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

The following day, at 2 PM.

Mo Lanzhi sat in the Military Intelligence Bureau office, looking at the secret letter on the table, her brows furrowing slightly.

But the secret letter now placed before Moranzi makes the whole game even more complicated.

Su Guiying, also known as Sister Gui, is the wife of Monk Huang.

Yesterday, Chen Zijun's instruction consisted of only two words: Go see him.

Mo Lanzhi changed into a plain-colored cheongsam, over which she wore a thin gray woolen overcoat. A Colt M1903 pistol was tucked into her waistband, completely concealed by the hem of the overcoat.

She turned her head and glanced at her two subordinates behind her.

"Stay outside, come in when you hear gunfire."

"Yes."

Moranzhi pushed open the door to the secret room of the French Concession teahouse.

The room wasn't big. There was a square table, two chairs, and a pot of tea.

The curtains were drawn tightly shut, and only a dim lamp was lit on the table.

Su Guiying was already sitting inside.

Mo Lanzhi's first reaction upon entering the room was: this woman is not what she imagined.

She had assumed that Monk Huang's wife would be either a jewel-adorned lady or a heavily made-up socialite. But the woman sitting in front of her was wearing a dark red, narrow-sleeved cheongsam, her hair was simply tied in a bun, and her face was unadorned.

He was clean and neat, like a sword that hadn't been drawn from its sheath.

What caught Mo Lanzhi's attention most was the table in front of her.

A revolver. The muzzle was pointing outwards, at Su Guiying herself.

Su Guiying watched Mo Lanzhi walk in, but did not stand up; she simply nodded slightly.

"Advisor Mo, please have a seat."

Moranzhi pulled out a chair and sat down, her gaze falling on the revolver.

"Sister Gui, what a generous gift you gave us!"

Su Guiying's lips twitched slightly, but it wasn't exactly a smile.

"Before I came here, I was prepared not to come back. This gun is here to give Staff Officer Mo an explanation. If the negotiations break down today, you can shoot me on the spot. I won't resist."

Moranzhi did not touch the gun.

She poured herself a cup of tea and slowly took a sip.

"Sister Gui, our Military Intelligence Bureau's rule is to hear the story first, then make a decision. What do you want to say? Go ahead."

Su Guiying remained silent for a few seconds.

Then she took out an oil paper package from a hidden pocket in her cheongsam and placed it on the table.

"This is the Green Gang's complete set of core ledgers from its establishment in the Republic of China era to the present. It includes casino turnover, opium distribution channels, dock revenue sharing, and money laundering routes. I personally recorded every single entry."

Mo Lanzhi's eyes narrowed slightly.

All core ledgers?

The booklet Feng Yong handed over yesterday was detailed enough, but it only contained information held by a single leader in the Southern District. What Su Guiying was referring to was the entire Green Gang's ledger.

"Does Monk Huang know?"

"He doesn't know."

Su Guiying's voice was calm, "He only knows that I manage his accounts. But he doesn't know how much I manage."

She paused, a hint of coldness flashing in her eyes.

"Advisor Mo, what do you think made Huang Heshang the leader of the Shanghai Green Gang?"

Mo Lanzhi held her teacup without saying a word.

"His fists? He can't even beat a dockworker with those skills. His brains? He can't even calculate how much money his own casino makes in a day."

Su Guiying's tone remained calm, but every word carried something she had suppressed for a long time.

"I was the one who built 60% of the Green Gang's business over the years. How to transport goods at the docks, how to set the casino's commission, how to launder money—all of these were rules I set. Monk Huang only had to do one thing: wear a suit to the foreigners' parties in the French Concession, hold a wine glass, and try to get close to those red-haired, blue-eyed foreign devils."

She raised her head and looked directly at Moranzhi.

"He is the face of the Green Gang. I am the inside man."

Moranzhi put down her teacup.

This woman was even more formidable than she had anticipated.

"I received the account books."

Mo Lanzhi spoke up, "But Sister Gui, you didn't come to see me today just to settle accounts, did you?"

Su Guiying's expression changed.

His previous calm and restraint transformed into a deep, indescribable hatred.

"Advisor Mo, do you know what Monk Huang has been up to lately?"

"you say."

Su Guiying tapped her fingers lightly on the table.

"He was conspiring with the Japanese Cultural Center on a plan. They called it the 'Poison Needle Plan'."

Mo Lanzhi's expression finally changed slightly.

"What plan?"

"Use opium."

Su Guiying lowered her voice, "Monk Huang is preparing to establish an opium smuggling route from the Korean Peninsula to Shanghai. The Japanese will be responsible for sourcing the opium from places like Iran, while the Green Gang will be responsible for distribution in Shanghai. The target is not ordinary opium dens in the market."

She paused for two seconds, as if gritting her teeth.

"The target is Chen's army camp."

Moran's pupils suddenly contracted.

Infiltrate Chen Jiajun's army camp with opium?

This is an attempt to undermine the fighting capacity of the Chen family army from within!

"This is how they operate. First, they have dockworkers mix low-purity, cheap opium paste into daily necessities and smuggle it into the vicinity of the barracks. Then, they open several brothels near the barracks, specifically targeting soldiers who are on leave and out for a stroll. Once they are addicted, they control them with high-purity opium and turn them into spies for the Japanese."

After saying this, Su Guiying seemed to have all her strength drained away.

"I found this thread in Monk Huang's study just half a month ago. He thought I didn't know Japanese, so he didn't lock anything."

