At around 4:30 in the afternoon, the setting sun gradually set in the west, and there were less than two hours of daylight left. Once night fell, the search would be even more difficult. Most importantly, there would be no way to conduct an aerial search.
The search area is centered on Nanjing and radiates 200 kilometers to the southeast, south, and southwest. It is roughly the range from Wuxi to the southeast, Tianmu Mountain to the south, and Wuhu to the southwest. The reason why the 200-kilometer range is specified is because of this
A car at that time, even at the fastest speed, could not cover 200 kilometers in two hours.
Xiang Xiaoqiang sent Xiuxiu to the hospital to visit Jiang Meilu with gifts, and then sat in command with Shi Shigege, Stomachache, Snail and others at the headquarters, while speculating on Prince Ananta's most likely escape direction. Stomachache, Snail Two
Everyone believed that Prince Ananta would run to Beiqing. However, Shi Shigege and Xiang Xiaoqiang did not think so. They unanimously believed that there was a high possibility that the prince would try to escape back to Siam and obtain the throne. Then he would use Siam to
As King Luo, he came to bargain with Ming Dynasty.
I think it is impossible to have a stomachache. The first is that it is a long way to escape from here to Siam, it will take a long time, and the risks are high. The second is that even if you get to Siam and inherit the throne, so what? Siam has been there since ancient times.
In the vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, which king could not be displeased by the Ming Dynasty and yet still remain secure in his position? He said that if this was the case, the Ming Dynasty would not even need to go into battle shirtless. He would just send his troops to the border and then directly support the other side.
It would be enough for a prince to stage a coup and seize the throne.
The Ming Dynasty had done something like this several times before to ensure that Siam was 100% obedient. In this way, the coup would succeed every time, because usually at this time, Siam's own army would not dare to suppress the coup d'etat.
Xiang Xiaoqiang felt that his stomachache was reasonable, but he still felt that something was missing. He asked Shi Shigege:
"What do you think?"
Fourteen Gege said:
"Sir, let me ask you, if you were the prince of Siam, how would you choose at this time?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said:
"...It is much easier to find a place to cross the river than to sneak back to Siam all the way...and arriving in Beiqing is equivalent to entering a safe...but...I like taking risks. If it were me, I would
I will find a way to return to Siam.”
"Why?" Fourteen giggled, "What are the benefits?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang continued to close his eyes, trying to understand Prince Ananta's current mood, and said slowly:
"Because...Beiqing is like a safe, but once you go in, you can't get out...The future will be hopeless...You have to be a puppet for the Beiqing propaganda agency all your life, and every word you say must conform to the wishes of the Beiqing authorities...
...No, I don’t want to live like this in my life...Prince Ananta is also a person who likes freedom and adventure, and I don’t think he is willing to..."
Shi Shigege nodded and said nothing. She knew that Beiqing was indeed not a good place to live in exile. No royal family has been exiled in Beiqing so far. During the Russian Revolution, many Tsarist Russian nobles, Belarusian intellectuals, artists, businessmen, etc. happened to be in exile.
In the Far East, they would rather take huge risks and wait for the ship bound for Nanming and Japan than walk a few steps closer and enter the territory of Beiqing. Even many fugitives from Nanming chose the Philippines, Singapore, Malaya, and India as their first choice for escape.
China, Japan, and other places. Unless you have committed a capital crime or a particularly serious crime, you will only escape to Beiqing when you have no other choice.
Shi Shigege "hypnotized" Xiang Xiaoqiang again:
"...Then since you want to go back to Siam, aren't you afraid that the Ming Dynasty will support your brother's coup and capture you back to the Ming Dynasty?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang closed his eyes and said while thinking:
"...It is possible...but I am a man of means. I have been in charge of state affairs for a long time before taking the throne. Both the courtiers and the army support me...Besides, this is a turning point after all...Whether it is peace or
There are many possibilities for the Ming Dynasty to negotiate conditions, whether to join Britain and France, or to go into exile... If that doesn't work out, 200 kilometers east of Bangkok is the French territory, and 100 kilometers west is the British territory... One day, I will find that there is no control in the country.
I can live there and leave the country in just a few hours... Whether it's the UK or France, they will be happy to protect me...
"I can also go from their territory to anywhere in the world... Anywhere I want to go... I can form a government in exile, give speeches everywhere, and win overseas support... Or I can just stay in Nanyang and wait for the opportunity... Once the situation changes
If it is beneficial to me, I can return to my country and seize the throne... No matter what, it is better than being imprisoned in Beiqing for life..."
When I heard this, my stomach hurt, I patted my forehead and said immediately:
"The princess and your lord are both geniuses. Zi Teng immediately sent an order to focus the search in the southeast."
