Chapter Forty-Four: The Trouble Caused by Cigarettes

  No. 14 Bao Sheng Li is a small building with its own gate and courtyard, located within the Hankou Russian concession. Although many people come and go every day, there's nothing much to do and the Indian police won't bother, after all, there are many Chinese doing business in the concession, some even busier than this one.

  Liu Tong had just arrived at the gate when he saw Tang Zihong, a fellow party member. Seeing that Tang was carrying something thick under his armpit, Liu hurried over and asked: "Tang, what's this?"

  Tang Zihong is an old man in the literary society. Since deciding to take action, he has been responsible for peripheral work. He also donated a lot of money to Liu Gong, which is very admirable. Moreover, Liu Gong is still the designated premier, so when he sees his brother, he doesn't hide it and says: "This is the eighteen-star flag, we just made it."

  "Eighteen-star flag? Let me take a look."

  Liu Tong had never seen the eighteen-star flag before, so he was very curious. Since there were no outsiders around, Tang Zihong simply unfolded the flag. The flag was as tall as a person and wider than two arms when unfolded.

  Tang Zihong saw that Liu Tong did not understand, and explained: "The black nine corners represent the nine states of Ji, Yan, Qing, Xu, Yang, Jing, Yu, Liang, and Yong recorded in the 'Yu Gong', 18 small yellow round stars represent 18 provinces, symbolizing the unity of the 18 provinces to overthrow the Manchu dynasty. After the great cause is achieved, this will be the national flag!"

  "Really!" Liu Tong's eyes shone with excitement: "So on the day of the uprising, this flag will be planted in the Governor's Mansion?"

  "That's for sure, not only should it be inserted into the Governor's Mansion, but also at each city gate, barracks, government office, and even street corners. At that time, when you walk on the street, you are the younger brother of the Military Government Premier, how majestic!"

  Tang Zihong became more and more excited, but Liu Tong suddenly felt that something was wrong. He asked: "What's wrong? Why are there only eighteen provinces? Northeast China, Mongolia, Tibet, and Xinjiang are not included."

  Tang Zihong's expression stiffened, and he said: "Those are all lands of alien tribes. The Northeast is even the old home of the Manchu people. How can they be included in the flag of my Han people?" After finishing speaking, he ignored Liu Tong and walked away with a huff.

  Liu Tongs tongue slipped out, knowing he had misspoken, but thinking of Tang Zihong's words that he would soon become the Premier's brother and a high-ranking military government official, his heart suddenly itched with impatience, so he couldn't help but rush to Sun Wu's room to ask when they would take action.

  As soon as he entered the house, he saw Sun Wu holding a face basin, with a lot of yellow and black powder inside, carefully wrapping it in thick gauze and stuffing it into an iron shell. Liu Tong saw that he had sweat on his head and thought he was very tired, so he kindly pulled out a cigarette and handed it to him: "Brother Sun, have one to relieve your fatigue."

  Sun Wu saw that it was Liu Tong and didn't pay attention, because he couldn't be distracted, so he said a sentence without looking. Liu Tong didn't get angry either, lit his cigarette after striking the match, and asked: "Brother Sun, Mid-Autumn Festival has passed for several days, when will we take action?"

  "Hurry up, hurry up, wait for this......" Sun Wu was so focused that he didn't notice Liu Tong sneaking up beside him and lighting a cigarette. The smell of smoke suddenly wafted into his nostrils, and when he turned to look, he saw Liu Tong puffing away. His entire back broke out in sweat as he let out a loud shout: "What are you doing?! How can you be smoking here?!"

  Liu Tong was only sixteen years old, and his temperament was unstable. He was so scared by Sun Wu that he shook all over, and the cigarette he was holding unknowingly fell into the washbasin. Before the two of them could react, they heard a loud "boom" sound, and flames suddenly burst out of the washbasin. Sun Wu, caught off guard, was burned on his face and shouted while covering his face: "Quickly come and help! Quickly come and help!"

  Liu Tong was frightened out of his wits and knew that he had gotten into big trouble this time, so he hastily ran away.

  Tang Zihong and others were inspecting the flags and other things in the next room, heard the cry for help and rushed over, but by this time they only saw that the big fire had spread all over the house, and hurriedly used clothes and quilts to put out the fire.

  But the fire was too big, and there were still many uninstalled explosives here, so Sun Wu didn't care about his face hurting, and let everyone hurry to move things. Just then, several urgent alarm sounds rang out, and the crowd suddenly cried out in dismay, and had to drag Sun Wu out through the back door.

