It was almost five o'clock in the morning when Zhao Xin and the others left Wang's house.
The reason why it was a little late was that, in addition to the delay caused by the resistance of the nursing staff during the attack, the other main reason was that Zhao Xin ran into Wang Jinglong's study and swept away all the collections and furniture inside.
When the three of them walked out of Wang's courtyard door, Zhao Xin was the last one to come out. He closed them and stuffed two small wooden wedges into the gap between the door frame and the door panel to keep the small door closed.
At this time, the barking of dogs in various houses was already coming and going. A few ordinary families who were awakened gathered at the cracks of their doors to check what was going on in the alley. The male owner of one of the households closest to Wang's house was surprised to find three masked men with only their eyes exposed walking out of the small door of Wang's house. The reason why he could see that Zhao Xin and the others were covered was because of the two lanterns hanging at the door of Wang's house.
After the three people took almost a dozen steps, they then ran towards the road they came from, leaving a series of footsteps in the long streets and alleys. The peeping man looked at the Wang family's courtyard door again. After looking at it for a long time, nothing happened, so he lost interest. Then he turned around and yelled at the dog in his yard, then went back to the house and fell asleep again.
Zhao Xin and the others still dived out of the city from Shuiguan and hid all the way to the gate of Tianning Temple.
In the dim light of the early morning, a small van suddenly appeared out of thin air at the door of the ancient temple. Liu Sheng and Wu Siyu quickly opened the back door and got into the car, while Zhao Xin closed the door tightly. In less than a minute, a dull knocking sound came from the carriage of the truck. Zhao Xin took the truck back, and then he himself disappeared out of thin air.
At this time, on the Yangtze River more than two hundred miles away, a ship that should not have appeared in this era was speeding through the waves. The whining sound of the motor came from far away, and a six-foot-long white pointed-head speedboat passed quickly on the river, leaving behind a white wave nearly two feet wide. The sailors on the sandboats who were traveling all night along the way were stunned by the ghostly speed of the boat. When they wanted to take a closer look, the ship had already sailed several feet away.
The waterway distance from Yangzhou to Wusongkou is nearly 600 miles; converted into nautical miles, it is about 150 nautical miles. The speed of the official boat was maintained at about 25 knots. According to this calculation, it would take six hours to reach Wusongkou; and then sail more than 70 nautical miles to reach Flower and Bird Island.
Since the time to return to Flower and Bird Island was advanced, the Thunder God driven by Deng Fei should still be on its way south at this time, and Wang Yuanfang and the others would have to wait on Flower and Bird Island for a few days. In order to meet Wang Yuanfang and others, Lao Huang had returned to Shanghai County two days ago. He will take a ship to deliver food supplies to Flower and Bird Island in advance, and prepare to build a temporary dock and warehouse.
Yes, Zhao Xin is preparing for the large-scale refugee transfer next year. Flower and Bird Island was the first radio relay station he selected; from here it should be possible to contact future radio stations in Shandong and even northern Jiangsu.
Shen Jingdan stayed in Yangzhou City. He didn't go anywhere, even his wife and daughter stayed at home. Originally, Lao Huang suggested that Zhao Xin take Mrs. Shen and Ayu away together, but Zhao Xin's answer at that time was that he could not move for the time being. Even if he wanted to leave Yangzhou, he would have to wait until the news passed.
After thinking about it for a while, Shen Jingdan agreed with Zhao Xin's opinion.
Therefore, before the start of "Operation Thin Horse", Zhao Dong's family, who had a business relationship with Shen Jingdan, had already left Yangzhou and headed north two days ago. After Guisheng took the trouble to explain repeatedly, several Yapo and monks in the city can testify that Mr. Zhao and his party left with the purchased goods two days ago. Now that everyone is gone, everything that happened after Yangzhou City has nothing to do with Zhao Xin and his party on the surface.
Don’t think that the momentum created by Zhao Xin and others looking at thin horses everywhere seems huge; as mentioned before, “thin horse trading” is an industry. If it can be called an industry, its business scale has been quantified. Compared with the number of transactions in Yangzhou city every day, Zhao Xin and others' behavior of choosing "skinny horses" cannot even cause a small splash.
