Chapter 50: Rescue Plan

  Sitting in Xu Hongming's Rolls-Royce, Dong Limao felt no different from sitting on a tractor, except for the bumpy muddy road and the engine noise that coughed like a patient with late-stage lung disease and was about to run out of breath at any time.

  Xu Hongming drove the car to the riverside bamboo forest and stopped, everyone walked on foot for about ten minutes to a shore full of wild reeds.

  The river's water surged violently due to a day of rain.

  Wu Tong cupped his hands and quacked twice like a wild duck. A small boat emerged from the reeds, with two bare-chested Burmese men rowing on either side.

  No one said a word as the small boat was rowed towards the opposite bank of the river. The turbulent water didn't listen to the two rowers, and seemed annoyed that the small boat had blocked its high and urgent pace towards the sea. No matter how hard the rowers struggled against the current, the small boat was still swept downstream for a long distance before finally reaching the other side.

  After landing, Wu Tong led the crowd along the reeds by the shore and walked upstream for about half an hour before meeting up with the contact.

  A man in his forties, with an ordinary appearance, grasped Li Yuanyuan's small hands and said: "You are Miss Li Yuanyuan, aren't you? I am Xiao Sheng."

  Li Yuyuan said: "The situation is quite urgent, so I had no choice but to take the risk of activating the Icebreaker Plan. Please forgive me, Mr. Xiao."

  "I've already consulted with those above and they agree to this rescue operation. However, our people may not be able to help you much," said Xiao Sheng.

  "Can you get military uniforms and vehicles?" Li Yuanyuan asked.

  "I think you might need them, so I arranged for someone to prepare them in advance, but they're not Japanese military uniforms, they're the uniforms of the Imperial Allied Army." Xiao Sheng said, releasing Li Yuanyuan's hand.

  "That's okay, the key is how to leave after rescuing people?" Li Yuanyuan thought for a moment and asked.

  "I didn't come in person because I had to arrange this matter, so I asked Mr. Wu to make a trip on my behalf." Xiao Sheng swept his gaze over everyone and continued: "Originally, it wasn't time yet to distribute the military pay for the Japanese frontline officers and soldiers, but in order to send you back, I persuaded the bank manager to proactively propose to the Japanese military logistics department that our bank can advance this month's military pay for the Japanese army. The Japanese have not paid their frontline generals for three months... So they were naturally happy to accept our proposal and quickly agreed, giving us a pass permit. Tomorrow morning at 6 o'clock, the car transporting the military pay will depart on time... After you rescue the people, retreat to the street to the left of the Dongya Commercial Building, turn right at the end of the street, and after seeing a brothel with neon lights written in Japanese, go straight in. The doorman will take you to the backyard, where there is a manhole cover for the sewer. Follow him down from the manhole cover, and he will send you through the sewer to the bank vault... Please be at ease, the vault is all our own people, they will put you in boxes, and after the car leaves the Yangguang city area, you can come out..."

  Dong Li Mao listened to Xiao Sheng finish explaining their escape plan before asking a question: "Will there be Japanese soldiers participating in the escort?"

  "Yes, the military supplies department will send a dozen soldiers and escort vehicles together, including an officer in charge of issuing military pay." Xiao Sheng replied, looking at Li Yuanyuan and asking: "May I ask who this is..."

  "Oh, this is the famous anti-Japanese hero Dong Jiacheng of the five armies. He led a special task force to blow up the germ bomb." Li Yuanyuan introduced.

  "Indeed, the name is not in vain!" Xiao Sheng said: "According to our people's intelligence, the Japanese army broke through the Donggua defense line led by Captain Dong and his company, which made the Japanese army fail on the Donggua battlefield. Those little devils are deeply resentful of you, Captain Dong! Hehe..." Xiao Sheng continued: "You will ambush them halfway, preferably at the Banna Mountain pass, because there are bandits active in the Banna Mountains. After arriving there, kill all the little devils who are being escorted, and then injure the driver who is driving the vehicle, although he is not one of our people, but it's best not to take his life. Then, plunder all the military pay."

  "Robbing military pay? What's the use of taking Japanese people's money?" Dong Limao said in dismay.

  "It's not Japanese yen, it's gold." Zhang Yong explained: "This batch of gold was donated by overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia for the war effort and has been stored in a Southeast Asian bank for a long time. There has never been an opportunity to transport it out, and this is exactly the right moment. This is also my main reason for using the radio to persuade those above, otherwise they might not have taken this risk for a few insignificant soldiers."

