Chapter 858

Five hundred meters, four hundred meters, three hundred meters—Furukawa's thumb pressed against the protective cover above the button.

As long as the front wheels of the convoy press onto the expansion joint on the bridge deck, he will press it down. Two trucks will explode simultaneously, the entire bridge deck will collapse, and the black sedan flying the U. S. flag will plunge into the murky waters of the Tama River.

Two hundred meters.

One hundred fifty meters.

One hundred meters.

These people gripped their signal rods tightly, and the captain's fingers began to apply pressure.

At this moment, a black Lexus surged out from the side!

It had climbed up from the temporary passage on the riverbank. The vehicle bounced once on the slope, its undercarriage scraped the road surface, sending up a string of sparks. It did not slow down, but shot straight sideways into the gap between the lead vehicle and the main vehicle in the convoy, its front bumper nearly scraping the lead vehicle's bumper.

The tires emitted a sharp screech on the asphalt road, and the moment the vehicle came to a stop, the driver's door had already swung open.

Date Nagamune leapt from the driver's seat, raising both hands above his head, palms outward, unarmed, without a bulletproof vest, wearing only a dark blue cotton shirt and a face reddened by the wind. He immediately shouted at the lead vehicle: "Stop! Do not advance further! There is a bomb on the bridge! Stop!"

"WTF!" The U. S. bodyguards in the vehicle were enraged by Date Nagamune's actions; several immediately drew their handguns, pointing them at his head: "West Eight Plum Blossom shake it, ah! You little Japanese, I see you're tired of living! You even dare to block your American father's car! (In English)"

"?" Date Nagamune completely failed to understand what the other side was saying.

"Then I ask you! Then I ask you! What position did you hold in the Persian Revolutionary Guard?" Another U. S. bodyguard grew even more furious: "Speak! (In English)"

"What?" Date Nagamune completely did not understand English: "|don"tknow, no Yin Gou interest! No Ying Ge Liang!"

"You won't speak? Hah, just wait—our CIA will make you recall what position you held in the Revolutionary Guard and how many rials you were paid, one by one!"

At this moment, Uesugi Muneyuki stepped down from the front passenger seat, half a beat slower than Date Nagamune, but his appearance caused the U. S. soldiers in the lead vehicle to move their fingers off the triggers.

They recognized that face.

The security officer of this convoy, Major Xiao Jialun—Jackson of the U. S. Forces Japan, stared blankly, then still gestured for the soldiers to retreat.

He rolled down the car window, pointing his pistol at Uesugi Muneyuki's chest.

"Back off! Get back in your car!"

Uesugi Muneyuki did not retreat.

He pulled out his identity ledger from his pocket, opened it, held it up to the window's height, and spoke in London-accented English: "There are bombs planted on the bridge. Former Self-Defense Force terrorists—their target is the Secretary of State's convoy. Call General Zakari at Yokosuka Base now! Let him confirm—whether what I, Uesugi Muneyuki, say is worth your stopping for these few dozen seconds!"

Major Xiao Jialun—Jackson's gaze lingered on his face for several good seconds.

The Face Fruit took effect.

The major gestured for the rear vehicle to pause, then pulled out his phone: "Connect to the Ulan Commander-in-Chief of U. S. Forces Japan—there's a situation here—"

Behind the gas station at the southern end of the bridge, Miura's count stopped at "seventy meters."

Miura's lips were still open, the syllable "six" stuck on his tongue, unable to be spoken.

Furukawa's thumb remained on the button, not pressing down.

He stared at the vehicle, staring at the two people above looking down.

In that instant, his eyes became two dry wells at that moment.

"Ue! Su! Zong! Xue!" Furukawa gritted his teeth and spat out this name.

"Again him!!!"

This name had appeared in Kondō Fumihiko's mouth before, and in the fragmented words transmitted from the death row prison.

Kondō Fumihiko said this person would ruin our plans, and he also said that if one day our plans were shattered from outside, the person who broke them would certainly be named Uesugi Muneyuki.

