Republic of China: German-equipped divisions massacred as warlords guarded the nation's borders

[Unlimited Pay-to-Win System]

[Host: Chen Zijun]

Current military rank: Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces of the Five Southeast Provinces (Marshal-level)

Current available funds: £254 million (+£1 per second)

[Overview of troops under command]:

- Army: The 10th Reorganized Army Division of the Central Army (also known as the 1st German-equipped Division, fully equipped), the 2nd Newly Reorganized Division of the Wehrmacht, the 3rd Newly Reorganized Division of the Wehrmacht (under reorganization), the 4th Newly Reorganized Division of the Wehrmacht (under reorganization), an Independent Armored Brigade, a German-equipped Heavy Artillery Brigade, the Tax Police Corps, the Shanghai Garrison Air Defense Brigade, and the River Defense Artillery Brigade.

- Navy: Shanghai Independent Fleet, First Special Submarine Squadron

……

Headquarters of the Longhua Garrison Command in Shanghai.

Outside the window, a light drizzle enveloped the entire city of Shanghai.

Chen Zijun sat behind a large mahogany desk, holding a top-secret telegram that had just been intercepted and deciphered in Guangzhou, a cold and disdainful smile playing on his lips.

"They even joined forces with Wu Peifu and Sun Yuanfeng, and even swallowed their pride to beg Zhang Xinmin of the Fengtian clique?"

Chen Zijun casually tossed the telegram onto the table, scoffed, and said, "This Principal Chang is really enraged by my 'death package'! He actually has the audacity to propose a complete blockade of our Jiangsu and Zhejiang region by land and sea? Who does he think he is?"

Chief of Staff Shen Li, standing ramrod straight, spoke with a hint of mockery: "Young Marshal, Guangzhou has really gone all out this time. They've not only cut off all trade with us, but they've also contacted the big bosses of British and French trading companies, attempting to cut off our access to strategic materials like special steel, iron ore, and rubber."

"To strangle us?"

Chen Zijun suddenly stood up, his military boots making a dull thud on the wooden floor.

He walked up to the huge Far East military map and stared intently at a small red dot located in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

That place is Ma'anshan.

"In this world, no one has yet been born who can strangle me, Chen Zijun!" Chen Zijun's eyes gleamed with fervent ambition and absolute confidence.

Just then, there was a gentle knock on the office door.

Mo Huixin walked in wearing a well-tailored black business suit and carrying a thick stack of documents.

"Young Master, update."

Mo Huixin handed over the document, her soft voice carrying a hint of cold decisiveness. "Instigated by their Guangzhou headquarters, the Sassoon family, along with several other British trading companies, has just announced an embargo against us. All shipments of high-grade steel and coal destined for Shanghai Port are to be halted."

"Not only that, they also maliciously inflated the purchase price of scrap steel on the international market, attempting to force our shipyards and arsenals to the brink of shutdown."

Mo Huixin pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, a cold smile creeping onto her lips.

She knew all too well what the man in front of her had up his sleeve.

Those foreigners thought they had the lifeline of industry, but they didn't know that Chen Zijun held a heaven-defying artifact in his hands that could produce an unlimited number of troops as long as you had money.

"The foreigners have a very clever plan."

Chen Zijun snorted coldly, casually flipping through the so-called "sanctions statements." "They think they can trap us in Jiangnan by blocking resources? What a joke!"

"Get the car ready!"

Chen Zijun suddenly turned to Shen Li, "Notify the Independent Armored Brigade to send a battalion to escort us along the way. Huixin, you're coming with me to Ma'anshan!"

"Yes, young master!" Shen Li stood up abruptly, saluted, turned around, and strode out of the office.

Mo Huixin's eyes flickered; she knew that the young master was going to inspect that industrial marvel that was enough to shock the entire nation.

A few hours later.

A heavy armored convoy consisting of thirty military trucks and twelve Panzer II tanks drove out of Shanghai and sped westward along the Yangtze River.

The deep roar of the engine seemed to be announcing to the whole of China that this sleeping steel behemoth in Jiangsu and Zhejiang was about to be fully awakened!

Anhui, Ma'anshan.

Back during the Jiangzhe War, Chen Zijun, under the pretext that Wang Pu, the garrison commander of southern Anhui, had sent troops to attack Shanghai, spared no expense to seize this treasure land rich in iron ore resources.

After more than a year of frantic construction regardless of cost, this place is no longer the desolate little county town it once was, but has been transformed into a true heavy industrial fortress.

When Chen Zijun's convoy entered the base gate, what came into view were towering blast furnaces reaching into the clouds, as well as densely packed factory buildings and chimneys.

Countless coal and ore trucks shuttle through the factory area, and tens of thousands of workers in uniform are busy at work.

Zhou Tieshan, the head of the Ma'anshan base, was excitedly greeting them with several German engineers with high noses and deep-set eyes.

"Young Marshal! You've finally arrived!"

Zhou Tieshan stood at attention and saluted, his face flushed with excitement.

"Enough with the nonsense, take me to see the equipment!" Chen Zijun acted swiftly, jumping directly out of the jeep.

The group quickly entered the No. 1 steelmaking workshop in the core plant area.

As soon as you step into the workshop, an extremely hot wave hits you.

In the very center of the workshop, a massive open-hearth furnace, as enormous as a steel behemoth, was emitting a chilling, deep roar.

"Young Marshal, look!"

