20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 571: A War Without Kindness and Justice (VI)
In the blink of an eye, the moon was in the sky.

The night sky was cloudy and sunny, and at this time the clouds dispersed again.

Li Zhengxi left the warehouse in the suburbs of the county and took a few bandits with him to attack at night. They soon arrived at the Dongjiadu area in the upper reaches of the Huangpu River.

There were layers of waves on the river bank, but under the lights of the dock, there were twenty or thirty Axe Gang members waiting for a long time, led by Huang Xiansheng and Wen Jinhua.

This time, the Axe Gang learned from their previous lessons and no longer cared about strength in numbers. Only core members came and they guaranteed each other to prevent the plan of the night attack from leaking out.

Everyone gathered together, but the leaders of both sides did not show up.

They chatted with each other for a while, and soon they saw a few figures walking on the road by the river.

Looking closely, it turned out that Zhang Luan and others who were responsible for lookout had arrived ahead of time.

Li Zhengxi led his men forward a few steps and asked directly, "What's the situation with the Yue Gang?"

"Don't worry, they are all stuck in Yangjingbang by the police station, and they can't get out for a while!" Zhang Luan and others replied confidently.

Just now, they were at the intersection of the French Concession and the International Settlement to gather information.

About an hour ago, a lot of idle citizens suddenly gathered on the street in the western section of Edo Road in the Concession.

Looking from afar, one could see the two forces of officials and merchants confronting each other head-on on the border road, attracting many pedestrians to stop and watch.

The black and white codes collided, those who should be arrested were not arrested, and those who should escape did not escape. Instead, the two sides negotiated in full view of the public, and the scene was somewhat ugly.

But in the foreign concessions, this situation is not uncommon.

Lao Chai from the police station had no right to enforce the law beyond the boundary, so he had to block all the intersections and prohibit the Cantonese gang from passing.

The Guangdong gang members were also afraid to force their way through, but as long as they did not cross the line, Lao Chai could do nothing to them, so the two sides were stuck in a stalemate.

"The two sides had a big argument in the street. Lai Chunbao scolded those old men for taking money but not doing their job. Wang Huaimeng spat on the captain's leather shoes, and the Yue Gang members followed him back."

Zhang Luan and others spoke with certainty, and according to the plan, it should indeed have such an effect.

As he was speaking, he suddenly saw a crowd of people not far to the south.

When everyone stepped forward and took a look, they saw that it was Chen Lixian, who was leading the Axe Gang members who had just been released from the prison, and were rushing towards this side in a hurry.

These people had been imprisoned in the kiln for several days in a row and were finally released. They were all furious and wanted to seek revenge on the Green Gang.

Seeing everyone gathered, Li Zhengxi looked at his watch and realized that it was almost time, so he said, "Brothers, hurry up, I need to assign a few people to help Lao Zhao later."

Huang Xiansheng nodded and said, "Don't worry, I just sent someone to check the situation, and they don't have many people left to watch the place."

As he spoke, he distributed weapons to the brothers who had just been released from prison.

Naturally, every bandit in the Jiang family was equipped with a gun and held a machete in his hand.

The Axe Gang is still the same. Except for core members like Huang Xiansheng and Chen Lixian, most of the brothers only have a short-handled axe.

The guns are loaded and the weapons are sharpened.

Everyone was sharpening their knives, filled with murderous intent, and headed north along the river, quickening their pace as they rushed towards Shilipu.

At this time, it is still unknown whether the news of Lou Jingyuan's assassination has spread at the dock.

However, Shiliupu is mostly a freight terminal, with a long line of shops, warehouses and storehouses along the shore. Now that the Qing Gang has taken over this place again, they naturally have to arrange disciples to keep watch here at midnight.

In the time it took to smoke a pack of cigarettes, Li Zhengxi, Chen Lixian and others had already reached the border of Shilipu.

Looking into the distance, I saw the fishing lights on the approach bridge were still on, and the lights on the shops on the shore were dim.

Before the crowd could reach the Jinyuan Wharf, they saw from afar two Qing Gang disciples on guard who had noticed something. They immediately ran back to the wharf and gathered the brothers who were watching to prepare for the night attack.

Soon, several Green Gang disciples rushed out from warehouses of all sizes, each holding a weapon in their hands. In an instant, they gathered into a group of about 20 to 30 people and rushed towards the enemy.

I only heard three or two leaders yelling, "Fuck, those little bastards from the Axe Gang never learned their lesson, and they still dare to come and cause trouble!"

While shouting and cursing, several people ordered their subordinates to send people to the Old City and the Police Station, preparing to use the same trick again and ask Lao Chai, who was in the white world, to come forward to solve the problem.

Unexpectedly, the Axe Gang came here this time not to seize the dock.

The night attack here is just for revenge.

If they engage in close combat, there will definitely be a stalemate for a while, and in the end, the same mistakes will inevitably be made again.

