Chapter 2311

A hundred miles away from Ganghwa Island, on the bank of the Han River, is Seoul, the capital of North Korea. However, Seoul at this time is no longer as prosperous as it used to be. The lockdown that started on the day of the Great Rebellion has entered its thirty-third day, and now every day On that day, the only people passing in and out of the four city gates were heavily armed soldiers. Almost no one outside the city knew what the situation was like in the city at this time.

But even if there is no direct source of information, there will still be some clues revealed. If these traces fall into the eyes of an interested person, more information will be deduced based on them.

Beside the official road not far from Chongli Gate in the south of Seoul, there is a large and very conspicuous house, covering an area of ​​100 acres, with red walls and green tiles. The gate is very wide, and can allow cars and horses to enter and exit directly. There is also a four-story house in the courtyard. It is a high-story tower. It is said that from the top floor, you can even see part of the city's palaces over the city wall, and you can also see the banks of the Han River several miles away to the south.

This wooden structure tower is not an ancient building. It was built at the end of last autumn and was not completed until the middle of this year. In North Korea, where construction technology is not developed, such a construction period is already very fast. A building of this height obviously has It is against the rules, but the government has never caused trouble for this. The reason is very simple. The government really cannot afford to offend the owner of this compound.

On the day the tower was built, a red and blue flag flew on the roof, symbolizing the true ownership of this place. This is not only the Haihan Diplomatic Office in Seoul, but also the home of Haihan Bank and Golden Shield, two commercial institutions with official backgrounds. Seoul Branch is located. To this day, the two-color flag on the tower has not been lowered, but the entire organization has suspended external operations due to the situation.

The commercial activities near Seoul have been greatly reduced recently, and naturally the busy traffic of the past is no longer seen here. Although the door is still open, few people come in and out, showing a depressed scene.

But this is just an appearance. In this place that seems to have stopped functioning, there are still many people staying for various reasons, and there is still a lot of work that is still going on.

Mei Baiji, who is the person in charge of the Seoul branch of Haihan Bank, did not evacuate this place immediately. It is not that he is bold and fearless, but that there is still a large amount of property and information stored in the bank here, and it will not be possible for a while. It was difficult to transport them all. If he evacuated without permission, it would be the same as a soldier abandoning his position and running away in the middle of a battle. He could not bear the crime of running away before the battle.

Fortunately, this place is not without defense means. In addition to a platoon of Army troops stationed for a long time, dozens of armed personnel under the name of Golden Shield also returned here immediately after the incident in Seoul to participate in the defense.

Although such security measures may not be able to stop thousands of troops, they can easily deal with some small groups of rebels who want to fish in troubled waters. After the incident in Seoul, of course some people focused on the treasure cave of Haihan Bank and planned to take advantage of the chaos. They ransacked this place. However, several groups of people came and went, but they couldn't take any advantage, and they didn't even rush through the gate.

The armed personnel responsible for defending this place had no intention of holding back. After firing a warning shot at the insurgents who tried to attack this place, they opened fire directly.

To deal with these small groups of rebels who still use cold weapons as their main means of attack, the Haihan regular army basically just cuts melons and vegetables. After killing more than ten or twenty people each time, these rebels will automatically disperse.

However, one time later, someone might be organizing and directing from behind. Three to five hundred people came at once, and they also brought two squatting tiger cannons, as if they were going to storm the courtyard. But before they could calculate the position and set up the cannons,

I got one round of shelling first.

Yes, Haihan's facility outside Seoul not only has armed personnel stationed there, but it is also equipped with heavy weapons. Of course, it is said to be heavy weapons, but in fact it is just the Army's smallest caliber 85mm field gun, although it is not too powerful.

But it's more than enough to deal with these stragglers.

According to the agreement reached between Haihan and North Korea, Haihan is not allowed to station more than a hundred organized troops within a hundred miles around Seoul during non-wartime, nor is it allowed to deploy heavy artillery in these areas. The purpose of this is, of course,

It is to give the North Korean royal family a certain sense of security, but there is another reason that everyone understands but will not say aloud, and that is to save face for North Korea.

