Chapter 16 The News from Shanghai

The night passed uneventfully, and Jin Wenzheng and Yong Chuyun discussed their plans for the next day.

They embraced sweetly and slept soundly until daybreak.

Upon waking, both remembered their tasks for the day, and after a flurry of activity,

they prepared everything and headed out.

Only after leaving did they realize that Shanghai had not been peaceful the night before.

They knew about the gun battle at the Great World, after all, Yong Chuyun had fled from there.

However, the couple was unaware that over two hundred of Zhang Xiaolin's men had died.

Yong Chuyun heard that over a hundred people had died inside the Great World, and the streets outside were covered with corpses.

She shuddered with lingering fear: "Thank goodness I came back early."

Not only were all the watches that Zhang Xiaolin's men had stolen returned, but he also had to pay an additional $400,000 in compensation.

This was big news. In all these years, none of the three tycoons had ever suffered such a loss.

Even when Huang Jinrong slapped a young master from the Lu family back then, didn't they eventually become friends and start a business together?

This time, someone had directly slapped the faces of the three Shanghai tycoons.

The people of Shanghai were waiting to see what Zhang Xiaolin would do next.

A battle between a local strongman and an outsider was sure to be exciting!

This matter alone would have been earth-shattering.

But no one expected that something even more sensational had happened last night.

This event was even more shocking than the news printed in today's newspaper that the Japanese Jiangwan Airport had been burned down in the early hours of yesterday:

Three Japanese banks in the Japanese Concession had been robbed.

It was said that the vaults of the three banks were so empty that even a mouse couldn't hide in them.

Everything in the entire bank had been emptied.

Rumor had it that only the land the banks stood on hadn't been carted away.

Many of those spreading these rumors sighed that they hadn't been the ones to do it.

Some businessmen regretted not taking out loans from those three banks.

More people were fearful, thankful they hadn't deposited money in those three banks.

Many were asking around: those who had money in the Japanese banks should be careful!

Yong Chuyun held her husband's arm and said thankfully, "Luckily, you made me take our money out of the Japanese bank when the fighting started a few days ago."

When the war had just broken out, the Japanese banks, fearing a run, had raised their interest rates significantly.

In order to attract deposits.

It was the highest interest rate in all of Shanghai.

At the time, Yong Chuyun had secretly transferred all the family's money to Mitsubishi Bank.

Upon returning, she had proudly boasted to Jin Wenzheng that this one move would earn them an extra thirty yuan a year.

Hearing this news, Jin Wenzheng's nose was practically twisted with anger: the Japanese are invading us, and you're putting money in their banks? That's treason!

This heavy accusation left Yong Chuyun dizzy, and the couple had a big fight.

Although Yong Chuyun was reluctant to withdraw the money from the Japanese bank,

Jin Wenzheng insisted: they couldn't leave the money in the Japanese bank, letting the Japanese use the Chinese people's money to buy guns and cannons, only to turn around and attack their own people.

The couple argued for two days over this, and it was the first time since their marriage that Jin Wenzheng didn't give in.

It was also one of the few victories in their battles.

Yong Chuyun had no choice but to tearfully watch her thirty yuan in interest float away down the Huangpu River.

She had to withdraw the money from Mitsubishi Bank and put it back in their original bank.

This one in, one out, cost them five yuan in interest.

So painful!

This matter had also been mocked by her girlfriends for a long time.

Today, she could finally smile triumphantly.

Those girlfriends must have already run to the doors of the three banks.

This was the first time Jin Wenzheng had received praise from his wife.

He immediately felt like the sun was shining, and the feeling of vindication was wonderful.

This was the first time since their marriage that his wife had sincerely admitted his correctness.

The two bought some rice, oil, and meat, preparing to send it to the 542nd Regiment in the refugee camp.

The 542nd Regiment was now guarded by White Russian mercenaries at the entrance.

However, they only prevented the men of the 542nd Regiment from leaving, and did not stop outsiders from entering.

As Yong Chuyun entered, she saw this dilapidated place, with White Russians standing guard outside with guns.

Less than five steps inside, there were also National Revolutionary Army soldiers standing guard empty-handed.

