20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 566: A War Without Kindness and Justice (I)

It was a windy night, and the bright moon appeared and disappeared in the clouds.

To the east of Shanghai's Old Town, in the middle section of Xiangua Street, the alley is crowded with people and the undercurrent is surging.

The north wind pushed aside the clouds, and the cold moonlight shone down.

But Zhao Guoyan was seen wearing a black silk shorts, bell-bottom pants, and high-top shoes.

Beside him, Li Zhengxi was wearing a long gown, a grey top hat, and carrying a long box. His attire was very rare, like a street performer working at the docks.

Behind the two men, brothers number twelve and three followed.

Xiangzi and Hu Fei each took half.

Zhao Guoyan looked down at his watch, then looked off into the distance, muttering, "I'll start in about half an hour, keep track of the time, and we'll try to be in sync."

Li Zhengxi responded and then lowered his head to wind up his watch.

"That would be... around half past nine?"

"Well, it's about five or six minutes before or after that. You lead people to find a good opportunity."

"Don't worry, I'll go meet up with them first."

After saying that, Li Zhengxi immediately waved his hand, and according to the pre-made plan, he called four brothers to accompany him. He patted Zhao Guoyan on the shoulder, said "Be careful", then turned around and led the four helpers, facing the north of the old city, and walked quickly while the moon was hidden in the clouds.

Zhao Guoyan stood still, watching the west wind gradually fade away.

Immediately, he suddenly turned around, with a stern look in his eyes, and whispered to the remaining brothers, "Brothers, be alert. We are going to catch people off guard tonight. At this critical moment, no one should let the boss down!"

Jiang Jiaxiangzi just nodded silently without saying anything else.

A few other bandits, however, looked excited and couldn't help grinning.

"Old Zhao, just put your mind at ease. As for these guys, we can deal with them even if we close our eyes and make noises!"

"Hahaha, brothers, we have never fought such a prosperous battle!"

Zhao Guoyan naturally did not pour cold water on everyone when recruiting soldiers before the battle. He just repeatedly reminded them: "Don't be anxious to make money. As long as the matter is done, the Jiang family will never treat you unfairly."

Several bandits nodded with a smile, and stated that their respective leaders had already said in advance that their relatives were still outside the Great Wall and would definitely not miss the Jiang family's important event, so there was no need to waste their breath and repeatedly remind them.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Guoyan stopped talking and immediately raised his hand, leading eight or nine people across the street, gradually moving away towards the brightly lit area.

…………

Spanning two city blocks, the lights are bright and colorful.

Not far away is the New Stage, a well-known new theater in Shanghai’s opera industry!

Tonight, a famous actor from Beijing will come to Shanghai to perform. Three days before the first performance, the warm-up advertisements had already been widely circulated in the foreign concessions, attracting countless drama fans and amateur actors to come and show their support.

Logically, the performance should have ended at eight o'clock.

Unfortunately, the response from the audience was too enthusiastic and the applause was constant. Unable to refuse the kindness, the main star of the stage had to return to the stage and sing a few more short pieces.

Back and forth, on and off, it lasted for another hour or so, until the singer's throat was almost smoking, the performance was about to end, and the audience gradually dispersed.

However, even though the theater was gradually becoming deserted, the lights in the new stage were still on.

The reason is simple: Inspector Huang hasn't left yet.

All street performers who came to Shanghai to perform had to pay their respects to Huang Mapi. Only with his support would hooligans and scoundrels not dare to cause trouble and the performance could go on smoothly.

Finally, the actor had to quickly remove his makeup and go to thank the Green Gang boss for his protection and care.

Huang Ma Pi was a real fan, and every time the performance ended the day before, he would wait in the box for a while, chat with the famous actors of the time, arrange a dinner, put on some airs, show off his status, and let these actors know who was the leader of this foreign concession.

The old man didn't move, so the bodyguards who accompanied him naturally didn't dare to leave their posts.

Across the road from the New Stage, a private car owned by a yellow-jute driver was parked on the side of the road. The driver was leaning against the car and smoking a cigarette. He raised his head and blew out two smoke rings, and the street lights became dim.

At the theater gate, three or five Green Gang disciples were standing on both sides, chatting and laughing with each other, waiting for the old man to go home.

In their conversations, the Axe Gang and Shiliupu were always mentioned from time to time, but everyone looked as if they were staying out of it.

This is not surprising. There are so many disciples in the Green Gang, and most of them are busy with their own things. The dispute over the Shilipu Wharf was mainly caused by Zhang Xiaolin's disciples fighting against the Axe Gang. Apart from the Bund robbery case, Huang Ma Pi had almost no involvement in the dispute from beginning to end. At most, he just helped the police station.

