Republic of China: Ace Pilot

Chapter 239, How Did They Escape? Yoshida's Spy Life, Yue Jinping Appears
After delivering live cattle and sheep, the cargo ship returned along the same route, from Shajing Port to the Huangpu River, and then went upstream to Jiaxing.

Fang Wen and his party disembarked in Jiaxing and boarded the Yunhe seaplane to fly directly to Wuhan.

After all this commotion, three hours have already passed.

Outside the small Western-style building in Hongkou.

The long wait made the Japanese soldiers very impatient.

But considering that the person tied up inside was a naval admiral, they had no choice but to endure it.

An hour later, the officer finally couldn't resist picking up the megaphone and shouting, "What's your decision?"

No one spoke inside.

The officer was somewhat nervous.

"What if they ran away?"

This idea was not approved by his colleagues.

More than 1000 soldiers surrounded the small villa, making it as impenetrable as an iron barrel, with no way to escape.

In order not to provoke the robbers inside, they decided to wait a little longer.

Another half hour passed, and the sun was already high in the sky, but there was still no movement on the third floor of the small villa.

The Japanese officer raised the megaphone again: "Haven't you reached an agreement yet?"

There was still no reply.

Realizing something was wrong, the officer immediately asked, "Are you still there?"

There was still no reply.

He sensed something was wrong and beckoned to his direct subordinates: "Go up and check it out. Don't attack first. Report back immediately if anything happens."

A small squad of soldiers prepared to go in.

The other officers, however, were trying to stop them.

"No, three hostages have already died. What if our offense angers the kidnappers again and the general gets injured as a result?"

The officer said coldly, "They're not answering at all now. What if they commit suicide out of fear of punishment? We need to know whether the general is alive or dead."

These words immediately aroused the same concerns in the others, and no one stopped them anymore.

The soldier then carefully climbed up the dilapidated stairs.

A few minutes passed, but it felt like an eternity.

Then a soldier ran down and reported, "Sir, the robbers are all gone. The general and the others are still here, but they have bombs strapped to their bodies. We dare not approach them."

Upon hearing this report, the officers rushed forward without hesitation.

But then he stopped at the top of the stairs.

The power of last night's bomb flashed through their minds; it was still very dangerous up there.

Only the officer who had been leading the negotiations went upstairs first; once he was upstairs, the other officers could only follow.

They encountered no explosions along the way; the battle the previous night had used up all the bombs, and they arrived at the third-floor room unharmed.

Two officers and Nagano Osamu, blindfolded, gagged, and with their mouths and eyes bound, sat quietly in chairs.

Each of the three men had a bomb strapped to their chest.

The officer went over, removed the veil, and urgently asked Yoshida and another officer, "Where are they? Where are they?"

The others, however, surrounded Nagano Osamu, offering him words of comfort and concern.

The bound officer shook his head blankly: "I don't know anything."

Yoshida echoed this sentiment, saying, "We can't see, we can't hear, and we can't shout, so we have no idea what's going on around us."

"Tomohiro Shiota, what are you doing? The most important thing right now is to defuse the bomb," the others scolded.

So this person's name is Tomohiro Shiota.

His rank in the army was not high, so he could only keep quiet.

It was Nagano Osamu who spoke up: "Find someone to defuse the bomb immediately, and arrest the perpetrators as well. Shiota Tomohiro, you're in charge of arresting them."

Shioda Tomohiro stood at attention to receive the order.

Immediately, both sides got busy.

On one side, Japanese naval marines' technical officers were discussing how to dismantle the bomb.

On one side, Tomohiro Shiota was inspecting every suspicious item in the room.

Tomohiro Shiota went to the window and found a loudspeaker under the black curtains.

This is the loudspeaker used by the kidnappers. Shiota Tomohiro picked up the loudspeaker to examine it, but unexpectedly found a note underneath it.

It was written on the note.

“If you release them, we will keep our promise. The bombs on their bodies are attached to chairs; they cannot be moved, or they will explode.”