Zhou Tieshan pointed to the roaring giant open-hearth furnace, his voice trembling slightly with excitement, "The so-called 'scrap steel' smuggled back through the Wei Lide smuggling line was actually all top-of-the-line industrial machine tools and steelmaking equipment that Britain and France forcibly dismantled from the Ruhr industrial region of Germany as war reparations after World War I!"

"Thanks to the tireless efforts of these German engineers, and working day and night, we finally reassembled this steelmaking system, which represents the most advanced level in the world at that time!"

"And this is more than just a steel mill!"

Zhou Tieshan became more and more excited as he spoke, pointing to several large factory buildings in the distance, "The large rolling mills, forging presses, and heat treatment workshops capable of producing various special military steels that are配套 (supporting/supporting) them are all already in operation!"

"In other words, from now on, we no longer need to be beholden to foreigners! The armor steel needed by Jiangnan Shipyard and the gun barrel steel needed by the arsenal can all be produced continuously in Ma'anshan!"

Chen Zijun stared at the roaring open-hearth furnace, his eyes blazing with intense fervor.

He knew that in this era of cannons and warships, the production of steel represented the outcome of war!

"very good!"

Chen Zijun took a deep breath, waved his hand, and issued an extremely domineering order: "Ignite it immediately! Let the whole world see what the heart of Asia's number one heavy industry really looks like!"

"yes!!!"

Zhou Tieshan roared at the top of his lungs and shoved the red switch on the main control panel.

"Boom!!!!!"

With a deafening roar, the first large open-hearth furnace was officially ignited.

Terrifying flames burned wildly inside the furnace, illuminating the entire workshop as if it were daytime.

Several tens of minutes later.

As the gate at the tapping point was slowly opened, an extremely dazzling and blinding stream of molten steel, like a raging fire dragon, poured out wildly!

"Steel has been produced! Steel has been produced!!!"

Inside the workshop, thousands of workers erupted in hysterical shouts.

Many people were so moved that they knelt on the ground and cried loudly!

Although this is not the first steel plant in China, nor even the first batch of steel produced by the Ma'anshan Coal-Steel Complex, there is still a difference between civilian steel and military special steel.

This batch of steel truly laid the foundation for China to have complete self-sufficiency in the production of heavy military equipment such as armored vehicles, large-caliber artillery, and even warships.

How many years!

The soldiers and civilians of China suffered greatly from the lack of steel and heavy artillery!

Every time we faced the powerful ships and cannons of the foreigners, we could only fill the gaps with our own flesh and blood!

And now, this molten steel has completely heralded the end of that humiliating era!

Under the glow of the raging fire, a series of extremely frantic system notifications suddenly rang in Chen Zijun's mind!

[Ding! Large-scale coal-steel composite plant has been officially put into production!]

[Congratulations, host! You have completed the hidden achievement—"The Self-Sufficient Heart of Industry"!]

[Achievement Rewards: Daily base fund acquisition rate permanently increased by 50%!]

[Bonus: The complete manual on special armor steel smelting technology!]

[Ding! The system's available funds have surged, exceeding three million pounds!]

crazy!

This is simply getting rich overnight!

As Chen Zijun listened to the heavenly system notification in his mind and felt the terrifyingly rapid increase in his account balance, the cold smile on his lips grew deeper and deeper.

"Chiang Kai-shek, oh Chiang Kai-shek..."

Looking at the surging molten steel, Chen Zijun's tone was extremely cold and domineering, "You think your blockade can strangle me? I'll just pull out a heavy industrial base that's more powerful than all of China combined!"

"You want to play the blockade game? Then I'll show you what true, overwhelming superiority looks like!"

The news of the successful ignition at Ma'anshan spread like wildfire throughout Jiangsu and Zhejiang within just a few days, and even reached the ears of the foreign powers in the foreign concessions.

Those foreign firm executives who had been hoping to see Chen Zijun make a fool of himself and that they could force Chen Zijun to back down by imposing a "steel embargo" fell into a deathly silence and panic.

A warlord with unlimited funds, who has now filled the last gap in heavy industry, is definitely an invincible monster capable of sweeping across the Far East!

For Chen Zijun, the good news doesn't stop there.

That same night, after the inspection of the Ma'anshan base was completed.

Chen Zijun had just returned to his temporary residence in Shanghai when Mo Huixin walked in with a secret telegram she had just received, her face beaming with joy.

"Young master, double happiness!"

Mo Huixin handed the telegram to Chen Zijun and reported in a low voice, "Our underground smuggling network in Europe has achieved a great success. Lily Kurlag has brought back a huge amount of gold and foreign exchange for us by dumping medicines."

But that's not the most important thing.

Mo Huixin took a deep breath, her eyes gleaming with barely suppressed excitement. "Young Marshal, through Lily's channels, the second batch of 150 retired German submarine veterans has successfully arrived secretly at Shanghai Port aboard a Dutch merchant ship, bypassing all eyes and ears!"

"Oh?"

Chen Zijun abruptly stopped what he was doing, his eyes flashing with an extremely sharp light.

The second batch of 150 German submarine veterans!

What does this mean?

This means that those U-boats still on the slipway will soon be able to form an extremely terrifying underwater combat force!

"Control of the East China Sea..."

Chen Zijun walked to the window, looked at the pitch-black night outside, and said in an extremely cold voice, "It's time to completely change owners!"