Fourteen giggled and said:
"It's time to send an order... But not only this, there is another reason... because the highway network in the southeast is the densest, so it should also be the focus of the search."
…
On the vast plains of the Yangtze River Delta, two-seater light reconnaissance aircraft were flying "buzzing" all over the sky. Regardless of the towns or villages below, people got out of their houses and looked up. Everyone asked each other and guessed what was going on.
.It doesn’t look like a war, nor does it look like an exercise. Although there are many planes, I don’t see two planes together. I only see one every now and then, and they are circling in circles. Especially the aircraft.
It was very low, and it would swoop down from time to time, so low that people couldn't see it, and then fly up again after a while.
There are the most airplanes over the cobweb-like highway. When pilots see a car on the road, especially a black one, they will immediately press the nose of the plane and fly slowly close to the roadside, with the belly of the plane almost touching the ridges of the fields. Three
In the 1900s, there were not many cars on the road, and there were even fewer black cars. Every time a black car appeared, it usually attracted two or three planes, flying low to observe at the same time. Those speeding in the Jiangnan land
The owners of the black cars were still fresh at first, but soon they became angry after being harassed. There were also a few drivers who were watching the planes and almost hit the road pillar.
Moreover, every time they drove a certain distance, they would encounter inspections by the police, gendarmes, or the People's Guard. When the owners of the small cars got off, they cursed and directed their full resentment at the military and police officers, threatening to sue and calling for reporters.
.But even so, it is still indispensable to check how to check.
On the lake and river, the boat bosses holding the awning boats also discovered that several small boats appeared at some key hubs of the river, with soldiers with guns standing on them. They stopped the boats and entered the warehouse for inspection.
When everyone is being checked, the police or soldiers will show them a photo in the newspaper and ask them if they have seen this person. Most people recognize it at a glance. Isn't this the Siamese prince?
!
Then the military police will tell them that His Royal Highness the Prince of Siam has suddenly disappeared and was probably kidnapped by his attendant Pachai... In order to ensure the safety of His Highness the Prince and for the ever-lasting friendship between Ming Dynasty and Siam, we must
Find His Highness the Prince and ask citizens to actively assist...
…
It's six o'clock. The search has been going on for two hours, and the sun is setting.
In the headquarters, Xiang Xiaoqiang was anxious and angry, running around with his hands behind his back. He had a stomachache, fourteen grids, Snail was each responsible for a telephone, Qiu Qiu and Xiu Xiu were each responsible for a telegraph, constantly coordinating all parties.
The search force is working hard to operate this large search network.
"Sir," he hung up the phone with a stomachache and said to Xiang Xiaoqiang carefully, "it will get dark in half an hour at most. Commander Li asked for instructions on what to do with the plane... I just asked him to let the plane fly for a little longer, and then
Hold on for twenty minutes to half an hour."
"Well, okay," Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and looked at the big map on the slide rack, "Very good, that's how it should be! Those planes didn't stay far away from their respective airports. They landed as soon as they said they were going to land. What's the point of searching a little longer?"
"
What makes everyone find it difficult to accept is that it has not been found yet.
Forty reconnaissance planes are crowded over a palm-sized search area, and this area is an endless plain with no mountains, and there are countless checkpoints...can't find this?!
Qiu Qiu raised a possibility: Could it be that the prince threw away the car and changed transportation to escape?
It is possible, but now, firstly, no abandoned black cars have been found. Secondly, it was originally said that black cars were checked, but now all cars have been stopped and checked. Not only cars, but also cars on country roads.
The horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts, the cargo ships on the river... they were basically means of transportation that could hide people. They were all opened and inspected. But the prince and his entourage could not be found.
This result was unexpected by everyone. It can be said that a miracle happened.
Snail raised another possibility: Could it be that the prince and his entourage kept a close eye on them and did not continue to flee, but found a place to hide? For example, they hid in a remote farmhouse and used the huge sum of money they brought with them to buy off the farmhouse.
, wait until some time passes and the big manhunt is over before trying to escape?
As soon as he said this, several people thought that this possibility was relatively high. Because according to the results of the inspection of the Siamese mission just now, the prince and the others took away all the cash of the mission, fourteen thousand mingyang. Fourteen thousand
Qian Mingyang is a huge sum of money. Even if you take out one or two thousand, it will be a huge temptation for a Ming Dynasty farmer.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was also worried. If this was really the case, it would be really troublesome. You can't go door to door to search other people's homes, right? Although putting himself in his shoes, the prince is now in a hurry to return to Siam to succeed and does not dare to delay too much, but
The search is too strict now, and it is entirely possible that he will be frightened into hibernation. He would rather miss the opportunity to succeed to the throne and escape from the Ming Dynasty and go into exile overseas in the future, rather than take the risk and be caught on the same day.
