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

1925 years.

March 12th.

Nine o'clock in the morning.

The Chen Mansion. The study.

Mo Huixin stood in front of Chen Zijun, her hands trembling slightly.

The intelligence she held in her hand was like a red-hot piece of iron.

"Young master, an urgent telegram from Beiping."

"Mr. Sun... passed away at 6:40 this morning."

The study was silent for a full ten seconds.

Chen Zijun leaned back in his leather chair, the cigar in his hand slowly burning.

He didn't speak.

He was thinking that in another time and space, this pioneer also left this world on this day.

The course of history, in the end, did not deviate.

"Has the message been confirmed?"

"It's confirmed." Mo Huixin's voice was a little hoarse. "A death certificate personally signed by the attending physician at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Late-stage liver cancer. Although we warned them, it was too late; there was no hope of recovery..."

Chen Zijun slowly stood up.

He walked to the huge map of China in the study, his gaze landing on the location of Guangzhou.

What was the reaction in Guangzhou?

"There hasn't been an official statement yet." Mo Huixin flipped through another telegram. "But our informant in Guangzhou sent back an urgent intelligence report—Chiang Kai-shek has convened a meeting of his core staff overnight. The meeting has been going on since four in the morning and hasn't ended yet."

Chen Zijun's lips curled up slightly.

"Chiang Kai-shek acted even faster than I expected."

He returned to his desk, took a red pencil from the drawer, and drew a circle around Guangzhou on the map.

"With Mr. Sun gone, the Southern government was leaderless. Warlords in Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, and Jiangxi would all be eager to make their move. The first thing Chiang Kai-shek would do was not to grieve, but to seize power."

"He had 6,000 soldiers trained at the Whampoa Military Academy, the full support of the Soviet advisory group, and the strongest organizational and mobilization capabilities within the Party."

"Six months. At most six months. He can integrate the South into a unified whole."

Mo Huixin listened silently.

"and then?"

"Then the Northern Expedition." Chen Zijun's voice was very soft. "Heading north, we will wipe out Wu Peifu, wipe out the remnants of Sun Chuanfang's forces, and then fight against Zhang Xinmin, the commander of the Fengtian clique... and finally unify the country."

He turned around and looked at Mo Huixin.

"But that's his script. Not mine."

"Huixin, tell me now, how much usable cash balance do we have?"

Mo Huixin answered without hesitation.

"As of 6 a.m. this morning, the available balance is £7,326,847."

"not enough."

Chen Zijun shook his head.

"Not nearly enough."

"The first batch of three destroyers at Jiangnan Shipyard are still on the slipway, requiring an additional two million. The special steel production line in Ma'anshan needs to be expanded, which will cost another 1.5 million. The submarine shipyard in Mawei, Fuzhou, needs a complete set of parts for the second batch of U-boats, with a minimum cost of three million."

"And then there's the air force." His eyes sharpened. "I need at least two hundred fighter jets. That means either buying complete aircraft from the Germans or building our own aircraft factory. Either way, it's an investment of tens of millions."

"What does the young master mean...?" Mo Huixin vaguely guessed what was going on.

Chen Zijun walked to the window and opened it.

Outside the window, military vehicles and pedestrians come and go on Longhua Road.

Yesterday's revelry is over.

Shanghai has returned to its usual hustle and bustle.

But beneath this clamor, something else, like a venomous snake, lurks in the darkest corners outside the city.

opium.

"Huixin, do you know how large the annual opium trade volume is in the five southeastern provinces?"

Mo Huixin remained silent for a while.

"According to the Military Intelligence Bureau's estimates, in Shanghai alone, our last anti-opium campaign seized nearly 100,000 chests of opium in circulation, with a value exceeding 80 million silver dollars. That's equivalent to about 20 million pounds sterling. If we include places like Hangzhou, Suzhou, Nanjing, Fuzhou, and Xiamen..."

She took a deep breath.

"Conservative estimates suggest that the total opium trade volume in the five southeastern provinces was no less than 50 million pounds sterling annually."

