Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Hongcheng Mayor Zhu Youqian and the main officials of the municipal government arrived at the "Xunjiang Restaurant" on time. They didn't know why the newly appointed deputy commander of the Hongcheng Garrison invited them over, but now it is wartime, and the Garrison Command must be given enough face. Not to mention anything else, Hongcheng is now completely the territory of the New 22nd Army. If they offend this group of soldiers at this time, it will not be a good thing.

Zhang Wenwu, wearing a neat major general's uniform, walked into the private room of the restaurant with Ouyang Heng. He had set up a "Hongmen Banquet" today. He decided to use courtesy first and then force. If these officials from the municipal government cooperated with his work, then everything would be fine. If they dared not to cooperate with him, then he would arrest them first and lock them up in his division headquarters, starving them for a day or two. He guaranteed that they would not be able to bear it and would have to cooperate with his work.

"Mayor Zhu, everyone, today I invited all the officials of Hongcheng here to talk to you about the fight against the Japanese invaders. This matter still needs your full support and contribute to China's victory over Japan." After three rounds of drinks, Zhang Wenwu briefly explained the idea of ​​calling everyone here today. He needed to raise this matter to a certain level. Anyone who dared to oppose it would be sabotaging the war against Japan, and he had the power to charge this person with treason and arrest him.

Mayor Zhu Youqian saw that a group of officials all looked at him after hearing Zhang Wenwu's words. He knew that everyone was waiting for him to speak, so he smiled and said to Zhang Wenwu: "Deputy Commander Zhang, it is also the responsibility of local officials like us to cooperate with the army to defend the land and fight the war. If you have any needs, just tell us, and we will definitely do it for you if we can."

As soon as Zhang Wenwu heard this, he knew that Zhu Youqian was a veteran. It was the same whether he said it or not. What you can do and what you can't do, isn't it entirely up to you? But Zhang Wenwu didn't care. He was originally planning to solve this matter directly and quickly. He didn't have so much time to argue with these people. His new 100th Division needed to start building fortifications and preparing various supplies in Hongcheng as planned as soon as possible. He didn't have so much time.

"Okay, with what Mayor Zhu said, this matter will be easier for me. I'm a soldier and I speak directly. As you all know, the Japanese army will attack Hongcheng soon. My unit has also received orders from our superiors to hold on to Hongcheng to resist the Japanese attack. But if a war breaks out, guns and cannons will have no eyes. There are still so many ordinary people living in the city. So, in order to complete the military orders from our superiors, I need you to mobilize all the personnel of the city government to persuade all the people in the city to evacuate Hongcheng, either to the west or to the south. I need all the people in Hongcheng to evacuate the city within five days. I believe this will be no problem for everyone here." Zhang Wenwu stated his purpose quickly and directly.

Zhu Youqian and a group of officials were dumbfounded after hearing Zhang Wenwu's so-called "little" demand. This matter was really outrageous. This young deputy commander of the security force actually said it was just a "little" demand, and said that it would be no problem for them to do this. Is this what human beings say? This matter is really a very big problem.

You know, there are still many celebrities and literati in Hongcheng. These people have deep connections in the high-level government. If they don't want to leave, and you force them to leave, then the pressure of public opinion will be overwhelming. These government officials are all literati. Since ancient times, what literati care about most is their own reputation. If they do such a thing as forcibly relocating the people, they will be scolded to death by the people, and their reputation will be ruined.

Zhang Wenwu also knew that this matter was very difficult to handle. Why didn't Commander Tang of Jinling City forcibly relocate the people in the city before the Japanese army attacked? Didn't he know that the blindness of guns and cannons would cause the death of a large number of people? No, he knew it very well, but he didn't dare to do it. If he dared to forcibly relocate the people, a lot of people would stand up and scold him for being incompetent in the newspapers. These would be remembered by future generations, and it would be a fatal blow to his reputation.

"This... Deputy Commander Zhang, this matter is of great importance. Our city government needs to hold a meeting to discuss it. To be on the safe side, I think we should take a long-term view." When Zhu Youqian saw Zhang Wenwu looking at him with a smile, he reacted immediately. He wanted to delay this matter until the Japanese attack began. It was estimated that Deputy Commander Zhang would not have time to pay attention to this matter.

Zhang Wenwu had expected Zhu Youqian to say this, so he said, "This is an urgent matter, Mayor Zhu, everyone. The Japanese army may start attacking Hongcheng at any time. If the people are seriously injured or killed by the Japanese army's attack, it will be difficult for you to explain to the government and the people. If you don't make a decision, you will suffer the consequences."

