latelenovela Chapter 396 Hongkou Police Station
Chapter 396 Hongkou Police Station
Japanese gathering area
After the last war with the 19th Route Army, Japan believed that the time had come for them to invade Pujiang. Although they could not send troops there openly, they could continue to infiltrate Pujiang. So after a period of time, the number of Japanese in Pujiang increased sharply, and now it has exceeded 20,000.
Even if the number of Japanese people increased, Western countries would not make any concessions. Therefore, it was impossible to build a new Japanese concession in Pujiang. Even if the National Government agreed, Western countries would never agree, not to mention that the National Government was unwilling to agree.
Therefore, every time the Japanese discussed this matter, the Nationalist government would push the blame onto the Western countries. The Japanese had no way of offending these Western powers at the same time, so they could only occupy the Hongkou area of the International Settlement.
Over time, the Japanese called this place the Japanese Concession. Although neither the Nationalist government nor the concession authorities recognized it, the Japanese called it that.
The twelve policemen who were captured were placed in the police station here. Originally, the police station here was under the jurisdiction of the Public Settlement Police Headquarters, but the Japanese bribed the inspector of the Public Settlement Police Station and made the Hongkou Police Station full of Japanese police officers.
This approach is the same as that of the East District Police Station in Peking.
These dozen policemen have been arrested for three days. People from all walks of life in Pujiang have been in a big uproar because of these policemen, but the Japanese are determined not to release them and want to make the Pujiang Municipal Government lose face.
Western countries did not care about such things. After all, it was a matter between Japan and the Nationalist Government. As long as it did not affect their interests, they would never intervene.
Things would have developed as the Japanese wanted, but today the situation seemed different. After Li Shaoyi's plane patrolled in the morning, many Japanese police canceled their leave in the afternoon and returned to the Hongkou Police Station.
When it was almost time to get off work, many people felt that it was no big deal. The tense atmosphere at noon was purely created by the superiors themselves, and they still had to find a place to have a drink after get off work.
Just as they changed their clothes in groups of three or four and were about to go out for a drink, a large number of vehicles appeared at the door. Many people immediately grabbed their guns and thought that Li Shaoyi's men were coming. After all, some of their friends were police officers in the East District of Peiping, and they had long heard of Li Shaoyi's arrogance and domineering behavior.
But when they rushed out with guns in hand, they found that it was not the case. Although these people were also armed personnel, they were police officers from the International Settlement, and some were Marines from the United States, a total of seven or eight hundred people.
"Major Clark, what's going on?"
Chief Sato of the Hongkou Police Station calmed down his men. Although they had obtained the jurisdiction of the Hongkou Police Station, the means they used were not very glorious. To put it bluntly, they were still under the jurisdiction of the International Settlement General Administration, and they did not dare to break off relations with the European powers.
"We are taking those twelve Chinese police officers away. Hand them over to us immediately. This is the International Settlement. I don't want to say anything more. If you don't hand them over, I will declare the Hongkou Police Station illegal. From this moment on, the entire Hongkou Police Station will be abolished, including the Japanese settlement area. All personnel will be investigated. No one will be allowed to stay for more than 24 hours without a certificate issued by the International Settlement."
Major Clark was the manager of the military camp in the International Settlement, where more than 2,000 soldiers from various countries lived.
Normally, his relationship with the Japanese was okay. After all, these Japanese often invited him to dinner and gave him small gifts. But looking at him today, it seemed that there was no affection at all.
"Major Clark, excuse me, what's going on here?"
Director Sato also knew that it was useless to be tough when facing these Western powers, so he secretly slipped a gold bar over.
"You have no law enforcement authority in the International Settlement. Bringing the Longguo police here is even more wrong. Now they won't come to you, but will go directly to the International Settlement Municipal Council. The consuls of various countries have reached a consensus and give you half an hour to hand over the person."
Although he received a gold bar, Major Clark still looked unhappy. In his opinion, this matter was caused by you Japanese. If you want to cause trouble with those Chinese, you should not drag us into it.
Now look what's happened, you've brought shame upon us as well. Now that you've handed the person over, everyone thinks it was the result of Li Shaoyi's threat of force. Of course, that's the truth, but these foreigners are unwilling to admit it.
"How can this be possible? He's threatening us. We should unite and resist his threats. Do you really think he'll dare drop bombs just because his plane flies around? This is Pujiang, not Beijing. We should let him know how powerful we are."
"That's enough. I don't want to hear any of your nonsense. I've received orders from the consuls of various countries. You have half an hour to hand the person over to me. If you don't, I will immediately conduct a thorough investigation of the entire Japanese gathering area, including you."
Major Clark said very impatiently, "I didn't have time to clean you up before, and let you grow big in Hongkou. That's because you didn't bother us foreigners, and you sent a lot of money every month. I didn't expect that you guys really didn't know the importance of things."
Who is Li Shaoyi?
You said he didn't dare to drop the bomb. You really underestimated him. Haven't those foreigners in the north suffered losses?
Look at Peking now. As long as there are people like Li Shaoyi in the area, those foreigners will abide by the law honestly. If you don’t abide by the law, you will be arrested immediately. Does the damn consular jurisdiction matter to him?
Moreover, Li Shaoyi has already said that unless the Western countries declare war on him, he will do this for this little matter.
The consuls of various countries also held a meeting to discuss that declaring war was impossible, so we could only succumb to Li Shaoyi's threats.
As for cutting off trade with Li Shaoyi because of such a small matter, that is even more nonsense. Now the two sides are doing a trade of 20 to 30 million oceans. If you dare to cut off this trade, those domestic businessmen will want your life.
Stealing someone's money is like killing their parents. Do you think those businessmen are just businessmen?
They are very active in the parliaments of various countries. Just try to let them destroy trade worth tens of millions of oceans.
So after thinking about it, the Japanese are the easiest to bully...