Chapter 27: Almost the Whole Army Wiped Out

Following Lu Yan to the vicinity of Gourd Lane, I saw a large crowd of black-clad people already gathered at the alley entrance.

Chen Yongren instinctively frowned; these guys are too eager, with so many people rushing to the alley entrance, are they afraid of not startling the Japanese spies?

Lu Mingyu came up and whispered to Lu Yan: "Captain, they're all brothers sent by the station chief to help."

"These bastards only know how to steal credit; if they startle the snake, I won't let them off."

As Lu Yan's words fell, a man in a black windbreaker and black hat walked over.

With a half-smile, he said to Lu Yan: "Lu Captain, you've finally come; the brothers have been waiting half a day. If you don't come again, I and the Third Squad will start the action."

Lu Yan frowned: "We haven't even arrived yet, and you're making such a big show; if you scare the target away, who'll take responsibility?"

"Lu Captain, rest assured, I've arranged people to block both ends of Gourd Lane; they can't escape. Besides, this is Gate North, not Red Mouth, so there's nothing to worry about."

Chen Yongren asked Lu Mingyu: "Who is this person?"

Lu Mingyu whispered: "Second Squad Captain Lin Qi, an old grudge with our captain."

Chen Yongren immediately used Insight on Lin Qi;

"If you have the ability, bring your own people to catch them; if you can't handle it, ask us for help, but stop wasting time with your hesitation—it serves you right that the First Squad suffered a big loss earlier."

Within the Military Statistics Bureau, there's mutual scheming, and Lin Qi and Lu Yan are no exception.

Another fat guy walked over, and Lu Mingyu whispered to Chen Yongren: "This is Third Squad Captain Luoguang."

Luoguang said with a smile: "I say, brothers Lu and Lin, though the meat has been stewed in the pot, we still need to open the pot quickly to be able to eat it, right?" He said to the two: "No problem; we should still hurry and close the net."

Lu Yan nodded, drew his sidearm, and said: "Action."

Lin Qi and Luoguang also drew their guns, leading their men as they surged into Gourd Lane together.

As Lin Qi said, this is Chinese territory, so each of them has a home-field psychological advantage, thus they A Ren't too nervous.

More than a dozen outer gunmen walked in the front.

Lu Yan, Lin Qi, and Luoguang each brought some close aides, forming the second echelon.

Lu Mingyu was left to guard and respond at the alley entrance, while Chen Yongren, Zhang Haifeng, and Lin Fei followed Lu Yan into the lane.

As the distance to Courtyard 24 grew closer, a familiar sense of fear suddenly welled up, and Chen Yongren's body hair instantly stood on end.

He knew this was his danger sense warning him!

He then stepped forward, grabbed Lu Yan, met the other's slightly surprised gaze, and lowered his voice: "Captain, why not send two people ahead to check, just in case there's danger?"

Lu Yan gave Chen Yongren a meaningful look, unconvinced: "What danger could there be? With so many of us, A Ren, are you scared?"

"Not captain, I..." Chen Yongren hadn't finished speaking.

Seeing Lin Qi and Luoguang leading their men and having already left him behind, Lu Yan jerked free of Chen Yongren's hand and snorted: "Cowardice in battle is despised by comrades and violates discipline; stay close to me."

Before his words even finished, he took Lin Fei and others and hurried forward to catch up.

Zhang Haifeng, seeing this, was about to chase after, but Chen Yongren grabbed him.

"A Ren, what's this?"

"I just have a feeling that something's not quite right."

Chen Yongren observed both sides and said sternly: "There are already enough people up front; we two shouldn't be cannon fodder or steal credit—we can come up to help when needed, and it won't be too late."

"Hmm." Zhang Haifeng, though a bit bewildered, still nodded out of trust in Chen Yongren and tacitly slowed his pace with him.

Eager to achieve merit and wipe away shame, Lu Yan didn't notice that the distance between them and the two was gradually widening.

The more than a dozen outer gunmen in the lead had already reached the outside of Courtyard 24's gate, surrounding it completely.

Having received the signal from Lu Yan, Lin Qi, and others, two of the gunners exchanged a glance and simultaneously stepped forward to kick the door with force.

Lu Yan, Lin Qi, Luoguang, and dozens of other Military Statistics Bureau personnel then split to either side and lay in ambush outside the courtyard.

However, at the very moment the two gunners kicked the door down, a sudden burst of dense, deafening gunfire came from inside the courtyard.

The two gunners responsible for breaching the door barely had time to react before being riddled with bullets.

Two side-mounted light machine guns, aimed at the door, kept firing; the continuous stream of bullets struck the alley wall opposite the door, making popping sounds and filling the air with green smoke.

Before Lu Yan, Lin Qi, and others could react, another at least ten green-smoke-emitting Japanese sweet-melon hand grenades were flung out from the courtyard wall with a swishing sound.

"Damn, there's an ambush; we've been tricked!"

Lin Qi, Lu Yan, and Luoguang, shocked and horrified, cursed loudly and each took the lead in running.

But it was already too late.

Boom boom boom boom! As the grenades exploded one after another, Luoguang and at least twenty-plus Military Statistics Bureau agents were blown apart, flesh flying, screaming as they fell.

Lu Yan, Lin Qi, and a few other agents survived the blast, but before they could flee outward, well-concealed Japanese spies from the roof of the building opposite Courtyard 24 lifted MP18 submachine guns and opened fire on them.

Moreover, at least dozens of Japanese spies poured out from the roof and walls of Courtyard 24, holding various firearms and opening fire.

Under the crossfire, Lu Yan, Lin Qi, and other agents fell one after another, utterly unable to fight back.

When the gunfire sounded, Chen Yongren and Zhang Haifeng immediately hit the ground.

Seeing the miserable state of their companions ahead, Chen Yongren instinctively grabbed Zhang Haifeng: "There's an ambush, retreat quickly!"

Having said that, he led the way, got up, and ran back.

Unexpectedly, after the two had run back not far, they discovered that opposite the tea house suddenly rushed out a dozen or so plainclothes Japanese spies, some wielding Mauser pistols, others MP18 submachine guns.

They suddenly opened fire on Lu Mingyu and the others left to guard the alley entrance.

Lu Mingyu and the seven or eight Military Statistics Bureau agents left behind were caught off guard and knocked to the ground.

"It's over, we're completely done now!"

Chen Yongren and Zhang Haifeng turned pale with fright, and Zhang Haifeng kept asking: "A Ren, what do we do?"

In desperation, Chen Yongren spotted a locked small wooden door, rushed over, raised his gun and fired several shots at the iron lock, then forced the door open and ran inside.

As the two's front feet just stepped inside, Japanese agents burst out of Courtyard 24 and began to finish off the Military Statistics Bureau agents in the lane with gunfire.

The group of plainclothes Japanese spies at the alley entrance also rushed up to Lu Mingyu and the others, delivering finishing shots.

When a Japanese spy approached the severely wounded Lu Yan to finish him off, Lu Yan suddenly raised his hand and weakly begged: "Don't kill me; I, I am the captain of the Military Statistics Bureau, save me..."