Zhu Youqian didn't care much about Zhang Wenwu's statement. The people themselves were unwilling to move away, so they couldn't blame him if they died. If he forced the people to move away by force, the people would point at him and scold him. Besides, these were the people's own decisions, so how could it affect his career?

"Deputy Commander Zhang, this is a serious matter. As the parents of Hongcheng, we have to be extremely cautious in dealing with the forced relocation of civilians. Moreover, there are still many prestigious people in Hongcheng. If this is done, the consequences will be very troublesome. Be careful, Deputy Commander Zhang." Zhu Youqian kindly reminded the young Deputy Commander Zhang that if you do this, even if you win the battle in the future, your life will not be easy. That group of people can curse people in the newspapers.

When Zhang Wenwu heard Zhu Youqian say this, he knew that the person who came to the letter would not be able to obtain the consent of this group of officials, so he winked at Ouyang Heng, and then Zhang Wenwu said slowly: "Alas, Mayor Zhu has a point, but I recently discovered that there seem to be quite a few Japanese spies in Hongcheng. I estimate that these Japanese spies have sneaked into Hongcheng and may be trying to assassinate the parents of the city government. As the deputy commander of the Hongcheng Security, I must effectively protect the government officials of Hongcheng from being plotted against by Japanese spies. Therefore, after dinner, I will invite you all to the Security Command for comprehensive protection. In addition, I will also send soldiers to take your families to the Security Command, so please rest assured."

After hearing what Zhang Wenwu said, Zhu Youqian and a group of officials immediately felt their hearts tremble. Is this still the government's army? Is this still the central army? This is simply worse than a bandit. Isn't this just kidnapping all of them in disguise? They even kidnapped their families. This is worse than a bandit. Even bandits know that the disaster will not affect their families.

Just when everyone was so shocked that their minds went blank, Ouyang Heng stood up and opened the door of the box. A group of fierce-looking soldiers walked in immediately. The officer leading the group saluted Zhang Wenwu as soon as he entered the door and said, "Report to the division commander. When we were on guard outside, we found an unknown number of suspicious people. I suspect they are spies of the Japanese army, so I quickly brought people up to protect the division commander and the officers."

Zhang Wenwu nodded seriously, and then said to the stunned officials: "Look, look, the Japanese army is simply too arrogant. I just mentioned these spies, but I didn't expect these people to dare to come here so blatantly. Captain Li, I order you to quickly protect every official present. If anything goes wrong, you will be subject to military law. Do you understand?"

Li Zhengying also immediately stood at attention to show that he understood, then he waved his hand and the soldiers behind him stood behind these officials one by one. This scared the officials enough. Who knows whether Deputy Commander Zhang will secretly throw them into the Ganjiang River to feed the fish? Judging from the way Deputy Commander Zhang does things, it is hard to say.

Seeing that none of the officials said anything, Zhang Wenwu raised his glass and prepared to toast all the officials with a smile. Ouyang Heng quickly reminded them, "Commander, you haven't sent anyone to protect the officials' families yet. You can't let the Japanese spies succeed."

Zhang Wenwu quickly put down his glass, patted his head, and turned to order Li Zhengying to send people to protect the families of these officials. When Zhu Youqian heard that Zhang Wenwu was going to kidnap their families, he could not sit still, so he smiled and said, "Oh, Deputy Commander Zhang, don't bother the officers and soldiers of your department. I don't think the Japanese spies will attack our families. Besides, our city government has arranged an evacuation plan, and the families of government employees will be evacuated from Hongcheng soon. I just thought about it. The atrocities committed by the Japanese army in Zhejiang Province and Nanjing were shocking. As local parents, we should persuade the people to evacuate as soon as possible to avoid the ravages of war. This is also a meritorious act. On behalf of the city government, I agree with Deputy Commander Zhang's relocation proposal. Starting this afternoon, all personnel of the city government will explain the atrocities of the Japanese army to the people of the city and persuade everyone to move out of Hongcheng."

Zhang Wenwu and Ouyang Heng looked at each other and thought: You old fox finally nodded in agreement.

After Zhu Youqian finished speaking, Ouyang Heng smiled and took out the Hongcheng relocation application telegram that he had prepared long ago and asked Zhu Youqian and all the officials to sign their names on the telegram. They needed to send this to the war zone and the government, and then everyone would share the blame.

Zhu Youqian signed his name on the telegram with a wry smile. He knew that after the Battle of Hongcheng, he would have no hope of promotion and his official career would come to an end. But compared with his own life and that of his family, these were nothing. He felt that if he did not fulfill Deputy Commander Zhang's wish today, he and his family might really be assassinated by the "Japanese spies".