Warlords: Rising from the Northwest Border and Sweeping Across the Powers

Chapter 1056: Taking Action Against the Gang

Inside the mansion, the atmosphere in Takehide Tojo's office was solemn.

"Two hundred thousand people?!" Tojo Yuying threw the report on the table and stared at Hong Yuzhang with a knife-like gaze, "What are you doing here? You didn't even notice such a large-scale riot in advance?"

Hong Yuzhang's forehead was covered with cold sweat: "Mr. Prime Minister, this... this is indeed our negligence. But who could have thought that various forces would launch an attack at the same time..."

"Baka!" Tojo Takehiro slammed the table and stood up. "What's the point of saying this now! The Fujita family, the Mitsui Zaibatsu, major chambers of commerce, gangs, and even students are involved! This is clearly a premeditated riot!"

Military Minister Watanabe Motoyasu said in a deep voice: "Sir, the most important thing now is to take action immediately. The reserve forces in Kyoto have begun to assemble and are expected to enter the city to quell the rebellion within two hours."

"Two hours?" Tojo Yuei sneered, "In two hours, the whole of Kyoto will be in chaos!"

He turned to Hong Yuzhang and asked, "Where are your people from Pu Yu? Why haven't you controlled the situation yet?"

Hong Yuzhang's face turned pale: "We...one of our senior officials has been beaten to death in the street by the Fujita family..."

"What?!" Tojo Yuei's eyes were filled with anger. "If you can't even handle this, what's the use of your unpolished jade!"

Watanabe Motoyasu interrupted at the right time: "Mr. Prime Minister, in my opinion, you should immediately order troops to enter the city and use the most severe means to suppress it."

"No!" Hong Yuzhang said hurriedly, "There are a lot of students participating in the parade, all of them are children of famous families. If..."

"Then what do you say we should do?" Tojo Yuei interrupted sharply, "Are we going to watch Kyoto fall into chaos?"

At this moment, the adjutant hurried in: "Report! The latest news, the workers have begun to go to the outskirts of the palace, the Chamber of Commerce guards are exchanging fire with the Public Security Bureau, and the major gangs are looting the arsenal..."

Tojo Yuei's face turned pale. He stared at the Kyoto city outside the window, where several thick smokes were already rising.

"Watanabe-kun," his voice suddenly became unusually cold, "at all costs, we must stabilize the situation before dark. As for casualties..."

He paused, a fierce look flashed in his eyes: "I will take responsibility!"

Watanabe Motoyasu stood at attention and saluted: "Hi!"

Hong Yuzhang stood aside, sweating profusely. He knew that a stability maintenance operation was about to begin. And this might be exactly what some people wanted to see.

As soon as Hong Yuzhang returned to the Pu Yu headquarters, Asanogawa hurried to meet him with a hint of anxiety in his expression.

"What did the Prime Minister say?" asked Asanogawa.

Hong Yuzhang sighed and repeated Tojo Yuying's instructions: "The Prime Minister means to stabilize the situation before dark at all costs."

Asanogawa nodded, a sneer on his face: "Just as I thought. We must calm down as soon as possible, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous."

Hong Yuzhang frowned and said, "But the city defense troops cannot be moved. Only 40,000 reserve troops can be mobilized. It is hard to say whether they can suppress the riots."

Asanogawa said confidently: "These marchers are just a mob that has been incited. As long as we act decisively, we will be able to quell the protest in one fell swoop."

Hong Yuzhang shook his head: "Workers, the Chamber of Commerce, and those young men, all of these must be handled with caution. If we are not careful, it will trigger a greater backlash."

A gleam of light flashed in Asanogawa's eyes: "Let's start with the gangs. These desperate criminals are the most vicious, but also the easiest to deal with. As long as we can quickly disintegrate their power, the others will naturally retreat."

Hong Yuzhang pondered for a moment and nodded, "Okay, let's do as you say. Immediately mobilize the reserve forces and concentrate our efforts to deal with the gang forces."

