Courtyard House: I Rely on Time-Space Trade to Build a Nation

Gunfire has not completely subsided within the city, and the work of searching for and eliminating the remaining enemy forces and clearing the battlefield continues.

In the basement of an inconspicuous house near the provincial capital, Wang Yaowu took off his lieutenant general's uniform, put on a wrinkled blue cotton long gown, wore an old felt hat, smeared some ash on his face, and stuck on a fake beard, disguising himself as a merchant wounded in the war and in a hurry to leave the city for medical treatment.

He was accompanied only by two bodyguards dressed as his assistants, who carried some gold, silver, valuables, and forged travel permits and medical records.

He knew that Jinan was no longer defensible and that there was no hope of reinforcements from Xuzhou. His only way out was to take advantage of the chaos to slip out of the city, flee east to Qingdao, which was still under the control of the National Revolutionary Army, and then take a boat south from there.

Thanks to his familiarity with the terrain of Jinan and the cover provided by his remaining trusted confidants, Wang Yaowu and his group actually managed to slip out of Jinan from near the gap in the dilapidated city wall in the east, blending into the crowd of refugees.

Looking back, the smoke-shrouded Jinan was gradually fading into the distance. Wang Yaowu felt a mix of emotions, but his will to survive overwhelmed everything.

He dared not take the main roads, but instead chose small paths and fields, hiding during the day and going out at night, hurriedly heading east towards Qingdao.

However, to his utter surprise, someone was already waiting for him there.

This person was none other than Zhao Ping'an.

With the overall outcome of the battle already decided, 502 casually remarked:

"Wang Yaowu is a cautious military strategist who has been managing Jinan for many years. He may not hold out to the bitter end. We must guard against him escaping in disguise." The speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart.

Zhao Ping'an immediately recalled vague fragments of historical memory—it seemed that Wang Yaowu did try to escape after the fall of Jinan, and was eventually caught by the militia in the Shouguang area.

Although he couldn't recall the specific details, the general direction of heading east towards Qingdao and the possible characteristics of a disguised businessman or patient gave him crucial clues.

Towards the end of the battle, Zhao Ping'an approached Xu Yuanshan and the commander of the 502nd Division and made a suggestion:

"Commander, to prevent senior generals such as Wang Yaowu from disguising themselves and fleeing, especially towards Qingdao, could we rely on local armed forces and militia to set up some temporary checkpoints along several major eastward routes and in relevant counties east of Jinan, especially in the Shouguang and Changyi areas?"

The focus of the checks will be on young and middle-aged men who act suspiciously, have entourages, or claim to be businessmen or patients.

The commander of the 502nd Division immediately signed an order requiring local troops and militia to cooperate in strengthening checks in the relevant areas, especially to temporarily intercept all pedestrians heading east and carefully distinguish them.

Zhao Ping'an volunteered to lead a battalion of soldiers, traveling by truck along the Jinan-Zhoucun-Zhangdian-Yidu route towards Shouguang, to conduct patrols, supervision, and key interception operations.

Based on his vague memory, he focused his suspicions on the area northwest of Shouguang leading to the ferry crossing on the Chu River (Mi River).

On September 28th, at noon, near Zhang Jianqiao (pseudonym) in the northwest of Shouguang County.

After several days of living in the open and living in fear, Wang Yaowu looked haggard. He pretended to be a businessman with a leg injury, but it seemed that his leg injury had really worsened during his travels, and he walked with a limp.

They arrived at the Mi River, looking for something to cross. It was still quite a distance from Qingdao, but once they crossed the river, they felt a little safer.

Just as they were resting at a simple teahouse by the river and trying to inquire about the ferry, several young men wearing militia armbands and carrying rifles approached them, looking wary.

The militia captain looked at Wang Yaowu and his two companions, his gaze lingering for a moment on the "businessman's" slightly pale hands, his unnatural "sickly" appearance, and the overly sharp eyes of the two "employees."

"What are you doing here? Where are you from? Where are you going? Show me your travel permits." The militia captain asked routinely.

Wang Yaowu's heart tightened, but he forced himself to remain calm, pulled out a forged travel permit and a fake medical record, and explained in slightly southern-accented Mandarin:

"Boss, we run a small business in Jinan. Our shop was destroyed by artillery fire, and I also injured my leg. We are in a hurry to go to Qingdao to stay with relatives and get treatment."

The militia captain carefully examined the travel permit and then looked them up and down.

The road permit looks quite similar, but the details of the seal seem to differ slightly from the recently reported samples seized by higher authorities.

Moreover, the demeanor of these three "businessmen" seemed quite different from that of typical refugee merchants.

"Captain, there are a few trucks coming over there, they look like our troops!" a sharp-eyed militiaman shouted, pointing to the dust rising in the distance.

Wang Yaowu had a bad feeling and was just about to find an excuse to leave when the military truck sped up and stopped with a screech outside the teahouse.

Dozens of fully armed, sharp-eyed soldiers jumped off the vehicle, led by Zhao Ping'an.

"Danger?" A slight stinging sensation came, a sense of danger, much stronger than in the vault—it meant hostility.

Zhao Ping'an's gaze swept across the tea stall and instantly locked onto Wang Yaowu and his two companions who were about to get up.

The deliberately hunched figure, yet unable to conceal the lingering uprightness of a former soldier; the lingering dignity and anxiety deep within the eyes beneath the feigned sickness; and the subtle, unconscious alert gestures of the two "buddies" beside him... all these characteristics closely match the historical descriptions and the 502 warnings!

Zhao Ping'an didn't immediately draw his gun. Instead, he stepped forward and casually asked the militia captain, "What's going on?"

The militia captain reported the situation and handed over the travel permit and medical records.

Zhao Ping'an took it, glanced at it, and already felt eighty or ninety percent certain. He gestured behind his back, and several guards quickly stepped forward.

Zhao Pingan raised his head, looked directly at Wang Yaowu, and suddenly spoke in a calm but unquestionable tone:

"Commander Wang, your leg injury hasn't healed yet. You must have had a long and arduous journey."

The words "Commander Wang" resounded like thunder in Wang Yaowu's ears!

He trembled violently, his face turning deathly pale instantly; his feigned sickness could not conceal the horror in his heart.

The two guards beside him instinctively reached for their waists, but were immediately stopped by the dark muzzle of the gun and the sharp eyes of the soldier in front of Zhao Ping'an, and dared not move.

"You...you've mistaken me for someone else...my surname is Qiao..." Wang Yaowu tried to make a last-ditch effort, but his voice was hoarse and his momentum had already collapsed.

Zhao Ping'an smiled, but Wang Yaowu found the smile unfathomable.

He waved his hand: "Please get in the car, Commander Wang. The 502 commander has been thinking of you ever since we parted in Jinan. I'm afraid you won't be able to go to Qingdao."

The soldiers stepped forward and swiftly disarmed Wang Yaowu and his two companions.

Wang Yaowu sighed deeply, knowing that the situation was hopeless. All his luck and pretense had become a futile joke in front of this young commander.

He stopped resisting and was dejectedly "invited" onto the truck.

The truck turned around and headed towards Jinan.

In the car, Wang Yaowu closed his eyes and remained silent, his heart filled with endless doubts and frustration:

How did they recognize him? Who is this young commander? Why does he seem to have known all along that he would escape from here?