Chapter 110: Murderer and Local Official

  Wang Jiagui and several special troops rushed to the front of the police car, holding guns against the heads of several policemen.

  "Sir, this is..." Captain Zhang was tongue-tied, unable to comprehend why Dong Limao would suddenly turn against a person.

  Dong Li Mao didn't salute the military officer, but instead walked up quickly: "Big Brother Ma, is that you?"

  A bald-headed man with a big scar on his head heard Dong Li Mao's voice and replied loudly: "Brother, it is indeed Little Brother Bald Horse!"

  "Aren't you within the borders of Burma? How did they capture you and bring you here?" Dong Li Mao took out his military knife and cut off the ropes that bound him.

  "Alas... this is a long story to tell..." Bald Horse's eyes welled up with tears, an iron-like man, yet as soon as he spoke, his voice cracked and he burst into tears, it was clear that he had encountered something extremely heart-wrenching.

  Just as Dong Li Mao was about to ask something, a man in black satin came out of the administrative office, accompanied by the police chief who was bowing and pointing at him. Before they reached Dong Li Mao, the man laughed and clasped his hands together, saying: "I've long admired General Dong's reputation! I didn't expect to see the honor of our national hero against Japan in this place!"

  "Take Second Brother and get him to change into some clothes on the vehicle." Dong Li Mao looked at Guang Tou Ma's disheveled appearance and quietly instructed Wang Jia Gui, knowing that Guang Tou Ma had killed someone in Tengchong, this was also for his protection.

  After Wang Jia Gui took the bald horse away, Dong Li Mao turned to face the man in black satin. He was about forty or fifty years old, with neat and oily hair, and thought that this person must be Long Shen Wu.

  But Dong Li Mao looked at him with disdain and asked coldly: "Who are you?"

  "This is Commissioner Long of Teng Lung Border Region Administrative Bureau." The captain bowed his head and ran forward to introduce him to Dong Li Mao.

  "Oh, so you're the famous 'Dian Xi Wang'! I'm sorry for not showing respect earlier!" Dong Li Mao also clasped his hands together and said with a hearty laugh.

  "I don't dare to accept! I don't dare to accept! The reputation of 'King of Dianxi' is just a favor from my colleagues, and Long has been unable to eat or sleep well because of it. When Commissar Dong arrived with his troops, I didn't know, and my subordinates were rude. Hehe... Here, I, Long Shenwu, apologize on their behalf!"

  Those police officers whispered in the ear of their leader, seemingly reporting what had just happened. The leader then walked up to Long Shengwu and whispered a few words in his ear. Long Shengwu's expression suddenly changed as he asked Dong Li Mao: "Commander Dong, can you please return the murderer we caught earlier to them?"

  "What? Are there murderers among us?" Dong Li Mao asked back with a pretentious tone: "If you want to talk about murder, I and my over 100 brothers have all killed people, and not just one or two. Commissioner Long wouldn't be thinking of avenging those little Japanese devils who died at our hands, would he?"

  The police chief puffed out his chest and took a step forward, saying: "I... I was talking about that bald-headed big fellow just now!"

  "You say he's a murderer, is he really a murderer? If he's a murderer, then don't you think I'm also a murderer!" Dong Li Mao glared with both eyes, scaring the police chief to take two steps back.

  "He... He's different from you, he didn't kill Japanese devils, five years ago he killed the head of the county security squad!" The police chief replied, stretching his neck.

  "Nonsense! He is clearly my brother, and you insist on calling him a murderer! How dare you deceive Director Long with your lies! What crime should you be punished for?" Dong Li Mao shouted loudly.

  "You..." The police chief pointed at Dong Li Mao, looked at Long Sheng Wu with a furious gaze, and was speechless.

  "Get out of here! It's not your turn to speak!" Long Shengwu shouted, and the police chief slunk away like a defeated dog.

  "Ah, a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding! Haha... It turns out that these good-for-nothings mistakenly took Dong Lianchang's brother for the murderer and had him arrested. This is indeed a case of 'the dragon king temple being flooded by a great wave'!" Long Shenwu changed his expression and said, then loudly shouted towards the back: "Come! Bring Dong Lianchang and his brother into the government office!"

  Entering the administrative office, Dong Li Mao saw that there were institutions such as the Customs Police Bureau, the Security Brigade, and the Taxation Bureau inside. No wonder these police would bring Guang Tou Ma here. Dong Li Mao followed Long Shen Wu through the twists and turns to the back yard of the administrative office, with only Hu San following behind him. The rest of the brothers from the special task force had someone arrange their food and lodging.

  After arriving at the backyard and sitting in the reception hall, a maid immediately brought tea, and Long Shengwu ordered to prepare wine and food, as if to entertain Dong Li Mao.