Haihan has a large number of troops stationed in North Korea, but most of them are stationed at the Datong River base more than 400 miles away from Seoul. As for the permanent establishment outside Seoul, a small number of troops are deployed symbolically as a security measure.

, but I never thought that it would be put to use less than a year ago. And if Qian Tiandun hadn't insisted, he probably wouldn't have specially transported a few small cannons and hid them in this place.

With the sound of artillery, these North Korean rebels were naturally defeated again without any suspense. But the most panicked people were not these scattered rebels, but the people in the city who heard the sound of cannon. When they learned that the sound of cannon came from the south of the city,

After arriving at the Haihan Institution, someone quickly sent a message, guaranteeing that no more rebels would approach this place, and that necessary living supplies would be provided here. Of course, the implication was that they hoped that the Haihan people would not rush to intervene in the current chaos.

So a new tacit understanding was quickly reached. Haihan stayed at this stronghold and continued to observe the situation in Seoul. At the same time, he slowly gathered the scattered Haihan merchants who had been released from the city. At this time, the Han River had been closed to navigation, and they could leave even if they wanted to.

No more, we can only stay in this stronghold temporarily and try to leave after the situation improves.

At this time, the person responsible for settling these Haihan people was Mei Baiji. He had no choice but to receive this job. The bank had suspended operations, but due to his responsibilities, he could not leave here, so he became

An idle man. But because of his work, he was acquainted with most of these Haihan merchants who came all the way to Seoul to do business, so it was logical that he was assigned this job.

Although Mei Baiji is not a civil affairs official, fortunately, this job is not difficult. He arranges accommodation and food distribution for these people, goes around every day, understands their requirements, tries to satisfy them, and then reports to the officials in charge of affairs here.

He just needs to know the situation. He can arrange the rest of the time freely, but he will definitely not be able to go because of the chaos outside, so he can only stay in this compound.

Although every time rebels or refugees came to attack, they were easily repelled, but Mei Baiji felt that this was not really an interesting experience. He couldn't even sleep well at night, for fear that thieves would climb over the wall and get in in the middle of the night. Until a few days ago.

News came from the sky that two generals, Wang Qian, had led their troops south, and the naval fleet had arrived at Ganghwa Island, a hundred miles away. Only then did Mei Baiji finally be able to sleep peacefully.

But the two generals made no further moves after arriving at Ganghwa Island, nor did they order the evacuation of personnel from this stronghold outside Seoul. Although Mei Baiji didn't know what these big shots were thinking, he could guess that they were probably there.

Let’s wait and see how the situation in Seoul changes.

At this time, all Haihan's people in the city have left. The stronghold outside Chongli Gate has become the closest observation post to Seoul. Naturally, it will not receive an order to evacuate. Mei Baiji also knows that the four-story tower in the compound

It was not built for viewing the scenery, but a watchtower exclusively used by the military. How could the military give up such a good place so easily?

All of Haihan's affairs in North Korea, including diplomacy, are managed by the Taedongjiang base. Official and semi-official agencies must also take orders from the military in extraordinary times, so the military does not issue a retreat order. People like Mei Baiji

People can only continue to hold on on the front line. Unless a large-scale armed conflict really breaks out with the rebels, it is estimated that they will not be able to leave for a while.

Mei Baiji went to the warehouse in Xikuoyuan. It was originally used to store transshipment goods, but recently no merchants have shipped goods here, so the vacant space is used to house the Haihan people stranded in the local area.

A few days ago, a ship came from Ganghwa Island and picked up most of the people. There were less than ten people left here. Mei Baiji showed his face and greeted everyone, which was considered completed.

Today's inspection mission. Then he went to the tower, greeted the soldiers on duty downstairs, and then entered the building.

For Mei Baiji, who is slightly afraid of heights, going up to a high place and looking far away is not a pleasure, but he still has to climb the tower once a day. The reason is for no other reason than that Mei Baiji has to report to the person he is working on.

On the top floor of the tower.

This official was transferred from the Datong River base in the middle of this year and was directly appointed as the person in charge of this stronghold. He is very young, but very capable. It is said that he was directly appointed by the Executive Committee, and his background is natural.

not simple.

After the incident in Seoul, this official moved his residence to a tower and personally monitored the movements inside and outside Seoul. Mei Baiji had to report to him face to face every day, so he could only endure the discomfort and climb the stairs.

