Chapter 699: Conspiracy? Premonition?

A Japanese spy has arrived?

Zhang Yong raised his binoculars. He looked carefully.

Because it was a side view, he couldn't see very clearly. But it felt a bit familiar.

Soon afterwards, the target turned around. Zhang Yong recognised him immediately. It was Takeshita Takashi. The Japanese merchant who had previously been active in Tianjin.

Why had this guy come to Hangzhou?

Judging by his attire, he was not hiding his identity. It was very conspicuous Japanese attire. Presumably he had come to visit someone?

Who would it be that a Japanese merchant could openly visit?

At that moment, Zhang Yong noticed that several weapons marks were quietly approaching.

At first, Zhang Yong thought they were coming for him. But then he realised they weren't. They were coming for Takeshita Takashi. They were approaching Takeshita Takashi.

Were they going to assassinate Takeshita Takashi?

Well...

That wouldn't be good.

Why? It would cause trouble.

Takeshita Takashi wasn't hiding his identity and was acting openly, which meant that the Japanese had notified the Nationalist government.

If he were assassinated at this time, it might be a Japanese plot.

The Japanese can be considered foreigners. If he doesn't hide his identity, there will still be some trouble. Diplomacy is not easy.

On the contrary, if the Japanese hide their identity and disguise themselves as Chinese, they can be dealt with casually. The Japanese spy agency would not dare to come forward and identify him. That would be a joke. The Japanese spies that Zhang Yong killed before were all like this.

He shrunk down and carefully observed the weapon marks.

It feels like some amateurs?

It's strange...

It seems that they are not professional assassins.

Although Zhang Yong has never organised an assassination before, he has seen it done before.

Chen Gongshu, who was an expert assassin, has taught Zhang Yong a thing or two. You can tell whether an assassin is professional or not. Professional assassins are calculated and precise.

But these four assassins... yes, four assassins... are hesitant, splitting up and gathering together at times. There seems to be some argument going on.

Well, these four rookies. If they fail to assassinate, there is a possibility that the Japanese will have an excuse to wage war.

If you really want to assassinate, do it quickly. Don't do it half-heartedly. In the end, you'll just get someone in trouble.

One minute...

Three minutes...

The four rookie assassins have not yet acted.

Instead, Takashi Takeshita has already walked to the middle of the station square. This guy, he's actually acting alone.

That's also suspicious.

After all, Takashi Takeshita is a businessman of some standing. How could he be so careless about safety? How could he come out here alone?

He's carrying a heavy suitcase. It looks as if it's full of gold. But Zhang Yong feels that it's most likely full of bricks or something. If there really were any valuables, Takashi Takeshita would not have come without bodyguards. He's not an idiot.

So...

the probability is that this is a trap.

Behind Takeshita, there may be some kind of conspiracy.

The way he is acting now seems to be saying, 'Hurry up and assassinate me, come on. I'm waiting for you...'

And those four rookie assassins seem to have been specially hired to perform.

Or maybe they don't even know what's going on.

If they really wanted to assassinate Takeshita, one person would be enough, why four?

If Chen Gongshu had been hired, Takeshita would have been in the toilet at the Yasukuni Shrine after just one shot.

The fact that they specifically chose four rookie assassins made it feel more like a performance. It was impossible to actually kill Takeshita. This was a performance. It wasn't real.

But...

What if it was real?

Zhang Yong's mind suddenly flashed with some wild ideas.

Should he really get rid of Takeshita?

But then he thought about it and rejected the idea. Takeshita was a businessman. What was the point of killing a businessman?

There were rules in the industry...

Seeing that the four rookie assassins had not yet made a move, Takeshita Takashi instead took the initiative to walk over to them.

Well, it really is a co-ordinated performance!

Instead of letting them do whatever they want, it's better to isolate them.

Zhang Yong thought about it for a while and led his men over. The four rookies were temporarily put under surveillance.

If necessary, they would be arrested directly.

These four rookies definitely have problems.

Because Zhang Yong only had a small team around him, a dozen people, so the strength was insufficient. They could not be arrested at the same time.

