Episode 196 Tracking down Guangwu

At half past two o'clock in the morning of March 14, the Nanyang Fleet rescued a Dominican cargo ship hijacked by "pirates" in the Strait of Malacca, and "accidentally" discovered Guangwu's younger brother Yu Ding.

This is no better than the small box that Mu Hu carried. The twenty boxes were all the same, wide and large, and had to be carried by two people to carry them. Each box is affixed with a seal, and it is also stamped with the diplomatic seal of the Ming Empire, proving that these are the diplomatic customs baggage of the Ming Empire and enjoy the privilege of diplomatic exemption.

The Ming Marines also found a set of documents in his suitcase, which proved that his name was Li Fuliang and that he was the counselor of the Ming Legation in the Dominican Republic.

Immediately afterwards, more than a dozen sets of documents were found, which proved that this person was a diplomat of the Ming Dynasty in France, a diplomat in Switzerland, a diplomat in the Netherlands, a diplomat in Belgium, a diplomat in Brazil, a diplomat in Cuba, a diplomat in Argentina, a diplomat in Panama, a diplomat in Mexico, and a diplomat in the United States......

Basically, as long as Yujia may pass through this way, or may take a detour or change the destination due to accidents, there are all of them here. In addition, there is a large stack of passports of more than n countries, which are also made for him alone.

And looking at the workmanship of these documents, the color, printing, pattern, etc., it seems to be more real than the real thing.

The Ming marines all sighed: This is a royal escape. People's conditions are different.

……

The marines who carried out the mission this time were all directly sent by the General Staff of the Navy. And the "pirates" are all agents of the People's Guard. The chief of directors radioed the situation to the base, and the base ordered them to bring the ship back to the base while guarding the twenty boxes so that they could not be opened. At the same time, the search for Guangwu continued on the ship during the voyage.

The Marines "cooperated with the investigation" in the dining room where the crew was gathered, and then the "pirates" and the remaining Marines let go of their hands and searched the entire ship.

Escorted by two Ming patrol boats, the cargo ship "San Juan" turned south and sailed to Palembang, the main base of the South Sea Fleet.

In fact, this is also the usual practice. In the past, when the Ming navy rescued hijacked ships, no matter what nationality they were, they would first return to Palembang with the ships and escort the pirates. The investigation and evidence collection of piracy crimes are indispensable for the cooperation of the ship. Although this is more troublesome and will delay the trip, the ship is generally very cooperative. After all, it's important to escape the catastrophe.

The Marines and agents turned the entire ship upside down, and even the fresh water tank shone into it with flashlights, fearing that Hirobu would hide in the water. But nothing was found. Interrogating Yu Yan, this kid didn't say anything. The Marines could not extract a confession from him. After all, his identity is here, and he will go to court publicly in the future. interrogated the crew, and the crew also said that the only passengers on the ship were Yu Yan, as well as several of his entourage bodyguards, and there was no emperor.

Although it is not possible to extract confessions from Dominican sailors, so many crew members are interrogated separately, and they say the same thing. It doesn't seem like a lie. Even the Ming army lured a large sum of money, and even promised that the Dominican crew who was the first to tell the location of Guangwu's hideout could get a Ming green card immediately, was useless. These crew members drooled when they heard these conditions, but they still said they didn't know.

The ship's agents grew more and more frustrated. They were still not reconciled, and in the more than ten hours they returned to Palembang, they searched all the places where the people on the ship could enter, leaving only some places that people could not enter, such as the fuel tanks, boilers, and the lids of some machinery and equipment...... It's not that these can't be taken apart and seen, but they are at least easy to check after entering the port.

Of course, there is another possibility, that is, Guangwu is hiding in one of the boxes. - But this possibility is not very large, the boxes are well sealed, and the seals are not broken, it does not look like a person who has been hastily hiding in it. And from the "hijacking" to the present, almost two hours have passed. If you really hide inside, you will be bored a long time ago.

But there was a death order on it, not to open these boxes. They left two agents in the storage room to guard the boxes, ready to transport them back. Even if Guangwu was really hiding in the box, he wouldn't be able to escape.

……

The news was sent back to Nanjing and Beijing from Palembang. Xiang Xiaoqiang and the others were also stunned.

…… Why, could it be that there is more than one ship to meet Guangwu?

The General Staff immediately ordered the Nanyang Fleet to closely monitor the vicinity of the Strait of Malacca to ensure that when the Dominican ships passed by, they could do the same again. At the same time, it was ordered that the aircraft carrier fleet in the western Pacific should not return for the time being, and that the search would continue after dawn.

A few hours later, it was dawn. The aircraft carrier fleet in the western Pacific immediately flew its planes. This time, not only reconnaissance planes and dive bombers were released, but even short-range fighters were also released. So much so that the last twelve fighters were parked on the deck, just in case.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, the San Juan sailed into Palembang.

Before the cable could be tied, the long-awaited People's Guard agents poured onto the boat.

The "rescued" Dominican crew members were immediately taken to rest, and Yu Yan and his entourage bodyguards were also put on black hoods, stuffed into trucks, and taken away for separate detention and interrogation.

Only the only People's Guard agents remained on board.

They enter the warehouse where the boxes are stored and open them for inspection. Twenty boxes, all of which were tightly packed with various utensils. They dismantled two pieces of each box, both porcelain, bronze, calligraphy and paintings, jade, etc., and the last box was a large bond in dollars and pounds.

Under mutual surveillance, the ten boxes were immediately sealed and carefully transported off the ship. Palembang was well prepared and, under heavy escort, moved directly onto another heavy cruiser.

Immediately, the heavy cruiser, escorted by four destroyers, set sail for Daming.

……

Next, a group of shipyard technicians and workers boarded the cargo ship with various tools. With their enthusiasm for "dismantling the ship", they dismantled almost every place that could be dismantled. Then several wolfdogs were led onto the boat, and the former wolfdogs sniffed in every nook and cranny of the ship.

I tossed around like this for an afternoon, but I didn't find the shadow of Guangwu.

The interrogation of the crew is also underway.

The captain of the San Juan said they were going to the port of Marseille, France. When you arrive at the port of Marseille, you will be sent ashore and wait in the port, and the guests will be back within ten days. When the time comes, the guests will be sent to Dominica.

The captain was also innocent, and with a bitter face, he said quickly in Spanish:

"We don't know what kind of Manchu royal family they are at all, we only know that they are your Ming diplomats. Documents? Of course they have the documents, but we don't understand them, and we don't read them. Our mission was sent by my Government...... What the? Seaplane? No, no, friend, I've never seen a seaplane. We met up with another ship at sea and brought them and the boxes in lifeboats......"

The two People's Guard agents who were interrogated looked at each other in surprise.

They were going to Marseille, which was expected. It's nothing more than going to Switzerland via France and depositing the treasure in the bank. After storing the treasure, take a boat to Dominica.

But now the ship, from the captain to the crew, said that they had never seen a seaplane, and said that they had brought people and boxes from another ship. That is, there is another ship. It is also likely that Guangwu was on that ship.

"What kind of ship is that?"

"It's the San Pedro."

"What nationality?"

"Dominica, too."

"In what direction?"

"To the east."

East! That is, a direct crossing of the Pacific Ocean to Central America! Guangwu's escape arrangements were extremely sophisticated, and even when he went to sea, he also adopted the method of "separating people and goods......

That is to say, now Guangwu is still in the western Pacific.