Lao Cai, Vietnam.

In autumn, in northern Vietnam, the heat is fading. It is said that there are no four seasons in the subtropics, and some are only summer and autumn. As a Vietnamese city close to China, Lao Cai has also achieved considerable development in recent years.

As the northernmost city in Vietnam, Lao Cai has extremely strong ties with China, not official, but non-governmental.

In the whole Lao Cai, the number of Chinese accounts for more than three-quarters, and many Lao Cai Chinese who have lived here since the Ming and Qing dynasties seem to have left their homeland for many years, but in fact, it is not, because in their hearts, this piece of land is not a foreign land, and even in their hearts the concept of national borders does not exist.

Chinese is spoken here, there are private schools, there are ancestral halls, there are temples here, and there are also festivals of the same size as in China.

On the so-called Sino-Vietnamese border, these residents seem to live in Vietnam, but they never think of themselves as Vietnamese, crossing a mountain, wading through a river, and climbing over a small hill, which are the same relatives who live in China.

Although they live in Vietnam, there is no distinction between foreign countries and foreign lands, whether it is intermarriage or frequent exchanges, when the farmers are busy with farming, people living in China may go over the mountains to help the Chinese relatives on the other side of Vietnam to do the work, and during the New Year's holidays, the Chinese on the Vietnamese Lao Cai side may also go to the relatives in China on the opposite side through a mountain road less than a few minutes.

At that time, the Vietnamese wanted to drive them away, and they were killed by them with knives, guns and sickles, but after obtaining the actual right of residence and land, they became the most industrious and simple Chinese.

Once, the French came, carrying foreign guns and cannons, pointing their guns at those Chinese in the old streets, annoying them if they wanted to force them, and asking them to obey the orders of the colonial political axe.

So, these Chinese picked up the sickle hammer at home, sharpened the butcher's knife for killing pigs, and with weapons that could kill, they chose to retreat into the ravine, and played hide and seek with the French foreign spear team.

They told the French: "My ancestors have lived here, and you dogs have only been here for three or five months, and you want to drive us away, so you have to ask the master if you have the knife in your hand if you agree." I think back then, Lao Tzu's ancestor and Feng Dashuai cut your grandfather's generation. ”

Over time, the French, who were overwhelmed by the troubles, finally acquiesced in this mixed situation on the Sino-Vietnamese border, and chose to back down on this kind of chicken rib area with no resources and no minerals. So, when the Vietnamese who were suppressed by the Chinese just saw a little hope of being a dog's leg, they immediately despaired again, the Chinese, no, it should be said Chinese, they still live here freely, and the so-called Sino-Vietnamese border line drawn by the French cannot stop them from seeking survival and land.

The Vietnamese climbed over the mountains and went to China in the north, where it was difficult to walk except women, while the Chinese were able to root in large numbers in Lao Cai and even other places.

That's the racial gap.

After the founding of the republic, the changes in the country are the same day by day, and many Chinese living in Lao Cai have also moved the mind to return to China, however, even if the republic announces a temporary special Chinese policy to the outside world, these special groups of Chinese can return to the nearest country and then resettle in the country according to the corresponding policy, but they hesitate.

"Great land, a lot of gardens, this is a hundred years to bloom, we go, the Vietnamese monkeys can get cheap. I can't bear to go. ”

This is the voice of most Chinese in Lao Cai, who want to return to their true hometown, even if Lao Cai is also 'Chinese territory' and their own 'homeland' in their eyes, they still want to go back. It's just that large-scale migration, how can it be so easy.

As a result, the Chinese people in Lao Cai, like the Chinese along the entire Sino-Vietnamese and China-Myanmar borders, began to rely on their Chinese identity to facilitate access to the border of the Republic, and due to the advantages of language and ethnicity, it was more convenient for them to purchase goods from China than the indigenous people of Vietnam, and then bring them back to Lao Cai, sell them, and then buy timber, herbs, agricultural products, etc. from the local area, and transport them back to China to sell.

