Chapter 1968
The person in charge of the arrest scene in Yangyue Village of the Ministry of Security was Wang Baisuo. Before he arrived, he was worried that the arrest operation at night might turn into a chaos. After all, although he is nominally in command of all personnel present, the main force of the operation is the local garrison. The instructions he issues also need to be conveyed through the military command system in order to be implemented. Even if the military does not make any discounts, this implementation Efficiency may also greatly reduce the actual effect.
Moreover, the capture environment was in the wild. If the action was slightly delayed, it was possible for Xue Zheng and others to escape in the dark. However, the actual situation was much better than he expected. Two Danzhou garrison troops were transferred to participate in the operation. The infantry company successfully completed the siege of the target area, and in the process captured two gangsters who were guarding the horses on the outside.
Wang Baisuo didn't even have much chance to give orders. The military had already completed the early siege operation, which made him feel relieved. As long as we can trap these people in this place and catch them sooner or later, it doesn't really make much difference. As for whether they should be kept alive, Zhang Qianzhi actually had no hard requirements. He just asked Wang Baisuo to keep an eye on this place, not to carry out unnecessary killings, and to try to keep a few alive as witnesses for the subsequent investigation.
The reason why Zhang Qianzhi did not issue a death order to keep alive was because this group of people dared to plan and launch attacks again and again in Haihan territory. They must be desperadoes, and the risks in the arrest process are very high. . If the front-line personnel performing tasks have too many scruples when arresting people, it will inevitably cause huge risks during the arrest process, and the lives of our own people are of course much more valuable than these nameless people.
Therefore, Zhang Qianzhi just asked Wang Baisuo to handle the matter at his own discretion, and he only needed to control the situation on his own without having to report everything to the rear. Of course, if there is a chance to catch him alive, it will be a great achievement.
So far, tonight's net closing operation has captured three suspects. Whether those hiding in the forest will choose to actively resist or surrender to save their lives has no bearing on the overall situation. Naturally, the government will choose the safest way. deal with the matter.
Therefore, although the military suspended the final offensive, Wang Baisuo did not express any objection to this. Anyway, the opponent was already unable to fly, and there was absolutely no need for the soldiers to take risks and fight into the woods at this time.
"Take the captured people back to Danzhou City immediately and hand them over to Mr. Zhang without fail!" All Wang Baisuo could do at the moment was to quickly send those captured in Yangyue Village back alive to Zhang Qianzhi. Sudden interrogation, and at the same time informed the headquarters in Danzhou City of the progress of the arrests on the front line.
At this time, Zhang Qianzhi had already begun interrogating the suspect caught in the inn in the city. This was the only gain of the Security Department in the city. Zhang Qianzhi needs to confirm through this person as soon as possible whether the other party has other accomplices lurking in Danzhou City. However, since only this one person was caught alive at this time, and the reliability of his confession could not be confirmed through cross-comparison, Zhang Qianzhi did not have much confidence in whether the information obtained was reliable.
Zhang Qianzhi walked out of the hot and stuffy torture room. Her clothes were soaked with sweat. The subordinates waiting outside quickly offered tea. Zhang Qianzhi took the cup and drank it in one gulp, then wiped the sweat on his head with a towel. , asked: "Is there any news from the front?"
"Your Excellency, there is no new news yet."
"If there is no news, maybe it is the best news." Zhang Qianzhi muttered to himself.
He was about to return to the torture room to continue interrogating the suspect, when another subordinate came in and reported: "Sir, Mayor Zhang is here."
As a local magistrate, Zhang Xin pays no less attention to this case than Zhang Qianzhi. After all, the political risks he takes for this are much greater than Zhang Qianzhi. If the case cannot be settled, it will subsequently affect the future of the Joseon Crown Prince and his entourage. The trip to Danzhou will be a disgraceful record for his political career.
Zhang Qianzhi is also very grateful for the support provided by Zhang Xin. Without the full cooperation of the Danzhou government, his plan to lure the snake out of the hole would not have been implemented, and the investigation and arrest of this case would not have gone so smoothly. .