Upon seeing this, Tomohiro Shiota exclaimed urgently, "Don't move! If you move, the bomb will explode!"

Everyone immediately froze.

Shiota Tomohiro brought the paper over and carefully examined it while crouching down.

He noticed that each of the three people had a wire connecting them to a chair.

He took a deep breath, continued looking at the paper in his hand, and read it aloud.

"The bomb is attached to the chair; you can't move it, or it will explode. But I'm keeping my promise and will let them go. There are two wires inside the bomb, one red and one blue. Cutting the red wire will stop the bomb from exploding. Believe it or not."

After reading it aloud, Tomohiro Shiota analyzed, "Looking at it this way, they left us with a choice between two options. Whether you believe it or not, we have to choose one."

To ensure the success rate of bomb disposal, the technical officer in charge of bomb disposal said, "I need a test subject who will be the first to disarm the bomb. Whether he succeeds or not, I can learn the correct solution from him."

The experimenter was definitely not Osamu Nagano.

That leaves Yoshida and another officer.

After a moment of internal struggle, the officer shook his head frantically.

Yoshida then recalled what Wen and he had said before the operation.

"Your biggest advantage in the military is being Nagano Osamu's adjutant, which gives you a higher starting point than others. But that won't make Nagano Osamu think highly of you. He will have other adjutants in the future, and you are just a process of repaying a favor. To gain his attention, you need to be loyal and do things that move him, such as risking your life for him. So, in the end, you must bravely stand up."

Yoshida remembered that the mysterious boss had said he wouldn't let him and Nagano Osamu die, so could it be understood that the bombs on him and Nagano Osamu's bodies would definitely not explode?

With this thought in mind, he calmly and resolutely said, "I am willing to find the correct method to break the bomb for the general. Please let me do it."

These words surprised the officers and made Nagano Osamu think more highly of the boy. This child was indeed worthy of his old friend's family; he was fearless in the face of death and of noble character.

Immediately, Yoshida, looking completely at ease, was surrounded by sandbags as the technical officer carefully removed the bomb's outer cover.

"You can choose which one to cut."

At this moment, Yoshida spoke up: "I want to choose the one with the red cut."

With a snap, the technical officer cut the red wire, then quickly ran away and lay prone.

Yoshida bravely stood up, and there was no explosion.

He succeeded, and then the technical officer carefully defused the bomb for Nagano Osamu and another officer, which was also successful.

Having escaped, Nagano Osamu harbored boundless rage. His first instinct was to issue the order: "Capture those people and find them. Shiota Tomohiro is in your hands now. You can mobilize all the troops in Shanghai."

With Shangguan's full support, Shiota Tomohiro replied, "General, we must know how these people escaped."

Yes, that's the key point; otherwise, we wouldn't understand why.

Could those people possibly become invisible, fly, or disappear into the earth?

How exactly did they disappear without a trace while surrounded by more than 1000 soldiers?

Some officers even suspected that it was done by Chinese gods and ghosts, otherwise how could it be so miraculous?

Shiota Tomohiro, however, did not believe in ghosts or gods. He believed there must be a reason, just like a magic show.

With this conviction in mind, he searched the room carefully.

After all, this is the only area where they can operate, and it's the only place where they can use their methods.

After a very careful search, he finally found it.

There's a pad underneath the wooden cabinet. After removing it, you'll find a plywood. Opening the plywood reveals the next layer.

It seems the person escaped from here.

Shiota Tomohiro immediately ordered his soldiers to crawl down and investigate. Subsequently, they discovered the same hidden hole in the study on the second floor, leading to the kitchen on the first floor.

But in the kitchen, they found the body of a Japanese soldier.

An officer downstairs immediately rushed over to check.

However, during the process of moving the body, a bomb was detonated, killing him instantly.

Another one died.

Shiota Tomohiro looked at the two mangled corpses and ordered an investigation.

