A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 378: Expanding Power

The next night, when Lu Cheng came to the tavern again, there were about thirty people gathered inside, and all those who were not there yesterday were here today.

Camillo brought two people and placed some money on the table: "Sir, this is the 36,000 lire we seized yesterday. Eleven brothers who were not here yesterday are here today."

Lu Cheng took two thousand lire from it, and then pushed the rest back: "The rest of the money, all of you, divide it equally, it can be regarded as my welcome gift to everyone. From now on, as long as you keep following me, I can guarantee that you will have money to make, wine to drink, and women to play with."

"Thank you, boss!"

"From now on, call me sir."

"Yes, sir."

After everyone had divided the money, Lu Cheng moved a chair and sat down: "Such a small amount of money makes you so happy. It seems that your life in the past was not easy, right?"

"Sir, you may not know that since the Mafia families were suppressed, our Sicilian gangs are no longer as powerful as before. Once a gang is more active, it will be immediately labeled as a Mafia, and then the army will come to destroy it. Moreover, many of the previous businesses can no longer be done.

During the war, the control on all aspects was very strict, and the prices were constantly rising, so it was not easy for us to survive..."

After Mexico came to power, although the Italian army often lagged behind on the battlefield and surrendered at every turn, Mexico did a very good job in dealing with the Mafia, which can be regarded as a good thing for the civilians of Sicily.

When the Mafia was active before, there were two governments on Sicily, one was the open government and the other was the shadow government.

The so-called shadow government is an underground force controlled by mafia families.

After World War I, the Mafia in Sicily reached its peak, controlling almost all industries in Sicily. Every grain of food grown by farmers, every livestock raised on the ranch, and every product produced in the factory would be taken away by the Mafia.

At that time, everyone in Sicily, from street vendors to factory owners, had to pay protection money to the Mafia in exchange for so-called safety. Once someone dared to resist, they would be subjected to the most brutal revenge, and their homes would be confiscated and their families would be killed.

After Mexico came to power, he also sent people to Sicily to contact the Mafia families. Unexpectedly, the Mafia at that time did not take Mexico and the government he represented seriously at all, and treated the envoys sent by Mexico with extreme arrogance, and simply left them there.

This also completely angered the Mexicans, who directly sent a capable general, Mori, to deal with the Mafia in Sicily.

Mori first confused the Mafia and sent people to collect detailed information on the island. After finding out the situation of the Mafia, he sent 4000 soldiers and 6000 police officers to launch a comprehensive crackdown on the Mafia, catching the Mafia off guard. Even the Mafia godfather Don Vito at the time was caught and later died in prison.

This also led to the collapse of the Mafia and its scattering.

Now, because of the war, gang members on the island of Sicily have a chance to breathe and survive.

However, these gang members also miss the glory of the Mafia and want to establish families like the Mafia did, but they do not have the corresponding strength.

For example, Cosimo, who was killed, was just a medium-sized force in the city of Syracuse.

Throughout Syracuse, there are more than a dozen gangs of varying sizes, some with hundreds of members and some with only a few.

Before, these people relied on some unscrupulous means and smuggled cigarettes, alcohol, candy, chocolate and other materials to earn limited money, most of which was taken by Cosimo. The income of others was similar to that of working people, enough to make ends meet and have some liquor to drink.

After learning the details, Lu Cheng said, "There are too many gangs in Syracuse now. If we want to grow stronger, we must swallow up other gangs so that we can have a larger territory and gain more benefits."

As he said that, Lu Cheng turned to look at Camilo and others standing beside him: "Does anyone know where I can buy a gun?"

One of the men, a man in his twenties with brown curly hair, stepped forward and said, "Sir, I know of an arms dealer on the black market who can sell all kinds of revolvers, double-barreled shotguns, and rifles. I've heard him brag before that he knows a bigger arms dealer and that as long as you have money, you can get the submachine guns used by the army."

"Very good, Eric. You will come with me to the black market in a couple of days. We are going to get a batch of weapons. However, before that, we can first eliminate the two small gangs in the west of the city."

"Sir, we only have these few guns. If we rashly start to annex other gangs, will it cause dissatisfaction among the big gangs? Will they surround and suppress us?"

"These are not your concerns. You just need to obey orders, that's enough."

"Yes, sir."

At present, this makeshift team has just been set up, and Lu Cheng, as the boss, has to take action personally. On the one hand, he can further demonstrate his military power and form a deterrent force to his subordinates. On the other hand, he can also take this opportunity to observe the performance of his subordinates, select a few with good performance, and focus on training some capable people.

Lu Cheng took action personally, and he was dealing with some small gangs. He didn't need to make any battle plans, he just rushed forward.

So, after a brief chat with everyone, everyone left the tavern, got on their bicycles, and headed straight for the base of a small gang nearby.

Not long after, they arrived at a two-story building on the northwest outskirts of Syracuse.

Listening to the lively sounds inside, it was not difficult to judge that the people inside were playing cards. As soon as the thermal induction radar was turned on, Lu Cheng knew what was going on inside.

Lu Cheng walked to the door, kicked it open, and walked in with more than 30 of his younger brothers.

The people inside immediately became alert and reached for the weapons around them.

Without Lu Cheng saying anything, Camilo and Eric started to persuade them to surrender: "I advise you not to move. Bullets don't have eyes. Surrender early and you can still survive."

One of the guys had just pulled out a pistol from under the table when a dagger flew towards him and stabbed him straight in the forehead.

Everyone was shocked. The seven or eight people behind Lu Cheng immediately raised their guns and pointed them at the dozen people on the opposite side: "Put down your weapons and put your hands on your heads."

The difference in numbers and the lack of weapons meant that the other side did not put up much resistance. They were just small gang members, and there were not many real desperate criminals among them. In the situation of absolute disadvantage, naturally few dared to joke with their lives.

Soon, all the weapons of the opponents were confiscated, and Lu Cheng had three more pistols...

The work after that is much simpler. Kill the disobedient ones and subdue the obedient ones.

In the next two or three days, Lu Cheng led his men to swallow up three or four small gangs in the west of Syracuse. The number of his brothers reached more than 1889, and he had more than guns, most of which were Bodeo M revolvers.

The trigger of this revolver can be folded forward, and the cylinder of the magazine cannot be removed. When loading, one needs to pull the trigger once to load a bullet, and when ejecting a shell, one also needs to pull the trigger once to eject a shell. It is quite inconvenient to use.

However, for these subordinates, this is already very good.

In the process of annexing those small gangs, Lu Cheng took action many times, and with his superb skills and accurate marksmanship, he intimidated a group of younger brothers.

Gang members also believe in respecting the strong, and strong fighting power can make their younger brothers more loyal.

Of course, in addition to the use of force to deter, they must also benefit.

However, in the process of clearing out several gangs in the west of the city, it was inevitable that some people would be left out. Some people fled with their families, and some ran to the big gangs in the city to tip off.

At this time, Lu Cheng was also ready to deal with the enemy...