They had no weapons!

Yong Chuyun and Jin Wenzheng watched as the rice and oil they had brought were being inspected by the White Russians.

The two walked to the sentry post of the 542nd Regiment.

Yong Chuyun pulled one of the sentries of the 542nd Regiment aside and asked, "Do you have a girl here named Ji Wuming?"

The man she asked looked at this richly dressed woman.

And saw the cart behind her, loaded with rice, oil, and meat.

He said seriously, "We're all men here, how could there be a girl?

Besides, we don't have anyone here named Ji Wuming."

Yong Chuyun asked persistently, "Did you go to the Great World last night?"

The soldier pointed to the White Russian soldiers standing guard at the entrance: "They're guarding us, how could we get out?"

Yong Chuyun leaned closer and whispered, "I saw it last night. It was your people who fired the guns in the Great World."

The sentry quickly denied, "Impossible!

It wasn't me!

It wasn't us!

You're mistaken, you've recognized the wrong person."

Yong Chuyun didn't believe him: "Are you still keeping secrets from me? I saw it with my own eyes. I want to see Commander Xie!"

The sentry quickly found the squad leader and took the wealthy woman inside.

No matter what, anyone who could personally run to the camp to visit these soldiers was a good person.

What's more, they were bringing rice, oil, and meat.

The squad leader was very patient, leading the couple to the outside of a room.

He whispered to the two soldiers guarding outside.

"The commander is seeing a guest, you'll have to wait a while."

There were two soldiers guarding outside the room. Although they didn't have guns, their expressions were very serious.

Yong Chuyun and Jin Wenzheng, led by the squad leader, slowly toured the entire barracks of the 542nd Regiment.

The few of them chatted casually.

They didn't enter the room, where Xie Jinyuan was talking with someone.

Inside the room was Gu Jiatang, the number one of the four great bodyguards under Du Yuesheng. He had been with Du Yuesheng last night watching the performance of the Special Operations Company inside the Great World.

He had also heard the words that Shang Yuegui had said.

Early this morning, Gu Jiatang, as instructed by Du Yuesheng, had personally come to ask about Lin Fan and the Dragon Group.

Xie Jinyuan felt flattered by the visit of Gu Jiatang, the leader of the four great bodyguards under Shanghai tycoon Du Yuesheng.

Hearing that Gu Jiatang had been entrusted by Du Yuesheng to inquire about some of the things that had happened when the 542nd Regiment had defended Sihang Warehouse,

Xie Jinyuan was of course very happy. In order to be as accurate as possible, he had summoned all officers above the company level.

When Gu Jiatang asked about the Dragon Group, they all didn't know what kind of organization it was.

Only when Gu Jiatang mentioned the Dragon Head Lin Fan did Xie Jinyuan and the others understand.

It turned out that the Special Operations Company was now called the Dragon Group.

Hearing the name Lin Fan, Xie Jinyuan's face changed slightly.

It wasn't anger, he just felt ashamed: Lin Fan's every judgment had been correct when he had decided to follow military orders.

But he had stubbornly gone his own way, harming all the officers and soldiers of the entire battalion.

Thinking of Lin Fan's repeated reminders: under no circumstances, should they surrender their weapons under anyone's orders.

In the end, he had still obeyed the orders of his superiors and surrendered their weapons.

Now the entire battalion was no different from prisoners of war.

When Lin Fan had left, he had told everyone to keep their affairs secret.

Therefore, none of these people spoke when Gu Jiatang wanted to inquire about things.

Looking at the expressions of these people, Gu Jiatang knew that they knew that Dragon Head Lin Fan.

So he told them everything that Lin Fan had done last night in detail.

Hearing that Lin Fan now called himself the Dragon Group and proclaimed himself the Dragon Head,

And after buying more than a hundred watches in Shanghai, they had been snatched by Zhang Xiaolin.

He had actually run to the Great World, held Zhang Xiaolin hostage, not only getting back his watches, but also demanding an additional $400,000 in compensation.

These messages were more explosive than the last.

Hearing this, each of these company commanders was very excited, wishing they had been there.

