Chapter 15: The Heist
Qingpu. The outskirts.
A car bumps along the muddy road.
The road quality is terrible. This is still the Songhu area. Although it is a bit more suburban.
Many sections of the road are being repaired. No one knows when they will be finished. Vehicles need to drive carefully.
'Damn, this is too much!'
'They've taken everything!'
Cao Mengqi was still indignant.
Several times, he subconsciously clenched his fists. He was clearly extremely angry.
There was another argument between the fifth and eighth groups over the issue of transferring the Japanese spies. The fifth group demanded that all the Japanese spies be transferred.
The reason was simple: it was Lin Xiaoyan's 'confession'. It showed that she might have control over all five spy groups. Therefore, these five spy groups were ultimately related to Lin Xiaoyan. In that case, they must all be transferred. In the end, the two groups applied to Boss Dai for a ruling.
The decision Boss Dai gave was to transfer all personnel. The spies, including No. 6, were handed over to Group 5 for investigation.
This result was obviously unfair to the 8th group. Boss Dai could not be too obvious in his favouritism. So arrangements were made for the 8th group as well. That is, all the police cadets from Hangzhou would be assigned to the 8th group. None would be given to the 5th group. And it was promised that in the future, the 8th group would not be easily transferred.
In addition, 20 Thompson submachine guns, a car, a truck, and 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel were specially approved for the 8th group to use exclusively for cases.
Frankly speaking, Zhang Yong felt that this compensation was quite acceptable.
Without Japanese spies, he could find them himself.
At present, Songhu was full of Japanese spies. If he just went out and looked around more, he was sure to find some.
By then, he was afraid that the 8th Group would not have enough manpower to deal with it.
If he, Zhang Yong, was more proactive, it was possible that the people in the 5th Group would be exhausted.
The people in the 5th Group were busy dealing with the Japanese spies, and naturally they would not have time to deal with the Red Party case.
Everyone is safe and sound.
The unlucky ones are the Japanese spies.
However, Cao Mengqi is still angry, and he doesn't say anything for the time being.
This trip to Qingpu is to investigate the robbery of the Ministry of Finance warehouse. It wasn't a theft. It was a robbery. The situation is said to be a bit exaggerated. It was an armed robbery. They opened fire directly.
The criminals were armed and there were quite a few of them. This makes Zhang Yong and Cao Mengqi cautious.
In addition to bringing Wei Yong, the truck behind also carries a platoon of National Army soldiers. They were all heavily armed.
After more than two hours of bumpy driving, they finally arrived at their destination.
The person responsible for briefing them was waiting. His name was Kong Zhiliang. He was a disciple of the Kong family. He was also the warehouse manager.
'So arrogant. Very arrogant!'
'They came up and just started shooting. They shot straight away! They killed all our guards!'
'You must catch them!'
'If you catch them, I will thank you profusely!'
Kong Zhiliang was furious.
Understandable. He is a Kong.
How dare someone rob the Kong family warehouse with force and weapons? This is lawlessness. It is absolutely intolerable.
'What was stolen?'
'More than 3,000 jin of opium.'
'What?'
'Opium,'
Kong Zhi-liang repeated emphatically.
Zhang Yong: ...
No wonder the Kong family dares not make a fuss. It turned out to be opium!
I mean, you used the Ministry of Finance warehouse, no, your own Kong family warehouse, to hoard opium?
That's contraband!
Oh. It's the Kong family's opium. Then it's fine.
In front of the Kong family, there's nothing contraband. In the future, the eldest son won't be able to catch even a tiger.
He and Cao Mengqi exchanged glances. They both sensed that this matter was not simple.
Unanimously, the two exchanged glances. For such a thorny matter, it's better to leave it to the Party Affairs Investigation Department.
'Steward Kong, what did the Party Affairs Investigation Department say?'
'They haven't arrived yet!'
'What?'
Zhang Yong and Cao Mengqi looked at each other in disbelief.
This is sloppy...
No one has arrived yet.
This is a clear sign that they don't want to get involved!
Who says only the military police are good at stalling? The civilian police are also very good at it.
It's thousands of kilograms of opium!
Who do you think would dare to take action?
Whoever dares to take action is no ordinary person.
Not to mention the two of them, even Li Boqi can't handle it.
Whoever touches the other dies.
If you don't find the robbers, the Kong family won't let you off the hook.
If you find the robbers, the people behind the robbers won't let you off the hook. These are definitely not ordinary robbers.
It's death all around.
The problem is, they're already here. There's no time to run...
