Hankou, located in the hinterland of central China, is known as the "thoroughfare of nine provinces". Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Hankou was called Jiangxia in ancient times, because Hankou was the outlet of Han water, so Shaanxi people first called Jiangxia Hankou, and over time, Hankou became the official title, and Jiangxia became the "ancient name".

At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, Hankou developed very rapidly because of the development of the port trade and transportation industry, and had the largest port in the inland river, and was listed as one of the four famous towns in the country together with Zhuxian Town in Henan, Foshan Town in Guangdong Province and Jingdezhen in Jiangxi Province, and was known as the "Chicago of the East" overseas.

Hankou occupies an important place in China's modern history, and after the Opium War, Hankou was one of the first treaty ports that the Qing government was forced to open. In March 1861, the British Naval Commander in China, Herb, and the Counselor of the British Embassy in China, Pashali, led a fleet of four warships and several hundred sailors to Hankow, and signed the "Hankow Concession Clause" with Tang Xunfang, the political envoy of Hubei, and Hankou entered a period of rapid development.

By now, Hankou is already a modern metropolis that can be compared with Wuchang, and if you add Hanyang, which is also developing rapidly, a huge urban agglomeration has been formed in the area of Wuchang, Hankou and Hanyang, and their total economic output is second only to Shanghai in the Republic of China.

If there is no turning point in history, then it should be that by 1926, Wuchang, Hankou, and Hanyang will be merged into one city, that is, Wuhan, the capital of the southern military government.

But in this time and space, it is clear that the southern military junta has not yet fully controlled Hankow, let alone Dingdu.

Now in Hankou, there are not only the British Concession, but also the French Concession and the Russian Concession, after McTavish and they arrived in Hankou, they secretly entered the French Concession under the reception of Zhang Hanqing, preparing to win Huang Fugui.

The French were aware of Mactavish's arrival, and it was evident that the French had not informed the British, and that the French minister in Hankow, De Ferro, had sent Richard, the military attache of the embassy, to Mactavish and them in order to facilitate the exchange of knowledge.

France and Britain have a good relationship, but they are far from catching up with the relationship between France and Lanfang, whether it is Paul Eugène Louis de Zanel or Alexander Millerand, and the question of Germany has recently been at odds with Britain, so the French wish that the British would be unlucky, and the French have always done this kind of stabbing in the back.

Well, throughout the history of Europe, there have always been many stabs in the back, and the British are also good at it.

The French Concession is actually not far from the British Concession, if you take the Yangtze River as the axis, the French Concession is downstream of the British Concession, and the two concessions are even connected, so the French are no strangers to the British Concession.

"The British have a very strict blockade of the news of Lord Huang, my people have been running around for the past two days, and they have not heard the exact news, until now I only know that Lord Huang has been treated in the British hospital, and then wait for my people to investigate, but the building has been empty." It can't be said that Zhang Hanqing doesn't work hard, it can only be said that the British are too cunning.

Zhang Hanqing's subordinates are all Chinese, and they are all fresh faces, and their activities in the British Concession will definitely be subject to considerable restrictions, and it is normal for the Northeast Army to have any inside lines in the British Concession in Hankou, and it is normal to find out no news.

Fortunately, Lan Fang can rely on more than just Zhang Hanqing, in addition to Zhang Hanqing, McTavish can also rely on Richard and Patrick Moore, compared to Zhang Hanqing, these two are the head snakes of Hankou.

Patrick Moore was a missionary, Catholic, and because of Qin Zhiyuan's relationship with Auerbach, Patrick was more reliable than Richard.

"If there is no mistake in my intelligence, or if the British have not had time to transfer, then Lord Huang should be in Litai Foreign Company." Richard's Chinese is a bit stiff and a little weird in tone, but he's fluent, at least McTavish can understand it.

McTavish didn't answer immediately, but looked at Patrick, and when he saw Patrick nodding slightly in confirmation, McTavish turned back to Richard: "Map, where is it?" ”

McTavish and Zhang Hanqing stayed in the top floor of the Minsheng Building in the French Concession, which is said to be a "building", but in fact it is only six floors, but because there is a spire-shaped attic on the top of the building, the view is quite broad, standing on the attic, you can overlook most of the British Concession.

In the middle of the room where McTavish was staying, there was a map of Hankow on the table, which was marked in French with a high degree of accuracy, even if it was an inconspicuous alley.

"Here." Richard's finger was pointed at the British Concession near the Yangtze River.

"The terrain here is not very good, next door is the British consulate in Hankow, in the consulate, there is at least a platoon of British soldiers, and a little further is the barracks, which has about two companies of troops. One point on the right is the Lisheng Bank, and there are armed guards in the bank, so if you alarm them, it will be difficult to get out of the bank. "Richard explained in detail and did his job perfectly.

