Overnight, there were more than 40,000 Chinese in the urban area of Singapore. As the agreed time to board the ship got closer and closer, the frightened Chinese hiding in the corners of the city rushed towards the scheduled assembly point. Crowds of people formed on many connecting roads, and what made them feel angry and desperate was that the British army, which had always been on good terms with the Chinese, now actually claimed to have imposed military control on the entire city on the orders of the Governor-General of the Straits Settlements. They set up roadblocks on some main roads that must be passed through. Not only that, they also set up machine guns and pointed their dark muzzles at the Chinese.
For this moment, Tan Kah Kee made a lot of preparations. He mobilized some community leaders and some well-known Chinese social activists to take charge of the gathering and organization of Chinese in a certain area. The colonial government suddenly announced the implementation of military control and would go to the dock. All the main roads in the city were blocked. They didn't know what was going on, so they sent people to the Chen Mansion to ask Tan Kah Kee what should be done next.
Tan Kah Kee gave the answer with actions,
Chen's Residence is located in the most prosperous area of Singapore. At this time, nearly three divisions of British troops have moved into this area. More than 30,000 British soldiers have crowded the streets near Chen's Residence. They are still waiting. Knowing their mission, they gathered together in company units and made a lot of noise,
Thomas brought two British soldiers into Chen's mansion to "invite Tan Kah Kee to a banquet". The only people who knew about it were Bai Sihua and Lieutenant General Percival, the actual military commander of the British army in the Straits Settlements. In order to better direct the evacuation, the two people The headquarters has been temporarily moved to a place just one street away from Chen's residence. Thomas disappeared without any news as soon as he left. The smooth control of Tan Kah Kee is the key to the entire retreat. Bai Sihua and Percival waited. About twenty minutes later, seeing that the American evacuation fleet was about to enter the port, while conveying the order for the general evacuation, he ordered the commander of the 3rd Army's direct guard force, Major General Dudav, to take people to invite Thomas and Tan Kah Kee. Come to the temporary headquarters,
As soon as Du Dafu left, Bai Sihua received a call from one of Johnny's regiment commanders, reporting that Johnny, the chief of staff and two brigade commanders had been kidnapped by the Xinghua Volunteer Army. "What, a dignified division commander of the Royal Army? He was actually kidnapped by a group of militiamen." Bai Sihua yelled, almost furious, "Where's Dali? Where is he? Don't you know how to find him?"
Dali is the commander of the Volunteer Army, at least nominally the supreme commander of the Volunteer Army.
"We have looked for Commander Dali, but we haven't seen him. Sir, is it possible that Dali was killed by the Chinese?"
"Do the Chinese have such courage? Singapore is not China. We British have the final say here."
Unable to get any useful information from the group leader, Bai Sihua hung up the phone and said to Percival: "Sir, we may be in big trouble."
When Bai Sihua was on the phone with the regiment leader, Percival was on the side. He gritted his teeth and said: "If it doesn't work, then we can only suppress it with force. The dignity of the empire in Southeast Asia must not be desecrated by any force. There is nothing we can do against the Japanese." , still can’t cure the Chinese people?”
Bai Sihua: "At this time, we need to consider the long term. If a bloody conflict results, the impact will be too bad. Don't forget that the Americans are on the side of the Chinese this time."
"General, we don't have time to make long-term plans. Time doesn't allow us to do this. Once the Japanese know about our plan, what bad consequences will there be? By then, it will be impossible to surrender even if we raise the white flag. Think about it, tens of thousands of People are drifting on the ocean, and there is no need to worry about the Americans. We are their allies, and the Chinese are nothing."
Bai Sihua and Percival were discussing countermeasures. Dudafu and a company of British soldiers had unexpectedly met Tan Kah Kee and the others.
Thousands of Chinese people had gathered around Tan Kah Kee at this time. Thomas was escorted by Xiao Yi and Zhaohao and walked at the front of the group. Du Dafu looked from a distance in the afterglow of the setting sun and thought that the Chinese were being harassed. Thomas brought it here,
"Mr. Governor." Dudav shouted loudly after dozens of meters away, and led his soldiers through the British army array to quickly meet Thomas. When he was still about ten meters away, he said again: "How are you doing? Come back, the two generals are already waiting for you."
Xiao Yi stabbed Thomas's butt gently with his bayonet and said softly: "Tell them to put down their guns."
Thomas's legs were already trembling, but now his body trembled, and he shouted to Dudav with a bloodless face: "Dudav, quickly order your men to put down their guns."
Dudafu was confused at first, but he immediately understood. He touched his waist with his right hand and shouted: "Get ready, ouch."
He was about to shout his gun and get ready to fight, but then there was a gunshot, and he was hit by a bullet in his right hand, which shattered his wrist bone. He screamed in pain, and cold sweat poured down his face.
Zhaohao played with a Browning with his right hand and said coldly: "If you don't want to die, put down your gun. Of course, you can also resist, but your governor will definitely die first." As he said, he said Tear off Thomas's bra,
With the sound of gunshots, Dudafu's men and the surrounding British officers and soldiers immediately went into chaos. Everyone pointed their guns at the Chinese queue. Some people asked: "Where was the gunshot? What happened?" And more people recognized it. After they came out of their governor's home and discovered that the governor's thin-skinned and tender belly was actually tied with a ring of explosives, they exclaimed and subconsciously stepped back.
Dudav was grinding his teeth and sweating in cold pain due to the broken bone in his right hand. When he saw the "fully armed" Thomas, he screamed in horror and howled: "Quick, quick, put down your guns, don't let them go off." "
His men were very obedient and put down their guns cautiously. The other British troops on both sides looked at each other with nervous and flustered expressions. The moisture in Thomas's body had long since turned into Cold sweat broke out, and he saw the British soldiers on both sides still holding their guns tremblingly. Worried that they would fire, he summoned his courage, displayed his majesty as a governor and shouted: "Put down your guns if you don't want to, I am Governor Thomas. Don’t you recognize me?”
The soldiers put down their guns one after another. Tan Kah Kee looked around and said to Du Dafu: "Where is Bai Sihua? Let him come out and talk to me."
"President Chen, you want to see Commander Bai Sihua, okay, I'll go back and report it right away, please wait a moment," Dudafu responded, turned around and wanted to run away,
Xiao Yi shouted: "You stop here and send others back to report the news. You are the one with the big nose."
The big nose that Xiao Yi took a fancy to was a sergeant. When he heard this, he was overjoyed and ran away immediately without waiting for Du Dafu to assign him.
Because of the existence of Thomas, the suicide bomber, this place has been regarded as a hell-like existence by British soldiers. If the big-nosed sergeant has a chance to escape, he will not care about others.
"Mr. Governor, what happened?" A division commander of the nearby British army came up from behind with dozens of people. Then, he saw the ring of explosives on Thomas's belly and gasped in shock. , couldn't help but take a step back,