novelSusiti Chapter 102 Arrival in Shanghai
Chapter 102 Arrival in Shanghai
Chapter 102 Arrival in Shanghai
"The British are getting desperate."
Inside the bank lobby, Chicken and his men, hiding behind cover, chuckled. "The army's grenadier company is on its way."
On the street outside the bank, a group of army soldiers wearing tall black fur hats and red uniforms had arrived and began to fire their Enfield 1853 rifles at the inside.
One of the assassins poked his head out, swiftly using his revolver to kill two soldiers who were about to rush in, then withdrew and said, "Speaking of which, why don't these grenadiers have any grenades on them?"
"Do grenadiers always have to carry grenades?"
"Nonsense, why call them grenadiers if they don't have grenades? Just call them infantry!"
"I told you to read more books, but you're going to feed pigs instead."
Chicken couldn't stand it anymore, so he slapped a policeman who was reaching the window to death, then pulled back and said, "After entering the 19th century, because the battlefield basically became open field battles, the British thought that the practicality of throwing grenades at close range had decreased, so they simply canceled this equipment and used grenadiers as elite infantry."
"Not long after, the British might even abolish this branch of the military."
"They don't have grenades, but we do."
One of the assassins grinned, pulled a grenade from his waist, pulled the pin, counted to three, and then threw it forcefully outwards.
The grenade flew in an arc through the air and landed precisely in the ranks of the main force of soldiers who were assembling.
"Get out of the way!"
The British officer shouted in terror, turning his body to the side as he tried to get away from the hissing device.
Although he didn't recognize the item, he knew it couldn't be a gift from the other side to them.
But it was too late.
boom!
The grenade exploded, and the shockwave and shrapnel instantly took the lives of several nearby soldiers and the officer.
The soldiers nearby stared in shock at the scene before them, then immediately realized what was happening: "Don't gather together! Spread out! They have powerful explosive weapons!"
Pheasant peered through the gaps in the bunker, observing the situation outside. Suddenly, his expression turned serious: "Prepare to retreat and engage them in close-quarters combat!"
"What's wrong?"
"The British fucking pushed their cannons over here!"
Inside the vault, as the assassins continuously transferred coins, the wooden boxes containing gold and silver coins dwindled in number.
The small safes on the other side were also all opened, and the bonds, ledgers, bills, and antique gems inside were taken out.
The crow stood in the center of the vault, took out a pocket watch, and glanced at the time.
By this time, more than forty minutes had passed since they stormed the bank. Given the British response speed, the police, army, and even navy should have arrived by now, leaving them with little time.
"Chicken, how's the situation on your end?" he asked in his mind.
"Not very good."
Pheasant threw a grenade, which landed around a corner, killing two soldiers behind it. But the next second, a dozen bullets came flying in his direction, forcing him to continue retreating.
"The British used three three-pound cannons to bombard us inside, forcing us to retreat. After we were forced inside, the people outside rushed in and started fighting us in the interior."
"We've lost fifty or sixty British men so far, but we also have two brothers who have died in battle."
The crow said, "Let's move to the vault; we're almost done moving things here."
,,"clear."
Meanwhile, outside the bank.
Governor Sir John Pauline, Rear Admiral Stirling of the Navy, and Major General Crawford of the Army all arrived at the scene.
There was no other reason than that the bank held the military pay for the army and navy stationed in Hong Kong for the next year.
If this money is lost, not only will the parliament and the Ministry of War back home mutini, but even their own soldiers might rebel: "Just a few dozen bandits, why are they taking so long to take them down?"
Major General Crawford frowned in displeasure and snapped at his adjutant, "Keep sending men in. Don't worry about casualties. Overwhelm them with sheer numbers."
Major General Stirling, who was standing nearby, chuckled and muttered, "Foolish command."
"What did you say?!"
Rear Admiral Crawford whirled around, his beard bristling and eyes bulging with anger. "General Sterling, is this all the Navy can do—slander others behind their backs like petty villains?"
Major General Stirling glanced at him, still with that contemptuous expression: "Slander behind my back? No, General Crawford, I'm insulting you to your face."
"You only know how to act recklessly and don't even understand the art of command. No wonder you ordered a light cavalry brigade to attack the Russian artillery positions during the Battle of Balaklava, causing the deaths of so many brave soldiers."
"you----"
Major General Crawford's face darkened as he felt his sore spot was hit.
