Chapter 1 Lin Fan Did Not Expect Du Yuesheng to Refuse So Directly

Everything that could and could not be done was laid out clearly.

Dealing with someone like this made Lin Fan feel very at ease, knowing what he could do.

He also knew what he could not do, making his attitude clear to avoid sudden problems when the time came.

Lin Fan had no idea that this was Du Yuesheng's golden touch.

Du Yuesheng had carefully studied every scene of dealing with Lin Fan.

He was sure that Lin Fan was just such a person, a straightforward person.

That's why he responded like this tonight.

Du Yuesheng didn't want to be suspected, because what Lin Fan was going to do was too shocking.

Even a Shanghai tycoon couldn't bear this burden, not even a touch.

What's more, Du Yuesheng didn't have a reason to pay such a high price.

At 1:30 a.m. on November 5, 1937, Director Pan arrived with seventeen crew members.

These people had to be reliable and brave.

This was very important, as what Lin Fan and his team were about to do was essentially entering a tiger's den to snatch food from its mouth.

If the people were unreliable or lacked courage, it would be troublesome if things went wrong at a critical moment.

Director Pan was fully aware of the risks involved in what Lin Fan and his team were about to do; it was a matter of success or death.

Before coming, he had explained to the seventeen men in detail that this was a matter of risking their lives.

It was very dangerous, and they could lose their lives.

However, when these seventeen crew members heard that they were going against the Japanese devils and sailing their cargo ship to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River,

they all agreed. Director Pan also promised them that whether the mission was successful or not, he would take good care of their families.

With the work done on these seventeen crew members, things became easier.

After this group of crew members boarded the *Hinomaru* ship, their whole families would leave Shanghai for Hong Kong.

This would avoid any possible future investigations.

Lin Fan greatly admired Director Pan's caution: he considered everything carefully.

At 2:30 a.m., Lin Fan led the seventeen crew members to the docks under Garbage Bridge.

They were half an hour late than scheduled.

Before they even reached their destination, they could already smell the disgusting stench carried by the wind.

The entire dock had a foul odor.

With the lights of the concession, they easily found the ten boats.

All the boats parked here were of this type, all with the same smell.

Normally, no one guarded this place at all.

But tonight, there was a slight difference.

There was a person guarding each of these boats, and he saw Lin Fan board the ship.

The man didn't say a word, but led them to the middle of the cabin and pulled open a dirty board.

There was a space inside that could hide three or four people.

After doing this, the person immediately went ashore and left.

He didn't say a word the entire time, and Lin Fan really didn't know if this person deliberately didn't speak.

Or if he couldn't speak.

However, he liked such people.

The less you know, the safer you are!

Lin Fan knew that these boats must have been specially made for these people to transport smuggled goods.

The wisdom of the masses is infinite; using such boats to transport those shady goods

was indeed safe!

The seventeen crew members boarded their respective boats. Lin Fan carefully inspected the ten boats, and each boat had such a hidden compartment.

Good, enough to fit the special forces' long weapons.

This was very smooth, and the ten manure boats quietly set sail from the dock.

They headed towards the location where the special forces were gathering, to pick up all the members of the special forces.

And then continued towards the Huishan Wharf.

Tonight, the entire special forces unit was still wearing the uniforms of the Shanghai Marine Corps.

Only the dozen or so crew members were all wearing the cloth clothes of laborers.

Lin Fan checked the time, it was already 3:30 a.m.

There was still some distance from here to Huishan Wharf, and there were people in the special forces unit who knew how to row boats.

Southerners row boats, northerners ride horses! This saying is always true.

Each boat was equipped with two crew members, rowing hard, and according to Lin Fan's plan, the team had to board the *Hinomaru* before 4:30 a.m.

Fortunately, the smell of the manure boat was so strong that the smell came before the boat.

The pungent smell spread all the way in the dark, and no one wanted to take a second look at this kind of boat on the Suzhou River.

Along the way, they passed through two water checkpoints set up by the concession, and they didn't even look at these boats.

They opened the barriers on the river early and signaled them to leave quickly.

The special forces soldiers squatting in the cabin clearly saw that even after these ten boats had passed more than a hundred meters away,

the barriers had not yet been lowered.

It seemed that the smell of these ten boats would linger for a long time.

When they first boarded the boat, they also felt that it was too smelly.

Now, after half an hour, after being in the abalone market for a long time, they didn't find it smelly anymore.

From a distance, Lin Fan saw a brightly lit area on the land ahead.

The boatman Luo Yazhi, who was propping up the boat in front, said: "That brightly lit place is the management office of Huishan Wharf.

Japanese soldiers have been stationed there all along."

Wharf No. 3 was still some distance away, in a remote place without lights.

There were many ships anchored in the river, and Luo Yazhi said: "The ones close to the wharf are Japanese warships.

They are constantly protecting this wharf, and the ones further away are British, American, German, Italian, and French warships.

They are here to watch the show and only protect their own expatriates."

Lin Fan looked at the warships of those great powers, and judging from the length of the lights alone, the warships of the great powers were much more than those of the Japanese.

Lin Fan asked worriedly: "Will it be dangerous for our boats to pass by?"

