtively transporting.
He pried open a box with a dagger, and upon seeing what was inside, his eyes immediately widened round.
This box was actually packed full of neatly stacked gold bricks!!
Cao Weida immediately closed the box lid. Even though he had seen plenty of money, his heart was still pounding wildly for a moment.
He pried open another box, and seeing it was still filled with gold bricks, the corners of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch a few times.
He calculated that if all the boxes here were full of gold, there must be at least fifty tons!
Good grief, how much gold is this!
Cao Weida’s mouth twitched. Even though he knew this batch of supplies was definitely important, he hadn’t expected it to be this important!
He had probably really poked a hole in the sky this time!
If the little devils found out such a huge fortune in gold was lost, they would surely go mad!
He immediately sealed the box tightly, jumped down from the truck, and said: “Comrade Qingshan, notify the brothers to drive the trucks immediately to our predetermined location. Tell the brothers that no one is to touch the things on the trucks!”
Although the moonlight at night provided decent visibility, with the face veil blocking his view, Qingshan naturally couldn’t see Cao Weida’s expression.
But just from the tone, he could tell the other was serious, so he nodded without hesitation: “Alright, got it!”
A few minutes later, Cao Weida rode in the truck driven by Qingshan and quickly left the scene.
Twenty minutes later, the vehicles drove along the edge of Shashahai and arrived at a cluster of badly damaged buildings.
During the Eight-Nation Alliance’s invasion of China, the buildings and facilities around Shashahai had been severely damaged, leaving many abandoned structures.
Later, from the end of the Qing Dynasty into the Republic of China period, maintenance and management of the buildings around Shashahai were neglected, leading to gradual desolation, with garbage strewn along the way.
Therefore, the area around here was deserted even during the day, let alone at night.
After the vehicles stopped, everyone worked together to carry the boxes into an abandoned building. Once everything was unloaded, Cao Weida turned to Qingshan and said:
“Have the brothers drive the vehicles farther out and dump them into the sea, then have all the brothers withdraw. I’ll stay behind to handle these things. We’ll contact you after the heat dies down.”
“The gun I brought is a gift for you. Hurry and withdraw.”
“Alright!”
Qingshan didn’t waste a single word. He took the gun and crisply led his men to carry out Cao Weida’s orders.
These vehicles belonged to the little devils anyway, and they couldn’t drive them out of the city. Keeping them would only aid the enemy, so dumping them into the sea didn’t pain him at all.
Cao Weida waited until their figures completely disappeared from sight before entering the building and stowing all the boxes into his space.
Fortunately, gold was a high-density metal. Even though there were fifty tons, the volume wasn’t large—just under three cubic meters.
If it had been other supplies, fifteen tons would have been a real stretch for his space.
After packing up all the gold, Cao Weida made some repairs around the area to ensure no traces were left, then quickly withdrew from the site.
The little devils had lost so much gold; they were sure to go mad. This was fifty tons of gold!
If exchanged for silver dollars, it would be a full 320 million!
What an enormous sum!
It would be strange if the little devils didn’t go crazy!
It was obvious even without thinking that Beiping was about to be plunged into turmoil again~~
But that was none of his business. After finishing the job, he slipped back to the courtyard house and quietly entered Ru Qiulan’s room.
“Mm-hmm, Master~~” Sensing someone embracing her, Ru Qiulan woke up startled, but upon seeing it was her own master, her vigilance vanished, her sleepiness fled, and a trace of seductive charm gathered in her eyes.
While Cao Weida was blissfully enjoying himself like an immortal, on the other side, Kawashima Yoshiko had already learned of the goods being robbed and panicked completely.
She hurriedly led people to rush to the scene as quickly as possible to investigate.
By now, the area around the crime scene had been cordoned off. When Kawashima Yoshiko arrived and saw over thirty corpses lying on the ground, she felt as if her backbone had been extracted, and her whole body went limp.
“It’s over… completely over now.”
In order to regain the Japanese’s trust, Kawashima Yoshiko had racked her brains, even setting her sights on Cao Weida, showing how desperately she wanted to make a comeback.