Furukawa had not cared back then. Now he does—and it's too late.

Miura's signal rod fell from his hand to the ground, the metal striking the concrete with a brittle sound, like a bone cracking.

"Captain, just a few seconds, just a few seconds—"

Furukawa did not answer; he still pulled out the detonator and slammed it down hard!

Boom!

The explosive force fell short of expectations—both ends of the bridge had already been blown apart, the road severed! No heavy equipment can temporarily handle this.

"Everyone has it. Since the target didn't make it onto the bridge, we'll fight right here. Not to win, but to tell this country we once existed."

"Block the bridge!!!!"

The teammates at the northern end said nothing.

The teammates at the southern end also said nothing.

After a few seconds, gunfire erupted simultaneously from both ends of the bridge; bullets struck the asphalt road, kicking up black fragments, hitting the police car's hood, the metal tearing with a sharp sound that made one's teeth ache.

"What? Really an attack?!"

The U. S. soldiers were stunned, they hadn't even had time to return fire, while this group's weapons were several U. S. -made M4/M4A1 carbines, plus two MP5s of unknown origin.

Uesugi Muneyuki grabbed Date Nagamune and crouched behind the lead vehicle's hood; bullets flew over their heads, several striking the lead vehicle's windshield, which cracked into a spiderweb pattern but did not shatter. The major screamed into his walkie-talkie, shouting in English, using profanity, using every word he could think of, ordering the convoy to turn around. The lead vehicle reversed, its body swaying irregularly, tires skidding in place.

Date Nagamune instinctively reached toward his waist, but he was not carrying his previous M9; he had no weapon, and he directly shoved Uesugi Muneyuki to the ground: "Uesugi Chief, run fast! I'll handle this!"

Date Nagamune pressed Uesugi Muneyuki's head down, using his own body to shield him frontally—he was using his bones as Uesugi Muneyuki's shield.

Damn it, this guy's got a screw loose?!

Uesugi Muneyuki was pressed to the ground by Date Nagamune, his face turning white with anger.

Who's saving whom? I'm not afraid of bullets! On the contrary, you—you don't fear taking a bullet to the gut and forever saying goodbye to Akane-chan?

"They've opened fire! There's an attack! There's an attack!" Major Jackson bellowed; they only had two M4s in hand, and were immediately shot down, unable to lift their heads!

Intense firefight erupted—several U. S. vehicles were shot into sieves, though such vehicles do have bulletproof designs; both sides exchanged fire in the chaos, while nearby Japanese onlookers stood stunned.

Is this Call of Duty: Frontline?

Or is it PUBG?

Has WWIII broken out?

But just then, police sirens came surging from the north.

Reinforcements have arrived!

Uesugi Muneyuki finally exhaled.

The entire army launched an attack.

Countless police cars surged toward Tama River Bridge from the Kawasaki direction, the Yokohama direction, the Tokyo direction, and all drivable roads.

The dark blue armored personnel carrier rammed through the roadblock, and SAT members jumped out of the vehicle already firing, with numerous MP5s directly aiming at the target in suppressive fire.

Public Security authorized, to deal with potentially problematic Self-Defense Forces, all use of force restrictions can be completely lifted.

"Fire authorization granted! Full fire authorization!!!"

The mobile unit of the Public Security Police advanced from the toll booth direction at the southern end, with bulletproof shields linked into a moving wall, gradually compressing Furukawa and their shooting angles.

Bullets striking the shields sounded like rain hitting a metal roof, so dense that individual impacts could not be distinguished.

This group was quickly pushed back and took refuge in the nearby gas station.

Yet these few remaining people, facing dozens of SWAT officers, showed no sign of yielding! Three SWAT officers were hit in succession, fortunately they wore bulletproof vests so it was fine, but this scare made everyone afraid to approach further, merely surrounding them.

At this moment, Uesugi Muneyuki finally broke free from Date Nagamune's restraint, he rose from the dust, frowning.

"Uesugi-san, are you alright?" a SWAT officer rushed to his side.