Li Zhengxi was anxious and only wanted to win a quick victory so that he could rush to Zhao Guoyan's rescue as soon as possible. So he immediately ordered the accompanying Hu bandits to take out their twenty-shot large mirror guns and fire at them when the two sides were about to meet.

"Da da da--"

"Da da da--"

Although the Green Gang disciples were prepared, they were unable to withstand such fierce firepower. When they were about to draw their guns and fight back, more than half of the brothers in the front row had already been killed or injured.

Before he could calm himself down and regroup, the Axe Gang members had already rushed over to attack him.

The Qing Gang disciples were horrified and immediately panicked.

There are a few young men who have not experienced the world and have the words "benevolence and righteousness" in their heads. When they see someone being killed on the spot in front of them, even though they are terrified inside, they cannot save face and run away. They always have the urge to be heroes.

Who would have thought that when he turned around, he saw that those real old foxes, the good brothers on weekdays, had already slipped away when they saw that the situation was not good, and used all their tactics to run away in a flash.

Want to run?

It's easier said than done!

The Axe Gang members approached in the blink of an eye.

The two sides exchanged notes head-on, like dry wood and raging fire, and immediately started a bloody fight.

With screams heard and swords and axes flying, the Shilipu Wharf was in chaos.

It was the first time that Chen Lixian and his men had the advantage in guns and ammunition, so there was no reason for them to stop while they were ahead. They took advantage of the high morale and led their brothers to hack and chop left and right, killing anyone they saw without leaving any room for them.

Li Zhengxi led the accompanying bandits to seize the flank and chased after the fleeing Qing Gang disciples with guns.

Although both sides opened fire, how could a replica pistol compare to a genuine German shotgun?

With the support of five 20-gun cannons, and with the fact that Lao Chai from the police station had been transferred away, and that Lou Jingyuan and other leaders had already been dealt with, the Axe Gang was invincible. Although there were some casualties in the chaos, it took only five or six minutes to easily destroy the Shiliupu Wharf.

However, even though the fight between the two gangs was punctuated by constant gunfire, it did not seem to cause much commotion in the city.

Not only did Lao Chai not come rushing over after hearing the news, there weren't even any spectators watching on the shore.

The lateness of the night was one reason, but the more important reason was that Shanghai was already chaotic enough tonight.

The kidnapping case at Xin Ti Ye, the assassination case at Guang He Lou, and the confrontation between the police station and the Guangdong gang just now on Aduoya Road, there was a lot of excitement to see everywhere, and Lao Chai was so busy that naturally not many people cared about the situation at the dock in the middle of the night.

It is precisely because of this that Chen Lixian and others dared to let go and kill people, and their arrogant behavior became more and more unscrupulous.

Soon, the Green Gang disciples were either dead or injured, leaving only seven or eight capable fighters. They fought and retreated, and were finally forced into the shops of Jinyuan Wharf by the Axe Gang members.

A wise man never suffers a loss in front of him. Several people stood in the main hall and began to cite the rules of the underworld, preparing to negotiate.

"Stop, stop, stop hitting!"

A small leader dropped his gun, raised his hands, and pretended to be calm, saying: "Leave a way out for us so that we can meet again in the future. This time, Ala lost. Shiliupu belongs to the Axe Gang. We are all gangsters and serve different masters. There is no need to kill us all, right?" "Da da da——"

Li Zhengxi didn't say a word, just raised his hand and fired a few shots, immediately knocking down the small leader who wanted to negotiate.

The other Green Gang disciples were about to fight back when they saw this, but they were already surrounded by a dozen people.

Several bandits immediately shouted, "Stop making such a fuss and shut up!"

Everyone looked at each other and finally fell silent.

Li Zhengxi was heard yelling at the corpse of the little leader: "Fuck you, how dare you talk to us about rules? Why didn't you say these bullshit when you were killing everyone?"

Hearing this, a Qing Gang disciple suddenly plucked up his courage and explained in a trembling voice: "Brother, although I am also a member of the Qing Gang, the matter of Zhabei Railway Station has nothing to do with me...that was, that was Yan Chaosheng and the others-"

"Da da da--"

A few more gunshots were heard, and the person who was speaking was killed instantly.

"I told you to stop fucking making noise, didn't you understand?" Li Zhengxi asked harshly.

This time, the few remaining Qing Gang disciples in the room finally became completely "dumb".

At this point, all the rules no longer apply and all explanations are futile.

A blood debt can only be repaid with blood. It is nothing but wishful thinking to turn hostility into friendship based on a few light-hearted rules.

Innocent or not, the winner has the final say.

As planned, Li Zhengxi and Chen Lixian walked to the desk, raised their guns, and targeted a young man with chubby cheeks from among the Green Gang disciples.

"You, stop looking, just you, come here!"

The young man looked around and was sure that the other party was calling him, so he had to bite the bullet and walked over tremblingly.

"Do, do what?"