When they heard that Lin Fan and his men had killed more than two hundred of Zhang Xiaolin's men and escaped,

Each of them put down their worries and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Gu Jiatang said with a smile: "Mr. Du is just curious about the background of this Dragon Head Lin Fan.

He just wants to make a friend, he doesn't mean anything else.

Otherwise, if Mr. Du had taken action last night, everyone in the Du Mansion would have taken action.

None of the people from that Dragon Group would have escaped."

Lei Xiong had always had a violent temper. He sneered, "Even if the people from Du Mansion joined in, they would only be courting death.

The people in the Special Operations Company aren't just fifty or so."

Fifty or so people were the Dragon Group members that Gu Jiatang had seen take action last night.

Gu Jiatang wasn't angry: "Why does Company Commander Lei say that?"

Lei Xiong knew this was someone trying to provoke him, but at this time he couldn't care so much.

"Company Commander Lin never fights a battle he isn't sure of winning. You've heard of the Japanese Shanghai Marine Corps, haven't you!"

"I've heard of them! I also know that they published in the newspaper that they would take Sihang Warehouse in three hours, and the whole world laughed at them.

Your 542nd Regiment fought very well in that battle!" Gu Jiatang sincerely admired these people.

"Good my ass!" Lei Xiong said loudly.

"If it hadn't been for Company Commander Lin, if it hadn't been for his Special Operations Company, we would have really been taken down by the Japanese in less than three hours.

It was Company Commander Lin who led his company to block the Japanese with bayonets,

Closed the gate of the Sihang Warehouse, and killed the hundreds of Japanese who had rushed into the Sihang Warehouse.

And then it was their one company, just one company of more than a hundred people, attacking on three sides, who defeated the entire Shanghai Marine Corps.

That battle killed more than six thousand Japanese." When Lei Xiong said this, no one present objected.

Gu Jiatang knew: this should be true, otherwise these people would not have refrained from refuting it.

Thinking of this, he asked, "You said you killed more than six thousand Japanese, were there no casualties?"

"The Special Operations Company doesn't leave behind the wounded, and doesn't take prisoners! That's their rule!" Lei Xiong explained.

"Their rule? They aren't your people?" Gu Jiatang immediately grasped the key point.

Lei Xiong didn't speak.

Xie Jinyuan said with a wry smile: "They really can't be considered our people. Originally, they could have entered our formal establishment.

But then the higher-ups ordered us to abandon the Sihang Warehouse and withdraw into the concession.

Company Commander Lin didn't agree, he insisted on not entering the concession.

So he left with his team."

"After they left, did you still have contact?" Gu Jiatang asked the most important question.

"No! How can we contact the outside world in this state?

Besides, they aren't from Shanghai, they may not even know we're here." Xie Jinyuan said somewhat bitterly.

"Do you know the origins of this Lin Fan?" Gu Jiatang asked.

"We don't know! No one knows.

Company Commander Lin was already there when we arrived at the Sihang Warehouse.

And he had already led his company to repair the fortifications and trenches.

Therefore, they actually did most of the work for the defense of the entire Sihang Warehouse.

Even the command was done by him," Xie Jinyuan said.

Although Gu Jiatang was from the martial world, he also knew that the martial world and the army were different.

Especially the command in formal combat, which could not tolerate the slightest falsehood.

"In that case, he's from the Whampoa Military Academy?"

"We don't know! He didn't say."

"Could it be that he's from the Japanese Army War College?" Gu Jiatang continued to guess.

Seeing that he wouldn't be able to get any more useful information no matter how he asked,

Gu Jiatang had to say goodbye, smiling as he left: "Please rest assured, everyone, Mr. Du remembers the contributions you have made, and he also remembers your persistence.

Mr. Du will always pay attention to your living supplies."

This was equivalent to giving a guarantee to all the soldiers of the entire 542nd Regiment.

Let them at least be able to survive in this refugee camp.

As he left, Gu Jiatang saw Yong Chuyun and Jin Wenzheng.

Jin Wenzheng wore glasses, and his scholarly style was very easy to see.

This kind of intellectual had no intersection with martial world figures like himself.

It was clear that these were two enthusiastic citizens who had come to comfort the 542nd Regiment.