"I'm fine, I————" Uesugi Muneyuki still intended to say something.

The engine sound of the armored vehicle came from the direction of the riverbank, American.

"The U. S. military is here! The U. S. military is here!" cheers came from within the SAT and mobile unit.

"The U. S. military has arrived, and now we have a clear sky!"

"The U. S. military has arrived, we win! We win!"

And hearing these Japanese shout like that, the faces of several former Self-Defense Force members turned extremely grim.

Police unaware of national hatred, still singing songs of the south across the river!

We have struggled so hard, just to prevent you from becoming like this!!!

Why don't you understand???!!!!

A desert-colored armored vehicle came from the Yokosuka direction, its turret-mounted machine gun already aimed at the gas station at the southern end of the bridge, several of them. A U. S. military officer in camouflage stood on top of the armored vehicle, using a megaphone to speak, in English and Japanese, alternating playback.

The U. S. military's armored vehicle stopped outside the gas station, dozens of soldiers with rifles deployed from the rear of the vehicle, forming with the Japanese police blockade a tight, impenetrable encirclement.

SAT members began approaching the gas station from both sides, shields forward, gun muzzles rear, steps uniform, breathing uniform, heartbeats uniform.

Miura still wanted to raise his gun, but Furukawa pressed down on his hand, shook his head, Miura looked into his eyes for a few seconds, then released his hand from the gun.

The assault team of SAT broke into the gas station in less than a minute.

When Furukawa was dragged out from behind the concrete pillar, he offered no resistance. His right hand was twisted behind his back, the sound of the handcuffs clicking was crisp, similar to the sound of Miura's signal rod falling to the ground.

He was pressed to kneel on the ground, and saw that black Lexus. Uesugi Muneyuki stood up from behind the hood, his windbreaker covered in gray, hair disheveled, face bearing a bloodstain from shattered glass.

Furukawa looked at him, the corner of his mouth twitched, then he spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

"Traitor. Uesugi Muneyuki, you are a traitor to the Yamato people! We were just ten or so seconds away from success, just ten seconds and you blocked us. Do you know what you blocked? You blocked this nation's last chance at normalcy. You remnants of the old nobility, you who eat Japanese food and smash Japanese pots—scum!"

"Shut up! You madman!" Uesugi Muneyuki walked up to him, crouched down, and brought his eyes level with his.

The distance between the two was less than one meter.

Uesugi Muneyuki's face showed no expression, but his eyes were not cold, they were a kind of warmth harder to describe than cold.

He looked at Furukawa, stared for a long time, then finally spoke.

"The Japanese government treats you Self-Defense Force people like not human, I understand."

"?!" Furukawa's mouth gaped open.

He never expected Uesugi Muneyuki to say such a thing. He thought he would hear "You are criminals," "You betrayed the nation,"

"You should repent."

These words he had rehearsed in his mind over and over. He had never rehearsed "I understand" these three words.

Uesugi Muneyuki's voice was not loud, but each word struck Furukawa's ears like a nail, those words detonating one after another in his mind like a delayed-explosion munition.

"But—you want to plunge the people into crisis through slaughter and revenge, as a specially appointed Supervision Officer of the Metropolitan Police Department and a descendant of the old nobility Uesugi Kenshin, I absolutely will not allow it."

"You fundamentally cannot distinguish what is home, what is country, what is all under heaven!"

"What you nearly destroyed was precisely what you cherish most, idiot!"

"Take him away!!!"

Furukawa's lips trembled. He was not someone easily persuaded, he had spent over a decade to get here, spent thousands of days and nights to make himself believe those words, believe "necessary sacrifice," believe "success equals revolution." Uesugi Muneyuki with one sentence split his self-persuasion of thousands of days and nights in half.

Furukawa lowered his head.

Uesugi Muneyuki stood up, turned, walked a few steps, then exhaled a long breath.

He looked toward that direction—toward Yokosuka, toward the direction where the Secretary of State's convoy was turning around, toward the direction that was just one step from becoming a historical turning point.

At last, he had caught up!

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