After about two cups of tea, footsteps were finally heard behind them.

Turning around, I saw Huang Ma Pi walking over the threshold with a big laugh, and the theater owner and the troupe leader followed him on both sides, with fawning looks on their faces, seeing him off.

In addition, there were five or six other Qing Gang disciples following behind the old man, never leaving his side, like a shadow.

"Thank you, Inspector Huang, for coming out to support us. If there's anything wrong with my singing, please bear with me!" The troupe leader nodded and bowed, thanking him repeatedly.

Huang Ma Pi waved his hand and laughed loudly, "It's just a small matter, just a small matter, how many days do you want to sing here?"

"According to the plan, we are going to stay here for three days, and we will sing "Attack on Dongwu" tomorrow."

"I won't come tomorrow. Just sing when you need to. If you run into any trouble, feel free to come find me. But I don't think there will be any trouble."

"Of course. With Inspector Huang giving the order, who would dare to come and cause trouble? It's like the birthday boy is eating arsenic and is tired of living!"

"Hahaha, that's enough." Huang Mapi waved his hand, "No need to send me off again. After the performance, we'll have dinner together. Remember to invite the Hua Dan singer from your class!"

"Don't worry, Inspector Huang. I'll make the arrangements."

The troupe owner is already familiar with this.

There are few clean actors. Even men are forced to be "husbands", let alone women in the opera industry?
Huang Mapi and others talked as they walked, and after a few steps, they arrived at the gate of the new stage.

The driver across the street heard the noise, flicked away his cigarette, opened his car door, and prepared to move over to pick up the person.

Just at this moment, a shout suddenly came from not far away.

"Hey!"

The driver turned around and saw a capable man in shorts, waving at him with a smile, running towards him in small steps.

"Who is it?"

The driver frowned and looked over, but unfortunately the light was dim and he couldn't see the man's face clearly, so he made random guesses in his mind. Zhao Guoyan came up to him alone and asked with a smile, "Hey, you don't recognize me?"

The driver frowned, looked me up and down, and asked, "Who are you?"

"boom!"

The sudden gunshot caught everyone off guard!
Before the driver of the Huangmapi car could react, his head suddenly nodded, and then his whole body tensed up, and he immediately collapsed to the ground.

"Oh no! There are robbers!"

"Hurry, hurry, take Master back to the field first!"

As soon as a gunshot was heard, the dozen or so Green Gang disciples at the entrance of the new stage responded immediately, drawing their guns and fighting back across the street.

But Zhao Guoyan was originally a martial artist, so his reaction was incredibly quick. Moreover, he came prepared. He shot the Huang family driver with a wave of his hand, and then he had a plan to deal with the situation.

He looked like a leopard and a ghost. Long before the driver fell, he had already bent sideways and crouched on the side of the car. Then he used his thumb to shift the speed selector on the box gun.

"Bang bang bang!"

The bullets arrived as expected, several bullet holes appeared on the car door, and the window glass shattered with a "crack"!
There was constant gunfire, and Zhao Guoyan had no chance to show his head. He had to stick to the car body and wait for a turning point.

Six or seven Green Gang disciples took advantage of the situation, crossed the road, and prepared to surround the car.

However, at this moment, in an alley not far away, five or six Jiang family brothers suddenly rushed out from the side with guns in hand and ran straight to the center of the street.

"Old Zhao, it's on!"

"First insert the idea and then smash the kiln!"

In the chaos, I don't know which bandit shouted a few times, causing both sides to pause and change their behavior.

The Green Gang disciples immediately turned their guns around, and the two bodyguards who were originally responsible for guarding the entrance to the New Stage also ran out to the street to provide support.

When Zhao Guoyan heard that his brothers were coming to help, he put his life at risk and immediately stood up, raised the gun, turned his wrist, turned the gun sideways and pulled the trigger!
With a snap of the index finger, the sound of the gun changed!

It was not a single crisp sound, but a series of sounds that continued without stopping.

Even though Zhao Guoyan had amazing arm strength, after pulling the trigger, his entire arm couldn't help but swing forward.

I heard more than ten consecutive "da da da" sounds, and saw bullets forming a line that was sweeping across the street in front of the New Stage. Immediately, two Qing Gang disciples were shot and fell to the ground.

The disciples were horrified and immediately fired several shots across the street.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I turned my head, I saw the Jiang brothers holding their guns horizontally. "Da da da" the deadly gunshots rang out, and rows of bullets were as dense as silk. Although the gunshots only lasted for a moment, most of the Qing Gang disciples were either dead or injured.

