kvmb 130. Warfare is based on deception.
130. Warfare is based on deception.
Just as Kondo was about to fire his gun and forcefully order the men to stop their escape, he heard several heavy splashes as the objects fell into the water.
"Oh no! They were planning to travel by water? Quickly notify the speedboats on the Wusong River to stop them!"
Kondo stopped his motorcycle on the bridge and looked down from the bank. He saw several people jump into the Wusong River and be pulled up by a fishing boat that had been waiting there. The boat then rowed away and sailed away.
Of course, he had already laid an ambush here. Even if the other party traveled by land or water, he had already made preparations in advance, so the other party would have no chance of escape.
Just then, the people wearing monkey masks were all stopped by the fully armed Special Higher Police agents, who stood there anxiously, like frightened quails.
Kondo focused his attention on the group and shouted, "Take off your masks!"
The dozens of passersby were terrified. They quickly removed their monkey-face masks, some holding them in their hands, others simply throwing them on the ground. They kept explaining, "Sir, sir, please don't shoot! We...we are all good people, law-abiding citizens!"
Kondo, gun in hand, swept his fierce gaze across their faces and roared, "Good citizens? Why are good citizens wearing masks?"
Soon, a passerby who had lost his mask said with a mournful face, "This... just now, someone over there was handing out masks, saying that if we ran through this street wearing masks, each of us would get two silver dollars, and he even gave us one silver dollar as a gift. How could we refuse such a good thing? Sir, we really don't know what he meant."
"What?! Someone's handing out masks over there? Where is he? Which street is he on? Get on your motorcycle and go check it out!"
Kondo had one of his men take the man on a motorcycle to Beijing West Road, but there were no mask sellers left. However, they found a number of discarded monkey face masks on the ground, which seemed to corroborate what the man had said.
Upon receiving this news, Kondo narrowed his eyes and scanned the crowd. After a moment, he seemed to see something and pointed to the middle, saying, "Everyone on the side, make way! Why don't you take off your mask?"
As Kondo pointed, the passersby seemed afraid that he was referring to them, and they parted to the sides like a tide, leaving the person in the middle who was still wearing a mask standing there.
The man seemed startled and took two steps back. His calf appeared to be injured, and he was limping slightly. Kondo smiled and said, "What, did they forget to take you with them when they jumped into the river? Hehehe~~ Professor Wang, don't be afraid, we won't hurt you. However, we would like to invite you to our Sakura country for some technical exchanges. Please."
Kondo thought he had caught the wanted weapons expert, but the man shakily removed his mask, revealing a somewhat dull, lifeless prosthetic eye. He stammered, "T-Tai-sir, sir, I...I didn't want to take off the mask, it's just that my eyes...can't stand the light, I'm afraid of scaring people. It really...it wasn't intentional, I...I'm not Professor Wang."
"What?! Who are you?!"
Seeing the other person's appearance, how could Kondo not know that he was not a professor? But he still went over angrily, grabbed the man's collar, and questioned him loudly.
"Sir~~~ I'm just a fortune teller at the market street corner, not some expert or professor. I only followed you here desperately to earn two silver dollars. I never expected to offend you, sir! Please have mercy!"
Kondo angrily shoved the man to the ground, looked down at the Wusong River, and roared, "Arrest all of them and interrogate them one by one! Once they jump into the water, they won't escape. Follow me!"
Kondo got back on his sidecar motorcycle and chased after the fishing boat.
Meanwhile, the Jing'an and Huangpu districts, which were bustling with activity in the morning, are now deserted and littered with debris.
The frightened passersby all locked themselves inside their houses, afraid to go out. Only a few people tried to search for their separated relatives on the street.
The three lion dance troupes that made it to People's Square were all puzzled. Everyone—the organizers, the participants, and the onlookers—had all run away. What were they supposed to do?
"Brothers, it seems the promised 100 silver dollars for this Lion King Competition is not going to materialize. I'm not competing anymore. Whoever wants to take it can go ahead. I'm leaving."
A lion dance performer looked at the empty Renmin Avenue, threw the lion head on the ground, picked up a bicycle that had fallen over to the side, and leisurely rode away to the north.
The remaining two pairs of lion dancers looked at each other, then sighed heavily, threw the lion heads to the ground, and tried to find another bicycle, but found only one. The person who had just ridden the bicycle was still having some difficulty walking, probably because he had sprained his leg while performing the lion dance.
The grand, noisy, and chaotic New Year's Day lion dance competition started fiercely but ended in an exceptionally disastrous manner.
In the end, Kondo did catch up with the fishing boat, but only caught a few fishermen. When questioned, he found out that they had also been charged ten dollars for doing nothing but rowing the boat. When asked what the person who paid them looked like, they replied that he was wearing a monkey face mask.
"Go to hell with your monkey face mask!"
Kondo was furious. Even though he had set up an inescapable trap and even invited the local great swordsmen, he still couldn't keep the mysterious man who was opposing him at every turn.
"Baka yarou... I will definitely catch you, I will!"
Just as Kondo was roaring angrily by the Wusong River, a train had already departed from Shanghai Station with its whistle blaring.
One of the three lions that kept moving along the race track unnoticed was Professor Wang, the weapons expert, in disguise.
As for Zhou Hongyi, Gu Tianbo, and the others, the big-headed dolls and monkey-faced masks were all smokescreens. The protagonist of the incident rode his bicycle alone on the empty streets to Zhabei Railway Station, delivered himself to "Bodhi," and then so openly took the train and left the center of the vortex of Shanghai.
As for Zhou Hongyi and the "Awakening Lion" comrade who came to his aid, they had already swum along the waterway to an alley, pulled out two sets of clean clothes that had been prepared in advance, changed into them, and transformed into two policemen from the Jing'an Second Branch. Of course, Zhou Hongyi was still their chief.
"Awakening Lion" walked openly down the street with Zhou Hongyi, even giving orders to other police officers who were conducting the search. He lowered his voice and whispered, "Comrade Four-Faced Buddha, although this is our first meeting, I've heard Comrade Bodhi talk about your deeds before. Seeing you today, I admire you from the bottom of my heart. You are brave and resourceful. You actually let such an important person ride a bicycle to the station alone to take the train away. I'm afraid even the Japanese would never have thought of such a method."
Zhou Hongyi chuckled and accepted the praise without any modesty, saying, "This is what they call the art of war: deception. If even our own people can't think of it, how could the enemy? I even called you here today to help me cover for me. Thank you for your hard work. Find a chance to retreat."