After all, these four guys have guns. Although they are not professional assassins. But in a desperate situation, firing indiscriminately is even more terrifying. It would be a tragedy no matter who was killed or injured. It is not worth it to cause casualties among his own men for the sake of four acting rookies.

He pondered silently. Trying to figure out how to control the other party. But without causing a conflict.

Just at this time, someone else arrived.

There were also four people. They had weapon symbols on their bodies. And gold symbols.

Bandits?

Sun Dingyuan's men?

Zhang Yong's mind twitched. How dare they enter the train station?

Then something even more bizarre happened. The four bandits also saw Takashi Takeshita from afar. They then exchanged glances.

'They're going to...'

'These guys...'

Zhang Yong immediately reacted. Takashi Takeshita was going to be in trouble.

These four bandits were going to kidnap Takashi Takeshita as a hostage.

They know what they're doing.

They know that kidnapping Chinese people as hostages is basically useless. Unless they are very important people, otherwise, the hostages are simply ignored.

He, Zhang Yong, is one of them. When they encounter a hostage, they just shoot. At most, they will send the hostage to the hospital for emergency treatment afterwards. It is impossible to be threatened by hostages.

However, it is different if the hostage is a foreigner. Japanese people are also foreigners.

If they kidnap a foreigner as a hostage, no one will dare to shoot recklessly, because it will be troublesome if they kill the hostage.

The foreign consulate will protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be held accountable internally.

The key is that Chiang Kai-shek will have a hard time explaining himself. If a foreign dignitary dies, Chiang Kai-shek will definitely have to give an explanation.

Previously, Sun Dingyuan did the same thing. These four ruthless bandits followed his example.

Okay, then just stand back and watch the fun.

Sun Dingyuan, ruthless bandits, Takeshita Takashi, just the right bunch.

However, another unexpected situation occurred. It was the four rookie assassins from before, and the four ruthless bandits, who suddenly hit it off.

Zhang Yong: ...

It feels strange.

In such a big train station, how did these two groups of people just happen to cross paths?

No...

I don't think they'll fight, will they?

But...

That's just how strange things are.

The two groups, a total of eight people, just stared at each other.

They both felt that the other group was coming for them. In the blink of an eye, both groups drew their guns without thinking.

The first to act is the strongest. The second to act is doomed.

Basically, this is the iron rule of firefights.

Whoever draws their gun first will probably be the first to take down the other guy. There's no such thing as a delayed response.

Zhang Yong hurriedly retreated behind the wall.

Fuck!

These two gangs are really lawless!

They actually had a firefight inside the train station, in broad daylight. I don't know how many people they'll accidentally injure.

At the moment the four rookies drew their guns, Zhang Yong realised that he had misjudged them.

These four people are not rookies. They are veterans.

They drew their guns extremely quickly.

They were not at all outmatched in the face of the four robbers.

The reason why they were mistaken for rookies just now was entirely because they were acting.

Zhang Yong was 100% certain that the assassination of Takashita Takashi was definitely a conspiracy. Someone was behind it.

But what was the purpose of plotting such a conspiracy?

'Bang!'

'Bang!'

Heard the fierce gunshots.

Obviously, the two sides had already been firing wildly. All kinds of gunshots sounded in a blur.

Zhang Yong dares not look. He can only rely on the map to judge.

A small white dot disappears. Obviously, he has been killed. But the weapon symbol is still there. So is the gold symbol.

It seems to be one of Sun Dingyuan's men? It seems so. The other four don't have the gold symbol. Unexpectedly, the first to fall were the bandits.

Sure enough, the four rookie assassins were all masters posing as novices.

When they encountered a real opponent, they immediately used their best skills and killed one of the bandits.

It is estimated that the remaining three gangsters were also confused. What's going on? Why are the opponents so fierce? Without warning, they were actually killed by the opponent.

They had to be on their guard and respond with all their strength. Otherwise, they would likely be wiped out by the opponent.

As a result...

Soon, another white dot disappeared. This time it seems to be the assassin who pretended to be a rookie.

Good, it's one-on-one.

Fight. The more intense the fight, the better.

Anyway, neither side is a nice guy.

On the one side, there are experts posing as novices, performing an assassination of Takashi Takeshita, with ulterior motives.