Originally, the two sides should be evenly matched, and the Qing Gang disciples might even have a slight advantage. However, the Jiang family had been engaged in arms smuggling outside the Great Wall for many years. Their clients were all mountain bandits, and their equipment was all top-notch genuine goods, which easily overwhelmed the group of ruffians on the opposite side.

The German Mauser, with its 20-shot rifle and large mirror, is essentially a small machine gun.

Moreover, the Jiang family brothers each held a sword, and as they charged forward like this, their firepower even surpassed that of soldiers of the same number.

The Green Gang disciples were immediately frightened and fled in disarray. It was not their fault for being disloyal, but this confrontation had already gone beyond the scope of street fights and gang clashes.

At the gate of the new stage, there were originally eight or nine Qing Gang disciples, but in the blink of an eye only three or two escaped, leaving only wailing everywhere.

Several bandits quickly approached and took away the guns of the Green Gang disciples by kicking or snatching them.

"Call the doctor, call the doctor..."

A young disciple lay on his side on the side of the road, holding his waist with his hands, blood flowing down through his fingers. For the first time in his life, he felt that his life was about to end. He panicked and actually cried for help to several bandits.

When he was about to die, perhaps he finally repented.

Unfortunately, he asked the wrong person.

The bandit who was shouting "Chuanshan Haozi" came over and stepped on the young man's wound. He grinned and turned his toes as if he was crushing a cigarette butt.

"Ah - don't step on it, don't step on it, call a doctor, call a doctor -"

"Fuck you, I called your mother a cunt!"

"Chuanshan Haozi" raised the big mirror, and saw his wrist jump. Suddenly, several gunshots were heard, and four or five bullet holes appeared on the young man's face. He was dead.

Not far away, Zhao Guoyan dragged the driver's body away and shouted loudly: "Don't worry about them, go in and grab the jute skin, hurry up!"

After saying that, he took a step sideways, stepped into the car door, then leaned sideways and lowered his head to get into the car.

"Rumble--"

The engine was ignited, and two bright lights appeared in front of my eyes. The car body shook twice, then started suddenly, circled on the road, and stopped with a "squeak" in front of the new stage.

Zhao Guoyan did not get out of the car. He looked out through the broken window and saw that several bandits had already rushed into the new stage. Although everything was going well at the moment, he was still looking around nervously in the car, and occasionally looking down at his watch - nine thirty-five!
…………

Inside the New Stage Theater, after the first gunshot, Huang Ma Pi saw his driver being shot dead in the street. Relying on his years of experience, he immediately turned around and ran into the theater.

The accompanying bodyguards were well-trained. They acted decisively and immediately sent two strong men to chase after the old man to protect his safety, while the rest of the people focused on dealing with the assassin outside the door.

This is easy to say.

However, in that fleeting moment, there was nothing wrong with the arrangement and response.

The bad thing was that the Jiang brothers were too powerful, and Huang Ma Pi slipped away too quickly. When he turned around, he happened to bump into the theater owner and the troupe leader who were seeing him off.

Hearing the sound of gunfire outside the door, the troupe and a dozen die-hard fans in the theater suddenly became chaotic.

It's a matter of life and death, who cares about the Green Gang tycoon? All of you, stand aside and don't block my way of survival!
In this way, Huang Ma Pi blended in with the crowd.

The two bodyguards rushed forward and finally approached the old man, but they suddenly felt a chill under his ribs. When they reached out to touch him, they found that a dagger had pierced into his lung!

When he looked up at the people around him, they were not the die-hard fans at all, but Yang Lazi and Lao Jie, two of the famous figures in the Jiang family!
It turned out that long before Zhao Guoyan and others took action, these two people had already sneaked into the theater. Not only did they anchor Huang Mapi and his bodyguards early on, they even took the time to listen to Peking Opera for half a day.

It was too late to raise their guns now. Yang Lazi and Lao Jie held the wrists of the two bodyguards with one hand and stabbed them with the other hand silently. The two bodyguards' lungs were severely injured and they couldn't even breathe. How could they fight back?
In the chaos, his whole body tensed up and his gun went off accidentally, hitting the ground with a "bang".

The theater was now in chaos. Huang Ma Pi was squeezed into the crowd and had long lost his tycoon demeanor.

Just at this moment, I suddenly felt my shoulder sink and my body was pulled over by someone. I looked up and before I could see the person's face, I saw a heavy punch coming towards me!

(End of this chapter)