The news of the assassination of General Xiao Yimin, the new vice premier, vice minister of military and political affairs, and commander-in-chief of the Sichuan Army, who had 200,000 troops, spread throughout the country in just three hours.

The two high-explosive bombs thrown at Xiao Yimin's vehicle from the arcade on Gulou South Avenue blew up Xiao Yimin's car and the three cars of the entire convoy, killing and injuring more than 30 guards and hundreds of innocent Nanjing people.

In the middle of the night, the powerful aftermath of the two specially made bombs had not subsided, and the violent vibrations caused by them were spreading in all directions with unprecedented speed and destructive power.

From Guangzhou in the far south to Yanjing, where it is cold and cold, from the neon-lit Shanghai to Lhasa on the snowy plateau, countless people have been shocked and frightened and unable to sleep, and the telegraph and telephone offices from south to north and from east to west have been paralyzed, the military and government organs, embassies and consulates, and industrial and commercial associations in almost all provincial capitals have been lit up, and thousands of stakeholders have spent an incomparably long sleepless night because of extreme shock and panic.

The next day, as soon as the sky dawned, the whole of Shanghai was woken up by the exaggerated and immature exclamations of thousands of newsboys, and after a short period of angry scolding and complaining, thousands of doors and windows suddenly opened, and countless men and women of all kinds and rags rushed out of their homes to buy newspapers.

"Shocking news: Admiral Xiao Yimin was assassinated in Nanjing—"

"Far Eastern Post" exclusively revealed: There was an assassination explosion on Gulou Street in Nanjing, and General Xiao's life and death are uncertain......"

"There were more than 100 casualties in the Nanjing explosion, and the military and police gathered in the whole city to impose martial law——"

"Famous doctors in Nanjing City gathered in the Liangjiang Governor's Mansion, and General Xiao was seriously injured and his life hung by a thread!"

"The scene of the explosion was extremely tragic, and the stump and broken arm flew a hundred steps!"

"Who is behind the murder? "Metropolis Daily" reporter tracks and explores the exclusive report......"

A similar situation then appeared in Chengdu, Yanjing, Tianjin, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Changsha, Guangzhou and other important cities, and all the cities in the north and south of the river were boiling like Shanghai, and countless numb people suddenly found that the newly acquired peace was about to be lost in the blink of an eye, and a huge war disaster was coming.

Nanjing, at the center of the storm, is a different story.

As soon as the sky was dark, the citizens who had been worried all night trembled and opened the gate, but they did not see a single officer or soldier in green or yellow military uniforms, except for a patrol officer with a short stick standing at each street corner, there was no trace of the chaos at all, and countless citizens rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

After the sky was bright, the citizens found that all the city gates had been opened, in addition to the familiar patrol police, there were a few more Sichuan officers and soldiers wearing steel helmets and fully armed Sichuan officers and soldiers guarding the city gates, and the crowd of people who went to work in twos and threes began to appear inside and outside the city, and the vegetable farmers who carried their burdens into the city to sell vegetables began to enter the city in groups, and the familiar cries of "Yangchun noodles" and "bean paste buns" sounded again inside and outside the city gates, and the whole city returned to the familiar appearance of the past.

The only difference is that the original Liangjiang Governor's Mansion and now the Jiangsu Governor's Mansion have been completely closed, with many sentry posts inside and out, and Xiao Yimin's 2,000 guards have turned the entire Governor's Mansion into a huge fortress, except for the main officials of the provincial political axe and a few generals of the Jiangsu army, everyone is blocked from the first major gate sentry.

The reporters who flocked to the guard saw the black muzzles of the guards and their eyes burned red with anger, and none of them dared to take half a step close to the cordon.

At noon, the provincial government officials and the generals of the Jiangsu army walked down the steps of the building with heavy expressions, got into the cars and left one after another, and no one paid any attention to the hundreds of Chinese and foreign reporters who were far away on the other side of the street, and no one knew whether they had seen Xiao Yimin, who was seriously injured, and still less whether Xiao Yimin was dead or alive now.

However, the reporters were frustrated by the answer: none of the officials who had been allowed to enter the Overseer's Palace for a morning had been able to see Xiao Yimin, let alone know whether he was alive or dead. The only thing that can be revealed is that two highly skilled German doctors from the Nanjing Mission Hospital have not come out since last night.

At this moment, everyone knows that Xiao Yimin's life and death have touched the hearts of thousands of people, and among them, in addition to the tens of millions of people in Sichuan and the politicians of Guangzhou and Yanjing, there is another group of people who are also suffering from waiting, and the eagerness of these people even exceeds that of the leaders of the two major political parties in the north and the south.

Two black sedans drove from the direction of the station, turned the drum tower, then turned westward, slowly slowed down and drove into the hastily opened gate of the English villa, the car stopped in front of the main entrance of the villa, and three short men in black suits got out of the carriage and strode through two rows of deeply bowed staff into the room.

After a while, three people who had just gotten out of the car stood behind the east-facing windows on the second floor of the villa, and the middle-aged man named Matsui Ishone on the left gently opened the curtain:

"Kohata-kun, please look at the window on the left side of the second floor of the two-story European-style building across the street, and the cigarette seller at the entrance of the alley to the west...... Right! And what about places we can't see? There is no doubt that our consulate has been closely monitored. ”

The special envoy Kohata Youkichi, who came from Shanghai, was very annoyed, he quickly turned around and sternly asked the acting consulate of the consulate: "I need you to give a reasonable explanation!" ”

The young and white Rinai Gancheng bowed in fear: "It's all the fault of his subordinates, and he couldn't stop Gaozong Wenjun's assassination with all his might......"

