The Italian fleet was made this time at the urging of Li Zhongtang, so it was not too well prepared. Then the next addition in Shanghai, the economic center of the Qing Dynasty, is very important.

Japan, which attached great importance to the departure time of the Italian fleet, received the news as soon as possible. Tokyo even sent this telegram to Youpeng in Yamayama Prefecture on the front line of Weihaiwei by communication ship. This even more stimulated the ferocity of the Japanese army attacking Weihaiwei, and the Qing army suffered heavy losses in the defense of the defense after repeated attacks that did not kill them.

If it weren't for Li Zhongtang's strict order, and the Italian reinforcements in sight, the Qing army, which had suffered heavy casualties, might have surrendered.

After all, it's better to die than to live, and surrendering now can still save a life, even if Li Zhongtang's head is cut off in the future, this is also a long more life.

It's just that this time Li Zhongtang was ruthless, as long as the Qing army surrendered by Weihaiwei after the war, no matter who it was, all of them would have to be engaged in military law, and their families would also be sent to the frontier. Such a harsh order made the Qing army grit its teeth and die. After all, in Qing society, family is still important, and if you die, you will have to affect your family, not everyone has the courage to do so.

In order to buy time for the Japanese army attacking Weihaiwei, Japan used all means, among which assassination and sabotage were extremely important. And Shanghai, which needs to stop to replenish supplies, has become the hardest hit area.

Zhang Shusheng took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, it was six o'clock in the afternoon.

"Leader Zhao, let everyone eat quickly, and be refreshed in the evening for a while."

"Master Zhang, please rest assured, we have more than 30 brothers, and we will ensure that your warehouse is not lost."

The strong man who spoke was the leader of Zhao, his full name was Zhao Tiezhu, and below him, more than 30 strong men were eating, there were fish and meat were very rich, and sharp weapons such as knives and axes were placed in a convenient position beside them.

That's right, Leader Zhao and his party were all temporarily invited by Zhang Shusheng to guard, which cost the boss a lot of money.

Although Shanghai has unreasonable planning and too many people pouring in, there are great safety hazards in random construction, so fires occur from time to time. But there were too many fires in Shanghai during this time, more than 20 in the past ten days alone, and two of them were burned down.

And the fires that occurred during this time were very strange, most of them burned warehouses, especially those merchants who supplied supplies to Italy, and they were easy to burn. Even the concession, which is known as the safest, burned several warehouses.

Therefore, during this period of time, whether it was the officials of Shanghai City or the patrols of the concession, they were patrolling day and night, trying to arrest these perpetrators.

Not to mention, this period of time has been fruitful, and I have encountered a wave of arsonists. However, the gang was extremely fierce, and after some resistance, twelve people were killed, one was seriously injured, and the hunters also lost two. Unfortunately, the seriously injured bandit did not survive the night.

Although they were not able to leave a living mouth, after a check-up, these people had thick calluses on their right hands, and the position where their big toes were bifurcated from other toes was a little too large, so it is very likely that they were Japanese.

Of course, this is not the official government's statement to the outside world, but Master Zhang got it through a relationship, which is why Master Zhang spent a lot of money to hire Zhang Tiezhu and his gang. What is the situation of relying on the government alone, Zhang Shusheng knows too well.

"Leader Zhao, my net worth and life will be entrusted to you."

As he spoke, Zhang Shusheng took out two silver dollars from his arms. "This is the cost of my invitation to all the heroes to drink tea, and after the goods are shipped away, there will be a heavy thanks."

The heavy silver dollar is also a big temptation for Zhao Tiezhu and his party, who are used to licking blood from the tip of the knife.

"Master Zhang, please rest assured, we will guarantee with our lives, and the warehouse that we must protect will not be lost."

Although this is the second time Zhao Tiezhu has said this, judging from the solemn tone and strength of his expression, this is a vow.

Facing Zhao Tiezhu's words, how could Zhang Shusheng, who had dealt with various people as a businessman, not know this. I saw him pat Zhao Tiezhu on the shoulder and said. "It's enough to have your words, my net worth and life are pinned on you."

Zhang Shusheng didn't say much, although the more than 10,000 pieces of cotton clothes in this warehouse were only worth 20,000 or 30,000 taels of silver, which was nothing to Zhang Shusheng, who was worth hundreds of thousands. But this cotton coat is still related to his net worth and life, because it is a military uniform purchased by Italians. As Zhang Shusheng, who was mainly engaged in the trade between the Qing State and Borneo, what is the difference between this and his life.

