Chapter 28: Republic of China: Starting from the First Class of Whampoa, Chapter 28: The First Drop of Blood

·

·

·

Protagonist:

Lv Muzhi

Taikoo Dock, Manager Tomson could no longer sit still; He Yingqin had issued an ultimatum: if they did not hand over the traitorous party member, the Whampoa Student Army would charge into the wharf and arrest them directly.

Tomson summoned Dao Shang and Wu Ji of the Merchant Corps Self-Defense Force: "You two, take advantage of the darkness later and lead your men to escape by jumping into the water; I cannot keep you here."

Dao Shang was stunned, clearly unable to accept this decision: "We have over two hundred men and can still scrape together over a hundred guns; rather than jump into the Pearl River to feed the fish, we might as well fight those Whampoa students to the death!"

Wu Ji felt escape was hopeless and also decided to make a desperate last stand, fighting a battle to the death with the Whampoa Student Army surrounding them outside.

Tomson was unwilling, shaking his finger: "No, no, no! You cannot have a fight here; I will announce to the outside that the Merchant Corps illegally sneaked into the wharf, and I have not the slightest relation with you; otherwise I will demand Merchant Corps Commander Chen Lianbo severely punish you!"

"Damn it, it's just a play you and that grandson Chen Lianbo put on, insisting on staging some rebellion and pushing us all into a dead end! If I can't live, no one else gets to live either!" Dao Shang drew the knife at his waist and rushed over to take Tomson hostage.

Outside the wharf, He Yingqin was commanding the Student Army to deploy a tight blockade.

He Yingqin had already received news from the Principal; the plan to short sell Taikoo Shipping stocks had made major progress, and now they could launch military action against Taikoo Dock!

"I have already studied the Wharf Building Distribution Map; these two hundred-plus Merchant Corps soldiers must be hiding in one of the ten warehouses, otherwise they have no place to stay;

later, Combat Team Three will directly advance and disarm those ten foreign policemen, then occupy the Office Building and overlook the entire wharf from the roof; Combat Team Four will charge onto the No. 3 Cargo Ship at the berth, deploy on the deck, form crossfire with Combat Team Three on the Office Building, and guard the Wharf Unloading Yard; Combat Teams One and Two will search the warehouses one by one; once they find the enemy, do not rush in to wipe them out, but lure the enemy out to the unloading yard to deploy combat."

He Yingqin issued combat orders to the four Instructors; the first battle of the Whampoa Student Army was about to begin at Taikoo Dock!

After receiving the order, Liu Zhi returned to select twenty students as a commando team, preparing to charge into the wharf to disarm the foreign policemen's weapons and open the way for the following troops.

Lv Muzhi originally did not want to sign up, but Liu Zhi regarded Lv Muzhi as his prized disciple and insisted on selecting Lv Muzhi into the commando team, with Liu Zhi himself serving as Assault Team Leader.

At the entrance of Taikoo Dock, there were ten foreign policemen in total; the two foreign policemen at the entrance stood left and right in the guard post, while the rest sat together on the open ground behind the guard post eating dinner.

Since being surrounded by the Whampoa Student Army here, they had not yet made a move; the foreign policemen thought these student soldiers dared not act recklessly, and one by one they began to doze off.

Liu Zhi pointed at a tall and sturdy Sikh Policeman inside the entrance guard post: "Hu Zongnan, that red-headed Sikh Policeman is yours! I'll take care of that short white-skinned pig next to him!"

Hu Zongnan was somewhat embarrassed; he himself was short in stature, and that Sikh Policeman was a head taller than him.

But since it was an order, he could not well disobey.

Liu Zhi and Hu Zongnan approached the guard post from the left and right sides; Liu Zhi performed a bear hug, pressing the white policeman to the ground, while Hu Zongnan had a sudden inspiration, crouched down, grabbed the Sikh Policeman's two feet, and pulled backward, directly throwing the Sikh Policeman flat on his face.

Seeing this, the commando team immediately charged into the main gate, their target aimed directly at the eight policemen sitting on the ground eating.

