20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 513 Undercurrent
It was a windy night and the river was turbulent.

Near the intersection of the Bund in the French Concession and the Shilipu Wharf, the riverside road should have been bright and bright, but tonight the street lights were off and it was inexplicably dark.

On the pier approach bridge, Ye Chaosan and Rong Qingrui, two core members of the "Little Eight-Part Party", were holding binoculars and looking vigilantly in the direction of Wusongkou.

The evening breeze blows on my face, and the sound of waves hitting the shore can be heard from time to time.

The river was as dark as ink, with more than a dozen small boats hanging fishing lights, cruising back and forth like fireflies.

Those were vessels owned by the Marine Police Battalion and the Anti-Smuggling Camp, and were specifically responsible for providing water security for Sanjin Company's local products.

There were several small trucks parked on the shore, and nearly a hundred people gathered around the trucks chatting and laughing, the light of their cigarettes flickering in the sound of their laughter.

These people were soldiers of Commander He, the Shanghai-Songhu Guarding Army. They were now disguised as civilians, carrying weapons, sneaking into the French Concession, and providing armed escort for the local products of the Sanjin Company.

In addition, in the city not far behind them, there were dozens of Chinese and Annan patrolmen from the French Concession. Under the instruction of Inspector Huang, they were transferred to guard the important intersections along the way, forcing the street lights to be turned on and off and dispersing irrelevant people.

The military and police gathered together, and of course the Green Gang members were also present.

More than a dozen sampans of various sizes are now waiting on the beach, waiting for merchant ships to enter the river and pick up goods.

All the people involved were hidden in the darkness of the night.

Although it has long been an open secret that opium is prevalent in Shanghai, it is still difficult to trade openly due to the resolution of the "International Anti-Opium Conference" and condemnation from all walks of life. The military and police are especially concerned about their reputation, so they can only adopt this method, which is almost like "covering one's ears and stealing the bell", to conduct transactions.

"Click!"

On the dock approach bridge, Ye Chaosan took out his pocket watch, checked the time in the moonlight, and muttered to himself, "The ship is coming soon, nothing should happen."

"With such a big scene, it would be a miracle if anything could happen." Rong Qingrui put down the telescope, sneered and said, "I think my brother is making a big deal out of nothing."

Since these two are the core backbone of the "Little Eight-Part Party", they are naturally the trusted subordinates of Du Yong among the "Three Tycoons".

Ye Chaosan was a shrewd and cunning man. It was said that he had worked as a caddy on a foreigner's tennis court in the past, so he spoke fluent "pidgin dialect".

Rong Qingrui was a big and strong man with brute force. Even before he became a disciple of the Du family, he was already a notorious gangster and bully in the Zhengjiamuqiao area.

If it were normal times, they would no longer be directly involved in tasks such as unloading cargo at the dock.

It was only because the "Axe Gang" suddenly emerged recently that Du Yong sent two more people to the dock to supervise and escort the transportation for the sake of safety.

After hearing Rong Qingrui's words, Ye Chaosan did not dare to take it lightly. He turned around and reminded him in a low voice:

"Brother Rui, it's better to be careful. The local products of Jinchao Yetou are shipped from the southwest. The goods are abundant and the price is high. If something unexpected happens, the company will have to pay a lot of money just for the insurance of the major local merchants!"

Rong Qingrui still didn't care, and immediately waved his hand and said with a smile: "Brother has already informed the military and police, there will be no accidents. No one can take away our goods!"

"Beep-beep-"

As they were talking, they suddenly heard a shrill whistle coming from the river.

Ye Chaosan immediately picked up the telescope and looked towards the water police boat in the distance, only to see someone on the bow waving a flag vigorously towards the shore, conveying the message of the contact.

The telescope's field of view then shifted towards the Wusongkou direction, floating on the dark river surface for a moment before finally stopping on the side of a steamship cargo ship.

The large steamer, fully loaded with cargo boxes, came upstream from the lights of the Bund.