Mei Baiji slowly walked to the top floor and saw a man leaning on the railing to look out. However, he was not just relying on his eyesight. He also held a telescope in his hand. He didn't seem to notice Mei Baiji's arrival and still looked at it.

Have to be very attentive.

Mei Baiji walked over slowly, keeping enough distance from the railing to avoid accidentally catching a glimpse of the gap between here and the bottom of the building. After standing still, he coughed twice.

This time the other party heard the noise, put down the telescope, turned around, and said hello: "Shopkeeper Mei is here. How is the situation today?"

Mei Baiji responded respectfully: "Master Fu, thank you for your hard work. Everything is as usual today."

The young official whom Mei Baiji called "Master Fu" was Fu Li, who was assigned to work at the Datongjiang base last year.

Fu Li's work oversight caused a serious loophole in the security work during a major event last year. Although his boss Ren Liang tried his best to keep him, his position as director of the Special Operations Division of the Police Department could not be saved at the same time. However, Fu Li

Li was one of the first people to join Haihan, so the executive committee would not embarrass him and transferred him overseas. Firstly, it would serve as a punishment, and secondly, it would allow him to practice his work ability in more environments.

Fu Li had no complaints about this arrangement. He also knew that the big shots on the executive committee had no choice but to do this. Although there were no serious consequences at the time, someone had to take responsibility afterwards, and he happened to be the person in charge. It's just that

Unexpectedly, I would travel thousands of miles away and settle in the Korean Peninsula, which has a completely different environment from my hometown.

Fu Li was assigned to the Datong River base where he still worked in his old job and was responsible for local security management. However, the target was not the Haihan people, but the North Korean people who gathered inside and outside the Datong River base for various reasons at that time.

Some of them are workers sent here by North Korea to help build the base, and some are refugees who later fled here to escape the war. At most, tens of thousands of people live inside and outside the base. Although the military can also deploy troops to implement military control

, but after all, there are many problems that require more professional personnel to deal with, and Fu Li is here to do this.

Fu Li's professional abilities during his stay at Datong River satisfied both Wang Tom and Qian Tiandun, so after the permanent establishment in Seoul was established, the two of them jointly recommended Fu Li to manage the Seoul side.

of the permanent establishment.

Fu Li was originally a young official carefully cultivated by the Executive Committee. With the recommendation of the resident chief, the transfer was approved smoothly without any obstacles. Fu Li was grateful for his kindness and was very diligent after taking office. For example, after the incident in Seoul,

Fu Li commanded well, keeping the place in a relatively safe state. At the same time, he continued to collect intelligence and sent the news to the Datong River base through the radio.

The only thing that Fu Li regrets is that he failed to place reliable informants in the city in advance. Now that the city gates of Seoul are closed, it is increasingly difficult to get news from the city. He can only stand on the tower and look into the city every day.

, for fear of missing valuable information.

Fu Li handed the telescope to others to continue monitoring, and motioned Mei Baiji to sit down and talk. He took the teapot on the table next to him and poured two cups of tea out. Mei Baiji quickly thanked him.

"In the past seven days, there have been no fires in the city, and fewer and fewer bodies have been transported out of the city every morning. I think the situation has basically calmed down, and the end of this farce should not be far away." Fu Li.

While drinking tea, he shared the information he had observed with Mei Baiji.

Mei Baiji said: "If that's the case, that would be the best!"

Fu Li said: "But the results those people in the city want may not be consistent with the results we want."

Mei Baiji sneered: "Even if they can't help it! Counting the days, the prince of North Korea will be back from Sanya, and it will be almost there! Those who refuse to surrender by then will all be rebels and will die unjustly!"

Fu Lidao said: "How to deal with this matter will probably ultimately depend on the outcome of discussions between the superiors and the Crown Prince of Joseon. If there is really going to be a war, then we will probably have to hand over this place to the army soon."

Mei Baiji thought for a moment and said, "What do you mean, sir, will this place be requisitioned by the military?"

"There is no more suitable frontline headquarters than here." Fu Li responded: "This watchtower is actually prepared for commanding operations."
Chapter completed!