There are even more Chinese, even simply crossing the virtual national border and returning to China to work, and there is a wave of construction in full swing in China, not to mention the development of the coastal area in southern Guangxi, which is close to the mouth of the old street, and there are many job opportunities.

According to the policy, the local political axe in Hekou treated these Chinese well, and set up a special 'foreign recruitment office' for them, a semi-enclosed talent square, where the Chinese only need to register and do not need any fees, and they can wait for the domestic compatriots or units to hire them and select them, and the treatment is definitely not bad.

As a result, the economy of Lao Cai developed in this way, and because of this, the French originally only left a small colonial administration here, but after the development of Lao Cai's economy, they sent a company of French [***] teams to be stationed in Lao Cai.

There were too many Chinese in Lao Cai, and the French not only coveted the wealth and taxes here, but also worried that the Chinese, like the Germans, would encourage the locals to peacefully evolve Lao Cai, and even spread this trend to the entire northern part of Vietnam.

Lao Cai's new town was built spontaneously by the wealthy Lao Cai people, and although it is only the size of a slightly larger town across the border, the Lao Cai people are proud of it, because they built it by their own hands, not Vietnamese or French. Even because of the strong rise of the motherland, neither the Vietnamese nor the French dared to offend the Chinese here.

They may be rampant, but they are not fools, and they will not give the Chinese an excuse to send troops to the Chinese, who are known for their extremely tough Chinese policies.

"The superiority of the French only exists when they point guns at the Vietnamese and Chinese."

In the new town of Lao Cai, a teahouse on the second floor of the street, the characteristic Ming Dynasty style tea shop has attracted many Chinese, but the price of the street scenery on the second floor is higher, and there are usually no guests, and the downstairs is very lively. Chinese people love to drink tea, especially the surname Xi who loves to drink tea in the southwest, which is also very common here.

A young Chinese dressed as a small businessman, wearing a more popular black shirt, looked very ordinary, but the eyes that swept the whole room and the window at that moment made him very different. He took off the hat from his head, put it on the table, and pointed to the opposite place, motioning for the person opposite to sit down. The exclamation just now was sent by him pointing to a group of French soldiers patrolling the streets with guns on the street below.

"I heard that they had set up the Free French Axe in Saigon, and the so-called 100,000 Free French Army, which had been cobbled together, came here from all over the world to fight side by side with the British."

The person on the opposite side looks ugly, he is dressed as a coolie, especially the crescent-shaped scar on the forehead, which makes people look very scary, and at first glance it is the kind of repair workers who can be seen everywhere in the old street and new city, maybe the scar is smashed by falling bricks.

Both were wearing hats.

The young man, with excellent eyes, stared at the French soldiers who were walking away, still looking at something, his eyes were very resolute, but when he saw the seemingly straight backs of the French soldiers, he showed some mockery, "Yes, they are going to hold the thighs of the British devils, so that they can fight back to France, Free French political axe." Hehe, yesterday's Southwestern newspaper said that the French Provisional Governor had made many empty promises to the people, and was preparing to abandon his position and join the Axis once and for all. ”

This young man is still very concerned about current affairs, and he is talking about the situation in France as reported in yesterday's Southwest newspaper. The French could not sit still when they saw that Turkey, Denmark, Finland, Italy, and even the Dutch had received benefits from the USSR, including resources, labor, land. Hitler even did not hesitate to declare that if the French people wished, the French [***] team they would later form would even take over Leningrad once they joined the Axis Grand Alliance and actively participated in the war.

Even today, Leningrad is still under the defense of millions of Soviet soldiers and civilians.