And for this escort mission, though she wasn’t the main person in charge, she had been involved.
She didn’t know what was in the boxes, but she knew it was definitely something important!
After learning of this mission, in order to demonstrate her value, she had contributed ideas and plans.
And that Unnamed Pier between Datong Bridge Pier and Qingfeng Gate Pier was her suggestion!
But now, the vehicles had been robbed midway.
Kawashima Yoshiko only felt waves of blackness before her eyes. This matter would definitely be investigated thoroughly, and all informed personnel would be scrutinized.
As a participant who had suggested the pier, she was undoubtedly one of the suspects!
Even worse, if nothing turned up from the higher-ups’ investigation, she was very likely to be made the scapegoat.
“No, I can’t. I must save myself!”
Running was definitely not an option; the Kuomintang had been hunting her, and if she offended the Japanese Army as well, there would be no place for her in all of China!
Hiding it was definitely impossible. She shakily stood up, intending to go back and call her superior, that is, the Kwantung Army Headquarters.
But before she could act, a short man with a little mustache on his upper lip arrived with two little devils loaded with live rounds, blocking her path.
“Major Kawashima, please come with us.”
In an instant, despair flooded Kawashima Yoshiko’s face.
It’s over!
She knew the higher-ups already knew the news, and she had been suspected.
At this point, even trying to contact her superior probably wouldn’t help. Without the superior’s approval, who would dare arrest a full major like her?
Ding-ling-ling~~
A burst of urgent telephone ringing jolted Miyamoto Ichiro awake from his sleep.
Miyamoto Ichiro grimly picked up the phone: “Moshi moshi!!”
“Lord Miyamoto Ichiro, this is the Kwantung Army Headquarters. The Kwantung Army Headquarters orders you to immediately cooperate with the Beiping garrison infantry brigade, Defense Command, and other departments to blockade the entire Beiping City!”
“Nani?! Blockade Beiping City?! Why impose a city-wide blockade? Give me a reasonable reason, or I must regrettably decline!” Miyamoto Ichiro said with a hard attitude.
What a joke—if the entire Beiping was blockaded, wouldn’t that severely impact the land-sea joint business deal he had just negotiated?!
He was still waiting for his dividend!
“Lord Miyamoto Ichiro, are you resisting an order from the Kwantung Army Headquarters?!”
“No, please don’t misunderstand, my lord. Of course I will obey the Kwantung Army Headquarters’ orders, but please also understand our actual situation and difficulties!” Miyamoto Ichiro replied righteously, with perfectly sufficient reasons:
“If the whole city is blockaded, our governance costs will skyrocket, and Beiping’s supplies are already scarce. A blockade would inevitably cause even more unrest!”
“Right now, the international gaze is fixed on us. If this causes a major impact, the international image of our Great Japanese Empire will completely collapse! This would be extremely detrimental to us!”
“Moreover, this would also undermine our ‘sustain war with war’ strategy. If it leads to unfavorable consequences, I, as the highest officer of the Beiping Gendarmerie Headquarters, cannot escape blame!”
“Therefore, without a reasonable reason, I regrettably cannot comply!”
The other end of the phone fell silent at once, because this reason was extremely valid.
But no matter how valid, no matter the potential adverse effects, they couldn’t worry about that now.
After a moment, the voice firmly stated: “Lord Miyamoto Ichiro, please overcome the difficulties. This matter is extremely important, involving the Kwantung Command’s top-secret Class A”
“Stop!” Miyamoto Ichiro’s forehead veins throbbed, and upon hearing those words on the phone, he immediately interrupted the other party.
As an imperial general, he knew all too well the weight of those ‘top-secret Class A’ designations. Precisely because he knew, he didn’t want to know the classified contents.
As a shrewd man, he knew one truth all too well: the less you know, the less trouble; the more you know, the more trouble!
What damned top-secret Class A—he didn’t want to hear it, didn’t want to know!
“I don’t want to know any top-secret intelligence. Just tell me directly what happened and why you need to blockade the city!”