The five-colored flag on the mast fluttered, and two huge Chinese characters were painted on the starboard side of the bow:

"Jiang Shun!"

Ye Chaosan put down the telescope, turned around and shouted to the Green Gang disciples near the beach: "The boat is coming, brothers, hurry up and get ready!"

At the command, twenty or thirty brothers immediately jumped into the sampan, quickly untied the ropes on the dock, and headed towards the center of the river excitedly, looking forward to it.

At the same time, the armed escort troops on the shore also caused a commotion.

Everyone present had a vested interest, and seeing the ship full of "real money" coming towards them, there was no reason not to be excited.

However, the Huangpu River is shallow, and except for a few docks in the British Concession, large steamships like this cannot approach the ferry and can only sail slowly in the middle of the river.

Seeing the cargo ship getting closer, Ye Chaosan turned around and said, "Brother Rui, I'll take the men down to unload the cargo. You stay on the shore and watch carefully."

"Okay, okay, stop talking so much and go!" Rong Qingrui waved his hands impatiently, "There are so many soldiers with guns on the shore, what are you afraid of!"

Seeing this, Ye Chaosan decided not to nag any more, so he hurried down the approach bridge, found a slightly larger sampan and jumped in.

At this time, the boats of the Marine Police Battalion and the Anti-smuggling Office also scattered across the river as quickly as fireworks.

In about half a cigarette's time, the "Jiangshun" sailed silently to the waters in front of everyone, dropped anchor in the middle of the river, and slowly stopped.

"Brothers, it's time to unload!" Ye Chaosan shouted from the sampan, "The faster the better!"

"Okay!" Everyone responded in unison.

After that, more than a dozen sampans of different sizes were seen speeding towards the center of the river like a pack of wolves fighting for food.

The person in charge of the steamer came to the edge of the deck, leaned over to meet Ye Chaosan and others, revealed his identity, exchanged secret words, and then looked around to see military and police guards everywhere. He no longer hesitated and immediately sent the crew to unload the cargo.

Although it is called a large cargo ship, it is actually not that big, and the deck is far from being out of reach; and opium is not a heavy cargo, so loading and unloading it is not as difficult as imagined.

The crew on the steamer used ropes, net bags, gangplanks and other tools to transfer the opium boxes to the small sampan. When the sampan was full, the Green Gang disciples turned the sampan around and drove quickly to the dock on the shore. Other brothers then lifted the boxes onto a small truck not far away, and then returned to the steamer to pick up the goods.

Commander He's soldiers stopped joking and instead put on a serious look, looking around sharply.

The marine police battalion and anti-smuggling forces also patrolled the river around the cargo ship.

Sanjin Company's unloading operation can be described as tightly armed and airtight.

However, the unloading process did not end quickly. The opium on the ship seemed endless, constantly sliding along the wooden boards into the sampan.

Of course, Sanjin Company alone cannot handle such a huge amount of local products.

In fact, most of the local products were only guaranteed by the "three big bosses" of the Green Gang, and then shipped to various places in the north and south by sea.

The goods on the "Jiangshun" were all Sichuan and Yunnan soil shipped from the southwest. Among them were not only local products ordered by Sanjin Company, the "Eight Chao Gangs" and the "Two Local Gangs", but also many orders entrusted by southwestern warlords to Sanjin Company for "underwriting". Therefore, the shipment volume was extremely large and no mistakes were allowed.

"Hurry up, hurry up, move faster!"

Ye Chaosan stood on the sampan, desperately urging his brothers to speed up the loading and unloading of cargo boxes.

Although he himself did not think that anyone could rob Sanjin Company's goods under such a high level of vigilance, unloading the goods was his job after all, and he always hoped to complete it as soon as possible in order to distance himself from the matter. If the goods were robbed in the warehouse or during transportation, it would have nothing to do with him.

As Ye Chuosan pondered, he couldn't help but look towards the pier approach bridge, and then asked loudly: "Brother Rui, is everything okay over there?"