The Chinese dressed as a hard laborer shook his head and said with a smile, "Hitler is crazy, from the very beginning of promising to distribute labor, to distributing resources, distributing land, and gradually trying to tie the whole of Europe to his chariot." In the huge Soviet Union, the Germans would choke to death if they ate it, and Hitler understood this truth. The signs of a protracted war are emerging, and instead of getting caught up in a protracted war, it is better to distribute a small part of the benefits to their allies, and after the whole of Europe is squeezed into the Soviet Union, Stalin will face an unprecedented grim situation, while Germany will always be the biggest winner, and the newspapers say that once Germany envelops the whole of Europe, they may become the superpower of the future. ”

"The French will definitely be fooled, the essence of imperialism is the ultimate demand for territory and resources, in their opinion, the Franco-German war is over, the Provisional Political Axe is trying to play the function of a formal political axe, perhaps, join hands to join the Axis powers, fight against the red wave of the Soviet Union, the crazy big Europe project, will be a good way to convince the French to change their psychology." The middle-aged man, dressed as a laborer, smiled and added, "Just as crazy as the little devil's plan for the Southeast Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, Hitler's plan for the prosperity of Europe." ”

The Chinese dressed as a young businessman looked back at the stairs in the distance, and then lowered his voice, "Is your body enough to eat?" ”

The middle-aged man dressed as a laborer on the opposite side laughed when he heard this, patted his chest, and said, "Look at my tendon and flesh, a really strong man and worker, and my health is not good, but you, don't aim at your left eye and your right eye, burying your brother and me." ”

"Hehe, history is sometimes so interesting, there are often some little people like us who participate in stirring up the storm, brother, don't worry, you won't be biased." The young man said this, but it revealed a strong self-confidence. The two of them laughed and laughed, like old friends, comrades-in-arms, and more like the kind of close comrades who cooperated.

I don't know what the two of them said, but from beginning to end, there were no guests in the private room upstairs, and some people wanted to go upstairs to drink tea, but the shopkeeper said that the upstairs was overlooked.

"That is, eating public food, I am not as good as you, all kinds of skills are not qualified, and this is the only point, relying on the thick flesh and blood." Although the laborer said it bleakly, his eyes were firm, revealing a frenzy. "Little people, it's not just about eating dry food, they can always do something."

When the young man heard this, he paused slightly, but he was a little emotional, "Brother, just in case, I said just in case, in case I miss, my sister-in-law and nephew are my relatives." ”

"I know that just do it, it's not in the way. No matter how verbose it is, it won't be like you. The middle-aged man dressed as a laborer waved his hand, signaling that he was fine, similar things, I haven't done it three times and I have done it twice, but this time, it was slightly more difficult. Before, at most, it was just a beating of sticks and a few bricks, but now, it is real.

The two then drank tea for a while, during which the shopkeeper personally came up to add a pot of boiling water, added a stack of fennel beans, and let the two occupy the second floor to continue eating and drinking.

"It's almost time, let's go."

The two got up almost at the same time, hugged each other, and went downstairs.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, at the entrance of the French police station in the old town of Lao Cai, hundreds of Chinese people suddenly gathered in Lao Cai. Some of them held signs with the words "No Violent Colonial Rule, Free the Chinese" written in French, Vietnamese and Chinese scripts.

"Resolutely resist any persecution."

"Vietnamese monkeys collude with the French!!"

…… The cause of the incident is very simple: yesterday, two Chinese youths had an argument with two Vietnamese in Lao Cai Old Town, and as a result, they were discovered by the French patrol police who happened to be passing by, and they were all arrested and returned to the Lao Cai Police Station.

This kind of thing has happened occasionally before, but every time, the French are basically released after a single punishment, and even the French patrol officers are not interested in these small things.

However, only an hour later, two Vietnamese speakers with Vietnamese indigenous identity came to bail the two Vietnamese youths away, and before leaving, they gave an extra sum of money to let the French pack up the two Chinese fiercely and lock them up for three or five days before releasing them.

The French director received the money, naturally he looked at the Chinese unpleasantly, thinking of the Chinese in Pingyue, one by one disobeying discipline, causing himself a lot of trouble, this time, with a reason, the director of the bureau punished the Chinese.