On the other side, there are the ruthless gangsters under Sun Dingyuan. They have committed murder and robbery, and have done all kinds of evil deeds. Now they are desperately trying to escape for their lives.

Fight!

Fight hard.

It would be best if they all died together. Everyone dies.

Just like last time in the Shanghai public concession, in front of the Citibank. I happened to pick up the pieces...

'Bang!'

'Bang!'

The gunfire continued.

Both sides were experts. They traded blows.

They both brought their A-game.

Soon after, another gangster was killed. The white dot was gone. Only the weapon and gold signs remained.

What a great opportunity to touch a corpse!

Unfortunately, Zhang Yong didn't dare go out. There was a firefight outside!

Bullets were flying everywhere. What if he got hit? Just now, bullets were hitting the wall.

Luckily, they were all handguns. Bullets don't have that much penetration power. Otherwise, these red brick walls built in the 18th century would not be able to withstand rifle fire.

Not to mention the full power bullets from a rifle, or even the medium power bullets from an AK, which even ordinary brick walls cannot withstand.

However, it is not to say that hiding behind a brick wall is completely useless. Its greatest effect is that the opponent cannot see you. They cannot find a target to shoot at. They have to give up.

In the era before assault rifles, rifles were single-shot. With the target invisible through the brick wall, he could only fire blindly. The hit probability was less than 1%.

'Bang!'

'Bang!'

The gunfire continued.

Zhang Yong gradually calmed down.

He monitored the entire station with the map. He noticed that everyone else had run far away.

Including Takashita Takashi, he had also run far away. He was far away from both sides of the battle. However, he, Zhang Yong, was only about 80 meters away.

Hey, this guy. He actually knows how to run over here to find cover.

Another white dot disappeared...

Another white dot disappeared...

Zhang Yong didn't even bother to tell who was who. It had nothing to do with him anyway.

Once they were done fighting, he would immediately go out and swallow all the gold. Then everything would be fine. He didn't want weapons or anything.

Finally...

all four of the robbers were killed.

There were only four fake rookies over there, and only one was left. Three were dead.

The remaining one ran out of the train station and disappeared into the southeast corner. Judging from the speed at which he disappeared, he was definitely an old hand.

He gave him a label as a reflex.

Next time he encounters this guy, he must be cautious. The master posing as a rookie, pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger, is the most terrifying.

Now...

Outside...

It's quiet...

There's no gunfire. There's no fighting. But no one else dares to check what's going on.

Here's your chance!

Zhang Yong made sure there was no danger and immediately ran outside.

He goes over to the body of the first robber and quickly feels around. He finds a stack of banknotes. And three gold bars.

Wow!

Three gold bars!

He swallows them immediately.

Then he leaves. He goes over to the second body.

There is also a stack of banknotes. And three gold bars. He swallows them quickly.

Then the third...

The fourth...

It's as if he were using Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V on a computer.

The result is the same.

There is basically no difference between the floating assets carried by the four robbers. It can be seen that they are all equally distributed.

Then quickly hide behind the wall.

Okay, all done.

Take out a few banknotes and look at them carefully. They are all hard currency, including those from Bank of Fenghui and Citibank.

Well, banknotes from these two banks are as strong as gold. They can be used as hard currency. In contrast, banknotes from other banks are not as popular. Banknotes are also more convenient to use than gold.

I just saw Takashi Takeshita.

It seems that he is the main character of the conspiracy?

It seems that he had already thought of a place to hide a long time ago?

So, as soon as the gun went off, he immediately ran over here.

If he wasn't familiar with the layout of the train station, how could he have found such a good hiding place?

Okay, go do something.

Zhang Yong took out a black hood.

Put it on.

Adjust it.

He had it made by a tailor himself. Only two eyes show.

It's just the right temperature for spring, and it fits perfectly. As long as he doesn't speak, the other person won't be able to recognise who he is.

If he speaks, they might recognise him. But so what if they do. The voice can't be used as evidence.

Haha!

It's the perfect outfit for robbing a house.

He crept up behind Takashi Takeshita. Takashi Takeshita didn't feel a thing. Zhang Yong took out the hawthorn stick and hit him on the back of the head.