"How is the progress on your side? Can it be handled before dawn?" Zhang Xin came in without being polite to Zhang Qianzhi and went straight to the point.
According to the scheduled itinerary, the Joseon Crown Prince Li Bo will arrive at Danzhou Port shortly after dawn. This time it is not a preview, but a real one. Zhang Xin certainly didn't want any unrest on the ground in Danzhou to remain after this night.
"The arrest operation in the city has come to an end. We are currently waiting for the results of the operation in Yangyue Village. If nothing happens, we will have news back in one or two hours at most." Zhang Qianzhi responded respectfully.
But Zhang Qianzhi didn't dare to vouch for Zhang Xin. After all, there were more than a dozen people to be arrested in Yangyue Village. In the wild environment, it was hard to guarantee that one or two people would not escape in the chaos. He has perfected the arrest plan as much as possible, but he also knows that no matter how perfect the plan is, it will ultimately depend on people to execute it, and in an operation involving hundreds of people, it is difficult for everyone to make it watertight. If there is a small mistake in one step during the task, the target of arrest may be able to take advantage of it.
Even though Zhang Qianzhi was extremely smart, he never expected that his opponent would collapse. After discovering that he was surrounded, instead of decisively breaking out, he started fighting among himself. After a lot of killing each other, only four people were left. , the chance of escape has basically been lost. Even if they were allowed to leave at this time, it would be difficult for the four of them to drive away the sailboat parked in the fishing port more than 20 miles away.
So at this time, Zhang Qianzhi's plan has actually been successful, but the news from the front has not been sent back so quickly, and he himself does not know it yet.
Sure enough, about an hour later, the frontline dispatch that Zhang Qianzhi had been waiting for finally arrived at the headquarters. It was said that the bait set outside Yangyue Village had indeed worked, and Xue Zheng and his gang were led into the encirclement. Army troops involved in the operation briefly exchanged fire with the besieged bandits, resulting in an unknown number of casualties. Two other gangsters were captured and will be escorted to Danzhou City by carriage later.
For safety reasons, the frontline command headquarters suspended the arrest operation after completing the encirclement. They planned to maintain the status quo and conduct a complete clearing of the area within the encirclement after dawn. Judging from the number of horses prepared by the gangsters in the local area, it is completely consistent with the number of people previously known by the Security Department. The next step is to wait until dawn to carry out the arrest, and then check the number of people again to confirm whether the gangsters have been caught in one fell swoop.
Zhang Qianzhi immediately sent someone to inform Zhang Xin of the good news, otherwise Zhang Xin would not have been able to sleep well that night. The number of gangsters in the direction of Yangyue Village is also consistent with the confession of the suspect captured in Danzhou City, and the suspect also admitted under torture that they had indeed stayed in Changhua for several days before, but failed to take action at the last moment. Evacuated due to emergencies.
At this point, all kinds of information fragments can basically be matched. This group of people chased all the way to Danzhou, and their target was the crown prince of Joseon, trying to attack Li Bo through an attack. But as for his true identity, this person has been hesitant and unclear. He has given several kinds of information, each of which is different. He obviously has certain counter-reconnaissance capabilities, so Zhang Qianzhi doesn't know what to believe. Which version is it.
For the Ministry of Security, the real motive behind these people's attack on the Joseon Crown Prince is the most important part of the current investigation. Otherwise, just catching the people back will not close the case.
According to Zhang Qianzhi's guess beforehand, he believed that this kind of organized action must have a relatively strong backer. From the fact that Xue Zheng spent a lot of money to buy information from Huo Fei in Danzhou, it can be seen that the main messenger behind them was almost at any cost. want to achieve this action goal.
Judging from such terrible financial resources, Zhang Qianzhi even felt that Dongchang and Jinyiwei had to step aside. These yamen could not afford such a large amount of activity funds to support an operation that might not be successful. Moreover, once this matter is revealed, it is likely to offend Haihan. Ming Dynasty does not seem to have the need to take such a risk to offend Haihan and North Korea at the same time.