The French and Indians in the police station, and even the hired Vietnamese, were lawless, and even if the 'Free French political axe' and the British Far East authorities were jealous of the Chinese, these people were not afraid.

A severe beating beat the two Chinese youths were half to death and then thrown out of the police station.

So, today, a march of hundreds of Chinese surrounded the police station.

"These damn Chinese are simply a bunch of mad dogs. Sean, go call Company Commander Yves right now and ask him to come and help us stop these damn mobs. ”

Director Reel had long forgotten that the anger of the Chinese was caused by the beating of two Chinese youths by his own order, and in his view, any disrupting of order was against the Free French political axe and the Commonwealth behind it.

As for the anger of the Chinese, these are not what Reel wants to consider.

I'm just a little bureau chief, and my job is to manage these damn Chinese and Vietnamese, not to command the army.

"Sean, if they dare to rush over, use the guys in your hands and hit them back."

Lying on the window, looking at the angry Chinese below, all with sticks in their hands, where are the civilians, this is simply a riot.

France is not as good as it used to be, and Reel knows this very well, and if it were before, he would not hesitate to take out the only pistol in the police station and shoot the damned Chinese fiercely.

And today, the temporary French political axe in the country has long been unable to take care of the Far East, and the Far East has become the territory of the free French political axe under the leadership of General de Gaulle, and the chaotic politics makes this little bureau chief angry.

Both the Free French Axe and the French Provisional Axe were far from him, but the mob was very close to him.

"Ten years ago, if I had met these damn thugs, I would have shot them to death. Five years ago, when I met these damned thugs, I would have beaten them half to death, and three years ago, I would have not hesitated to order the lads to teach them a lesson with their batons. But for now, it may only be possible to carry out effective deterrence. ”

With a snap, Reel shook his head and threw out all the complex imaginations in his mind, because a glass bottle was thrown into the window, and it almost hit Reel's head just a little bit.

"Lads, teach me a good lesson to these damn mobs."

The frightened Reel, watching the huge beer bottle smashed on the ground and shattered into glass slags all over the floor, was furious, and shouted loudly downstairs.

Looking in the direction of the garrison from the window, he seemed to be able to see the French soldiers approaching.

I saw the French police, the Indian patrol, and the Vietnamese gathered downstairs, carrying sticks and pounced on the demonstrative Chinese. And more and more Vietnamese are coming from other places.

Beating Chinese, especially Chinese with the acquiescence of the French, was the favorite thing the Vietnamese did. Only at this time will they feel that they are so powerful, and the Chinese are nothing, because the colonial lords are on their side.

When the Chinese saw that these devils were about to commit murder and beat people, they were naturally prepared, although the sharp-eyed people could already see the French soldiers on the corner of the street in the distance, but it did not prevent them from fighting first. According to the old practice, the French would not have fired.

What no one noticed was that a Chinese man at the front, with a crescent-shaped scar on his forehead, and a solid wooden stick in his hand, was rounded, beckoning to the French patrol or the Indian patrolman.

seems to be middle-aged, but in fact he is vigorous, but he is extremely flexible in a few moves, and in a blink of an eye, he put down two French patrols and three Indian patrols.

Seeing that this hard worker was so violent, the French and Indians, and even the Vietnamese next to him, began to surround him, and when the Chinese next to him saw it, they naturally rushed over to help, and it became a mess in an instant.

"Oh God, is this an uprising?"

As soon as the French [***] team in the distance saw this situation, a small-scale scuffle was actually staged at the entrance of the police station, and they were immediately extremely nervous, and almost subconsciously took off the rifle on their backs.

At this time, about a platoon of French [***] team, more than two hundred meters away from the entrance of the police station, from the beginning of carelessness, to the current fast running, these homeless French soldiers also realized the seriousness of the problem.