'Poof!'

Takashi Takeshita immediately wilted and fell.

Zhang Yong quickly felt the body.

He felt a stack of banknotes. He glanced at them. They were all from the Baoshang Bank. He didn't like them.

Luckily, his personal space was stuffed to the brim, and there was no room for even one banknote. So he took it out casually, cut the ties on it, then stood up and waved it around casually. Just as the cold wind blew, it blew the banknote everywhere.

Zhang Yong continued to pick up the other banknotes and do the same, waving them all around. It just depends on whose luck is better, whoever picks it up earns it.

Continue to search the body.

He felt around and found some messy utensils. He threw them all away as well.

He made sure that there was nothing left on Takeshita Takashi's body except for his clothes. As for the suitcase he was carrying, he opened it and took a look. It wasn't bricks. It was rocks.

It really was a conspiracy.

Takeshita Takashi had simply come to cooperate in the play. The suitcase was filled with rocks pretending to be gold.

Damn it...

Zhang Yong picked up the hawthorn stick and fiercely hit Takeshita Takashi's body with it more than ten times.

I'll beat you to death!

You tried to pass off stones as gold! You want to die!

As a result...

Takashi Takeshita actually woke up dazed after being beaten with the stick.

Zhang Yong then put away the hawthorn stick.

'It's you?'

Takashi Takeshita saw someone in front of him in a daze. But he couldn't see clearly.

Zhang Yong drew his revolver. The black muzzle was pointed at the other person's head.

'Don't shoot, don't shoot!'

Takashita Takashi cried out in a hurry.

His thoughts became a little clearer. He recognised Zhang Yong. But he couldn't remember the name.

He was stunned.

After a while, Takashita Takashi gradually recovered his memory, 'Zhang, Zhang...'

'Are you Takashita Takashi?' Zhang Yong's face was gloomy.

'I am...'

'What are you doing in Hankou?'

'What?'

Takashita Takashi was confused.

What? Hankou? He ran to Hankou?

No. Didn't he come to Hangzhou? Why did he end up in Hankou? Something didn't feel right...

He tried to remember. But his head was throbbing.

'What are you doing in Hankou?'

'I, I...'

'If you don't tell me, I'll throw you in the Yangtze. The Yangtze, understand?'

'I, I...'

Takashi was even more confused.

He was in trouble. He really had come to Hankou. Hankou was where the Yangtze was!

He had done business in China for many years and was very familiar with the country's geography. Hangzhou is on the Qiantang River!

He looked around in confusion. He wanted to find something to help jog his memory...

'Answer me!' Zhang Yong raised his voice.

Takeshita Takashi hurriedly looked back.

He didn't dare to keep looking around.

'I, I want to go to Hangzhou. Why am I in Hankou?'

'What are you going to Hangzhou for?'

'I, I...'

'It seems that you want to go down to the Yangtze River and swim!'

'No, no, I'm going to Hangzhou to visit Mr Chu.'

'Which Mr Chu?'

'Chu Jingliang...'

'You know him?'

'I do business with him.'

'What are you going to see him about?'

'Business.'

'What kind of business?'

'Food. And cotton. And silk.'

'How much food do you want?'

'100,000 tons.'

'How much?'

'100,000 tons.'

'What do you need that much grain for?'

'To sell for money!'

Takashita Takashi gradually became less nervous.

Hankou is just Hankou. As long as he is still alive, there is no big deal.

Although, everything has been taken from him. But he can still find help from others.

The point is, he has already completed what he was told to do.

Zhang Yong frowned secretly.

Takashita Takashi wants to buy that much grain, is he preparing military rations?

It is possible...

The Japanese invaders may be stockpiling food.

It's nominally being transported to the north, but in reality, who knows where it's going.

The traitors in the north were actually in the greatest need of food. There's not enough grain produced in the north. It has to be imported from the south. The Japanese invaders can't do it themselves.

But there's always something fishy about it.

For something like selling grain, wouldn't it be better to use a traitor?

Besides, there's also the puppet state of Manchukuo. And there's also the traitor woman Kawashima Yoshiko.

Does Takashi Takeshita need to be personally involved?