That's why in addition to hiring Zhao Tiezhu and his group, he also had to watch it in person.

And since Zhao Tiezhu has been paid by Zhang Shusheng, he must do something.

He asked, turning to look at his brother. "Is everybody eating well?"

"It's all eaten!"

"Now that you have eaten well, then prepare to work, keep your eyes bright, and don't let snakes, insects, rats and ants take advantage of the loopholes."

With Zhao Tiezhu's shouting, more than 30 men wiped their mouths and left the table, taking their own things to replace their brothers who had been guarding for most of the day.

As for Zhao Tiezhu, he bowed his hand to Zhang Shusheng. "Master Zhang, you are resting here, and the brothers outside will be watching."

After saying that, Zhao Tiezhu went out to inspect, this bowl of rice looks delicious, but the difficulty is only known by doing their business, and how big the risk is.

It is common to send more than a dozen urns back to their hometown every year, and there are even those whose eyes are not bright enough, and they end up with no one to collect the corpses.

Therefore, in addition to being brave enough, you must have eyesight, and you can't take everything.

And this time Zhao Tiezhu took this order, the risk is not small, of course he knows what to face, but this order must be accepted, if he wants to get ahead in Shanghai, for those of them who have no capital, what else can they take if they don't fight hard.

But even so, there are still people who feel unsure in their hearts.

"Boss, I'm a little confused."

A team member saw Zhang Tiezhu coming, pulled him aside and asked in a low voice.

"Huzi, what's there not to pass?"

Zhao Tiezhu fixed his eyes and saw that this was Zhao Hu from the same village as himself.

"Brother Zhuzi, the risk of this work is too high, I got the news that it is the Oriental who is causing trouble this time. Brother Zhuzi, you also know how fierce these Orientals are, although we are not afraid, but the casualties will definitely be not small at that time, this life is not easy to do. ”

"Huzi, are you scared?"

"Brother Zhuzi, you still don't know my Zhao Hu's character, if I'm afraid, I won't come out with you at all, it's mainly a question of whether it's worth it."

"Then Huzi, listen well, this time the life is indeed risky, but since I took it, I naturally have my reasons."

As he spoke, he looked at Zhao Hudao calmly. "Since we have eaten this bowl of life-saving rice, it is necessary to eat this bowl of rice well. Now this matter of Master Zhang is an opportunity, a good opportunity for us to make a name for ourselves, everyone knows that the recent things are all Orientals, as long as we can protect the goods of Master Zhang, then others will look down on us, this reputation is out, naturally there is no need to look for work everywhere. ”

Although Zhao Hu was the only one looking for him, Zhao Tiezhu knew that he was definitely not the only one who thought so, so he patiently explained.

"Brother Zhuzi, I know, this is to make a name for us. You see, well, I won't let those Orientals make mistakes. ”

And Zhao Tiezhu didn't say anything after hearing Huzi's words, and patted him on the shoulder to show encouragement.

As time passed, night fell, and today the moon was dark and windy, and the surroundings were plunged into darkness except for the bright lights on the side of the warehouse.

After waiting for the moon to rise on the branches, some sneaky figures appeared in a wasteland outside the warehouse.

These figures are thirty or forty sizes, although they are all dressed like ordinary people, but after careful identification, they can still be seen to be different from ordinary people, in addition to the fact that they are all fierce and vicious, their lap legs are more serious.

"Sato-kun, this is the warehouse where the Italian military uniforms are stored?"

"Yes, Takeda-kun, the fifteen thousand winter clothes prepared by Zhang Shusheng of the Qing dynasty for the Italian army are all in this warehouse."

"Yo Xi!"

Takeda glanced at the brightly lit warehouse, turned to his subordinates who were waiting behind him. "Everyone prepare, for the sake of the Great Japanese Empire!"

"Hey!"

Following his order, these murderers, who were silent and silent, silently picked up knives and axes and other murder weapons, and touched the warehouse. In order to conceal their identities, these ronins do not even use their favorite katanas, but instead pick up Chinese swords and axes.

"Sato-kun, keep up."

Takeda pulled out a revolver and beckoned Ito to follow.

More than thirty figures took advantage of the night to touch the warehouse, although at first they could avoid being detected with various obstacles, but when they got closer, it was not easy to touch them.

No, at a distance of about thirty meters from the warehouse, they were discovered.

"Who?"

A loud roar exposed Takeda and his party.