  Dong Li Mao listened, moved, a person who had nothing to do with the captured brothers, actually thought things through so thoroughly. He stretched out his hand and shook hands with Xiao Sheng, saying excitedly: "I represent the brothers, here I would like to thank Mr. Xiao first, even if we can't rescue them, I think the brothers will remember Mr. Xiao's kindness on their way to the Yellow Springs."

  "A family doesn't speak two languages, all I can do is this much."

  "But we've hijacked the military pay and killed the devils, I'm afraid Mr. Xiao can't escape responsibility either." Dong Li Mao carefully thought back to Xiao's plan and still had some misgivings.

  "I let you take action at Bannashan Pass, the purpose is to make the Japanese devils think it was done by bandits." Xiao Sheng explained.

  Dong Li Mao thought for a moment, feeling that there were no loopholes, and gave a thumbs up saying: "You're indeed worthy of being an underground worker, Mr. Xiao, you've considered everything too thoroughly."

  "In our line of work, if you're even slightly careless, your head won't be your own anymore." Zuo's voice was tinged with bitter laughter as he replied.

  "It's getting late, shouldn't we be on our way?" Li Yuanyuan asked.

  "No rush, still have to wait a bit longer." Zuo's voice replied.

  "What's next? What are you waiting for?" Li Yuanyuan asked in confusion.

  "Wait for what you want." Zuo said, taking out his pocket watch and looking at it closely: "It's about time too."

  "Are you saying we set out from here directly and head to Dong Ya Shang Hao to rescue people?" Li Yuanyuan asked.

  "Yes, I don't know if Miss Li has thought of a way to enter Dongya Shanghao," asked Xiao Sheng.

  "Who was the intelligence officer of the Japanese army here?" Li Yuanyuan didn't answer but asked a question instead.

  "Major Yamada."

  "It's him!" Li Yuanyuan's willow eyebrows rose, and she blurted out.

  "Does Miss Li know?" Xiang Sheng's question was also what Dong Li Mao wanted to know.

  "No, I don't know him, but I've heard of some of his brutal crimes!" Li Yuanyuan's eyes seemed to be spitting fire, her cheeks clenched tightly.

  Dong Li Mao didn't know why Li Yuanyuan would become so angry upon hearing this name, there must be some important reason behind it, and he felt increasingly estranged from this female head of the intelligence agency.

  At this time, there was a sound of a truck coming, but no headlights were seen.

  "They're here!" Xiao Sheng said.

  Before long, a truck drove up to the riverbank and stopped, and several soldiers in uniform jumped down from the vehicle.

  Gao Hao was shocked and raised his submachine gun to shoot at them, but Dong Li Mao quickly stopped him: "They are our own people."

  Among the people who came, there were several who were indeed from the Imperial Guard. One of the lieutenants was a mole planted in the Imperial Guard by Xiao Sheng, and he was the one who got his hands on the military uniforms and vehicles that Li Yuanyuan and the others needed.

  In addition to military uniforms, there were also weapons and ammunition on the vehicle.

  "Sister, shouldn't you reveal your plan now?" said Dong Li Mao.

  "Do you still remember the woman you killed in the cave?" Li Yuanyuan asked with a smile.

  "Women? The women I killed..." Dong Li Mao didn't understand what Li Yuanyuan was asking at first, but suddenly he remembered, it was about the woman who looked like Rina Ai that he let go: "Oh, I remember, why did you mention her?"

  "Do you still remember the documents I showed you?" Li Yuanyuan asked again.

  "ID? Are you referring to that woman Duoma's ID card? What's going on?" Dong Li Mao was confused, unsure what Li Yuanyuan was trying to say.

  "That was a special ID for Japanese military agents, with recognizable secret codes. With this ID, you could enter the Japanese intelligence agency without any obstacles..." Li Yuanyuan hadn't finished speaking when Dong Limao interrupted her:

  "Wait a minute, sister, didn't you say that woman was Burmese? How did she become a Japanese military spy now?"

  "This matter can't be explained clearly for the time being, I'll explain it to you slowly later. Anyway, with this certificate, I can take you into Dongya Shanghao with confidence." Li Yuanyuan said.

  "Does Miss Li have specific plans?" asked Xiao Sheng, interrupting.

  "It's like this..." Li Yuanyuan roughly explained her already thought-out plan.