"Oh, don't worry, okay? There are already two trucks loaded here, and it's calm, so what are you afraid of?"

As it was dark and the street lights were off, Rong Qingrui's figure standing on the approach bridge appeared particularly hazy, and his voice seemed a little distorted as it passed through the river.

"Hey, how much cargo is there over there?" Ye Chuosan raised his head and shouted to the crew on the steamer.

The crewman placed an opium box on the wooden board, and then pushed it, sliding it into the sampan. He looked up and said, "It's almost there, just one more round trip and it will be almost there. Hey, the soldiers and police here are all your people, why are you rushing us?"

"The longer the night, the more dreams you may have!" Ye Chaosan asked back, "Don't you want to go ashore early and have some fun in the big world?"

"What's the use of just thinking? I have no money in my pocket. I can't afford to go find young girls, and I feel like I'm at a loss if I go find those old ladies!" Hearing this, everyone couldn't help but laugh, and the atmosphere instantly became a lot more relaxed.

Another seven or eight minutes passed like this, and there was very little opium left on the cargo ship. After one more trip, they could call it a day.

Ye Chaosan looked at the cargo on the sampan and then looked at the situation on the shore.

After seeing that two trucks had already driven away, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself: It seems that the Axe Gang is just talking big.

But just when everyone was chatting and laughing, preparing to go back to celebrate, Ye Chaosan suddenly frowned and froze there.

"What's that sound?" He looked far upstream as if aware of it.

"sound?"

Everyone was bewildered. They couldn't help but stop what they were doing, looked at each other, and said hesitantly, "The sound of the wind? The sound of water? I didn't hear any sound?"

"Stop making noise!" Ye Chaosan shouted sternly, then raised his head, squinted his eyes, and looked towards the waters to the south.

"Gudong——Hualala——"

This time, everyone heard it clearly and there was indeed a strange sound.

"It seems...something fell into the water?"

"Hey, look carefully, could it be that some of our goods have fallen into the river?"

The brothers were talking at once.

"Bullshit!" Ye Chuosan yelled, "Don't you have ears? This sound is not coming from us!"

"It seems to be coming from upstream?" said the crew member of the steamer as he stood at the bow and looked into the distance.

Ye Chuosan suddenly became suspicious and quickly shouted to the nearby Marine Police Battalion fleet: "Captain Lian, what's going on upstream? Can you see it?"

The marine police battalion and the anti-smuggling fleet immediately raised their fishing lights and stared into the distance.

However, because the Sanjin Company was receiving goods at the beach tonight, the lights on the river road had already been turned off, and the most prosperous areas in Shanghai were all concentrated in the Bund, the concession in the middle and lower reaches. Looking further upstream, past the Shilipu Wharf is the suburbs south of the old city. After nightfall, the riverside is always dark.

The fishing lights were dim and could not penetrate the dense night before their eyes.

Captain Lian of the Marine Police Battalion shouted, "It's not very clear, Third Brother!"

Upon hearing this, Ye Chuosan turned around and asked anxiously, "How much cargo is left to be unloaded?"

"There are only a few boxes left." said the crew on the steamer.

"Hurry up, I feel something is wrong!" Ye Chuosan raised his head and shouted, "Brother, there is nothing wrong with wearing anything, how about turning on the boat lights?"

The crew on the steamer ignored him, frowned, pointed upstream and said, "Hey, man, there are rafts coming down from above. Damn it, there are at least 20 or 30 of them!"

"What are you talking about?" Ye Chuosan looked hurriedly upstream.

The raft moved down the river at an incredible speed, and it was already approaching in the blink of an eye.

These rafts are not big and can only accommodate two people at most. Moreover, the sailors are all crawling on the surface of the river, silently. If there is no strong light, they can only be noticed when they are close.

Captain Lian immediately drew his gun from his waist and shouted a warning to the distance: "Hey, who are you? Don't come near!"