  Dong Li Mao took a few sips of tea and began to speak: "I have a special task at hand, so I'll skip the banquet. According to reliable intelligence, recently Japanese agents disguised as civilians and horsemen will infiltrate the country from the direction of Tengchong, penetrating deep into the interior. I've been ordered by the military department to come and eliminate the Japanese agents, and I hope Commissioner Long will cooperate with our special agent team's actions."

  "Director Long, please give your orders, and as a hot-blooded man, I will definitely obey. The war of resistance is a national affair, and as a government official, how can I not follow orders?" Long Shenwu was indeed an old oil slick in the officialdom, his words seemed to be full of patriotism and love for the people, if Dong Limao hadn't seen some historical records about him, he would have really thought that this corrupt and greedy guy in front of him was a good official.

  "Alright, tomorrow morning, please arrange for Commissioner Long to have the police and local militia, along with my brothers, to guard all major roads and paths leading from Burma into our territory. Especially the mountain roads, thoroughly inspecting everyone entering the border, particularly those coming from the Burmese direction, including horse caravans."

  "Alright! Alright! I, Long Mou, will dispatch the entire city's police and security forces to cooperate with Captain Dong Lian, and we won't let a single Japanese spy in!" Long Shenwu replied with satisfaction.

  Dong Li Mao took out the topographic map and spread it on the table, with Nujiang Huitong Bridge as the center. He estimated that the vanguard would not detour too far, which would delay their journey. So he defined a border area very close to Nujiang Huitong Bridge and asked Long Shenwu to point out which places were must-pass areas for the horse team.

  Long Shengwu seemed to be afraid of the Japanese military entering Tengchong City, so he looked at the map very seriously for a while, pointing at the marked and unmarked places on the map and replied:

  Within this range, most of it belongs to steep cliffs and precipices, with no road to walk on. Let alone horse teams, even if someone has exceptional skills and endurance, they may not necessarily be able to climb over... However, apart from the several larger entry and exit routes marked on the map, there are also more than a dozen unmarked small paths. Although these small paths are relatively treacherous and unsuitable for large horse teams, scattered small groups of horses can still cross the border line through any one of them.

  "Are there people guarding these dozen or so steep and narrow paths that aren't marked on the map?" Dong Limao was very concerned about this situation, as the map at the time was roughly made. Logically speaking, a military map should cover even small mountain springs, but the map in Dong Limao's hand could only be considered a rough route map, which would not mark the kind of treacherous mountain paths that Long Shengwu mentioned.

  If there's one good thing that this 'King of Dianxi' has ever done, it might be that he can point out these dozen or so small paths that aren't marked on the map.

  "Hehe... To take these small paths, one must risk their life, so generally, cavalry teams will not choose to take these small paths. We only set up checkpoints at these intersections when major events occur, otherwise, there's no need." Long Shenwu replied.

  Dong Li Mao saw from the map that these dozen or so treacherous mountain roads, no matter which way they came from Myanmar, would converge near a village at the foot of Songshan Mountain after crossing the border, and then cross over Songshan Mountain to reach the Huitong Bridge spanning the Nujiang Canyon.

  "If we enter from these mountain paths, how long will it take to reach this village at the foot of Songshan?" Dong Li Mao seemed to brighten up in front of his eyes, pointing to this village and asking Long Shenwu.

  "If we don't take a break halfway, I estimate it will take one day and one night to arrive." Long Shenwu thought for a moment before responding.

  "One day and one night?" Dong Li Mao fell into deep thought, that is to say, as long as the Japanese vanguard departed from Burma on the 26th in the afternoon, they could quietly disperse through several of these dozen mountain roads across the border at midnight, and gather in this small village at the foot of Songshan on the 27th in the afternoon. After gathering, they would set off at night and arrive at Huitong Bridge before noon on the 28th. The key now is to figure out whether the Japanese vanguard really plans to enter from Tengchong, Dong Li Mao thought about it repeatedly, but couldn't find any other possible entry route, because all other places that could be entered were guarded by the Expeditionary Army, and only Tengchong had no garrison.

  Dong Li Mao seemed to have made up his mind, and said to Long Shen Wu: "Director Long, this mission is extremely special. I hope you won't reveal any information about the true purpose of our arrival here. Ensure that your people follow my instructions unconditionally. If anything goes wrong... don't blame me for being impolite!"

  "Definitely! Definitely! Including myself, Long Mou, everything will follow your command, Dong Lian Chang!" Long Shenwu replied with a smile.

  "Thanks for your hard work, Commissioner Long! I'll take my leave now!" Dong Li Mao stood up and said with his hands clasped together in a fist.

  "Dong Lian walked slowly, and the place where he would be staying overnight had already been arranged by Long Mou with someone to attend to him specially. Forgive me for not seeing you off!" Long Shenwu seemed eager for Dong Li Mao to leave quickly.