The Battle of Balaklava at the end of October last year was a humiliating defeat for the British Army and has become the biggest joke in Britain and even the world.
Due to the confusion caused by command, a light cavalry brigade was ordered to charge in dense formation across 1,500 meters of open ground to capture Russian field guns, without any artillery support from their own side.
The result was obvious: within twenty minutes, hundreds of men and twice the number of warhorses died, and an entire brigade was utterly decimated.
He sneered, showing no mercy to Sterling, and retorted, "Your navy is certainly skilled in command. How come I heard that a sixth-class ship was sunk by pirates a few days ago?"
"Her name is Rattlesnake, right? Looks like she's got a rather unremarkable captain husband."
Sterling's face also darkened instantly. The two glared at each other, using sarcastic remarks to stab each other in the back.
It wasn't until Sir John Bowring came over that their greetings were interrupted.
"Gentlemen, generals, mind your manners!"
Bao Ning sighed with a headache. He really hadn't expected that at this critical juncture, the top commanders of the Navy and the Army would be arguing.
"The soldiers have already stormed in; those bandits should be dealt with soon."
As Bao Ning said, most of the soldiers in the army grenadier company rushed into the bank. At this moment, the gunfire inside had weakened considerably and was intermittent, indicating that the advance was going smoothly.
The three waited outside for a while longer, and then they saw an officer rush out from inside, his face filled with the terror of someone who had seen a ghost.
He saluted Major General Crawford, panting, "S-Commander, -something terrible has happened!"
"What's wrong? The robbers burned the things in the vault?"
Major General Crawford felt a pang of anxiety; he had a considerable amount of bonds stored there, and burning them would be a devastating blow to him.
"It didn't burn, it's gone!"
The officer caught his breath and quickly said, "There's nothing in the vault! The bandits disappeared along with the gold!"
"What?!?!"
Meanwhile, in Shanghai.
As the Chengfeng slowly entered the Wusongkou, Hong Rengan stood at the bow, gazing at the familiar scenery on both banks, remaining silent for a long time.
The river was crowded with boats of all sizes, including sand barges, fishing boats, steam warships, and several Qing Dynasty naval patrol boats, their sails billowing as they cruised back and forth on the river.
"It's been a year," he remarked.
Hongwu stood beside him, holding a monocular telescope and observing the distant docks. Hearing this, he casually remarked, "I remember Mr. Hong's last visit to Shanghai was last year, wasn't it?"
"Yes, the fourth year of the Xianfeng reign."
Hong Rengan nodded: "The Small Swords Society had already occupied Shanghai at that time. I came from Hong Kong by boat, intending to go north to Tianjing via them."
"But Liu Lichuan didn't believe my identity and refused to help me, so I had no choice but to return to Hong Kong in winter."
Yung Wing had somehow reached the bow of the ship. Upon hearing this, he sighed, "Unfortunately, even the Little Knife Society couldn't hold on."
Hong Rengan also sighed.
In the third year of the Xianfeng Emperor's reign, the Small Swords Society launched an uprising and occupied Shanghai County overnight.
He was overjoyed when he saw the news. Shanghai was the economic lifeline of Jiangnan; taking Shanghai was tantamount to taking half of Jiangnan.
The unwilling Qing court would certainly draw troops from the Jiangnan and Jiangbei camps to rescue the Taiping army in Nanjing, thus giving the Taiping army inside the city a sigh of relief.
But no one expected that the French, who had originally claimed neutrality, would help the Qing Dynasty.
On January 6, 1855, French fleet commander Rachel led French troops in cooperation with Qing troops to bombard the north gate of Shanghai.
After a month of fighting, the members of the Small Knife Society ran out of ammunition and food on February 17. Most of them were killed in battle, and only a few survivors escaped to Zhenjiang.
Hongwu gave a mocking smile: "So these white people are unreliable. For their own benefit, they can attack the Qing Dynasty one minute and attack you the next."
He paused for a moment, then said, "Alright, let's not talk about these things anymore. Mr. Rong, Mr. Hong, the Chengfeng and Polang ships need to stay in Shanghai for a few days to replenish their coal supplies and gather some intelligence."
"Where to dock? At the British docks?"
"No, stop at Hongkou Wharf."
Hong Wu said, "That's the American concession, run by Americans. The Chengfeng and Polang are genuine American ships with all the necessary paperwork, so they're not afraid of being checked."