Takashi Takeshita is Japanese! Wherever he goes, he will attract attention.

I don't understand.

I don't want to think about it.

These are all big events, and they have nothing to do with him.

Let's go.

Takashi Takeshita: ???

Why has he disappeared?

It was only much later that Takashi Takeshita realised that he had been deceived.

It was still Hangzhou Station after all. And where was Hankou?

He thought that the things on his person might have been taken by Zhang Yong.

But he had no proof!

He had to swallow his losses.

Fortunately, his mission was complete.

It seemed that the situation was even better than he had prepared for. The gunfight earlier had been very sensational, and I believe many people have heard about it.

Zhang Yong returned to the middle of the team.

He still felt that something was wrong.

Takashi Takeshita must have been acting, but what was his purpose? What was the person behind him trying to do?

Looking around in confusion, he noticed that many reporters had arrived. Many of them were holding cameras. They were taking photos of the station square. Some reporters even ran directly to the bodies and took close-up photos of them.

This is wrong!

This is wrong!

This is so unusual.

Why are the reporters so eager?

Usually, there don't seem to be any reporters in Hangzhou. This is not Shanghai!

Something is definitely fishy.

There are also so many cameras.

And they're not even stingy with film! They're taking multiple shots of each corpse!

Film is expensive, you know? This is such a waste, there's definitely something going on.

But...

What is it?

The map suddenly prompts that there are dense clusters of weapon symbols coming from the west.

Hurry up and go to a high place, and use binoculars to observe. It turns out that the army is here. They're all heavily armed soldiers. There could be hundreds of them.

Is that Xuan Tiewu?

What's going on?

Does Xuan Tiewu like to blockade train stations so much?

'Retreat!'

'Retreat!'

Zhang Yong led his troops in a silent retreat.

He would never put himself in danger. Unless there was no time to react.

Since Xuan Tiewu was blocking the train station, he would immediately get out of the way. Whatever Xuan Tiewu did, it had nothing to do with him.

As long as he was not trapped by Xuan Tiewu, then nothing would happen.

But...

He still needed to ask someone for information.

He decided to call Mao Renfeng.

At this moment in time, Li Boqi is still in Tianjin. He has no way of contacting him. He can only ask Mao Renfeng.

Moreover, Mao Renfeng is a master of deception and is available 24 hours a day. It is relatively easy to find him. Although Mao Renfeng may already be resenting him, he is a smiling tiger. A smiling tiger means that he will not show his resentment. He will just pretend not to know.

Sure enough, Mao Renfeng answers the phone.

'Secretary Mao, it's me, Zhang Yong.'

'Oh, it's you, Shaolong. What's up?'

'Secretary Mao, I have something to report. Xuan Tiewu has sent troops to seal off Hangzhou Railway Station. I don't know what he's up to.'

'Oh. We just received a briefing on this a few minutes ago. It says that the Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai has lodged a protest with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They say that Japanese businessmen were attacked at Hangzhou Railway Station. They are demanding that we ensure the safety of Japanese businessmen.'

'Protest?'

'Yes. It was lodged an hour ago.'

'An hour...'

Zhang Yong frowned. Something didn't feel right.

It seemed like the attack had just happened an hour ago. No. It hadn't even been an hour.

Besides, no one had targeted Takashita Takashi!

The fight had been between two other groups.

'The Japanese Consulate General in Shanghai has a new person in charge. The current Consul General is Akiyama Shigeaki. He was dispatched from Tianjin. This person has a very strong attitude, uses strong wording, and even threatened with the Japanese army. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had to promise to handle this properly.'

'Akiyama Shigeaki?'

Zhang Yong nodded thoughtfully.

Unexpectedly, this guy has actually been promoted. Is this a side effect of the 226 Mutiny?

Doubts...

Akiyama Shigeaki seems to have foreseen it? He protested before the attack even happened?

They arranged this themselves, so impatient as they are?

Damn. It's the same trick again.

It's exactly the same as when they later made the soldiers disappear and demanded to enter Wanping City to search.

Deliberately creating trouble.

Trying to provoke a conflict.

It seems that after the 226 Incident, the Japanese invaders really couldn't wait any longer.