Chapter 42

Yizhou is mountainous, and on both sides of the great river, there are often towering mountains; if one wants to go ashore, one has to climb the cliffs directly.

The large and small ferry crossings near Yuan Nan City were all historically determined, so it wasn't quite that exaggerated.

However, the shore was still a full zhang higher than the water surface.

Those small ferry crossings were often made into slopes or even carved with steps to make it convenient to reach the water's edge to pick up boats; the coolies didn't have much to carry, so they could climb the steps.

As for the large ferry crossings, they welcomed and sent off large boats with heavy cargo and large quantities, so they simply drove piles and pillars along the shore and laid thick wooden planks to build a wharf.

In the past, these large wharves were very lively; coolies worked here, and naturally, people did business around them, building bamboo sheds on the wharf for them to sleep, rest, and sell food and water.

But recently, those small ferry crossings were sealed, and the bamboo sheds near the large wharves were also destroyed and demolished, turning into low ruins.

The coolies were driven to other places, and they were only allowed to approach once when the large shipments of goods that had passed Regiment Xu Tuanzhang's inspection arrived.

In the early morning, there were only wire entanglements and sandbag fortifications on the wharf.

There were about two hundred soldiers on rotation duty there.

The city wall of Yuan Nan City was about four or five li away from this wharf.

And in the woods two or three li away from the wharf, Chu Chu Tianshu was using a monocular telescope to carefully observe the situation there.

"Those who are awake are actually quite spirited; their rotation schedule is very well arranged."

Chu Chu Tianshu said, "The bamboo sheds near the wharf originally had complex structures, which were very suitable for hiding people, but now they have all been demolished."

"If anyone wants to approach the wharf, they will be discovered at about three hundred meters."

"If they bite the bullet and walk close, and are discovered to be wrong when questioned, then the only choice is to charge forward."

"Because if they retreat, there is an open area of several hundred meters, all within their shooting range, with no good cover to hide or utilize."

Little Huo took the telescope to look.

"The risk of charging forward is also very high."

Little Huo said, "Those people not only have guns but also turtle grenades; that is a type of flat grenade made by foreigners, with the fuse extending from the edge, just like a turtle's head and limbs."

"After pulling the safety and throwing it out, as long as one of the grenade fuses is triggered during the collision, it will explode immediately. On the hard ground around the wharf, the danger of this type of grenade is much more terrifying than ordinary delayed-explosion ones."

Little Huo moved the telescope and suddenly fixed his gaze.

"Good heavens, these people actually have a Madsen machine gun produced in Denmark!"

"The ferry crossings we've passed in the last few days almost all have this level of equipment; how can this regiment be so rich?"

They had been moving around Yuan Nan City with a donkey cart for a while.

There were some furs on the donkey cart given by the Wu Family Village, and the few of them looked like fur traders.

Cai Cai Shanjun sat on the donkey cart, closing his eyes to rest, and said in a deep voice, "In the past, many of the battalion and regiment establishments in Yizhou were not full. When I left, this regiment in Yuan Nan City should have only had about seven hundred people."

"But judging from the number of soldiers at the ferry crossings we've seen in the last few days, plus the number of people who must be left behind in the city, this regiment probably already has fifteen hundred people or more."

Shopkeeper Ma said, "I've heard that these personnel are not young and strong people selected from the common people and trained as soldiers, but bandits recruited by Regiment Xu Tuanzhang."

"Those small-scale poor peasant bandits have poor strength; a batch is shot, the rest are thrown into hard labor, and those with good equipment and fierce styles are incorporated."

Little Huo sized up the machine gunner, seeing that he should be the one with the highest status among the soldiers guarding this wharf.

He looked to be in his forties, his left eye was white, presumably blind, his cheeks were fleshy, there was a scar on his chin, his military cap was thrown aside, and there was a plate of beef next to the machine gun, which he would grab a piece of and throw into his mouth from time to time.

Little Huo made a sound, "No wonder this style!"

Chu Chu Tianshu asked, "Including this one, we have already seen all the large and small ferry crossings nearby. Should we continue to wait for an opportunity, or take action today?"

Cai Cai Shanjun pondered, "Better to act today than to pick a day; let's take action today, but wait a little longer."

What they were waiting for was the car.

These days they had discovered that Zhou Fuguan and those few people would patrol the surroundings by car every day.

Sure enough, after waiting for another hour, the black sedan they had seen several times appeared in the field of view of the telescope.

There were several fine horses following on both sides and behind the sedan, all trusted subordinates of Xu and Zhou.

Seeing the car and horses turn from the road over there and start driving toward the wharf, they were still about a thousand meters away from the wharf.

Cai Cai Shanjun pulled out the jade flute from his sleeve, brought it to his lips, and his cheeks bulged slightly; he had clearly already blown out his breath.

But the people around did not hear any flute sound.

Even Chu Chu Tianshu, who cultivated both magical arts and fist techniques, only vaguely sensed something unusual, but he couldn't quite say what it was.

Perhaps it was also because he was not the target of Cai Cai Shanjun, so the effects like crisis sensing were not triggered.

And on the wharf over there, Wu Bao, who was guarding the machine gun, threw another piece of beef into his mouth.

Since being incorporated by Regiment Xu Tuanzhang, they, who had been bosses, were also re-ranked.