  The shrill whistle pierced the Russian concession, and the entire Baoshanli was filled with thick smoke. A large team of Indian police began to surround the area, and soon many Russian soldiers also arrived. This made Sun Wu, who was hiding at the corner of the street and preparing to take advantage of the situation to retrieve his belongings and destroy the evidence, stamp his feet in frustration and grit his teeth, saying: "Quickly go to the French concession and find Deng Yulin."

  Suddenly, the disaster that fell from the sky almost stunned everyone, especially when more and more patrolmen and soldiers rushed over, everyone could only crowd around Sun Wu along the alley to run towards the Japanese concession.

  As the conversation split in two, Liu Tong walked into Baoshanli with a cigarette in his mouth. At the same time, Yang Qiu was also strolling along Xing Sheng Road, which intersected with the French Concession and the International Settlement, dressed in casual attire, accompanied by Yue Peng and several attendants, surveying the terrain.

  Yue Peng introduced: "Xinsheng Road is the intersection of Hua Jie and Zu Jie, with a total of four roads that can enter Zu Jie. The roads are relatively wide, and there is also a railway on the side of Da Zhi Men that can enter Zu Jie. In the past few days, I took people to look around for several days, and most of the time, the roads entering Zu Jie were guarded by Indian police, but Japanese soldiers often came, and they were very strict. Last time, they even beat up a few pedestrians who were preparing to take a shortcut from here."

  "He's Tamada, a Japanese, I really don't know why those rioters still like Japanese people so much. They put up signs saying 'Proletarians not allowed to enter and reside' - isn't that the same as 'Chinese and dogs not allowed to enter'?! The speaker is Ke Shao, a big guy who was one of the first to learn how to use machine guns and is also quite neutral because of his straightforward personality. He was promoted by Yue Peng when he was acting as the leader."

  Yue Peng glared at him, gesturing to lower his voice before continuing: "A single company can basically block the road to Xing's birthplace. Near the riverbank are the offices of the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company and the Customs House, as well as the police station. With the recent rumors, they've strengthened their guard there too. One company should be enough to take it down."

  Only the Da Zhimen area is a bit chaotic, with narrow roads and many intersections, plus it's near the train station, so there will be many refugees. At least two teams are needed to seal off the area. The rest is simple: Hankou only has one railway and one dock for entering and leaving, and foreigners' docks do not allow Chinese people to use them. So as long as we block the east and south gates, and seal off the Chinese dock, we can completely seal off the area.

  "On the telephone exchange side, you also need to pay attention. After the start, immediately cut off the phone lines leading to Wuchang, and the telegraph office must be sealed off at the first time. In short, the Hua District must be thoroughly sealed."

  "The telegraph office is fine, but the phone... foreigners also use this line to contact Wuchang, if it's cut off...". Before Yue Peng could finish expressing his concerns, Yang Qiu laughed and said: "It's not like it'll take ten days or half a month, at most two days and the foreigners won't make a fuss. At worst, they'll come looking for you and you can just say it was blown up and is being repaired, definitely restored as soon as possible."

  Yue Peng thought for a moment, and smiled: "Blockading Hankou is not a big problem, as long as we act quickly I can guarantee that Wuchang won't get the news in one night. But what about those bandits and merchant gentlemen, what do you think should be done with them?"

  "You deal with it yourself." Yang Qiu thought for a moment and instructed, "I don't care about the rest, but Han Ye Peng has a branch company in Hankou, you find a way to make some moves, be careful not to overdo it..."

  Han Ye Ping! Yue Peng was startled, just about to speak when a shrill alarm sounded from the Russian concession in the distance, followed by a massive plume of smoke shooting into the sky.

  When he saw the smoke, Yang Qiu's body suddenly shook violently and rushed towards the British concession. After arriving at the Russian concession area, he vaguely saw a dozen or so panicked people carrying a young man who appeared to be burned into a Japanese hospital.

  When he wanted to go past and take a look, a large number of concession soldiers and police blocked the street, not allowing them to proceed. Yue Peng hastily squeezed forward and saw a German soldier who hurriedly asked in German: "Please tell me, what happened?"

  It was probably unexpected to hear the hometown language in a foreign land, and the German soldier did not hide it, saying: "Damn Russian guys, they took in some southern guys, now something's happened, this place will be locked down, you'd better leave quickly."