Fifty million pounds.

Chen Zijun's eyes narrowed slightly.

"This money filled the pockets of foreigners, the purses of compradors, and the private coffers of warlords. But it didn't benefit the common people at all."

"On the contrary, they have drained the lifeblood of ordinary people, bit by bit."

He turned around.

"I want to nip this venomous snake in the bud."

"Then take all the meat it's holding in its mouth."

Mo Huixin nodded, but then hesitated for a moment.

"Young Master... there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

"explain."

"The opium trade in the five southeastern provinces was deeply entrenched. It wasn't just foreigners and gangsters involved; many local gentry and powerful families were also implicated. Even..."

She paused for a moment, then lowered her voice even further.

"Even the old master's side had some businesses related to the opium trade. Several opium transport routes from Fujian used the Chen family's ships."

The study fell silent again.

Chen Zijun's expression remained unchanged.

"I know."

His voice was calm.

"So, I need to go talk to Dad first."

……

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

The backyard of the Chen Mansion, the military governor's office in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

Chen Yuhe's study was much older than Chen Zijun's.

The bookshelves were filled with thread-bound ancient books and rubbings of inscriptions. A set of purple clay teaware sat on the table, steaming hot.

The old man, wearing a worn-out long gown, leaned back in a rattan chair and closed his eyes to rest.

He opened his eyes when he heard footsteps.

"You're here?"

"Father." Chen Zijun sat down opposite him.

Chen Yuhe poured him a cup of tea.

"I heard about Mr. Sun's passing," the old man sighed. "Regardless of what others say, he was at least a man of ideals. It's a pity. Although he always opposed our Beiyang government, even Marshal Yuan Shikai back then would have called him a man of outstanding talent!"

Chen Zijun took the teacup but didn't drink it.

"Father, I didn't come here today to talk about Mr. Sun."

"I know." Chen Yuhe's gaze sharpened. "You've come to talk about opium."

Chen Zijun was not surprised.

The old man was able to build this family business in chaotic times; he was smarter than anyone else.

"Father, I'm about to take action on the opium trade in the five southeastern provinces."

Chen Yuhe picked up his teacup and slowly took a sip.

"What are your plans?"

"Strict, severe, and swift action. Within one month, all opium dens will be closed. All opium warehouses will be sealed off. Anyone who resists law enforcement will be executed without exception."

"Do you know how many people this will offend?" Chen Yuhe put down his teacup. "Do you really think that just because you did it once in Shanghai, you can do the same in the five southeastern provinces? Don't you think about how many people you have in Shanghai, plus the prevalence of foreign influence, how many people could be implicated? But the five southeastern provinces are different. There are tens of thousands of people who rely directly on opium for their livelihood. Maybe even more. If you touch that piece of the pie, those people will fight tooth and nail."

"I know."

"As you know, the Chen family owns several ships in Fujian..."

"I know," Chen Zijun's voice was firm. "That's why I'm here today to discuss this with Father. I want to shut down those ships. All of the Chen family's businesses that are involved with opium must be completely severed."

Chen Yuhe remained silent for a long time.

He looked at his son.

The iron-willed young marshal who returned from the battlefield, a national hero who had just annihilated the Japanese Allied Fleet, and the commander-in-chief of the allied forces of the five southeastern provinces.

But in front of him, he was still that stubborn, rock-hard brat.

"Your father has done a lot of foolish things in his life," Chen Yuhe said in a hoarse voice. "Those ship businesses weren't something I wanted to do; I had to do them back then to support my army. You know, war costs money."

"I know," Chen Zijun nodded, "so I don't blame Dad. But now, our Chen family army isn't short of money."

He stood up and walked over to the old man.

"Dad, your son has seven million pounds in cash, a steel mill in Ma'anshan, a lucrative business in sulfonamide drugs, and Lily Kurlag's smuggling network in Europe."

"I have plenty of ways to earn money to support my army. But I can't go down the path of opium anymore."