"Sit down!" Li Zhengxi pointed to the chair behind the desk, "Call Zhang Xiaolin's home!"

"what?"

The young man hesitated for just half a second when Xifeng raised his gun. He was so scared that he quickly nodded and agreed: "Fight, fight, fight, I'll fight now!"

He sat down, picked up the receiver, and was about to dial when he looked up blankly and asked tremblingly, "I...I'm calling, what do I want to talk about?"

"Just say whatever you want to say. Do I need to teach you?" Li Zhengxi cursed in a low voice.

Seeing this, Chen Lixian stepped forward and reminded the Green Gang disciple, "Just tell them that the Axe Gang has come back and there are not enough people in Shiliupu. Ask them to send someone over immediately!"

The young man was still in shock, his mind was blank, and he was not able to react to the intention of this action, so he just nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

He opened the drawer, took out the phone book, and found the number of Zhang Mansion.

"Klalalalalal——Klalalalal——"

The fingertips moved back and forth on the number dial, and the sound sounded quite dull.

Li Zhengxi couldn't help but frown, swore a few words, and urged: "Hurry up!"

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, a gunshot was suddenly heard outside the house!
"boom!!!"

Hearing the noise, everyone's faces suddenly turned pale.

Li Zhengxi quickly turned sideways and looked out the window.

Just as Chen Lixian and others were attracted by the gunshots, the Qing Gang disciples in the room immediately looked at each other, a glimmer of hope suddenly flashed across their faces, and they also began to get ready to move.

Fortunately, the few bandits who came with Xifeng were knowledgeable and experienced. They acted decisively and immediately raised their guns and pulled the trigger.

"Da da da--"

After a few gunshots, the signs of resistance from the Qing Gang disciples were nipped in the bud, leaving only the young man holding the phone.

Everyone was startled and looked back to see that the bandits had already taken out bullets from their pockets and were loading them into their guns while saying calmly, "It's over! The situation has changed!"

Sure enough, just as they finished talking, brothers from the Axe Gang rushed in from the door.

"Brother Xian, the Yue Gang is attacking us!"

"What do you say?"

Chen Lixian and others immediately turned to look at Zhang Luan and asked on the spot: "Didn't you just say that the Yue Gang members retreated?"

"They have indeed retreated!" Zhang Luan argued, "I saw them withdraw to the International Settlement with my own eyes!"

The brothers who came to report also helped to explain: "They came from the downstream of Shiliupu. They probably took the water route just like us before!"

Taking the water route could indeed avoid the eyes and ears of the French police. Perhaps the French police and the Cantonese gang had a tacit agreement and tacitly allowed them to take a detour into the French Concession.

The Huangpu River is jointly managed by Chinese and foreigners and is under the jurisdiction of the Water Police Battalion. Huang Ma Pi, as a detective chief of the French Police Bureau, had no authority to use it, which gave the Guangdong Gang an opportunity to take advantage of it.

Logically speaking, the Axe Gang had traveled through the water before, so they should have taken some precautions.

But we can take precautions, but it is impossible to block the river directly.

"Damn it, why didn't you come earlier or later, but came at this time?"

Chen Lixian and others cursed, then lowered their heads to reload their bullets, and led everyone in the house to rush out to fight.

When the Jiang family's bandit Hu saw this, he quickly came to Xifeng and asked anxiously, "What should we do? Should we leave this place and go help Lao Zhao, or what?"

Li Zhengxi was ultimately lacking in the ability to adapt to changing circumstances. Seeing that the plan had changed, he could put his own safety aside. He was only concerned about the situation at Zhao Guoyan's side, and only wanted to transfer the staff of Zhang Mansion as soon as possible, so he shouted at the Qing Gang disciple: "Hurry up!"

"boom!"

A gunshot rang out, and the glass windows on the dock shattered.

Everyone subconsciously shrank their heads. Seeing this, the Qing Gang disciple became even more confused and could not make the call at all.

That's too late!

Li Zhengxi simply raised his hand and shot the young man dead, then called the accompanying bandits and rushed out of the room.

As soon as I walked out of the Jinyuan Wharf, I saw torches on the shore, dense as stars.

Under the leadership of Wang Huaimeng and Lai Chunbao, dozens of Cantonese gang members rushed onto the approach bridge and rushed towards the Jinyuan Wharf like a pack of wolves.

The two originally planned to attack the Anhui Hometown Association Hall at night, but when they reached Shilipu, they ran into the Axe Gang head-on, so they simply opened fire.

Compared to the Jiang family, the Guangdong Gang is a veteran in Shanghai and does not need to be on guard everywhere. They only have the Axe Gang as their enemy. They only need to concentrate all their strength, go all out, and pursue the Axe Gang relentlessly, seeking to defeat them in one battle, so their momentum is exceptionally huge.

Li Zhengxi looked around blankly, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

It looks like I won’t be able to support Zhao Guoyan tonight.

(End of this chapter)