"Smack-"

"Hey!"

Yukichi Kohata put away his aching palms and walked to the desk with the disappointment in his heart.

Matsui Ishine Daisa, who accompanied Yukichi Kohata from Shanghai overnight, was also very angry, he glared at Ganjo Kanjo, who had half of his face swollen, in disgust, gritted his teeth and scolded in a low voice:

"Yaga! As a diplomat of the Great Empire, are you as stupid as those people in the south? Did you know that this explosion almost destroyed the entire plan we had painstakingly devouted? Do you know how much trouble it will bring to the empire if Xiao Yimin doesn't die? Stupid pig! ”

"Hey!"

Gancheng's waist was almost bent at 90 degrees, and cold sweat and tears were quietly dripping down his head.

As the military attache of the consulate in Shanghai, who was also in charge of intelligence in Nanjing, Matsui Shigen bore unshirkable responsibility for this sudden explosion, and he really did not expect that Wang Jingwei, who was far away in Guangzhou, and Huang Yin, who had quietly returned to Shanghai, would ignore his advice and hastily launch this reckless assassination plan under the cover of the Shanghai and Nanjing consulates, thus disrupting the overall plan of the Beiyang generals Li Chun and Ni Sichong, and then provoking the Chinese Civil War and promoting the split of the Beiyang in one fell swoop.

"Matsui-kun."

Yukichi Kohata, who quickly calmed down, stopped the annoyed Matsui Ishine and pointed to the chair in front of his desk.

Matsui bowed slightly, strode over and sat down upright: "Xiao Hata-kun, did you immediately contact Tang Zhaoyi, who had just arrived in Nanjing, and ask to meet Xiao Yimin through him?" ”

Kohata Youji thought for a moment, shook his head and replied in a low voice: "Don't worry, it's difficult to ask for a meeting with Xiao Yimin at this time, so let's wait patiently." Duan Qirui's envoy is already on his way, and it is estimated that British Minister Zhu Erdian, American Minister Lynes, and French Minister Hollande will soon arrive, and the eyes of the whole world are fixed on Nanjing, so we must be cautious. ”

Matsui Shigen nodded, and then sighed: "It's good that Xiao Yimin is really dead, not only can we save a huge amount of aid costs, but also promote Li Chun, Ni Sichong, Chen Guangyuan and others to attack Nanjing, and we can also firmly grasp the three major provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui and Jiangxi at the smallest cost." ”

Xiao Ha Youji snorted: "Actually, Xiao Yimin may be better alive, with Xiao Yimin's political attitude and tough style, once he knows that Duan Qirui has reached a secret loan agreement with us and restarts the "Xiyuan Loan", he will definitely break with Duan Qirui, and China will be divided into two military camps, the north and the south, which will be more beneficial to our empire." ”

Matsui Ishine is an extremely shrewd conspirator, and after a little weighing, he immediately understood: "Kohata-kun is clever!" In this way, no matter whether Xiao Yimin is dead or alive, we should unswervingly go on, and instigate Li Chun and others with weapons, ammunition and financial assistance, and the plan can be continued to be implemented.

"It's just that we must first clear the trouble caused by the implementation of this assassination plan by the Southern Political Axe, otherwise we may fall into passivity, according to my research, Xiao Yimin is not as polite as he looks, and his revenge against the enemy is just as resolute and cruel."

Kohata Youji reacted immediately, quickly stood up, and walked in front of Gancheng: "Where is Gao Zongwen now?" ”

"Missing, along with his wife and daughter, as well as the two people in charge of the Jinling Morning Post newspaper, lost contact after the explosion, and two of the three people who participated in the assassination were killed on the spot, and the remaining one escaped." Tell the truth.

Kohata Yukichi asked suspiciously, "Missing?" Can you be sure that they escaped from Nanjing? ”

Wei Nei bent down again, and the cold sweat that had just disappeared began to break out again: "I can't be sure, they didn't disclose this assassination to us at all, and when we reacted, Xiao Yimin's guards had already controlled the entire street, and thousands of officers and soldiers came in a blink of an eye, we can't take risks in such a situation." ”

Kohata Yukichi's face finally relaxed, nodded approvingly, and comforted kindly:

"In this matter, your decision is correct, keep up the good work! Take action immediately, mobilize your subordinates, I want to keep abreast of the important situation of the entire city of Nanjing, the situation of all the diplomats, celebrities in the business circles and all the officials of the Beiyang political axe who rushed to Nanjing, and understand the current political position of the political axe officials in Jiangsu Province, as well as the various situations of the army under Xiao Yimin, can I do it? ”

"This is an honor for all colleagues in the Consulate in Nanjing, and we will do our best!" Rinai replied loudly.

At this time, Matsui Ishone, who was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and observing the situation, suddenly shouted: "A military convoy is a command vehicle modified by the Sichuan military American truck...... Let's take a look, has this team appeared before? ”

As if he had pounced to the window, a convoy of enclosed pick-up trucks covered with camouflage nets had already driven out of sight, but he was still able to give Matsui a clear answer:

"I have never seen this kind of car, especially the penultimate black car, this boxy appearance has never been seen, it is certain that this is by no means the equipment of the Sichuan army stationed in Nanjing."

Matsui frowned, looked at the dust and mist below the drum tower, and said to himself, "Where did it come from?" What unit? Who will be in the car......"

(To be continued)