'Show us the scene first.'
'Okay.'
Kong Zhi-liang arranged it immediately.
Soon afterwards, the group entered the warehouse area. Only three people could enter.
The National Army soldiers in that platoon had to stay outside.
The warehouse had its own guards.
Although they weren't in uniform, their weapons were quite impressive.
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They were all equipped with submachine guns. There were also Czech-style light machine guns. Zhang Yong couldn't help but think of the future Traffic Corps and Tax Police Corps.
They were rich, had excellent weapons, and were more combat-effective than the average army.
'Did they start firing as soon as they arrived?'
'Yes.'
'So how did you find out about the situation?'
'The people in the warehouse next door saw it with their own eyes.'
'What about casualties?'
'We lost more than 20 people.'
'That many?'
'The other side came at us with great fury. They started fighting as soon as they arrived. The firepower was heavy. They moved fast too. They charged headlong. It was like a pack of hungry wolves.'
'How long did it last?'
'The firefight lasted two or three minutes, I think. Maybe less.'
'How many attackers were there?'
'Five? Six? I'm not sure. It was dark, and I couldn't see clearly.'
'Let's go see the bodies!'
'Yes!'
Soon afterwards, they entered the temporary morgue.
The warehouse guards who had been killed were all gathered here. The autopsy had not yet been completed.
There was a mortician doing the final touches. But there was no professional forensic pathologist from the police station.
It was clear that they did not want outsiders to know.
Cao Mengqi felt that there was something fishy just by taking a quick look.
'The murderer's marksmanship is very accurate. Definitely not robbers. Definitely the military. Or an extremely elite military unit.'
'The target was clear. The movement was swift. The task was completed and they immediately withdrew.'
'It means that they had advance information.'
Zhang Yong had actually figured it out as well. The victims had all been shot in the head or chest.
Almost all of the shots had hit vital areas. But each person had been shot several times.
Such fierce fighting skills made him involuntarily think of the Yamamoto Special Forces in 'The Sword of Light'.
He guessed that the shooting accuracy was only possible with at least that level of skill.
Even if the Lixingshe encountered such a formidable enemy, they would probably not be able to defeat it.
It was strange. Which part of the Chinese army was so elite?
It can't be the Japanese, can it?
If it's the elite Japanese army, then it's completely acceptable to have such a level of skill.
Before the full-scale war broke out, or in the early stages, the Japanese soldiers were extremely elite. Their shooting accuracy was very high. They were able to fight off the national army, which was several times their strength.
'Terrible...'
Cao Mengqi's final summary was two words.
He didn't want to fight an enemy like this. Because the odds of winning were really not good. Besides, the eighth group was simply understaffed.
'What kind of bullets?'
'Original Thompson. Calibre 11.43 mm. Very lethal. One shot is enough to kill.'
'The murderer used a Thompson?'
'Yes.'
'Let's go!'
The group emerged from the morgue.
They said their goodbyes and left.
The road was still bumpy. They could see that the road was still under construction in many places.
There were a large number of civilian labourers going back and forth. They were all drafted from all over the place. There was no machinery. The road was built purely by human labour.
There were also trucks transporting soil or stone, driving crookedly.
Almost every car was covered in mud, making it hard to see its original appearance. There were no car number plates in those days either.
Back at the base.
It was a busy scene.
Team 5 had taken over the interrogation of so many Japanese spies, of course they were busy.
Indeed, no one had time to pay them any attention.
They returned safely to Li Boqi's office. They reported to him about the warehouse robbery.
'They're all old foxes!' Li Boqi sighed slightly.
'So are we going to do anything about it?' Cao Mengqi was a little depressed.
'You all went there. How can we not do anything?' Li Boqi shook his head, "The Kong family will only come to you in the future. They won't come to anyone else.'
'If I had known, I wouldn't have gone..." Cao Mengqi regretted it to death.
'Try your best to find out!' Li Boqi rubbed his temples. He obviously also found this matter very tricky.
It was also extremely dangerous.
The other party had the original Thomson in their hands. Not just one.
If they encountered it suddenly, Team 8 really might not be a match. How many people were there? And what kind of combat effectiveness could police academy graduates have?
As for the platoon of Nationalist soldiers, frankly, it was more of a deterrent.
'Ring ring ring!'
'Ring ring ring!'
Suddenly the phone rang.
Li Boqi grabbed it. After listening for a while, he hung up.
He looked up. He frowned.
'Very bad news. Team 5 was ambushed by a Japanese spy. More than ten people were killed or injured.'