Yung Wing asked worriedly, "Aren't you afraid of being investigated? Don't we still have weapons in our cabins and on the Broken Wave?"
Hongwu smiled slightly: "Rest assured."
At this moment, Hong Rengan asked, "What intelligence are we investigating?"
Hongwu took out a hand-drawn map from his pocket. It was a navigation map of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, from Wusongkou all the way to Nanjing, marking sandbars, shoals, reefs and major ports along the way.
"This is a Yangtze River navigation map that a British person gave me, but it's five years old, and I don't know if it's still usable. So I need to find someone familiar with the situation to help me revise it."
"In addition, we must send people to scout along the river. The Qing navy has defenses in Zhenjiang and Jiangyin. We must find out the locations of the Qing army's sentry boats and forts."
As the group chatted, a pilot boat rowed by and called out near the ship, "Sir, do you need a pilot?"
Upon hearing this, Hongwu looked over and saw a young white man who said in English, "Of course, come on up."
A rope ladder was thrown down from the side of the boat, and the young white man seized the opportunity, grabbed the ladder from the small boat, and quickly climbed up.
"My name is Eric. May I ask where the captain is?" the white man asked, looking around as he boarded the ship.
"Wait a moment," Hongwu said.
Soon, a bearded white man emerged from the cabin, shook hands with Eric, and asked, "I'm Bucky, the captain of this ship. How much is the pilotage fee?"
"Is that boat behind yours too? If so, both boats cost two hundred dollars."
Bucky nodded and said, "A reasonable price. Please begin."
Yung Wing, standing to the side, looked at Bucky with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
This man appeared when they brought Hong Rengan to the ship from Hong Kong. Hongwu said he was there to deal with the white people's inspections. But in all the time they'd been on the ship, he'd barely seen this man a few times. He seemed to be hiding somewhere, a complete oddball.
Guided by Eric, the ship navigated around the shallows inside and outside the Wusongkou estuary, and after the tide came in, it sailed into the Huangpu River along the deep-water channel.
The Qing troops at Wusongkou did not stop them, acting as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.
Several hours later, the two ships successfully docked at the US Concession pier in Hongkou.
Bucky readily pulled out ten Double Eagle gold coins and handed them to Eric, then turned to Hongwu and the others: "Give me the ship registration certificate, cargo manifest, and crew list, and I'll handle the customs declaration."
More than an hour later, Bucky returned to the ship: "It's resolved, I've got the customs clearance form."
2
Yung Wing, standing to the side, stared in disbelief: "Isn't the American consul going to come and inspect? Isn't he afraid our packing list is fake?"
Hongwu shrugged: "The American consul is only responsible for collecting money. The inspection of goods is under the jurisdiction of the Qing Customs, but the Qing Customs dare not board foreign ships."
"Oh shit!"
Upon hearing this, Yung Wing felt deeply humiliated. "Clearly on Chinese territory, the Chinese dare not inspect foreign ships."
"This is what happens when a country is weak."
Hongwu patted Rong Hong on the shoulder: "Don't be angry. In a few years, once our big ships are built, the situation will change."
"Alright, let's get off the boat. Do you know where we can buy coal?"
Hong Rengan said, "You've come to the right person. I actually know the answer to this."
The group disembarked and looked around the dock.
The docks here are not as large as those in San Francisco or Hong Kong, but they are still very bustling. Between the piers, piles of goods—tea, silk, cotton, tung oil—are being carried onto ships in a steady stream.
Further along, there are rows of simple stalls along the roadside, selling food, tea, and groceries—you name it.
If you look further into the distance, you can see the outlines of some Western-style buildings, some with pointed roofs and some with domes, gleaming in the sunlight.
Those are buildings from the American and British concessions.
"This way." Hong Rengan tugged at Hong Wu's sleeve and walked to the right.
The two walked along the dirt road until they reached a slightly wider area.
Several mule carts were parked there, loaded with black coal. A middle-aged man in a blue cloth jacket was squatting beside one of the carts smoking. When he saw them approaching, he stood up and put on a smile.
"Boss, want to buy coal? It's all high-quality coal from Shanxi."
"He's from Shanxi, trying to scare you."
Hong Rengan squatted down and squeezed it, saying, "This looks like local coal from Hunan or Jiangxi."