The policemen's rifles were not slung on their backs; the eight rifle bodies were stacked leaning against each other, and Chen Geng took the lead, like a gust of wind, rushing directly to the policemen's side and carrying away the eight rifles.

Lv Muzhi and the others rushed up, pointing their guns at the foreign policemen sitting on the ground chewing heartily.

"Freeze, Hands up! (Don't move, hands up!)" Lv Muzhi loudly warned the foreign policemen on the ground in English.

One policeman, relying on being tall and big, stood up directly to resist, and Guan Linzhen smashed the rifle butt directly at that policeman's face; the scene immediately fell silent.

One French policeman from the Shameen Concession was the first to raise both hands, indicating surrender, and the other British policemen and red-headed Sikh Policemen followed suit one after another.

The student soldiers of the four teams, led by the Instructors, began to act one after another.

Chen Jicheng led Combat Team Four students running directly to the No. 3 Cargo Ship on the west side; occupying the cargo ship's deck would allow them to overlook the entire unloading yard.

"Combat Team One, immediately occupy the Office Building!" Liu Zhi rushed over from behind, pointing to a building on the north side.

Lv Muzhi and the others held their guns and quickly advanced toward the Office Building.

Unexpectedly, before they even opened the first-floor door, the door opened by itself; the first thing to catch the eye was Tomson's ill-omened face, followed by Dao Shang and Wu Ji standing behind Tomson.

Dao Shang held a sharp knife against Tomson's neck, while Wu Ji took out a revolver from Tomson's office drawer.

Seeing that the Whampoa Student Army had already charged in, Tomson shouted: "Help! Save me! The Merchant Corps people are all madmen!"

"What's he babbling about?" Chen Geng asked, frowning.

"Need to ask? Can't you see he's being held hostage? It's obvious he's begging for mercy!" Du Yuming raised his gun, aiming at Wu Ji holding the revolver.

"Get out of the way quickly, otherwise I'll kill this foreigner directly!" Dao Shang said viciously, the gangster aura fully revealed.

Lv Muzhi saw clearly: this Dao Shang was the person who had shot at him during the last Merchant Corps strike at Dasha Tou Wharf; back then the bullet had grazed the top of his head.

Thinking of past grievances, anger surged in Lv Muzhi's heart; instead, he raised his gun and aimed at Dao Shang's head, saying: "You're the one holding him hostage; why should we make way for you?"

"This foreigner being alive is of no use to us anyway; hurry up and act—kill him and we'll just shoot you dead!" Chen Geng raised his gun, also with an indifferent expression.

"Right! This isn't the Concession; if a foreigner dies, he dies, and it's not us who killed him. If you make a move, we can then go all out against you!" Zheng Dongguo stepped forward and shouted a warning.

But everyone knew it was best not to cause foreign casualties, otherwise it would put the Grand Marshal's Office in a very difficult position.

Wu Ji wavered first, slowly lowering the hand holding the revolver, in a pleading tone: "Gentlemen... can I... can I surrender?"

But Dao Shang, for some reason, upon hearing Wu Ji's words, suddenly flared with anger: "Useless thing, holding a gun and still such a coward! I'll let you surrender!" Saying this, Dao Shang moved the knife away from Tomson's neck and swiftly slashed at Wu Ji's neck.

Obviously, Dao Shang did not care about human life; he cared neither for others' lives nor for his own.

Wu Ji only felt his neck turn cold, then immediately clutched his throat and fell backward to the ground, the revolver also falling to the ground.

Dao Shang made a move to pick up the gun, but also wanted to drag a scapegoat along at the last moment.

Bang!

The Mosin-Nagant Rifle sounded a gunshot, the bullet piercing Dao Shang's temple.

Lv Muzhi had fired; his hands were stained with the first life.

"What are you all standing here for? Hurry up and go upstairs!" Liu Zhi roared from behind the ranks, rushed to the front, stepped on Dao Shang's corpse, and ran toward the roof, seeming already accustomed to this scene.

Lv Muzhi was stunned for half a second, then without hesitation followed him up to the roof.