On September 25, Haiphong, the largest port in northern French Indochina, ushered in the dawn of a new day after a dense light rain. Just after eight o'clock in the morning, a whole regiment of French Army infantry poured into the port area, and then sealed off the main roads at all intersections.

The troops from mainland France were heavily armed, their rifles glistening in the sun. The dock workers and shipping company employees who were busy loading and unloading the goods were a little confused, and the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became solemn and tense.

The commander of this new infantry regiment was Colonel Droy, a forty-eight-year-old French officer with a resolute and rigid personality and respect for tradition. Originally, he commanded an engineer battalion in the war, but when he was building fortifications near Mevel, he was dumpled by the German infantry, and in the case of fighting alone, he commanded a group of engineers to hold on to the position for two days, and finally suffered too heavy casualties and ran out of ammunition and food, so he could only order his subordinates to lay down their arms and stop resisting.

In view of his bravery in battle, Droy, who was only a lieutenant colonel at the time, was placed in the first batch of prisoners of war to be released by the Germans, because the French army was desperately lacking capable commanders at this time, so instead of being punished, the army specially awarded him a medal and promoted his rank.

He then led an infantry regiment around Italy in the Alps for a few weeks, beating the Blackshirts on the other side of the line, and finally venting all the resentment accumulated a while ago.

Except for the fierce German Army, Colonel Droy believed that his men could meet the challenges of any country in Europe if they were given enough time to train. When the War Department considered sending a group of troops to French Indochina, the druwa regiment with a dazzling performance was immediately selected by Petain himself, although the overseas service is hard but the benefits are very sufficient, and the resumes of soldiers and officers will look much better, this is a shortcut to promotion recognized by most people, only need to serve overseas for three years, and after returning home, Drois will properly carry a general star.

"This is an order from the Governor's Palace, and all must strictly follow it. Searches are carried out according to the numbers on this form, no consignment of prohibited goods can be missed, and anyone who attempts to stop them is arrested and handed over to the gendarmerie for strict interrogation. Colonel Druy rode his tall chestnut French horse, his short leather whip tapped lightly on his knees.

"Yes, Colonel." The three battalion commanders saluted the colonel with their whips and drove their mounts towards the area of responsibility of their respective teams.

"It seems that the people of the country have found something, and they are searching the warehouses one by one." The warehouse of the Japanese Saigo Co., Ltd. in the northwest corner of the port area was now in chaos, and the local bureau chief Yasuo Hojo happened to convene a meeting of representatives of the Japanese trading companies in Haiphong that day, and the surprise attack of the French army could not help but make them suspect that it was an action against them.

"Beggshaw (brute)! I said earlier that some people who have stayed in foreign countries for a long time will inevitably be bewitched by the decadent ideas of the West, and these non-nationals cannot be trusted and are shameless traitors. Second Lieutenant Saburo Koi, the intelligence staff officer of the Japanese Army's Southern Branch Dispatch Command, angrily scolded that this time he had sneaked across the border into Haiphong with a concealed identity, and he was shouldering an important task and mission, and once the French found out his true identity, he had every right to shoot him on the spot for espionage.

"Xiaojing-kun, please calm down, it may not be someone who is informing. Besides, this is only a private gathering of some Japanese expatriates, and it does not violate the laws and regulations of the colony, so I think that the actions of the French may not be directed against us, otherwise how could they search warehouses one by one, and they should not directly surround this place? Yasuo Hojo was unusually calm, and his words sounded reasonable, and he immediately calmed Koi's emotions.

"Gentlemen, everyone calm down, don't panic, listen to me a few words." Hojo shouted. Hearing the greeting of the convener, the panicked venue gradually quieted down.

"I'm sorry for the trouble this time." Hojo first bowed and apologized to the expatriates in the venue, and out of inertia, many of the people present hurriedly bowed and returned the salute.

"If you trust me, please don't panic, what is going on outside may not be related to our meeting, let's not mess with ourselves. Now I ask you to listen to me, we have plenty of time to prepare before the French search here. ”

"Hey, of course we believe Hojo-sama."

"Say, what are we going to do."