Wu Bao was now ranked sixth, able to call the Regiment Commander "Big Brother" and Zhou Fuguan "Second Brother."

Regardless of whether there was any brotherly friendship, Wu Bao truly felt that life under them was quite happy.

This time, they were deploying defenses at the wharf to intercept the criminal.

Regiment Xu Tuanzhang had told them about the stakes, and that special envoy surnamed Meng had also given his guarantee.

In Wu Bao's heart, it was as if a fire with black smoke and fierce oil was burning.

There were risks, of course, but if it really succeeded, what kind of glory and wealth would he have for the rest of his life? That was definitely a joy he had never thought of in the first half of his life!

These past few days, he had truly brought out all his spirit, as if returning to when he was twenty years old, the first time he broke into a young widow's door and slept with the widow and her daughter.

Come! Come! Come! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!

Jump out quickly and let all my bullets hit you!

He also saw the car and several horses driving over from there, but he didn't pay much attention.

These days, the Regiment Commander, the Zhou Fuguan, and the Special Envoy were always coming to patrol.

Wu Bao could tell that they were also very anxious.

But when the car drove to a position of three or four hundred meters, Wu Bao's good eye couldn't help but squint.

Although they were all painted black with large headlights, this car didn't look like the same one as the Regiment Commander's.

The few riding horses were also basically unfamiliar faces, and he couldn't recognize them.

Wu Bao was afraid he had seen it wrong, so he called over a few brothers known for their good eyesight.

"Is that the Regiment Commander's car?"

"No, and I have never seen the two people sitting in the front row of the car."

When that brother replied, he also revealed a sense of excitement and tightened his grip on his gun.

A wild joy couldn't help but well up in Wu Bao's heart, and he took out a photo from his pocket.

"You guys take a look, is it this person?"

This was the photo given to them by Special Envoy Meng, and the handsome man on it was exactly their target.

After the few brothers looked at it, they nodded one after another, their faces showing excitement.

Suddenly, a brother in the distance shouted, "Why did that car suddenly speed up?"

Wu Bao turned his head abruptly to look.

The car had indeed increased its speed; it must have floored the accelerator.

A second ago it was still quite far away, but suddenly it pushed forward a distance, and the car's full black paint was pressing closer at extreme speed.

Those horses were also galloping and neighing, faster and closer.

The roar of the car and the sound of horse hooves seemed to be knocking on people's hearts.

There was a lot of discussion around, and the two hundred people responsible for this side could all see that it was not the Regiment Commander's car and horses.

The faces in the car and on the horses were not people they knew, and such a wild acceleration, a momentum of wanting to crash directly into the wharf, was definitely not something the Regiment Commander and his men would do.

Wu Bao's heart beat hotter and hotter, and he roared fiercely.

"That is the rebel, the major criminal! Brothers, open fire!"

When he shouted this, his finger was already pulling the trigger.

The car and horses were only forty or fifty meters away from here.

Regiment Xu Tuanzhang's nephew, the driver of this special car, was driving as usual, when he suddenly heard a shout from the front.

His heart skipped a beat, thinking the rebel had jumped out from somewhere, and just as he was about to turn his head to look, he suddenly felt the car shake.

Boom!!!

Three car doors shot out violently.

Except for the driver, three figures flew out like ghosts, clinging to the car doors.

They didn't kick the car doors away before moving; rather, they brought the car doors with them as they exploded at the fastest speed, so the car doors were still held against their bodies for a moment.

The car's chassis also deformed and dented downward due to the force of the three people.

Just as they detached from the car, the machine gun muzzle flashed with fire.

The exquisite black sedan had its windows shattered, the window frames shot through, and the front hood shot through.

Bullets hit the metal, flashing short, flickering sparks.

The driver's corpse shook inside the car; bullets entered through one hole and exited through a bowl-sized hole, blood spraying continuously.

The machine gun didn't stop, and the rifles all rang out; the cavalry near the sedan were killed on the spot, along with their horses.

Wu Bao's gun muzzle was aimed at the car, and it took a beat for him to react that three people had escaped from the car just now.

Just as he was about to move the gun muzzle, he saw a black shadow flash several times amidst the rifle fire and the hail of bullets.

A terrifying momentum and airflow smashed over like a giant rock thrown by a catapult.

In terror, Wu Bao's eyelids contracted, his eye sockets appeared larger, his pupils were shaking, and his potential was stimulated, making his vision clearer.

A large, iron-plate-like dark blue hand slapped down.

The Madsen machine gun's magazine was mounted on top, like a single horn, pointing high toward the sky.

This large hand slapped onto the magazine, smashing the entire magazine until it bent and cracked, crashing down onto the gun body.

Before the muzzle could turn, the gun body of the machine gun was bent significantly from the middle by a palm strike, breaking through the sandbags and sinking deeply.

A piece of shrapnel hit Wu Bao on the forehead.

But before he could shout in pain, another hand grabbed his neck and lifted his whole body up.

That was a strange man with a strange voice, but that kind of anger was as terrifying as Regiment Xu Tuanzhang's anger.

It was as terrifying as being locked in the same dark room with a person and dozens of bombs that had already had their safety pins pulled.

"Wu Lao Liu, you dare to betray me?!"

(End of chapter)