As for the "thieves" who robbed the "thin horse", the night soldiers on the walls of Yangzhou City, the fishermen on the Shahe River and the Yangtze River can all testify that a speedboat went along the canal to Wusongkou overnight. As for the Chen and Li families who were robbed, unfortunately, not a single person was left alive. Moreover, the unlucky Su Song Navy will soon make the most powerful proof.
Liu Siting was busy going back and forth in the cabin by herself at this time. One was to check the drug reactions of the "skinny horses" after they woke up; the other was to take care of the dozen or so rescued girls. Lu Shoushan and Xu Dayong stood outside the hatch at the stern to prevent accidents.
Xu Dayong had never been on such a fast boat. The trees on the river bank and the wooden boats sailing on the river quickly moved away from him in his field of vision. From the excitement at the beginning to the dizziness later, Xu Dayong felt nauseated in his stomach. In the end, he simply stopped looking around.
Thirty-two girls, headed by Tang Xiao, were placed in the front cabin under the cab; while a dozen girls were placed in the rest area at the back, where there were two wooden beds with bunk beds, and the girls were crowded in. On the bunk bed, they drank water quietly and ate the bread brought by Liu Siting.
After eating and drinking, some girls fell asleep on the bed, and Liu Siting found blankets to cover the children. After working for a long time, she was very tired. But seeing these poor children crowded into four beds and falling asleep, she felt that no matter how hard it was, it was all worth it.
Tang Xiao, whose hands and feet were still tied, and a dozen other "skinny horses" who woke up, looked at Liu Siting working tirelessly to take care of the children, and felt that the beautiful woman in front of him did not look like a bad person. This feeling became even stronger when they saw Liu Siting picking up a three or four-year-old girl and gently patting the child to sleep.
Tang Xiaowei said to Liu Siting: "Sister, can you let me go? I'll help you take care of them. Don't worry, I won't run away."
Liu Siting is really overwhelmed. At this time, among the more than thirty "skinny horses" in the front cabin, there were still more than a dozen people sleeping, which required her to check or even rescue them immediately.
Thinking of this, she put the girl in her arms back on the bed, turned around and walked to Tang Xiao, took out a folding knife from her trouser pocket, and broke the plastic ties tied to the other girl's hands and feet; then, the hands and feet of the other girls who were awake were They were all let go.
However, Liu Siting glanced at Tang Xiao's little feet and reminded: "It's not convenient for you to walk. The boat is going very fast now, so be careful."
Tang Xiao blushed and nodded while rubbing his wrists and ankles. He stood up delicately holding on to the coffee table beside him and staggered towards the bunk beds. The wooden floor in the cabin was a bit slippery, and Tang Xiao almost fell down several times when he walked on it with his deformed feet. After finally reaching the pillars of the wooden bed, she felt safe.
The hatch is very high and requires two steps to get up. Tang Xiao stood on tiptoes and stretched her neck to look outside. She could see nothing except the fish-belly-white sky. Tang Xiao sighed helplessly, holding on to the bedpost, he sat down on an empty space on the lower bunk.
The girls slept very deeply. The panic at night and the process of boarding the boat took a lot of energy from them. After eating now, there is a trace of color on the little face.
Looking at these children, Tang Xiao remembered his former self. She was almost three years old when she was trafficked from Suzhou to Yangzhou. The memory of her parents when she was a child has long been blurred, and she can't even remember what her hometown looks like. In my impression, my only impression of that home was the pond in front of the door and a group of white ducks. When I was a child, I sat at the door of the house and watched my mother busy in the yard.
Tang Xiao patted the girl next to him with his hand, and his tears couldn't stop flowing down.
After examination, Liu Siting found that indeed several girls' breathing had become very weak and their heartbeats had slowed down. She hurriedly began to perform artificial respiration. After dozens of attempts, Liu Siting felt that the cabin was a little stuffy. She rushed to the cabin door, pushed open the door, and shouted to Lu Shoushan and Xu Dayong outside the door: "Let's go." The door is open!" Then she ran back to the girl and continued artificial respiration.