Luo Yazhi smiled: "They won't even look at such manure boats.

If it is a fishing boat, sometimes they will drive a small motorboat to hit it for fun.

The Japanese devils can't avoid this kind of boat, for fear of being contaminated by these filth."

After speaking, he laughed loudly: "When I was driving a cargo ship, I also looked down on these boats. I didn't expect that I would be a boatman today."

This Luo Yazhi was the captain that Director Pan found for Lin Fan.

Lin Fan was a little embarrassed: "Captain Luo! I'm really sorry, but we have no choice.

Only in this way can we get close to the Japanese devil's boat."

Luo Yazhi's voice lowered: "Director Pan has told us.

For the sake of the war of resistance, what does this dirt and this stench matter?

Do you know how our ship sank?

Not far ahead, we had just left the wharf and sailed thirty miles upstream.

We were overtaken by the Japanese devil's small motorboat.

Without asking anything, without saying anything, they opened fire directly.

Seven of my crew members were shot dead on the boat."

When he said this, Luo Yazhi's voice was a little choked.

"Some of the people who came today, I don't know either, but I think they are about the same.

Since the start of the war, dozens of merchant ships of us ordinary people have been bombed and sunk by the Japanese devils.

A large number of crew members are unemployed.

Everyone can't survive.

If it were three months ago, such a thing today.

It's really not easy to find someone to drive the boat, everyone has serious business to do.

Who would be willing to do these things!

Now it's different, many people have a deep blood feud with the Japanese devils.

This revenge! We can't not take it, otherwise we will really live in vain."

This Captain Luo Yazhi is really an honest person!

Lin Fan thought of the ruins he had seen these days, and of the fate of Ji Wudi's family:

"Yes! If we don't avenge such a deep blood feud,

what face do we, as children, have to live in this world?"

This group of ten boats arrived at Wharf No. 3 at just 4:30 a.m., spending an hour on the water.

Ten manure boats quietly docked in an uninhabited shadow.

Without alarming anyone.

The sound of the rushing water covered up the faint sound they made.

The special forces soldiers lined up fully armed in the dark.

Now all their weapons and ammunition have been brought out.

The seventeen crew members were all struggling to carry more supplies.

Their current identities were those of coolies, doing manual labor.

Lin Fan checked the formation of the special forces unit again before ordering: "Let's go!"

Leading the entire company directly towards the position where the *Hinomaru* was docked.

The seventeen crew members followed behind.

The ten boats were left to drift on their own, drifting downstream.

Lin Fan walked in the front, cautiously watching the large ship not far away.

The *Hinomaru* had a carrying capacity of 6,500 tons, which was already a very large cargo ship.

Its tall body was even more aggressive in the dark.

As they approached the *Hinomaru*, two Japanese soldiers were on duty.

When they saw a team coming, they immediately became alert: "Password!"

Lin Fan angrily roared: "I was sleeping well, and I only got the order to come over in the middle of the night.

To have my squadron come to escort this *Hinomaru*.

Is this the *Hinomaru*?"

The soldier who did not receive a response quickly said: "Yes!"

He had already seen that this was a team of marine soldiers.

Everyone was looking at them with fierce eyes.

Lin Fan did not let him go: "How many crew members and escorts on the *Hinomaru* have boarded?"

"Report! Thirty-three armed escorts, twenty-one crew members, all in place."

Lin Fan waved his hand: "Board the ship! There are already thirty-three guards, what do you need our hundred people to do?

When has the Imperial Navy been so timid?"

They spoke loudly on the shore, causing several guards who were originally on the *Hinomaru* to poke their heads out to check.

Lin Fan complained loudly as he boarded the ship: "What kind of garbage ship is this?

So smelly?

It's simply unbearable!"

This stench was originally brought by their team, but now hearing Lin Fan say this, the two soldiers on duty on the shore quickly said: "There must be a manure boat passing by, and the smell has been blown over by the wind."

Lin Fan said carelessly: "What are you doing, don't you know how to drive them away?"

After a pause, he muttered to himself: "That's right, your gunboats have all run to Hangzhou Bay.

Let these boats have their way today."

Of course, the two soldiers on the shore knew that those small motorboats had gone to Hangzhou Bay.

But this was now top secret, and they didn't expect that this bad-tempered officer would also know.

They did not doubt this team at all, and even the seventeen crew members following behind this team did not ask questions.

After boarding the ship, Lin Fan immediately ordered loudly: "Where are the people? Are you all dead?

Start the ship immediately! Immediately!"

He boarded the ship carelessly and began to issue orders.

The current time was only ten minutes away from the planned departure time of 5:00 a.m.

Departing ten minutes early was not a big deal!

The *Hinomaru* immediately began to start, and in the roar of the whistle, the *Hinomaru*'s huge body slowly left the dock, only ten minutes ahead of the scheduled departure time, and with nearly one hundred and fifty more people on board.

In the sound of the whistle, the huge body of the "*Hinomaru*" slowly left the dock.

After boarding the ship, the special forces soldiers were all serious and looked very professional.

Not only did they send people to occupy all the commanding heights,

but also, in Lin Fan's scolding voice, they arranged five fully armed soldiers in the captain's room.