Gu Jiatang strode out.

Yong Chuyun looked at Xie Jinyuan, who was seeing off the guest, and called out loudly, "Commander Xie."

Xie Jinyuan looked at this enthusiastic citizen and responded with a smile.

Yong Chuyun quickly stepped forward: "Commander Xie, I have something I want to ask about."

Xie Jinyuan could only ask Yang Ruifu to represent him in seeing Gu Jiatang off.

He turned back and invited Yong Chuyun and his wife into the room.

Hearing that this woman was asking about a girl named Ji Wuming,

He immediately said, "There wasn't a single woman among those who defended the Sihang Warehouse, let alone a girl."

Unwilling to give up, Yong Chuyun described Feng Junya as she had seen her yesterday.

She also said that she had recognized the people she had seen at the Great World last night as the ones who had defended the Sihang Warehouse.

Xie Jinyuan heard that Yong Chuyun had been saved by Lin Fan's men, and that this woman had come specifically to thank them for saving her life.

He couldn't help but feel a little emotional, and he said with a wry smile, "You met Company Commander Lin's Special Operations Company.

Our battalion withdrew into the concession, and they left at that time.

They may have secretly entered the concession with their weapons afterward, but we really have no contact with them."

Only then did Yong Chuyun believe him, and she said goodbye embarrassedly.

Yong Chuyun had come with high spirits, but returned disappointed.

Her mood was a little low!

Jin Wenzheng was more open-minded: "Chuyun! Don't be upset.

It's better that they can leave this team and fight on their own.

Shouldn't we be happy for them? Did you have to have the girl who saved you

Be imprisoned here for me to see before you're happy?"

Yong Chuyun suddenly understood: "That's right! I should be happy that I can't see them here.

Seeing them would prove that they were being imprisoned, which would be bad."

"Darling! You're so good! You can persuade people."

Haha! A man's mouth!

Especially a cultured man!

Jin Wenzheng smiled with elegance!

It was destined that the 542nd Regiment refugee camp would be very lively today.

After the two groups of people left, the company commanders and battalion commanders of the entire 542nd Regiment were in a heavy mood.

This was the first time they had heard news of the Special Operations Company.

In the past two days, they had also seen in the newspaper that the Japanese Hongqiao Airport had been taken out.

At that time, they had analyzed that this matter might have been done by the Special Operations Company.

Because Lin Fan had indeed said this when he left:

He was going to take people to the airport!

However, hearing that more than two thousand people had died at Hongqiao Airport, and more than a hundred planes had been destroyed,

This immediately divided them into two factions: one faction believed that the Special Operations Company had done it, because they never left anyone alive.

The other faction believed that the Japanese had such a strong presence at Hongqiao Airport, that the Special Operations Company, with only one hundred and twenty-seven people, could not possibly have such strong strength.

Neither of these viewpoints could convince the other.

In fact, these people also knew that they were just being watched in this place, and they were all in a bad mood.

That's why they would compete with each other like this, just to vent the dissatisfaction in their hearts.

These people didn't know who they should vent this dissatisfaction to?

The commander? The chief of staff? Or President Chiang?

In Shanghai that day, news emerged one after another: in addition to the gun battle at the Great World and the Japanese bank robbery last night,

There was another thing that was finally reported in the newspaper: Jiangwan Airport was attacked by "our unit," with nearly two thousand casualties and thirty-three Japanese planes destroyed.

Not only that, some newspapers even published the photos of "our unit" attacking Hongqiao Airport a few days ago again.

This further demonstrated the fighting power of "our unit."

After seeing off the guests, Xie Jinyuan looked at the reports in the newspaper and said to Yang Ruifu thoughtfully, "Are they really that powerful?

Attacking Jiangwan Airport at dawn, a gun battle in the Great World at night, and then robbing three Japanese banks?"

Yang Ruifu said with a wry smile: "It's impossible for this to have been done by the same group of people.

Doing these three earth-shattering things in twenty-four hours.

Even an iron man couldn't stand it.

It's certain that the Great World incident was done by the Special Operations Company.

"Our unit" has nothing to do with the Special Operations Company."