Fourteen Gege said with relief:
"Sir, don't be anxious. We just need to do a good job of arresting him now. It's best if we can catch him today. If not, we will offer a reward for the prince of Siam tomorrow. The prince only has 14,000 mingyang.
, our bounty only needs to be 20,000 mingyang. That way no one will harbor him for money."
Xiang Xiaoqiang felt that what she said was really reasonable, so he felt more at ease and nodded:
"That's all there is to it."
…
At this time, the phone rang again. I had a stomachache, picked up the phone, listened for a moment, and immediately said to Xiaoqiang excitedly:
"Sir, a black car was found in the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal! It looks like it was pushed in!"
"Um?!"
Everyone was energetic and felt their stomachs hurt. Xiang Xiaoqiang immediately stared at the map and asked:
"In which section?"
Having a stomachache, I asked the phone for a while while taking notes. After a while, I excitedly said to Xiaoqiang:
"Sir, it's the section between Danyang and Lingkou, a stretch of river six kilometers east of Danyang City! Sir, they said that the boss of a awning boat reported to them that the awning boat was full of rice.
The draft was very deep, and suddenly the bow of the ship hit something. The whole ship suddenly turned sideways, and a lot of water entered the cabin. The boss of the ship was frightened, and he quickly docked to see if the rice was wet.
"At this time, our People's Guard soldiers in the distance saw him suddenly hurriedly docked, and immediately came over with a small boat to check. Then the boss of the boat told the story. They suspected it was the car at the time, and a soldier went down to the river to touch it, and it turned out to be the car.
Car. A truck has been obtained at this time and this car has been towed up. It is the black Ford car we are looking for. Sir!"
There is no doubt that Prince Ananta and the others have already planned to replace this iconic means of transportation. Will they find a new means of transportation next, or will they just go dormant like the snail said?
Xiang Xiaoqiang felt his stomach hurt and found the place he mentioned on the map and marked it. Then he held his chin and thought about the situation in that area.
This is indeed a good place to push the car into the river. There is a country road just north of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, and it is right on the river bank. You can say that if you turn the front wheel of the car, and then two people push it, the car will fall into the river.
What then? What then?
Looking at Xiaoqiang, he saw that there were dozens of kilometers around, densely packed with villages and towns. If you wanted to hide in a farmhouse, this was not a good place. The ideal place would be in a remote area, and it would be best if you could have someone alone.
Farmers can be bribed and hidden. There are so many villages here and the population density is so high that it is easy for others to discover and report them. If the prince really wants to find someone to hide here, he will be caught within three days once the reward is released.
It's really not a problem to live with him.
His eyes moved up again. A few hundred meters north of the highway was a railway.
Hmm? Railway?
…
"Zi Teng!" Xiang Xiaoqiang turned around and shouted, "Ask me immediately if they have checked the train!"
"Ah? Yes!"
I made a phone call with a stomachache and was told that at present, the search forces of various ministries are only checking passengers entering and leaving the station at various railway stations, and they can also check on the carriages when the train stops.
"You're kidding, that's not enough!" Xiang Xiaoqiang yelled, "Order me to go down and search that railway! And its branch lines! And the highways along it! Immediately send people to board every train on that line, and on the train
When running, check each car one by one! Don’t miss the locomotive! Also check the freight cars! The large and small stations along the line, waiting rooms, warehouses, coal bunkers, canteens, toilets, kennels... Damn it, any place where people may be hiding,
I found them all! Do you understand?"
"Yes!" The stomachache also cheered up and replied loudly, "Understood!"
…
A long train of freight cars puffed out black smoke and ran on the railway line from east to west. It was a coal train. There were twenty-six gondolas pulled behind the locomotive, and each gondola was filled with piles of coal.
fully.
On the top of one of the sections, there are two "coal men" covered in coal black. Their clothes are dark, their skin is dark, and their faces and hair are also dark. Only the white eyes that turn and the teeth that are occasionally exposed when talking are the only signs of life.
White.
Their lower bodies were lying in the pile of coal, with only their upper bodies exposed. They leaned tiredly against the side of the carriage, listening to the strong wind blowing in their ears.
One of the "black men" turned and looked forward, and then shouted to the other man:
"Pachai - we are almost at the station ahead - we have to hide -"
The other "black man" nodded, and then the two of them moved their bodies together, slowly lying down in the pile of coal, and carefully pulling the coal to cover their upper bodies. Finally, each person took out a small tube and put it in his mouth, and pulled some more
Coal covered his face, leaving only a small piece of inconspicuous tube for breathing.