Asanogawa smiled slightly and turned to make arrangements. He knew that as long as he could quickly deal with the gang forces, he would be able to take the initiative in this riot.

Hong Yuzhang looked at Asanogawa's back, but still felt a little uneasy. Although Asanogawa's plan seemed feasible, he always felt that there was a deeper conspiracy behind this riot.

However, at this moment, time is running out, and he can only rely on Asanogawa's judgment. He hopes that this operation will go as smoothly as expected.

Twenty minutes later, two reserve army regiments, led by Asanogawa, entered the city in a mighty force.

Their goal was clear: they headed straight for the parade consisting of gang members and lower-level samurai.

At this time, these vicious criminals had completely lost their minds to killing. The shops on both sides of the street were looted, and the ground was full of broken glass and scattered goods.

The gangs that were originally on the sidelines, seeing other gangs looting everywhere and gaining a lot of benefits, could no longer sit still and joined in one after another.

The number of people has exceeded 60,000, and the entire street is surging with people, like a huge black torrent, swallowing up everything.

"Kill!" A gang leader with a fierce face waved an iron rod and led the charge, "Rob these bastards and take away all their belongings!"

"Brothers, follow me!" another gang leader shouted, "We won't rob today!"

Asanogawa stood on the command vehicle of the reserve army and watched all this coldly. He knew that these people had lost their minds and the only way to stop them was by force.

"Everyone listen up!" Asanogawa raised the megaphone and his voice echoed in the street, "Stop marching immediately and lay down your weapons, or you will be killed without mercy!"

But his warning was drowned out by the deafening noise. The gang members and warriors were not moved at all, but rushed forward even more frantically.

"Open fire!" Asanogawa gave the order.

The soldiers of the reserve army quickly deployed their formations, fired volleys of rifles, and bullets poured out like raindrops.

The thugs in the front row fell down, and the blood dyed the street red. But the people behind were not afraid and continued to charge forward.

"Kill them all!" A warrior brandished a long sword and rushed towards the soldiers with a roar.

Asanogawa watched all this with an expressionless face. He knew that this battle would be extremely brutal, but in order to quell this turmoil, a price must be paid.

The firepower of the reserve army gradually suppressed the mob's offensive, and the streets were filled with fallen corpses and wailing.

But Asanogawa knew in his heart that this was just the beginning. There was still a long way to go to completely quell the riot.

With another round of volleys, dozens of gang members fell in a pool of blood.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" A gang leader finally came to his senses and shouted at the top of his lungs, "This is the regular army! We can't hold on!"

The thugs who were still charging frantically suddenly woke up from their dreams. They realized that they were no match for the well-trained troops.

"Run!"

“Disperse!”

“Don’t push! Get out of the way!”

The crowd began to flee in all directions, and the surging black torrent instantly broke apart. The gang members who had just been clamoring to kill all the soldiers were now running for their lives like frightened birds.

Asanogawa stood on the command vehicle with a sneer on his face. As he expected, these rabble immediately revealed their cowardly nature when they met the real army.

"Chase!" Asanogawa ordered, "Capture the leader! We must not let them regroup!"

The soldiers of the reserve army were divided into small teams and began to chase the fleeing thugs in the streets. Those gang members who tried to resist were shot on the spot, and more people threw away their weapons and knelt down to beg for mercy.

In just half an hour, hundreds of bodies fell on the streets, blood flowed through the cracks in the road surface, and the air was filled with the smell of gunpowder and blood.

"Report!" an officer ran over, "the rioters have completely dispersed, and we have captured more than 30 leaders!"

Asanogawa nodded with satisfaction: "Very good, these people are all gang members with criminal records. When this turmoil is over, no one will leave the prison alive."

He looked around. The streets that had been bustling just a moment ago were now only ruins and bodies scattered all over the place. This was the price of challenging authority.

"Clean up the battlefield," he ordered coldly, "and then advance to other areas. Let everyone see what the consequences of resistance are."