Lu Shoushan and Xu Da used their hands to hold the two cabin doors, and the cool breeze from the river flowed into the cabin from the hatches; the thinly dressed "skinny horses" suddenly became excited. A dozen girls were blushing at the moment, shyly watching Liu Siting perform artificial respiration using mouth-to-mouth method. They didn't know what the woman in front of them was doing, but she didn't look like she was being frivolous with the sleeping women.
As the air continued to circulate in the cabin, most of the unconscious girls slowly woke up, and the one Liu Siting rescued also opened her eyes.
Director Liu took a deep breath and collapsed on the ground tiredly, his face covered with sweat.
Regardless of whether they know each other or not, the "skinny horses" are all helping each other. The girls who woke up lay on the ground retching, while others helped to get water, and at the same time gently patted each other's back with their hands to relieve themselves.
"Yeah~~!" A scream came from near the cabin door, it was Tang Xiao. Liu Siting looked up and saw Xu Dayong carrying a big bag and walking into the cabin with a smile.
"Get out! Who let you in!" Liu Siting held her breath and shouted loudly.
"This...yes, it's the king. Mr. Wang asked me to bring you water and food." Xu Dayong's neck turned red with embarrassment as he stammered in explanation.
"Leave the door open! Get out. Close the door!" Liu Siting didn't talk nonsense to him at all.
Xu Da turned around angrily and left the door. His original plan to see the little beauty was ruined. But when I entered the cabin just now, the girl sitting on the bed was so beautiful! Those little feet made Xu Dayong feel hot all over. In fact, Dr. Liu was also a great beauty, but it was just those natural feet that made Xu Da lose his desire after just using them.
Outside the cabin door, Lu Shoushan, who came in a hurry upon hearing the sound, sneered and stared at Xu Dayong. He leaned closer and said, "Take care of your evil eyes. If you dare to look around again, I'll dig them out for you!"
"Yes! Yes! I don't dare anymore." Xu Dayong was really afraid of Lu Shoushan.
"I tell you the truth, most of these girls are literate, and many of them are going to be sent to schools in Beihai Town to be teachers."
"What?! Be a sir?"
"That's right!" Lu Shoushan nodded, remembering what Zhao Xin once said to him. "We in Beihai have no slaves!"
Just when he wanted to continue teaching Xu Dayong a lesson, Ding Guofeng walked out of the cockpit carrying a Negev and said to Lu Shoushan and Xu Dayong below: "We found a Qing army ship ahead, prepare to fight!"
In the seventeenth year of Qianlong's reign, the Qing government abolished the Admiral of Anhui and placed the Admiral of Jiangnan Water and Land in charge of the business affairs of eleven prefectures and one state along the Yangtze River in Anhui and Jiangsu. The internal and external camp affairs east of Wusongkou are also under his jurisdiction.
Due to the high speed of the official boat, the navy stationed at Jinshan had no time to react. They watched the white speedboat disappear on the river in the early morning. The Qing soldiers patrolling the river thought they were dazzled.
However, when Wang Yuanfang drove his official boat into the jurisdiction of Jiangyin and Jingjiang, the sailors patrolling the river finally discovered them in advance because it was already broad daylight.
"Quick! Follow up and stop that speedboat!" A Jiangyin water camp commander sat on the patrol boat and ordered the sailors below.
A sailor standing on the bow looked at the white clipper in the distance and said worriedly: "Sir, that ship is bigger than ours."
The general manager scolded him disdainfully: "Fart! I am an officer and soldier. If you tell him to stop, you have to stop! Row over!"
A dozen sailors had no choice but to paddle as hard as they could. After a while, two patrol boats blocked the route of the white clipper. The sailor on the bow held an khaki pennant edged with flames, signaling the clipper to stop.
Wang Yuanfang in the cockpit looked at the two broken ships not far away and showed a contemptuous smile.
Ding Guofeng climbed on the deck and shouted into the hatch below: "Liu Siting, open the curtains completely! Let the girls stand in front of the windows!"
"Lu Shoushan, you two come in and help!" Liu Siting was too tired to move, so she reluctantly got up and opened a curtain.
Soon, as the curtains were raised one after another, sunlight shone into the cabin through the eight spacious glass windows.