In Lin Fan's words: "I'm afraid the captain is a spy!"

This was Lin Fan's special arrangement for Ji Wudi to be among these five people in order to prevent accidents.

The main purpose was to monitor the captain's communication with the shore, to see if he would reveal the news of their boarding in the radio communication.

These five people had received orders that as long as Ji Wudi believed that the captain had the possibility of leaking their information, they would immediately take action to eliminate the obstacles.

The thirty-three escorts who were originally sent to guard this ship each had two special forces soldiers intentionally or unintentionally accompanying them.

As for the twenty-one crew members, some were still resting in the crew room, and some were on duty.

This cargo ship swaggered away from the side of several Japanese warships.

The special forces soldiers only coldly waved the guns in their hands at the searchlights coming from the warships.

Warning the other party not to shoot randomly.

Such actions made those who originally escorted this cargo ship admire them.

This lieutenant who had just boarded the ship was really fearless, and he was not even afraid of the soldiers on the real warships.

Lin Fan looked at their admiring expressions and said disdainfully: "I also came down from there!"

He said this sentence in Japanese.

From the special forces boarding the ship to now, no one had ever suspected their identities.

Just after sailing out of the sight range of these warships and arriving in the middle of the Yangtze River,

Lin Fan quietly made a head-chopping gesture downwards.

The special forces soldiers who could see Lin Fan's movements nearby immediately took action.

Two special forces soldiers dealt with one Japanese devil, intentionally calculating the unintentional.

The action was very safe!

Lin Fan also patrolled the entire cargo ship all the way cursing, with a dozen soldiers.

This patrol was to issue the order to take action.

It took a full half an hour, and all the enemies on the entire *Hinomaru* were cleared.

In order not to reveal their whereabouts, all the bodies of these people were piled on the ship, and none were thrown into the Yangtze River.

This cleanup went smoothly without any accidents. Lin Fan had originally planned that there might be gunfire.

The action was unexpectedly smooth, without firing a single shot, and completely occupied the ship.

Now this cargo ship had been completely controlled by the special forces unit.

Captain Luo Yazhi had taken over the ship, the ship's radio was still on, and the three Ji brothers were guarding here. If anyone called, Ji Guochou would have to reply.

After getting started, Luo Yazhi did not delay at all and immediately began to control the ship to turn around. They had to pass through the section of water they had just passed again before dawn.

The special forces soldiers were busy adding strokes to the name of this ship.

Li Xian was eager to do this, and the reason was very sufficient: he could write!

Some of the soldiers, under the guidance of other crew members, began to hang the American flag on the ship.

This was their greatest reliance on breaking through the blockade today.

Luo Yazhi's level was not a boast.

Just after turning the ship around, he immediately began to accelerate with all his strength. When their ship passed by the side of the Japanese warships blocking the river,

Captain Luo Yazhi also specially sounded the whistle to signal their presence.

He explained to Lin Fan: "This is an emerging rule since the start of the war. When passing by the warships of all countries,

we all sound the whistle to signal, which also means accepting inspection."

Lin Fan asked: "What if they want to board the ship for inspection?"

"We can only stop! Otherwise, we will be sunk!" Captain Luo Yazhi said seriously.

"What if we don't sound the whistle and pass by quietly?" Lin Fan was unwilling to give up.

"Such a big ship is not a small fishing boat. It is impossible to pass by quietly.

And there are dozens of nautical miles of waterway all the way up.

There are Japanese warships all the way," Luo Yazhi said.

The Japanese devil's searchlight shone over, and from a distance, they saw the American flag on the bow of the ship, sweeping from the bow to the stern, without finding anything abnormal.

After the row of warships on the river had disappeared from sight, the special forces soldiers finally relaxed.

Lin Fan also relaxed: "Captain Luo, when will we be safe?"

Luo Yazhi thought for a while: "Three hours, three hours later, we will be able to completely sail out of the Japanese devil's naval control area.

And enter the national army's defense line.

But if you want to be really safe, you have to pass the Jiangyin Fortress.

That will take five hours!"

Lin Fan thought for a while: "We will send you to Jiangyin, we still need us for the battle here.

We can't leave the battlefield."

Luo Yazhi also relaxed at this time. He smiled and said: "Director Pan told me that you will disembark midway.

We will drive this cargo ship to Wuhan all the time. When we arrive in Wuhan, Director Pan will send someone to meet us. Don't worry!"

The ten manure boats released by the special forces unit at Huishan Wharf drifted less than five hundred meters downstream.

Two similar manure boats sailed out in the dark. The people on these two boats jumped nimbly onto these ownerless boats that were drifting with the waves.

On the navigation route in the middle of the Yangtze River, a behemoth was heading upstream.

It was sounding its whistle, looking invincible.

The waves it rolled up pushed these ten small boats up and down.

These boatmen who were rowing the manure boats looked at the behemoth hatefully and spat: "Is it great to be bigger?

You bully people so much when crossing the river!"

While cursing, they skillfully propped up their boats and left.

Soon, twelve boats were silently rowed away from the Yangtze River.

As if they had never been here.