20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 782: The Japanese invaders in the dependent areas regained their loyalty

The Kaoshan Gang left without any hesitation. Apart from Xifeng, no one could order these young people around.

As soon as they left, the Jiang family convoy was immediately congested again, and the speed of progress became increasingly slow.

Zhang Zhengdong hurriedly honked the horn several times, but not only did it fail to disperse the crowd, it also attracted accusations and complaints from the surrounding refugees.

What's worse, some people took advantage of the chaos to get to the car, banged on the window, and spoke loudly, perhaps begging or cursing, but it didn't matter at the moment.

Jiang Lianheng sat in the passenger seat, extremely anxious and looking around vigilantly, fearing that there might be enemies mixed in with the refugees, waiting for an opportunity to harm the Jiang family.

At such a close distance, if someone fired a gun, not only the car window glass, but even the car door would be easily penetrated.

However, no matter how anxious he was, the convoy could not move any further even though the South Railway Concession was within reach.

At this moment, there are obstacles in front of him, evil soldiers behind him, and refugees all around him, like evil spirits. Jiang Lianheng has become a trapped beast in a cage, unable to move forward or backward, and unable to do anything.

In the back seat, the mother and her two children had different expressions.

Hu Xiaoyan remained silent.

She knew that given the current situation, no matter what she said, it would be nonsense.

Saying one more word would only make Jiang Lianheng more confused, and other than that it would be of no practical use.

Xu Ruqing's face was pale and he looked extremely confused.

Seeing the chaos in Fengtian outside the car window, the old lady suddenly started talking nonsense again, muttering in a low voice: "Xiaodao, why is it so chaotic outside? Didn't the Russians withdraw their troops? Why do the Japanese want to attack Fengtian...Xiaodao, where is your father? Why don't I see him...Xiaodao, why don't we go back?"

Jiang Ya sat between the two of them, not knowing how to comfort her, so she just gently held Xu Ruqing's hand, leaned forward to look at her father, and asked tremblingly:

"Dad, my aunt is taking care of her..."

Before she could finish, Hu Xiaoyan pulled her daughter back and quietly scolded her, "Just sit still and don't cause trouble for your dad!"

After hearing this, Jiang Ya had no choice but to sit down steadily, turned her head to look out the window, and said no more.

Soon, a "Xiangzi" forced his way over, got close to the passenger seat, gently knocked on the window twice, and asked, "Boss, what should we do now?"

Jiang Lianheng's face turned pale.

He didn't even know what was going on ahead, so what could he do? So he rolled down the window a little and asked the brother, "What's going on ahead? Why are you stuck here?"

"I don't know. There are too many people here. I can't see clearly here." The brother shook his head helplessly and then suggested, "Boss, how about I go over and take a look?"

Jiang Lianheng was a little hesitant. There were only five "Xiangzi" escorting the convoy, and the manpower was really limited. Every time someone was sent out, there would be an extra risk.

However, now that things have come to this, we have no choice but to send someone over to find out the situation.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, a black shadow half a person's height suddenly came rolling over like a landmine, and peeked inside through the gap of the car window.

"Boss, do you want me to scout the way ahead?"

Chuanghu volunteered, in fact, he was afraid that he would be left behind alone. After thinking for a while, he quickly added: "The carriage is at the back, it's not lost, there are people helping to look after it."

Jiang Lianheng waved his hand and frowned, "It's already this late, why are you still telling me this?"

Chuanghu secretly breathed a sigh of relief, raised his hand and pointed to the southern railway border, and asked: "Boss, then I will go over and take a look now?"

"Go quickly," Jiang Lianheng urged, "Be careful not to get stepped on!"

Chuanghu was very moved and nodded heavily. Then he turned around suddenly, made up his mind, took a step with his short legs, and walked quickly towards the group of refugees.

With his short stature and nimble steps, he was able to move among the crowd like a fish in water, dodging left and right and taking advantage of any gaps. However, in the blink of an eye, he had disappeared into the dust and his figure could no longer be seen.

The Jiang family's convoy had no intention of waiting there, but took advantage of this gap to slowly move forward for a distance.

Fortunately, Xifeng was there to cover the retreat, and he brought enough people with him to hold back the enemy's pursuit, which gave everyone a moment to catch their breath.

Even so, the shouting and screaming in the distance did not stop for a long time.

It seems that the other party is not like Zuan Tianying, who is only pursuing fame and fortune, but has indeed been harboring resentment towards the Jiang family for a long time. He wishes he could take this opportunity to cut Jiang Lianheng into pieces to vent his hatred!
Jiang Lianheng was naturally fearless.

