On the Kuomintang side, the military unification and the central unification have given up, and they can't afford to provoke the Americans, so they can only admit it themselves; However, those local warlord forces are not reconciled, but when the government has given up, most of them themselves can't even enter the door of the US embassy or consulate!

The only one who can enter the door is the Gui family, but its two bosses really have no face to talk to the Americans because of the smoke and soil, so they are the first to give up the investigation.

The Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Guangdong and other local forces were unwilling to accept this loss, and sent people to Shanghai one after another, taking the initiative to contact the Qingbang, the largest shipper, and preparing to join forces to find a way.

In terms of the size of the loss, the Green Gang is definitely the first, but they have no confidence in how to get the goods back from the hands of the powerful Director Pan Sen, they are reluctant to give up, and there is nothing to be done.

But after joining forces, the two sides found out, what is the use of this? The current police station does not eat hard and soft, and its director Pan Sen is also the commander of the US military stationed in Shanghai, with 10,000 police officers and 10,000 troops, and now it is still recruiting police on a large scale! What can they do in this situation?

Go to the negotiation and people will ignore you!

Dare to threaten, I'm afraid that as soon as you say it, the police will come to the door!

To assassinate, it is impatient to live, and the errand, the main officer, and even the hall behind him must be destroyed! ——

When the Green Gang and others hesitated, the Japanese side began to act......

On Monday, February 19, at half past nine in the morning, when Li Junhao was attending a meeting at the Consulate General, Dijay Cole, commander of the 4th Navy and Land Regiment, called to report that Company B of the 1st Battalion of the 4th Navy and Army Regiment, which was stationed on the south bank of Suzhou Creek and was on guard in the direction of the Japanese concession, was currently confronting the Japanese Navy Special Marine Corps at the new garbage bridge, and the other party asked to enter the concession and "protect" the property of Japanese businessmen......

Well? Everyone at the Consulate General was stunned, what do the Japanese want to do?

Li Junhao turned into the phone and said solemnly: "Colonel Cole, I order: immediately reinforce Company B to guard the northern boundary of the Zhuzhu Concession, if the Japanese dare to forcibly break the bridge, they can use all force to stop it!" ”

"Yes, sir!" Colonel Cole immediately accepted the order.

After hanging up the phone, Li Junhao did not look back at the others at the conference table, but immediately dialed the phone of the headquarters and ordered: "I am Pan Sen, now order, activate the second-level alert, and all units enter a state of imminent battle......"

Putting down the phone, he turned his head to look at Ayers and said, "Sir, please control the situation inside the consulate, and I will handle the affairs outside." ”

Ailes was not flustered, nodded and said, "Okay!" Ogur, the safety of the concession is left to you, you must pay attention to safety. ”

"Don't worry! Mr. Li Junhao agreed, nodded to everyone in the room, and then strode out.

——

At this time, at both ends of the Nicheng Bridge (New Garbage Bridge) at the junction of Yuqiaqing Road (XZ Road) and Suzhou Creek, the second platoon of the first battalion of the 1st Battalion of the 4th Marine Regiment of the US Navy at the southern end was confronting the 1st Brigade and 2nd Squadron of the Shanghai Special Marine Corps of the Japanese Navy north of the bridge.

The 4th Regiment has now been expanded into a 3,000-man reinforced combat regiment, which is not yet up to the F1 standard of the late World War II, but it is already considerable, with 120 regimental headquarters, 170 regimental headquarters companies, 160 regimental artillery companies, and three reinforced battalions of 850 men (145 battalion headquarters companies, 150 heavy weapons companies, and three infantry companies of 185 people).

The first battalion B company includes 35 men from the company headquarters, 36 from the fire platoon, three infantry platoons (5 from the platoon headquarters, three squads, 11 men per squad), and the second platoon of 38 men is currently guarding the bridgehead, and a 60mm mortar group and a M1919A4 heavy machine gun group of the fire platoon are supporting in bunkers on both sides behind the bridge.

At the north end of the bridge was a Japanese army squadron of 150 people, but in terms of firepower, they were not superior, except for the ten crooked machine guns (Taisho 11 type light machine guns), only bolt-action 38 large covers (Arisaka 38 rifles).

And the U.S. military has been fully reequipped with M1 Garand semi-automatic rifles, Thomson M1928A2 submachine guns, Browning M1918A2 automatic rifles (30-round long magazine type), one platoon and two fire groups, completely dismissive of the Japanese army!

Captain Shimada Gonichiro Nakasa, the commander of the garrison of the headquarters led by the Japanese army, shouted to the American troops on the south bank, meaning: The Japanese marines' request to enter the concession is reasonable, because the interests of Japanese businessmen have been illegally infringed upon, and they want to protect the expatriates......

On the US side, the platoon commander immediately replied: The south of the bridge is a concession area, which is now defended by the US army, and the troops of any other country have no right to enter it...... Warning to the Japanese army: One step further, the U.S. military has the right to open fire!

The Japanese army was just arrogant, but they were not stupid, and they looked at the attitude of the American troops on the opposite side very resolutely, and they didn't dare to take another step forward for a while, but kept shouting...... After a long time, the US military has been too lazy to pay attention to them!

Soon, support came from behind the two armies, and on the Japanese side, a large group of more than 600 people all arrived; On the U.S. side, although the other platoons of Company B are still guarding other roads and bridges, the first battalion of Company C has arrived, and six armored vehicles have arrived, which is even more powerful than the Japanese army in comparison!

In fact, at this point, the entire team of officers on both sides understood that this battle should not be able to be fought - if it did, both sides would not wait for reinforcements to come!

On the Japanese side, Shimada Nakasa, who led the team, scolded his mother in his heart: Baga! What kind of mission is this? Major General Takeda Moriji, commander of the Marine Corps, listened to the demagogy of those Japanese businessmen, and asked them to intimidate the concession authorities for the sake of the 150,000 tons of coal and briquettes, but they were not afraid at all, so what should I do?

Major Luke, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 4th Regiment of the Navy and Army, arrived at the scene in a jeep, and when he saw Gonichiro Shimada, who was leading the way, he took the horn handed by the soldiers around him and shouted: "Shimada Nakasa, what do you want to do, do you want to attack the concession?" ”

The two were in charge of patrolling the borders of the Public Concession and the Japanese Concession respectively, and they were familiar with each other, and when they heard Major Luke's words, Shimada asked the interpreter to repeat the previous statement to indicate his intentions.

Luke angrily said, "Ridiculous! The concession is under the full authority of the US side, and the Japanese army does not have any right to enter the concession...... I solemnly declare: All US troops stationed in the Shanghai Sea have received clear orders, and if the Japanese soldiers dare to step into the concession, it means the beginning of the war!

"Warriors, prepare in battle formation, ready to fight!"

Hearing the order, the American soldiers in the south of the bridge immediately dispersed and entered the position, while the six armored vehicles immediately stepped forward, and the machine guns and heavy machine guns were aimed at the north of the bridge......

(End of chapter)