"Ah! Is this crystal?!" A group of girls in the back cabin looked at the large glass windows on both sides with surprised expressions. Large pieces of flat glass these days are so expensive that ordinary people can't even afford them, and they're rare to see.
"This is glass." Lu Shoushan replied dully.
The girls all opened their mouths in surprise. They supported each other, walked to the window and stretched out their hands to touch.
"Is this glass?"
The early morning sunlight shines on the girls' faces through the glass windows, and a crowd of warblers and swallows are chatting away. Xu Dayong stares blankly at the beauties vying for beauty in front of him, feeling that he is not in the right place. Like the human world.
"Sir! That, that, that..."
"Say quickly! What's wrong?"
"Look, sir, there are women on that boat. They are so beautiful!" The sailor on the bow stared blankly at the white clipper passing by. Behind the large glass windows, a group of young girls were pointing outside. point. Nabo always stared blankly at the peerless scenery flashing before his eyes, drooling from the corner of his mouth onto his official uniform.
"Stop! Stop the boat! I told you to stop the boat, do you hear me!" Mr. Ba suddenly reacted and shouted angrily at the white clipper.
Ding Guofeng, who was holding a light machine gun at the stern of the ship, sneered and pulled the trigger under the waterline of the patrol ship.
"Da da da!!!" The sound of machine gun fire echoed on the river, and water splashed over the side of the ship. However, the officers and soldiers on the two patrol boats were confused by the sudden sound.
"Sir, our ship is leaking!" a sailor suddenly shouted.
"Damn! These people know evil magic! Block them quickly and go back to report to Master Guerrilla immediately!"
In this way, the official boat swaggered through the Jiangyin Defense Area, Songjiang Defense Area, and Chongming General Military Defense Area at high speed, as if it was afraid that others would not know that there was a group of young girls on board, and entered the inner ocean of Chongming.
The officers and soldiers on the sand boats and river patrols along the way all watched the beautiful faces of young girls behind the large crystal glass on the boats.
In order to let these officers and soldiers see clearly, Wang Yuanfang deliberately slowed down when driving the boat past the interception. Anyone who dares to come close to intercept will be dispatched by Ding Guofeng with machine guns; some patrol boats were hit by bullets, causing sawdust to fly everywhere, and the screams after being injured were endless.
Under the threat of machine guns, these naval officers and soldiers were so frightened that they ran away with their heads in their hands. They lay in the cabin for a long time and did not dare to show their heads. They watched helplessly as the white clipper rushed through Wusongkou and headed towards the sea outside Chongming.
In the afternoon, the flying reports from each battalion were sent to the Jiangnan Water and Land Admiral's Mansion in Songjiang by speedboat. The Jiangnan Admiral Lan Meiyuan who received the report was shocked when he heard the news. At the same time, he sent someone to prepare a report and prepared to fly it to Sa Zai, the governor of Liangjiang and Min Eyuan, the governor of Jiangsu. Issue several commands simultaneously:
The battalions under the chief military officer of Chongming Town were ordered to strictly guard all areas of Chongming and closely monitor whether the white clippers docked at Chongming. If any were found, they would be arrested together.
The Fourth Battalion of Susong Town, the Middle, Left, Right and Qi Battalions were ordered to send additional ships to closely patrol the inner and outer oceans near the Yangtze River Estuary.
Wusong Camp and Chuansha Camp were ordered to send additional ships and manpower to patrol the ocean and islands in the north of the Yangtze River.
The Langyou Camp and Juegang Camp of Langshan Town were ordered to send additional ships to conduct strict inspections of the offshore waters and islands north of Sheshan.
In this way, starting from the early morning of the next day, various battalions of Qing naval forces under the command of Admiral Jiangnan were dispatched one after another. A large net laid by the Qing army slowly spread out over the vast ocean stretching from Wusongkou in the west, to the Ma'an Islands in the east, to the mountains east of Rugao in the north, and to the upper feet of Dayang in the south.
At this time, Wang Yuanfang and others still knew nothing. After passing through the Yangtze River Estuary, the official boat sped toward the southeast and finally arrived at Flower and Bird Island in the afternoon.
In the bay, Lao Huang and Shen Jingdan's thousand-stone Nanjing ship were waiting for their arrival.
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