In fact, it was just the opposite. He even secretly hoped that he would have such an opportunity so that he could recognize in time who was pretending to be a coward in front of him, who was actually disobeying him in words, or who was the real enemy of the Jiang family.

However, his wife and children were all in the car at the moment, and Jiang Lianheng sighed that he was too busy to go there in person to find out the truth.

On this side, Chuanghu's skills were indeed agile and swift. In less than the time it took to smoke a cigarette, he emerged from the crowd and quickly approached the Jiang family's convoy.

Jiang Lianheng hurriedly rolled down the window and asked him, "What's going on? What's going on up ahead?"

Chuanghu came over, looking a little nervous, and said quickly: "Boss, all the intersections in the South Railway Concession are now blocked by the Japanese military police!"

Hearing this, everyone was thrown into confusion.

It turned out that as refugees continued to pour in, the Japanese Empire was worried that riots would break out in the Nantie Concession, so it urgently dispatched garrisons, gendarmerie and garrison troops, and strictly restricted the entry of refugees into the concession. The Kwantung Bureau even issued an official document declaring that if necessary, it would take all extreme measures to protect the empire's established interests in Manchuria and the safety of expatriates.

Although this is annoying, the Nantie Concession is only a tiny place after all, and it cannot accommodate all the people of Fengtian who flock in.

"I'm late?"

Jiang Lianheng cursed loudly. If it weren't for the Sky Eagle blocking the road at Xiaoxi Gate, the Jiang family could have arrived earlier.

Unexpectedly, I am now in a dilemma.

Seeing this, Chuang Hu blinked his eyes and quickly explained: "No, no, no, it's not too late. There are still people who can get in. I saw it just now."

"What?" Jiang Lianheng cursed, "Can you please stop breathing heavily when you speak? What's going on?"

Hu Xiaoyan was also sitting in the back seat and asked, "Who went in just now?"

Chuanghu curled his lips and said, "The guy surnamed Pang is the old man from the Education Bureau. I just saw him talking to Xiao Dongyang over there. Also, a few cars drove into the intersection of the next street. They seemed to be Boss Xi's cars. I didn't see them clearly, but they were either officials or big bosses!"

Jiang Lianheng understood immediately. Most of the rules, red tape, and regulations in this world are made for the poor, in order to restrict and make things difficult for them.

On the other hand, as long as you have power, money and influence, all rules, red tape and regulations will open the door for you.

Chuang Hu also understood this, so he quickly suggested: "Boss, you can't rely on me for this matter, you have to do it yourself."

Jiang Lianheng knew that he had no other options, so he patted Zhang Zhengdong's shoulder heavily and said in a deep voice: "Dongfeng, I'll rely on you here first, be smart!"

Zhang Zhengdong nodded silently.

Immediately afterwards, Jiang Lianheng quickly pushed the door and got out of the car.

Upon seeing this, all the brothers swarmed over and prepared to escort them. Although Zhao Guoyan, who was in the car behind, didn't understand why, he immediately held the door and looked over here.

Jiang Lianheng raised his hand to stop them immediately, and then whispered, "You all stay and guard the convoy. I'll be back soon. It won't take long. Too many people will be a nuisance!"

When everyone heard this, they just regretted that they couldn't have the best of both worlds, so they all nodded and replied in unison: "Don't worry, Boss!"

"Huzi, come with me!"

Jiang Lianheng reached out and grabbed Chuanghu, then took a step forward, hurriedly walked through the crowd, and headed towards the border of the Nantie Concession.

People are much more agile when walking than cars, and with the pushing and shoving of people, in less than half a cigarette's time, although they hadn't reached the front, they could already see the border intersection of the South Railway Concession.

Sure enough, Chuanghu was right.

Dozens of Japanese military police had already gathered on the South Railway border, fully armed with live ammunition, always on guard against refugees trying to force their way through.

For this purpose, two rows of barricades were even placed in the middle of the road to serve as fences to prevent people from crossing the border.

When Jiang Lianheng and Chuang Hu arrived, Mr. Pang had not left yet. The old man was standing on the other side of the barricade, chatting and laughing with a young Japanese man in a suit and tie!

This Mr. Pang is said to be a great scholar.

Although he was not a wealthy man, he had some fame in the astronomical and chemical circles of Fengtian and could be considered a well-known figure in society.