"Two of you......" McTavish's expression was a little disdainful, and he was a little eager to try to teach them a lesson.

This immediately provoked a strong reaction from Richard: "I know you are very good, but you better not do that, otherwise, everyone will not look good, and we will not be able to explain." ”

In any case, the French and the British still pay attention to friendship, and the French certainly do not want McTavish and them to turn the British Concession upside down, which will also endanger the interests of the French.

"Don't worry, I won't knock on the door." McTavish reassured Richard and asked, "Is there a way to get in without even noticing?" Even if you can't get in, you can go to the door. ”

Going to the door, is there any difference between that and going straight in?

"It's difficult, the British have sealed off it, as long as anyone wants to approach, they will be interrogated by the British, you better be careful, the British seem to have set a trap, just waiting for you to jump down. It is best resolved through political means, violence is only a last resort. Richard kindly reminded.

McTavish didn't want to risk it either, if he could.

But just now, there was definite news in Lanfang, and the British ambassador to Lanfang, Owen Jonah, denied that Huang Fugui's detention was related to Britain and refused to provide any information.

At the same time, the Southern Military Government sent a clear telegram to the Lanfang government, saying that if the Lanfang government terminated its cooperation with the Beiyang government, then the Southern Military Government would release Huang Fugui and sign a series of treaties with the Lanfang government.

After signing the treaty, the Southern Military Government has already regarded itself as the actual controller of the Republic of China, although it seems that the Southern Military Government is now in an advantageous position in the war with the Beiyang Government, but it is a bit too hasty to assert it now.

McTavish didn't care who wanted to sign the contract, McTavish now just wanted to complete the mission as soon as possible and then return to the capital to find his Su Mo.

"There are always some things that cannot be solved politically, and the most straightforward way to do it is to use force." McTavish is used to being simply rude.

"On the river, is there a way to get close to this Litai foreign company on the river?" Rommel took a different approach.

"Yes, we can approach from the river." McTavish agreed.

"It's also difficult, the British are very well guarded, there are gunboats patrolling the river, our ships can't get close to Litai & Co., and the British won't let us get close." Richard is still not optimistic.

"You don't need to get close, as long as you can get close, even if it's three or five hundred meters away from Litai Foreign Company, we can swim over, so it's always okay." McTavish is sure, isn't it an armed swim crossing, this is the daily training project of the Lanfang First Brigade.

Armed swimming three or five hundred meters, this is not a trivial matter for McTavish at all, according to the training requirements of the first brigade of Lanfang, it is five kilometers at every turn, and three or five hundred meters is just a warm-up, and McTavish They can easily do it.

"If it's three or five hundred meters, of course it's no problem, in fact, our defense area is only more than two hundred meters away from Litai Foreign Bank, if you can swim across it with arms." Richard seems to understand what it means to swim in arms.

With Lan Fang's current relationship with France, the French are no strangers to the training methods of Lan Fang's army, in fact, as early as the European period, Qin Zhiyuan's training of the Foreign Legion included armed swimming projects, which is no secret.

Both the British Concession and the French Concession were actually on the Yangtze River, and since the people of the British Concession would not let the ships of the French Concession get too close to the British Concession, then the people of the French Concession would not let the ships of the British Concession get too close to the French Concession.

In fact, the British Concession and the French Concession are not only clearly divided on land, but also on the Yangtze River.

"Okay, then it's decided, tonight, let's get moving." McTavish had to cut through the mess quickly, lest he have too many dreams at night.

"What about us? Can we join you in action? Zhang Hanqing and Tang Jiading raised this question almost at the same time.

"It's better not to, we're going to swim over, this isn't an easy job, your people are equipped with submachine guns, carrying so many bullets, can they swim?" McTavish is not without malice.

"Hehe, we're sneaking into the war, and we don't need guns at all, so we don't need to bring so many bullets, and it's useless to bring them." Zhang Hanqing is not in a hurry, it seems that after Rommel's training, Zhang Hanqing's progress is still not small.

That's right, this person, just like a spring, the greater the pressure, the greater the power, if there is no pressure, it is a backwater.

"Okay, if you insist, then you can bring someone to participate, but don't expect me to take care of you, and if you drag your feet in the operation, I will enforce battlefield discipline." McTavish doesn't care whether the young marshal or the big marshal is opposite, completing the task is McTavish's highest goal.

"The Lord will bless you!" Patrick finally had a chance to interject.

Uh-huh, the priest, the main role is to add a buff.

(To be continued.) )