"Rush!"

Seeing that he couldn't sneak in, Takeda waved his hand and was about to break in if he didn't do anything.

At the same time, his revolt also aimed at the guard who had spotted him.

"Smack, smack!"

Two gunshots rang out, more like a frying pan, which cheered everyone up.

The vigilant guard clutched his chest and slowly fell.

"Not good!"

The sound of gunfire made Zhao Tiezhu, who had just sat down, stand up immediately.

"Thieves are coming!"

also made Zhang Shusheng, who was sitting with him, stand up. However, looking at his shaking body, you can know how scared Master Zhang is in his heart.

"Master Zhang, don't worry, I'll gather the brothers to kill the thieves."

Zhao Tiezhu first appeased the proprietor, and then turned around and shouted. "Huzi, you immediately wake up the rest, and I will take my brothers to resist the attack of the thieves first."

Zhao Hu had obviously experienced a lot of this kind of thing, and immediately replied. "Chief, I'm going to gather the big guys."

After saying that, he hurried away.

Just when Zhao Tiezhu also wanted to leave, he saw that the trembling old man Zhang stretched out his hand and pulled him.

"Master Zhang, is there anything else?"

Facing Zhao Tiezhu, who opened his mouth to ask, Zhang Shusheng took out two pistols from his body. "Leader Zhao, the thief has a gun, I have these two pistols, you can deal with them."

Zhao Tiezhu also knew that now was not the time to be polite, so he arched his hand and took the pistol and left.

After Zhao Tiezhu walked away, the chief attendant behind him asked with some concern. "Master, the gun was given to them, what are you going to do?"

Facing Changsui's concern, Zhang Shusheng pointed to himself. "With my current appearance, is it of great use to take a gun with Leader Zhao, and since we have asked the other party to protect us, we must do our best, after all, this matter is related to my life."

Since Zhang Shusheng said so, the long ensuage behind him stopped talking.

"Kill me!"

After Zhao Tiezhu, who went out, gathered the brothers who were on patrol, he immediately pointed to the door of the warehouse and touched Takeda and his party to kill.

Zhang Shusheng's warehouse was built extremely strongly, and the thick walls cut from masonry and stone were not something that Takeda and others could pry.

The windows are four or five meters above the ground, and in addition to the glass, they are also covered by thick fences because of the dangers of these days. Although this will make the warehouse darker, it will also prevent others from entering through the window to cause damage, and all the above measures make Takeda have no way to take this warehouse except to find a way through the gate.

So in the face of Zhao Tiezhu and his entourage's guards, Takeda also couldn't back down, he raised his pistol and shot Zhao Tiezhu and his party a few times.

"Chief, beware!"

The sharp-eyed guard saw that Takeda had a gun, and immediately pushed Zhao Tiezhu away, but he was shot twice.

"Liangzi!"

Seeing the guards who blocked the gun for himself, Zhang Tiezhu's eyes turned red. This was all brought out from his hometown, although he knew the danger of eating this bowl of rice, but who could not be angry when he saw this.

Zhao Tiezhu took out the two guns that Zhang Shusheng gave him, and also shot at the Takeda group who rushed over.

In fact, Zhao Tiezhu had few opportunities to contact the gun, and he only knew how to shoot, but when Takeda and his party rushed closer, he was so poor in marksmanship that he knocked down several of them.

And Zhao Tiezhu's reckless shooting instead suppressed the momentum of Takeda and his party by mistake.

However, Zhao Tiezhu, who was the party concerned, didn't care so much, threw away the bullet casually, raised the steel knife and killed the attacking Takeda and his party.

Under the leadership of Zhao Tiezhu, the guards cheered up and killed with the Takeda Yika pedestrians.

"Die!"

Zhao Tiezhu, who took the lead, as the leader, still had some ability, only to see him dodge a knife sideways, swing the knife to hold another knife, kick it down with a big kick, and then slash it with a knife, slashing it on the opponent's arm, and cutting it down with a knife. caused the other party to scream and lose its combat effectiveness.

Driven by Zhao Tiezhu, the other guards stepped forward one after another to catch the opponent and fight for a while.

As for Zhao Tiezhu, because of his heroic performance, he attracted three opponents.

"Hah!"

An opponent couldn't hold his breath and took the lead in attacking, his axe coming straight at Zhao Tiezhu's head.

As he led, the other two slashed at the waist and the other greeted to the shoulder, and they were all quick and ruthless.