Then the question arises, apart from the few high-profile special agencies of the Ming Dynasty, who else would have the courage and ability to organize such a dangerous operation in Haihan?
Yangyue Village, more than 20 miles north of Danzhou City, has now returned to its former peace. Although some villagers like Feng Agui noticed the situation outside the village, no one dared to open the door and go out to watch the excitement at this time. The previous burst of gunfire had already shown that this was no joke. There were probably some bandits outside the village who had eaten the guts of a bear and wanted to do business in Danzhou, but they were blocked here by the army. .
Feng Agui was not afraid of trouble. His nephew served in the army in Danzhou, and he also knew that the Haihan Army had strict military discipline and would not harm the people for various reasons. He was just a little worried about the group of grain merchants resting outside the village. He didn't know if they were involved in this disaster. If he had known this, it would be better to let them stay in the village.
The grain merchants that Feng Agui was worried about now had only four people left, and there was not much time left for Xue Zheng to make a decision. The Haihan soldiers outside were still shouting slogans to persuade them to surrender, but maybe they In the next moment, they will rush in to get people.
"Boss, since everyone else is dead, shouldn't we go out and surrender?" Someone finally boldly asked.
"Surrender? Why surrender?" Xue Zheng was actually still thinking about how to get out of the current predicament at this time. Hearing his subordinate's question, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment without reacting.
"Boss, didn't you just kill Zhuo Scarzi and the others just to silence them? Now we are the only ones left, so tell the truth!"
Xue Zheng was really dumbfounded when he heard this. It turned out that even people in the same camp as him thought that what he just did was just to kill people who disagreed with him at this critical moment, so as to gain a chance of survival from the Haihan people. They might even think that Xue Zheng had reached some kind of secret agreement with the Haihan people before this, and that the action in Yangyue Village was just to gather all the people here for a legitimate reason to solve the problem at once. After all, this place is more than twenty miles away from Danzhou City. Even if someone kills someone and sets a fire, there is no need to worry about causing any trouble.
"So you all think that I killed Zhuo Scarzi and the others in order to surrender to the Haihan people?" Xue Zheng was extremely disappointed with the current situation. Even if the remaining three people were close to him, it would be difficult for him to hold back. The anger in my heart was gone.
Although the other three people couldn't see Xue Zheng's expression clearly, they may have sensed the anger in Xue Zheng's tone, and they all remained silent at the moment, which was regarded as acquiescence to Xue Zheng's statement. For them, since this errand can no longer be carried out, and the leader has chosen to deal with all other accomplices who have different opinions, of course they are prepared to do whatever it takes to survive. At this time, any talk of morality in the world is unnecessary nonsense. They are not newbies. Of course, they understand that being able to survive is the most important thing. For this reason, there is no other way to kill a few of their own people. .
"Well, since you all think like this, I have nothing to say." Xue Zheng knew that at this time he wanted to encourage these people to rush out with him for a last-ditch effort, or to kill himself with the poison in the pendant. , then they probably won’t listen to their orders anymore. After all, once they have the idea of survival, it will be difficult to be cruel enough to die.
And Xue Zheng also realized that his previous violent reaction was probably because he still had the desire to survive in his heart that was driving him to struggle. The choice of surrendering to survive was still very difficult for him. After all, it meant that he had to betray his boss, otherwise the Haihan people would not really let him live even if they accepted the surrender.
But Xue Zheng had made a special oath before to repay his master's family with death, and when he set out from Sanya to carry out this mission, he was indeed determined to die. But now when it was time to die, he hesitated again and again, which finally exposed the weak side of his heart.
Time passed by slowly in this confrontation, and the patience of those trapped inside and those outside carrying out the siege was gradually disappearing. Later, the calls to persuade people to surrender gradually became sparse, until they became completely quiet. I guess it seemed to have no effect, so they simply stopped. However, the encirclement had no intention of withdrawing even after the shouting. Xue Zheng and others looked in all directions and found that there was no loophole for them to break through. The Haihan army kept a certain distance from the forest, and there were more on the periphery. There are even cavalry figures cruising in the fields in the distance. Where can they run on two legs?
(End of chapter)