The Free French political axe led by de Gaulle still had a relatively strict grip on the army, after all, the French army in Vietnam, after gathering the elite French troops in several other less important colonies, was the last force of the free French political axe.

However, neither the Chinese, nor the chief Reel, nor those who were messing around, saw a young man with sunglasses standing in the corner of a small three-story building that was the tallest building in the vicinity opposite the police station.

The young man was dressed in an ordinary security guard uniform with no rank or insignia, and his gaze seemed to pass through the street, past the hundreds of people, and directly on the front, the most conspicuous person.

At that moment, the middle-aged man who was being besieged seemed to sense something, taking advantage of the air attack of the fight, his legs were pierced with his horse, the wooden stick in his hand was raised high, and a knife slashed down, just avoiding the two opponents in front of him.

He looked up and seemed to see the young man standing in the corner on the top of the building in the direction of the sun.

Call!

The young man upstairs took a long breath and suddenly raised his originally lowered hands, and actually held an ordinary old-fashioned single-shot rifle in his hand, only to see that he almost didn't have any aim, and with his instinctive gun sense, he shot at the middle-aged laborer.

"Bang!!"

A violent gunshot woke up everyone, and everyone didn't know who fired the gun, so they subconsciously stopped and looked in the direction where the gunfire came from, and at the end of the field of vision, it happened to be the French army with rifles.

Except for the middle-aged man who was lying in a pool of blood, no one saw the young man standing in the direction of the afternoon sun, and disappeared from the roof of the building.

From the time he came out of the corner, to the time he picked up his rifle and fired, to the time he dodged, the whole process took less than five seconds, and it was incredibly fast.

Everyone panicked instantly, except for the French who were at a loss.

"The French devil has shot, the hero doesn't suffer the loss in front of him, everyone run......"

I don't know who shouted, and the Chinese, who were originally going to fight with the team of French soldiers, suddenly fled in confusion with the team. A few young Chinese men with vigorous skills did not forget to lift the middle-aged laborer who was lying in a pool of blood, and ran away in a puff of smoke, and the French soldiers did not even have time to shoot a warning.

Only the stunned French and Indians were left at the scene, and even the Vietnamese were scared away.

The French soldiers looked at me, I looked at you, staring at the guns in each other's hands, all puzzled, did not hear anyone in the team shoot, and then looked around, the original few pedestrians had already been scared away, empty, nothing abnormal.

From their angle, they just couldn't see the anomaly on the roof of the opposite building.

At the same time, someone happened to see a magical scene on the other side, a Chinese child with sour candy, so shocked that he forgot to chew.

From his point of view, he saw a young man sliding down from the height of the third floor, along a smooth object.

"Mom, fly, fly......"

The child's mother followed the sound, only to see a swaying thin steel wire swinging in the air, but there was nothing unusual in it.

…… October 29, 1941 at four o'clock in the afternoon, Hanjing.

“…… Chairman of the National Committee, the French troops stationed in Lao Cai, Vietnam, brazenly opened fire on our Chinese compatriots at 3 p.m. local time, causing an extremely egregious and bloody incident......"

Zhang Shusheng listened to the report silently, but Mao Yunxian didn't see any surprise on the chairman's face, and after a long time, he only heard him say, "Immediately convene an emergency meeting of the base camp." ”

"Yes, Chairman."

Mao Yun put aside the doubts in his heart first, and quickly went out to inform the preparation of the emergency meeting of the base camp.

As soon as he left, Zhang Shusheng took out the action report that he had read for the last time yesterday from the drawer, was silent for a while, picked up a pen and signed a few words on it, and it could be vaguely seen that it was necessary to do everything possible to treat the comrades, effectively ensure the safety of the action comrades, and give them good comfort...... Putting down the pen, Zhang Shusheng closed his eyes slightly, and his eyes flashed past the scene in Vietnam as if he was in the scene.

"It seems like a trivial matter, but in fact, from today, the external expansion of the Republic has officially begun." ——

(To be continued)