After some investigation, it was discovered that these were special operations soldiers of the Japanese Marine Corps.

He had participated in the night battles, but instead of leaving the villa, he secretly hid in the kitchen.

Unfortunately, he didn't notice the hidden hole above his head and was killed by those people.

Tomohiro Shiota deduced that the place where they ultimately disappeared was the kitchen, and there must be something wrong there.

After searching for a while, they found the basement and followed the underground pipe network to the Shajinggang River.

At this point, all of Fang Wen's plans were revealed to Shiota Tomohiro, leaving him in awe.

He immediately returned and reported to Osamu Nagano.

"General, I have ascertained the situation. Their escape route was underground, and they eventually left by water. I have sent men to investigate, but I'm afraid we won't be able to capture them."

Nagano Osamu changed his clothes, dismissed everyone else, and left only Yoshida and Shiota Tomohiro behind.

He asked, "Who do you think did it? The Volunteer Army, the Nationalist government, the British, the French, or someone else?"

Shiota Tomohiro analyzed, "It couldn't be the Volunteer Army; they couldn't do that. The Blue Shirts Society and the Revival Society, which were only recently established by the Nationalist government, couldn't do it either. I think it must be a secret organization from abroad; only they would have this kind of organizational and operational capability."

"Why?" Nagano Osamu asked.

Tomohiro Shiota picked up the bulletproof shield: "This kind of thing is very ingenious and expensive, and requires a special mechanical department to manufacture. Their weapons use American-made Thompson submachine guns, British-made grenades, and all kinds of sophisticated bombs, which can even be remotely controlled to explode. These are things that neither the Volunteer Army nor the Nationalist government can do."

After a pause, Tomohiro Shiota added, "And their plan was incredibly ingenious, with each step linked to the next, even incorporating psychology. I think only the British MI6, the US Office of Strategic Services, and the Russian GUGB could have such organizational capabilities. I suspect it was a secret operation by the GUGB."

Osamu Nagano nodded in agreement: "I was about to go to London to attend the Anglo-American-Japanese Naval Conference, and Russia had every reason to stop me. But why did they let me go in the end?"

This is a rather pointed question. Shiota Tomohiro analyzed, "Perhaps they changed their plans at the last minute and didn't want to cause tension in relations between the two countries, or perhaps..."

“No need to think about it anymore, I think this is it.” Nagano Osamu looked at Yoshida: “You and Shiota Tomohiro write a report based on this. I need to go back to Japan to explain the situation to the military.”

The bizarre kidnapping of a naval admiral has come to an end.

Things eventually turned out to be a different story.

A wealthy Japanese businessman was kidnapped, and the Japanese Marine Corps actively pursued the criminals.

The kidnappers were eventually all killed, and the wealthy businessman was rescued.

This story, complete with pictures and text, makes it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood, thus concealing the truth.

Subsequently, Nagano Osamu and Yoshida returned to Japan and explained the contents of Shiota Tomohiro's report to the military.

All he needed was an excuse; with that excuse, he could cover up the whole thing.

Therefore, this became another egregious covert military operation by Russia, following the nighttime strategic bombing.

Meanwhile, Fang Wen, who flew to Wuhan, managed various matters at the new headquarters while searching for news of Yue Jinping.

Another month has passed.

Taishan Airlines' headquarters moved to Wuhan nearly a month and a half ago.

The two major cities in the Republic of China era were vastly different, and it took the employees, who were stationed there for a long time, some time to adapt.

The climate is alright, with four distinct seasons, cold winters and hot summers.

Mainly the taste

The flavors in Shanghai are: rich and dark, with soup at every meal, light in summer and autumn, and rich in winter and spring.

The flavors in Wuhan are more inclusive: sour, spicy, sweet, and salty are all welcome, especially the snacks, which come in many varieties and are very appetizing.

However, Taishan Airlines' canteen can solve this taste problem, as the chefs there can cook dishes from the Jiangzhe region.

