Chapter 508: Latest News

'Have you been to the Peace Hotel?'

'Not the local one. Should I go now?'

'Yes. You go now. Stay there for two nights. Marshal Cao may want to meet you.'

'Marshal Cao?'

'Yes. Go! Don't be nervous. He's already stepped down from power, so he's just an ordinary person.'

'Why does he want to meet me?'

'Recently, he has been bothered by the Japanese, and he is tired of it. He wants you to help. Make the Japanese back off.'

'I understand,'

Zhang Yong agreed. He showed understanding.

Later generations have shown that Cao Kun was a man of principle.

Although the Japanese repeatedly visited his home, asking him to come out of retirement and take charge of the situation in North China, he refused.

He did not want to be a traitor.

His wife also had great integrity.

No matter what he did during the warlord period, he still had some sense of national integrity.

'By the way...'

'Yes?'

'If the Chairman comes, he will probably stay at the Peace Hotel.'

'Why?'

'Because there are some foreign affairs that need to be dealt with.'

'I see.'

Zhang Yong nodded again.

If there were no foreigners, the Chairman definitely would not stay at the hotel.

It was not safe.

The Chairman was also very cautious.

Safety first.

If he could not protect himself, how could he protect the Chairman?

Wouldn't that be a joke?

The Peace Hotel is a mixed bag, with all kinds of people, and there are lots of risks.

The assassin could be hiding in plain sight.

But this train robbery involves many foreigners. It may be necessary to consult with them repeatedly. It can only be done inside the hotel.

Fortunately, the Peace Hotel is not in the concession, so security can be handled on its own.

If it were in the concession, security would have to rely on the local police. It never feels completely safe.

Fine, let's go to the Peace Hotel.

Perfect, he's exhausted after the long trip to Beiping.

The last thing he wants to do now is take a hot shower, eat a big meal and go to bed.

'Book a room with a telephone.'

'Understood!'

'Go!'

'Yes!'

Zhang Yong says goodbye and leaves.

He sets off with Cao Mengqi, Wu Liuqi and Yang Zhi.

Three teams are a must. Safety first. It's windy outside. He's prepared to stand in the wind to make a profit.

If an accident happens, and he doesn't even make it to the windward side, he'll be dead.

If he dies, all the things in his personal space will explode.

That would be a waste.

He led his team to the Peace Hotel in a grand procession.

He scattered money. He checked in.

He booked the top two floors.

The Peace Hotel in Tianjin had only nine floors. It wasn't tall. But it had a large footprint.

Buildings were like that back then. There were dozens of rooms on each floor. There were enough rooms for more than 50 people. There would be no problem accommodating 50 more people.

If the head of the household arrives, he will also be accompanied by dozens of people. There is more than enough room for everyone.

There are two presidential suites on the top floor. Zhang Yong takes them all.

He takes turns staying in them himself.

It is a kind of enjoyment. It is also a way to lay an early trap.

If there is anything dangerous in the room, he can discover it early by checking in advance.

He silently inspects the room. He doesn't find any weapons. However, on other floors, he does find quite a few weapons.

This is normal.

These days, who goes out without weapons?

Many foreigners carry handguns. It's the most basic way to protect yourself. Indispensable.

He also spots a few red dots. They're Japanese.

'Bang!'

The door to the roof is opened.

Zhang Yong comes up to the roof. He raises the binoculars to look around. He doesn't see any firing angles.

There are no other buildings higher than the Peace Hotel. So if the enemy tries to snipe from the outside, it's unlikely. A little relieved.

What he fears most now is long-distance sniping.

Especially if they are 400 metres away. If they have a scope, they are still dangerous. If they are within 400 metres, he can spot them in advance, so they are not a big problem.

He walks around the roof for a while, checking the map. He notices that there are many red dots in the vicinity.

They are all scattered Japanese.

Some have disclosed their identities, while others have hidden their identities. He will ignore them for now.

There are also some who look like they are in the same business. But the map shows that they are small white dots. They may be accomplices of the Japanese.

Either they are from Korea,

Or they were sent by the puppet state of Manchukuo.

These small white dots all have weapons symbols and are easy to identify.

'Go!'

Turn back and check the elevator.

The elevator is an old-fashioned grated type. It needs to be operated by a special person.

Of course, the bellhop has no problem. If there is a problem, he will be the first to die.

No one except the most fanatical Japanese spies would do such a suicidal act.

'Quack!'

'Quack!'

The elevator makes a bit of a racket.

It takes almost a minute to reach the ninth floor.

That's really slow!

In later generations, elevators can be ready in just ten seconds.

But there is an advantage to going slowly. If anything does happen, there is still time to react.

'Boom!'

'Boom!'

He has the maintenance staff open up the elevator shaft.

They carefully inspect all the equipment and facilities. To ensure safety, some parts are replaced.

Zhang Yong pays for the repairs himself.

This way, the hotel can't play dumb if anything goes wrong.

Zhang Yong makes a note of all the information about the elevator maintenance staff, making sure to identify which individuals are on duty. There can be no shifts.

Responsibility must be assigned to individuals.

Any shift changes could be sabotage.

After finishing,

Zhang Yong goes to the restaurant. He checks the safety of the restaurant.