In the face of the enemy's attack, Zhao Tiezhu's face did not change, he took a step diagonally, took the lead in giving way to the axe, then used the knife to block the knife that split the waist, and kicked the armpit of the person who cut off the shoulder. The armpit is a major problem, with a large nerve, so a blow can cause severe pain and partial paralysis.

The man who had exhausted his strength couldn't dodge this kick at all, and was directly kicked and rolled on the ground.

Obviously, Zhao Tiezhu's powerful and heavy kick made this person unable to get up in a short period of time.

Zhao Tiezhu took advantage of this opportunity to take a step forward, take advantage of the situation, elbow, and call directly on the opponent's face. He also heard the sound of cracking the bridge of his nose, and the opponent was so painful that he bent down and threw away his weapon, holding his face with both hands.

In two or three clicks, Zhao Tiezhu will solve two opponents, and as for the remaining one, it will be simple. The powerful waist knife, a few slashes in a row, took advantage of the opponent's inability to block, directly kicked down, stepped forward and stabbed the opponent.

Zhao Tiezhu's fierceness immediately boosted the morale of the guards, and the leader was powerful, making them let go of a lot of worries, and even fought with each other with their lives. Takeda also saw in his eyes, and this one immediately set his sights on him after dealing with one of the guards.

"Eat me!"

Facing Takeda, who was coming up, Zhao Tiezhu stepped forward with a knife.

"Phew!"

The knife was blocked.

Zhao Tiezhu was not in a hurry about this, and kicked it over.

Takeda also turned sideways, let go of it, and the other hand was a knife.

"Phew!"

Takeda's sword was also blocked.

After this fight, the two have a preliminary understanding of the opponent's strength, and both know that the other party is not easy to deal with. Therefore, they all stared at each other, trying to find a flaw.

"Kill!"

Suddenly, the two of them yelled at the same time, followed by knives one after another, doing desperate fighting.

The knife is a life-fighting style that gives up defense and points directly at the opponent's vital point.

"Poof!"

"Whew!"

The short and desperate style of play was thrilling and exciting, Zhao Tiezhu was stabbed twice, one in the thigh and one in the waist. Takeda was just as upset, he was stabbed three times, one in the shoulder, one in the abdomen, and one in the thigh.

Now that both of them are seriously injured and have lost their combat effectiveness, the next thing is up to the people below.

However, compared with Takeda, Zhao Tiezhu had reinforcements, and during the time when Zhao Tiezhu dragged Takeda, Huzi finally came with reinforcements.

"Kill~"

The roar of reinforcements not only boosted the morale of the guards, but also demoralized the attackers.

Seeing that nothing could be done, Sato, who had taken over the command after Takeda was injured, immediately ordered. "Let's withdraw."

The attacker jumped out of the battle group and left with Takeda on his way.

And the guards did not leave them behind, except for a few who had not had time to escape. After all, their job is to protect the warehouse, not to hunt down thieves.

"Brother Zhuzi, how are you?"

After Zhao Hu waited for the enemy to retreat, he immediately pounced in front of Zhao Tiezhu.

Facing the concern of Zhao Hu and the other guards, Zhao Tiezhu smiled. "Don't worry, you can't die. If you're going to come a little later, then I'm going to have a hard time. ”

"By the way, the brothers slept a few and injured a few."

Of course Zhao Hu knew what Zhao Tiezhu meant, he was asking how many were seriously injured and how many died. "Seven were wounded, six were slept. But we don't lose either, and put down the nineteen on the other side. ”

"Alas, it's still a loss, a big loss."

Whether it's a loss or not is another story, but there will be compensation immediately.

As soon as the battle ended, Zhang Shusheng, as the proprietor, appeared.

Although his legs were still a little trembling at the blood on the ground, he still spoke. "Everyone's love for my Zhang family's life, I see it in my eyes, in addition to the established money for burning and burying silver and medicine, I will add another 1,000 taels of silver as an additional reward, and if you don't dislike it, you can't eat this bowl of rice without arms and legs, I can arrange a living."

Zhang Shusheng's words immediately attracted a burst of applause.

"Zhang Dongjia is bright and benevolent, and he is a person who does big business."

"Thank you Zhang Dongjia first."

This attack on Zhang Shusheng's warehouse is just a microcosm of Shanghai.

The Japanese had their successes and their misses, but this still did not affect the arrival of the Italian fleet.

On January 2, 1895, the day after the new year, the Italian fleet arrived in Shanghai.