Everything seemed to have returned to normal, and Taishan Airlines continued its rapid development.

But this is only the surface; a full-scale war is about to break out in just two years.

Fang Wen's time was very tight; he needed to return to Yangon to continue developing his aircraft industry.

In order to play a greater role in the war of resistance, it was necessary to develop our own military aircraft before the outbreak of the full-scale war of resistance.

But before going to Yangon, Fang Wen had to see Yue Jinping to put his mind at ease.

This wish, however, has never come true. Yue Jinping seems to have vanished into thin air. No matter what methods Fang Wen uses, he cannot find her whereabouts.

In mid-June, I received a secret letter.

"General Manager, there's a letter addressed to you. It was left in the mailroom, but the messenger is nowhere to be found." Zhao Shanhu, the newly appointed captain of the headquarters security team, arrived at the general manager's office on the fifth floor of the new headquarters building and took out a letter.

Zhao Shanhu is someone Fang Wen has always wanted to include in his inner circle, but he hasn't made a decision yet. He's just letting Zhao Shanhu serve as the security captain for now to observe him.

"Put it on the table, I'll look at it later," Fang Wen replied, who was reading the documents.

After Zhao Shanhu left, Fang Wen took out gloves, put them on, and picked up the envelope to examine it.

The envelope bore only one signature: Fang Wen, an old friend.

Fang Wen carefully opened the package with a paper cutter.

I was immediately excited when I saw the contents of the letter.

The handwriting inside was a secret mark he and Yue Jinping had used.

Only he and Yue Jinping knew.

"After the Tianjin incident, I was physically and mentally wounded and had no face to see you. Now that I've come to my senses, what harm is there in meeting you? Let's meet at the old site of the Yellow Crane Tower today."

Suppressing his excitement, Fang Wen is now more cautious than before, and he will no longer act rashly based on emotions.

He dialed the special operations team's number and asked the team members to come with him.

Immediately afterwards, the two cars drove towards Wuchang.

Fang Wen drove to the site of the Yellow Crane Tower and stopped, while the team members parked their cars some distance away and then spread out to guard the area.

Time passed slowly, and Fang Wen waited silently.

Half an hour later, a man in a trench coat and round hat came towards us.

His hat brim covered his face, and he was looking down, so his features were completely obscured.

She didn't look up until she was in front of Fang Wen.

It was Yue Jinping, but she looked different.

With an eye patch covering her right eye, a beautiful young woman was transformed into a one-eyed monster.

Yet it possesses a unique beauty.

"What happened to your eyes?" Fang Wen couldn't help but ask.

"I'm not blind, but I have a scar, and I don't like people seeing that scar."

Yue Jinping said she didn't want others to see her injuries, but she took off her blindfold and revealed them.

A scar running across the corner of her eye has marred her appearance.

Fang Wen reached out and put down the blindfold: "It can be cured. I'll take you to America, where there are the best cosmetic doctors."

“No need, it will make me stronger.” Yue Jinping smiled and shook her head in refusal. Clearly, she had undergone a significant change during that ordeal.

Fang Wen sighed inwardly and walked with Yue Jinping toward the old site of the Yellow Crane Tower.

(A warning bell tower was built on the original site of the Yellow Crane Tower during the Republic of China era.)

With both physical and emotional wounds, Yue Jinping lamented, "It's ruined too."

Fang Wen comforted her, saying, "It's not just been destroyed once; it's been rebuilt time and time again over the past thousand years. Each time it's rebuilt, it represents the continuation of civilization. You are like it; you too can be reborn from the ashes."

Yue Jinping nodded and touched her blindfold: "I volunteered to be transferred to the intelligence group. Before I am reborn, I must avenge this grudge. That androgynous guy will eventually die by my hand."

"Who are you talking about?" Fang Wen asked in surprise.

“She said she had many names, but her favorite was Kawashima Yoshiko,” Yue Jinping said, her left eye blazing with hatred.

(End of this chapter)