He registers the staff...

registers the ingredients...

Busy as he is, the hours pass in a flash.

And a lot of information was gathered.

The Peace Hotel was full of foreigners, and they had heard about the train robbery and were all talking about it.

However, most of the information was probably hearsay. It had been passed on from mouth to mouth. It was worth listening to, but it could not be relied upon.

In the evening, Luo Yiming came. He brought the latest news about the train robbery.

'The location of the hostages has been found.'

'Where?'

'Wei Yuan Fort.'

'Where is that?'

'It's about 30 li from the railway line. It used to be the residence of a wealthy family, built as a fortress to protect against bandits. It's very tall. Very sturdy. Later, the family fell on hard times, and the fortress became a bandit's lair. Now the bandits have driven all the hostages into the fortress. There's only one entrance and exit. You can't find out anything from the outside.'

'Has the security team gone there yet?'

'No. For the safety of the hostages, the security team dares not press too hard.'

'I see.'

Zhang Yong nodded in silence. Obviously, a military solution was not feasible.

If force was used, there would be heavy casualties among the hostages. Foreign hostages in particular. You can't throw stones at a house with rats inside.

Once the robbers pushed the foreigners out, it would be over.

The cruel truth was that it didn't matter how many Chinese people died. But if a foreigner died, it would be a big deal.

The robbers' goal was obviously also foreigners.

They might just release all the Chinese hostages and keep the foreigners. That way, they could be better controlled.

Sure enough, when Luo Yiming reported back, additional information arrived. Indeed, all the Chinese hostages had been released. Only the foreigners were left inside Weiyuan Fort. The foreigners included the elderly, women and children.

'The robbers are very skilled,'

'probably hardened criminals,'

Zhang Yong muttered to himself thoughtfully.

He thought of the mysterious Sun Guizhi. Could it be that he was behind this again?

Of course, he was just guessing.

After all, more than ten years have passed, and it is possible that Sun Guizhi has long since died.

What is the value of a single death in the chaos of war? Many heroes have become a handful of earth in these ten years.

There is only negotiation.

Agree to the robber's conditions and rescue the hostage.

As long as the robbers don't have the hostage, they can deal with it later. This was the case in the previous Lincheng train robbery.

'What conditions have the robbers proposed?'

'Not yet.'

'Not yet? It's been more than a day.'

'Not yet.'

'Oh...'

Zhang Yong frowned inwardly.

What were the robbers thinking? Were they stalling for time?

Strange...

The thing to fear in a kidnapping is the passage of time.

The longer it goes on, the more variables there are. There could be internal conflicts.

Especially in a group kidnapping.

It's easy for internal conflicts to erupt. A fortress can be breached from within.

There's no reason for the robbers to do that...

It's strange.

Something feels wrong.

But for the moment, I can't say what it is.

'What's the reaction from the outside world?'

'The foreigners have appointed British Minister Anderson as plenipotentiary to handle this matter.'

'Anderson...'

Zhang Yong thought for a moment. This is actually a good thing.

Anderson is someone I know. It may be easier to communicate with him in the future.

However...

That's not the point. The point is...

'There's no reward?'

'Not yet.'

'Forget it then.'

Zhang Yong shook his head. No reward. No motivation.

Not even a few tens of thousands of dollars. Who wants to stick their neck out?

These foreigners are also ignorant. Anyone would be tempted to do something stupid if there was a reward of tens of thousands of dollars. Okay.

Thinking of Mei Lu...

Thinking of Catherine...

They could play a big role in this matter.

Luo Yiming left.

Cao Dashuai did not send anyone. It seems he had forgotten about the matter.

Zhang Yong wished that nothing had happened. He just wanted to sleep now.

Nothing happened overnight.

Take a shower.

Go to bed.

The first half of the night was fine. He slept like a log. But he woke up in the second half and couldn't get back to sleep.

He was alone in the bed.

The night seemed endless.

Unfortunately, he had let Xia Lan go too soon.

And he couldn't find Mei Lu.

Sigh...

He fell asleep in a daze. Suddenly the phone rang.

'Ring ring ring...'

'Ring ring ring...'

Zhang Yong climbed out of bed. He looked at his watch habitually.

Damn it. It's only 2am. It really is a long night! His biological clock seems to be a bit out of whack.

He doesn't know who's calling either. If it's not Li Boqi, he'll definitely scold the other person. Disturbing someone else's rest in the middle of the night is tantamount to murder! Okay...

Pick up the receiver. A familiar voice comes through, and it's Mei Lu.

'Shaolong, I'm coming to find you.'

'Good, good!'

Zhang Yong is overjoyed.

She's come at just the right time. A beautiful woman to keep me company through the long night...

He puts down the receiver. He curls up under the covers.

It's quite cold at night in Tianjin in December. It's still nice and warm under the covers.

It feels like an eternity waiting for the beautiful woman...

Finally, Mei Lu arrives.

She's wearing a long black trench coat, but it can't hide her tall and plump figure.

'Don't move. I said it's urgent.'

'Okay.'

'Minister Anderson wants you to do something.'

'A train robbery?'

'No.'

'Huh?'

Zhang Yong was quite surprised.

It wasn't a train robbery? What was it then?

What could be more urgent than a train robbery at this time?