During the Qing Dynasty, he passed the imperial examination and entered the official career. Later, when the Qing Dynasty fell, he, like many old men, began to devote himself to learning and studying culture. He once severely criticized Chuang Xia Ying's novels for being immoral in newspapers. Chuang Hu held a grudge against him, so he only called him "the one with the surname Pang."

However, whether this person is "Mr. Pang" or "Mr. Pang" is no longer important at this moment.

Jiang Lianheng's eyes were fixed on the little Dongyang sitting opposite old man Pang - that was none other than Takeda Nobuyuki!
The two men were seen laughing and chatting for a while, and then the fat old man bowed to Takeda Nobuyuki, as if saying goodbye. Takeda Nobuyuki smiled and nodded at him, then raised his hand to invite him to get on a carriage. He then turned around, glanced at him, and was stunned.

Their eyes met, and both sides discovered each other in the crowd.

Takeda Nobuyuki raised his chin slightly and looked at Jiang Lianheng.

For a moment, there was a hint of mockery in his eyes, but it was fleeting, and was replaced by a sincere, concerned and friendly expression.

He hurriedly called over several Japanese military police to escort him through the gaps in the barricades. He walked quickly and waved to Jiang Lianheng with a smile.

"Mr. Jiang, Mr. Jiang——"

Jiang Lianheng clearly saw him, but did not respond. He even had an impulse to leave immediately, but then he thought about his wife and children and did not take a step in the end.

Chuang Hu was standing aside and quickly poked Jiang Lianheng's hip bone twice with his elbow. He wanted to remind his boss that the other party was calling him, but when he looked up at Jiang Lianheng's expression, he quickly and consciously closed his mouth and stopped talking.

"Mr. Jiang——"

As he was speaking, Takeda Nobuyuki had already brought his people to Jiang Lianheng, still with that slightly humble smile on his face and that extremely hypocritical greeting.

"Mr. Jiang, how are you?"

Takeda Nobu asked with concern: "Mengtian is in chaos right now. I heard that there have been several cases of robbery with open fire near the Nanbeiguan gate. I hope your business has not suffered any losses."

As he was talking, he suddenly asked, "By the way, you must not have come here alone. How is your family? Is everyone okay?"

Seeing that the other party did not respond, Takeda Nobuyuki frowned and stretched out his hand and waved it gently in front of Jiang Lianheng twice.

"Mr. Jiang, Mr. Jiang?"

"Oh, Mr. Takeda..."

Jiang Lianheng finally came back to his senses, forced a dry laugh, and asked unnaturally: "What are you doing here... I want to ask, Mr. Pang just now..."

Takeda Nobuyuki quickly waved his hand and said confidently and firmly: "Mr. Jiang, you don't have to say anything more. Where is your car? I can help you properly settle your family."

"Is it?"

There was no joy in Jiang Lianheng's eyes. He hesitated for a moment, but said, "How much money do you need? I can give it to you now."

Takeda Nobuo was stunned for a moment, then he patted Jiang Lianheng's arm generously and laughed loudly, "Why do you want to mention money? We are friends. Since we are friends, of course we should help each other. Now the South Railway Annex strictly restricts the influx of refugees, but you know, influential friends like you are always welcome here."

Jiang Lianheng was a little hesitant, as if there was some kind of omen, and suddenly his toothache came back again.

Takeda Nobuyuki frowned and asked knowingly, "Why, have you settled your family?"

"No," Jiang Lianheng said, covering his cheek, "I don't have a place to stay yet, and the car is blocking the way behind me, so I can't get in at all."

Takeda Nobuo stood on tiptoe and looked around. He couldn't see the Jiang family's convoy for a while, but he said confidently: "This is easy to handle. I can ask the military police to send a few people to help you disperse these refugees. You can just take the opportunity to drive in later. I will go and tell the captain of the military police now."

"and many more--"

Jiang Lianheng subconsciously called him and wanted to say that he needed to think about it first, but when the words came to his lips, even he felt it was ridiculous.

At this moment, in this situation, what else is there to consider? Should I just leave my wife and children stuck outside the South Railway boundary, waiting for my enemies to hunt me down?
Jiang Lianheng couldn't do that.

In fact, it's not just him. No one would put their wife, children and the elderly in danger when there is a way to survive.

Takeda Nobuo narrowed his eyes, as if he saw through his thoughts, then smiled and said, "Mr. Jiang, please don't worry too much. This is just a little help I give you as a friend. There is no exchange of interests. We are all men, and men should do their best to protect their wives, children and parents, isn't it?"

(End of this chapter)