Just as he finished speaking, there were sounds of people falling into the water one after another from among the numerous rafts.

"Plop - clatter -"

Hearing the noise again, Ye Chaosan immediately opened his voice and shouted in an almost commanding tone: "Captain Lian, shoot!"

"what?"

"I told you to shoot me!"

"Oh, good, good!" Captain Lian immediately called out to everyone, "Brothers, pirates are everywhere on the river, it's time to perform meritorious deeds—"

"--boom!"

Unexpectedly, before I could finish my words, the other side dared to open fire first!
The bullet whizzed across the Water Police Battalion's fleet and went straight into the dark river.

Captain Lian and others instinctively shrank their necks. Although no one was shot, the dignity of the officers was challenged. This was intolerable.
The water police immediately raised their guns and fired back without saying a word!

Soon, continuous gunshots echoed in the night, resounding across the east and west banks of the Huangpu River.

The water police battalion and the anti-smuggling police had sufficient ammunition, and the gunfire was almost non-stop.

On the other hand, there were only a few sporadic gunshots from the raft formation upstream of the river, and the fighting was so devoid of momentum that it did not look like a surprise attack but rather like walking into a trap.

Fortunately, everyone was on the boat, drifting with the current, ups and downs, and it happened to be dark at that time, so the vision was obstructed. Therefore, no matter who was on the side, no one could shoot accurately, and they just shot randomly. After a short exchange of fire, only two or three people were shot and injured.

Ye Chuosan had no time to care about the battle on the water. He just urged the Qing Gang disciples and shouted: "Don't worry about the goods on the steamer. Go to the dock quickly. Be careful of the underwater, be careful of the underwater!"

Having said that, most of the brothers who came forward on the sampan to unload the cargo did not have any explosive weapons in their hands. When the gunshots were heard, four or five of them immediately abandoned the boat and jumped into the water, relying on their swimming skills, they swam desperately towards the shore dock.

“Screw it!” Ye Chaosan cursed loudly, then turned around and shouted, “Brother Rui, kill anyone who escapes to the shore!”

After saying that, he was suddenly stunned. There was no sign of Rong Qingrui on the pier approach bridge.

Ye Chaosan suddenly realized that some of the chaotic gunfire was not coming from the river, but from the shore.

Human life doesn’t matter, but the opium cannot be thrown away!
Ye Chaosan immediately drew his gun and shouted to the brothers on the sampan: "Whoever dares to run away today will be punished by family law tomorrow! Row your boats to shore quickly, and be careful of the water!"

At this time, the brothers on the sampan gradually calmed down, and without any time to respond, they swung their oars and rowed towards the shore.

Unexpectedly, after just two strokes, a long pole suddenly emerged from the water and hit the person rowing the boat with force - although the person did not fall off, the whole sampan suddenly shook violently.

"Bang bang bang!"

Ye Chaosan immediately fired three shots underwater!

The reason why he always paid attention to the movements underwater was because the "Small Eight-Party Gang" used this method to successfully rob the local goods escorted by the "Big Eight-Party Gang" many times.

The sampan is agile and swift, but its stability is extremely poor. If someone who is good at swimming dives into the river and brings his gear with him and gives it a push, he can easily capsize it.

At that time, the cargo boxes were scattered and drifted down the river. The robbers were waiting downstream, so it would be difficult to catch up.

"Damn it, this little jerk is trying to trick me!" Ye Chaosan was extremely annoyed, and immediately raised his hand to call out to his brothers, "Paddle quickly, ignore them, and bring the goods ashore as soon as possible!"

"Okay!" a brother responded.

Just as he was about to row the boat, he suddenly heard a sharp blade whistling through the air!

“Hoohoohoo—clang—”

But a short-handled axe somersaulted in the air and came towards him, hitting the sailor's forehead exactly. Then he swayed and fell into the river with a "plop", splashing layers of dark red water foam...

(End of this chapter)