"Yanishi, I'll leave everything to Hojo-sama." At this time, the representatives of the expatriates had already regarded Hojo as the backbone of the body, and hurriedly responded.

"Xiaojing-kun, there is a dark room under the floor of the warehouse office, which was originally used to store important supplies, you go there to hide for a while, and then I'll let you out when the matter is over." Hojo then turned to the two men and said, "Send Koi-kun into the dark room, and after closing the door, you must carefully set up the scene." ”

"Hah!" Both of their subordinates were veterans and answered cleanly.

"Next, take out all the wine and cans stored in the warehouse, and I'm going to treat everyone to a feast." Hojo clapped his hands and greeted loudly.

"This batch of goods belongs to Dayuan Company, and these two batches belong to Shenghe Company." The staff of the warehouse management office followed the army company commander in small steps.

"All are sealed, and these goods are not to leave the warehouse without an order from the garrison command." The captain of the French Army ran to a pile of crates with a couple of soldiers.

"Pry it open." The officer pointed to a box and ordered.

Two soldiers, rifles on their backs, took a crowbar from the side of the pile and stepped forward to pry open the wooden box.

"Wow, brandy? Or produced in France. The captain stepped forward and picked up a bottle of brandy from the straw-covered wooden box and examined the logo.

Captain "Napoleon" held a bottle and showed it to his men.

"You guys, pick up these two boxes and take them away."

"That's not good, Captain." The staff of the management office reminded from the side.

"This is physical evidence, we are going to take it back and examine it." The captain replied with his chin raised.

"We have searched more than half of the warehouses and found a large number of goods that did not match the customs declaration materials. There were furniture, glass, fabrics and hardware, luxury goods, large quantities of liquor and cigarettes, and in one warehouse alone, we found 50,000 pieces of soap made in the United States. We also found a hundred boxes of embroidered lace made in Italy in another warehouse. A battalion commander excitedly reported to Colonel Druay.

"These damn criminals, some of them are going to be unlucky." The colonel sneered and took the "sample" handed over by his subordinates.

"There must be dirty bribery and underground dealings involved, but that's not our business. We just need to do the work given to us by our superiors, and I'm sure everyone understands what I mean. Throwing the bottle in his hand to the adjutant, the colonel looked at the port area in front of him with his hands behind his back with a proud expression.

"The French are calling from the port, and the French are really moving this time, and they want me to immediately send a telegram to the boss to report the matter here." Liu Hanxuan, the manager of Shenghe Company's Haiphong office, hurriedly opened the filing cabinet in the office and took out stacks of business documents and documents from inside.

"These things can't fall into the hands of the French, go find an enamel basin and burn it all." Liu Hanxuan ordered loudly to the beautiful secretary.

"But these things"

"No but! How much did the French guy take from Lao Tzu, but he didn't expect to be so ruthless. The boss is also too greedy, and I heard that he offended the Germans this time. I think the Germans are playing tricks behind the scenes, and even if we fight this lawsuit to Nantianmen, it is impossible for the boss to win. Now we have to get rid of this pile, and we can't leave it for anyone else to handle. Manager Liu kept moving the documents and account books out of the filing cabinet, and then simply pulled them directly to the floor.

"Then what should we do, the upper authorities will definitely not let us go when we go back." The female secretary said with a worried face.

"What are you afraid of, Lao Tzu has been working for their Kong family for so many years, and it's time to think about it. To tell you the truth, the balance of the last American's shipment has not been settled, and I withdrew the money from the bank yesterday. When the accounts here are burned, it will be a mess of dirty accounts. I've thought about it, let's go to Borneo to avoid for a while, and then find a way to go to Europe, now there is no war in Europe, there are business opportunities everywhere, just rely on my ability, are you afraid that you won't be able to make a name for yourself? Liu Hanxuan replied with a ruthless face.

"Then I can only rely on you, you can't let me down." The female secretary had a pitiful look.

"Don't worry, I've got you covered." Liu Hanxuan stepped forward and stroked the female secretary's face, with a resolute expression of comfort.