  Yue Peng had often been to the German concession before, and upon hearing this sentence, his face changed color immediately. Because when German soldiers referred to party members, they liked to use southerners as substitutes, so he immediately guessed roughly what was going on.

  "What's the date today?" As soon as he thought of this, Yue Peng pulled over Ke Shao, who thought something big had happened and hastily said: "August 18th, Mid-Autumn Festival was just three days ago, sir, you forgot?"

  Yue Peng's eyes shifted to look at Yang Qiu, and all along he had thought that Yang Qiu's "assertion" should be based on analysis of subtle clues, after all, he was already a banner general and could access many high-level secrets. But now he felt it was really somewhat divine!

  There's no doubt that the Russian ambassador will soon report the situation to the other side, and Mizuki, who has been worried lately, will definitely take action on this occasion. Moreover, from a military perspective, launching an attack while the enemy is still not fully established is the best choice for the weaker side, and those party members will definitely... launch an attack!

  Yang Qiu couldn't find the words to describe this complex mindset, watching famous historical events unfold before his eyes, within reach, and even having the ability to turn them around - what kind of feeling was that? Itchy, sour, numb, painful... all mixed together in a terrible way! But privately, he told himself that to rise up in this chaotic world and gain enough support, it wasn't just about guns and cannons, but also about fame and victory! So he needed this momentum!

  He is not a god, and with this group of people, he can't stop the Beiyang warlord, let alone his own notorious reputation. So he needs to borrow the power of Wuchang even more, needs to use a war to clear his name and establish himself as a hero! Set up a new benchmark for this country! He hated that he couldn't rush in to take a look, but most importantly, he endured it, there are some things...he can't manage, nor does he want to manage.

  "Let's go, curfew is about to start......" Yang let out a dejected sigh and led the group of people, including Yue Peng who had a shocked expression on his face, back in determination. Meanwhile, inside a hospital in the Japanese concession area, it was chaotic as Dr. Kono carefully treated Sun Wu's burns. Next to them, Deng Yulin and others were so tense they couldn't speak, wondering what to do with such an unexpected turn of events when something big was about to happen.

  A piece of scorched skin made Sun Wu take a cold breath, and Kawahara, who knew Sun Wu, hastily said: "Sun-san, you can rest assured here, if anything happens I can send word to the consulate of my country and have them take you to Shanghai on a warship."

  Sun Wu smiled wryly and said: "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Kawanabe. May I speak with them first?"

  "Of course." Kawano Kakeru bandaged his wound and left the hospital room with his Japanese assistant, but as soon as he closed the door, he immediately put his ear against it.

  No one in the ward knew that Kono was eavesdropping. Sun Wu's heart was urgent, because there was a flower name list in Bao Shanli, which recorded all the party members of the three towns, so he couldn't help asking: "How is it outside? Bao Shanli......"

  "Bao Shanli was raided by the Russian police, I saw them loading all the things onto a horse cart and sending it to Rui Cheng's place, and......" Seeing Deng Yulin hesitating, Sun Wu urged impatiently, slapping the bed: "Hurry up and say what happened!"

  "Liu Gong heard about this and hastily sent Liu Tong and Li Shuqing back to retrieve the name list, but unexpectedly... they were caught. The current situation is still unknown, but I've already informed everyone to evacuate as soon as possible." Deng Yulin didn't dare hesitate anymore, gritted his teeth and said: "The situation is now urgent, many comrades don't know what to do, Bo Kui has rushed back, now we need..."

  Everyone knew what Deng Yulin meant and looked at Sun Wu on the hospital bed.

  Sun Wu was very unwilling, originally the Gongjin Association and the Literary Society had conflicts, now he finally managed to bring the Gongjin Association to the same level as the Literary Society, and just when he was about to use their power in the military to make his name known nationwide, something like this happened at a critical moment.

  But he also understood that the flower name list must have been sent to Rui Cheng and Zhang Biao's hands, at this moment there are only two roads! The ward immediately fell silent, the heartbeat sound became more urgent, it had reached a critical moment, was it a desperate struggle or...?

  Half a minute later, Sun Wu suddenly beckoned to Deng Yulin, who had just walked to the bedside when he suddenly grasped his hand: "I'm already disabled, now I rely entirely on Brother Bing San! You immediately cross the river to inform the comrades in Xiao Chao Street, and also send someone to contact Han Yang, just say my opinion, launch tonight! Only by launching immediately can we take the initiative, put them in a desperate situation and then come back to life!

  "Tell everyone, victory or defeat is at this moment, be careful!"