"It poisons our own people."

Chen Yuhe's eyes were slightly red.

He was silent for a long time.

Then, he picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp.

"OK."

The old man's voice was deep and resolute.

"Those ships will be moored tomorrow. I'll handle the situation in Fujian personally."

He looked up and gazed into his son's eyes.

"But Zijun, you must remember one thing."

"What is it?"

"If you touch someone's lifeline, they'll take yours. People involved in the opium trade are capable of anything. You need to be careful."

Chen Zijun smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, Father. There have always been many who wanted me dead. But to this day, none of them have succeeded."

……

That evening.

The International Settlement.

Sassoon House.

Jewish tycoon Sassoon sat behind his three-thousand-pound walnut desk, his face ashen.

There were three people sitting opposite me.

The fat man wearing a silk mandarin jacket was He Zhenting, the biggest opium dealer in Hangzhou.

A tall, thin man with a gloomy face was Ma Ziliang, the "Tobacco King" of Suzhou.

There was also a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, who was Lin Mingda, the biggest opium smuggling boss in Fujian.

These three men controlled nearly 40% of the opium trade in the five southeastern provinces.

"Mr. Sassoon," He Zhenting spoke first, his fat face trembling, "you've heard about Chen Zijun's plan to ban smoking, haven't you?"

Sassoon gave him a cold look.

"Of course I heard about it. He not only wants to ban smoking, but also plans to seize all of my Sassoon & Co.'s warehouses in Shanghai."

"We can't just sit here and wait to die!" Ma Ziliang slapped his thigh. "If the opium trade stops, all of us combined will lose tens of millions of pounds a year! That's going to kill us!"

Sassoon picked up a glass of red wine and swirled it gently.

"Gentlemen, you have all witnessed Chen Zijun's firepower and troop strength. In a head-on confrontation, we have no chance of winning."

He Zhenting became anxious.

"What can we do? Are we just going to watch him cut off our manhood?"

Sassoon put down his glass, his gaze turning cold.

"Just because we can't beat him head-on doesn't mean there aren't other options."

He took a business card from the drawer and placed it on the table.

The business card had three words printed on it.

"Dai Zhijian."

He Zhenting was stunned.

"Isn't this...that person from the South?"

"That's right." Sassoon's lips curled into a cold smile. "Chiang Kai-shek's men hate Chen Zijun to the core. And we just happen to be able to provide them with some... help."

Lin Mingda finally spoke, his voice as cold and sinister as a snake.

"Mr. Sassoon, you mean...?"

"What I mean is, since Chen Zijun wants to take over our assets, then we'll take over his people."

Sassoon stood up and walked to the window.

Outside the window is the brightly lit Nanjing Road.

No matter how strong a person is, they can't withstand a hidden arrow.

"Send a message to the South. Tell them we're willing to offer one million pounds to ask them for a small favor."

"What kind of help?"

Sassoon turned around, the firelight reflecting off his gold-rimmed glasses.

"Let Chen Zijun's smoking ban become a dead letter."

His voice was very soft.

But everyone present could sense the murderous intent in his voice.

……

It's 11 p.m.

The Chen Mansion. The study.

Chen Zijun sat alone at his desk.

On the table lay a detailed map of the five southeastern provinces.

He had already marked the map with numerous red pencil marks.

Each mark represents an opium den, an opium warehouse, or a smuggling route.

His finger finally stopped on the warehouses of some of the largest foreign firms in the International Settlement.

Sassoon & Co. Jardine Matheson & Co. Russell & Co.

These three names represent the largest source of the opium trade in the five southeastern provinces.

It's also the toughest nut to crack.

Chen Zijun picked up a red pencil and drew a huge red X on the map.

The location of Warehouse No. 3 of the Sassoon & Co.

His lips moved slightly.

"Within a month."

"I want to ensure that the entire five southeastern provinces are free of the smell of opium."

The night breeze outside the window stirred the curtains.

A storm is coming.