"We have seized the branches and offices of Quang Kee, Xiang Kee, Heng Yuan, and Da Yuan in Tokyo (Hanoi), and found a large number of accounts and official documents, which are being calculated and reviewed by the tax bureau and the accounting department of the city government. We have also frozen the bank accounts of these companies in French Indochina and arrested several officials in Haiphong. This time it was a simultaneous nationwide crackdown, and it was said that the harvest was more abundant in Saigon. First Secretary of State Linton took the saucer and handed the black tea to the Governor of the Federation of French Indochina. Admiral Degu.

"Very well, President Petain himself sent a telegram asking us to do everything in this matter, believing that the outcome of this operation will be satisfactory to the Berlin side. I know what you're trying to say, Mr. Linton, it's a world of power, and those who don't fit in with it will only be eliminated from it. Don't worry about the reaction of the Chinese, don't forget, we now have the huge European Union standing behind us. "Let's. Degu picked up the sugar jar on the table, picked up a sugar cube with a delicate little clip and put it in the teacup.

"Two German submarines sailed into Saigon Port this morning, and the Saigon City Government organized citizens to welcome them."

"I've read the report, the next stop they are going to Haiphong, let the other side start to prepare, we must make the ceremony more grand and lively, although I don't know what the Germans are fighting in mind, but if these two submarines are there, the Japanese monkey warships may become more peaceful." Let. Degu picked up the teacup and tasted the black tea.

"All of you have been arrested, and I suspect you are holding an illegal assembly here." Major François stood in the warehouse of Saigo with his holster in one hand, and his white gloves in the other hand covering his mouth and nose.

"Sir, we're all law-abiding expatriates, just looking for a free time to have dinner here." Hojo walked up with a bottle of wine on his face, stood in front of the major, and pointed to the messy venue. A crowd of Japanese expatriates sat drunken on the floor, littered with empty bottles and cans, as well as some grilled, half-cooked salted fish and seafood.

"It does look like a dinner party, these stupid Japanese monkeys, it's only half past nine in the morning." François turned to the adjutant.

"I think these people are suspicious, and although I don't know Japanese customs, it's obviously not time to eat." The adjutant replied.

"Take them all away and hand them over to the gendarmes to examine one by one." After the last border crossing incident, the French became very wary of the Japanese, and they usually picked their noses and eyes, but now when they encounter such an obviously suspicious scene, of course, they must dig deep into the root cause, even if they are caught wrong, what can the Japanese do.

Hojo's plan that he thought was perfect failed, and all the Japanese expatriates and trading company employees present were dragged into trucks and taken away.

"These damn drunkards, if it were me, I would lock them up for seventy-two hours first, and then interrogate them slowly." The major walked out of the warehouse with his nose covered, and he said indignantly to the chief of the gendarmerie who had come to take over.

"The identities of these people are very suspicious, and I suspect that there are Japanese spies hiding among them." The gendarmerie captain nodded with a tacit look on his face.

While the two French officers were standing outside the warehouse chatting happily, Second Lieutenant Koi was nervously hiding in a cramped concrete chamber under the floor of his office, waiting for Hojo to come back and inform him of his safety.

It was a six-square-sized chamber with a brick and concrete structure, and Hojo put a lot of thought into it, with electric lights for lighting, and a few crates stacked in one corner, which were supposed to contain a Type 38 rifle, a few boxes of bullets on the side, and a dozen bayonets and a few katana on the wall.

According to the information that Xiao Jing had seen before, there were more than a dozen similar camps in Haiphong, and the weapons stored were enough to arm all the Japanese expatriates in the area, and even some of them could arm the Vietnamese people who were dissatisfied with the French colonizers.

"Yaxi, Hojo-kun's maintenance work is very good." Koi took a katana in his hand, pulled it out and looked at the blade.

"Kunoya Lu, this group of nasty people is really troublesome, why hasn't Hojo-kun come back yet." After putting the sword back into its sheath, Koi simply sat cross-legged against the wall with the katana, waiting with anticrative anticipation for Hojo's return.

Asking for a monthly pass, the ranking just went up and fell again, please give me some encouragement and motivation.

Thank you all for your support. (To be continued.) )