Mo Lanzhi's hands had unconsciously clenched into fists.

This is not ordinary business competition, nor is it a simple gang fight.

This is espionage. It's targeted sabotage against Chen's army.

"Where's the evidence?"

Su Guiying pulled out another envelope from the oil paper package and pushed it over.

"This is a complete copy of all the letters exchanged between Monk Huang and the Dongying Tongwen Academy. It includes the contact person's code name, the communication code, and the flow of funds. There is also a letter of commendation from the Dongying Tongwen Academy to Monk Huang, signed by the 'Investigation Department of Shanghai Dongya Tongwen Academy'."

Moranzhi took the envelope but did not look at it immediately.

She looked into Su Guiying's eyes.

"Sister Gui, I have a question for you."

"Go ahead and ask."

"You're Monk Huang's wife. You're bringing his trump card to me, which is tantamount to pushing him to his doom. What are you after?"

Su Guiying remained silent.

Silent for a long time.

Then she spoke, her voice a little hoarse.

"I opened three girls' schools in Shanghai. They all enrolled the daughters of dockworkers and coolies. There was no tuition, but lunch was provided."

"These three schools were opened with my own savings. Monk Huang doesn't know, and not many people in the Green Gang know either."

Her eyes were slightly red, but she didn't shed any tears.

"I, Su Guiying, have done many shameful things in my life. But these three schools are the only clean thing I have ever done."

"The monk Huang is now colluding with the Japanese to poison the Chinese army with opium. I tolerated it once or twice. But this time, I can't tolerate it anymore."

"I'm not afraid of death. I'm only afraid that after I die, those three schools will be gone, and those children will have nowhere to go."

Mo Lanzhi listened quietly to the end.

She didn't say anything to comfort her.

She simply pushed the cup of tea in front of Su Guiying.

"I can't make decisions about the school. But I can ask someone who can."

She stood up, walked to the telephone in the corner, and dialed a number.

The phone rang twice before being answered.

"Young Marshal."

Chen Zijun's voice came through the receiver, sounding lazy.

"Are you done talking?"

"We've finished talking."

Mo Lanzhi succinctly reported the three items provided by Su Guiying: the Green Gang's general ledger, the files on Japan's treason, and the Poison Needle Plan.

There was a three-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Operation Poison Needle? Infiltrating my barracks with opium?"

"Yes."

"Oh……"

Chen Zijun sneered, "That old dog Huang Heshang is tired of living."

"Young Marshal, Su Guiying's condition is that the three girls' schools under her name be preserved."

"Three schools?" Chen Zijun's voice carried a hint of surprise. "Just this much?"

"That's the condition."

Chen Zijun was silent for a second on the other end of the phone.

"Tell her that the school will not only not be closed, but I will also provide additional funding. From now on, those three schools will be affiliated with the Shanghai Education Bureau, and their expenses will be covered by public funds."

Mo Lanzhi's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

"There's one more thing."

She lowered her voice, "Sister Gui controls the channels and connections of the entire Shanghai underworld. I want to recruit her into the Military Intelligence Bureau; the position of deputy director of the intelligence department is currently vacant."

"If you think it's suitable, then accept it. You're the head of intelligence; you don't need to ask me about these things."

"clear."

Moranzhi hung up the phone.

She walked back to the table and sat down opposite Su Guiying.

"Sister Gui, the young marshal not only agreed to protect the three schools, but also allocated additional funds. From now on, they will be registered under the Education Bureau's name and run on public funds."

Su Guiying's body visibly trembled.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out.

"Furthermore," Mo Lanzhi said, looking directly into her eyes across the table, "Sister Gui, would you be willing to work under me? The deputy director of the Military Intelligence Bureau needs someone like you who understands the rules of the underworld. There's no one more suitable than you in the entire Shanghai."

Su Guiying was stunned.

She had been involved with the Green Gang for over a decade; she had seen all sorts of things and heard all sorts of things.

But the words "deputy director" made her freeze for a full five seconds.

Then she slowly stood up, picked up the revolver on the table, and turned the muzzle towards her temple.

Mo Lanzhi frowned.

"What are you doing?"

Su Guiying shook her head.

She ejected the magazine from her pistol, and the bullets clattered onto the table. Six rounds, not one less.

Then she handed the empty gun to Moranzhi with both hands.

"From this day forward, my gun and my life belong to Staff Officer Mo."

Moranzhi looked at her for three seconds, then reached out and took the empty gun.

"Put away your gangster airs. Once you're in the Military Intelligence Bureau, just call me 'Director Mo.'"

"Furthermore, your life doesn't belong to me, and mine doesn't belong to me either; they both belong to the young master!"

Su Guiying's eyes finally reddened.

But she didn't cry.

She simply nodded emphatically.

As the meeting was drawing to a close, Su Guiying suddenly remembered something.

"By the way, Director Mo, there's something else, but I'm not sure if I should say it now."

Moranzhi had already stood up and was adjusting the collar of her coat.

"explain."

Su Guiying lowered her voice to the lowest possible level.

"The day after tomorrow evening, Monk Huang is hosting a private banquet at his villa in the French Concession. There will be only two groups of guests. One group will be members of the Sassoon family, and Felix will be attending in person. The other group will be representatives of the Japanese Cultural Association."

Moranzhi stopped.

"The three parties are going to sign a new secret agreement to redistribute the loading and unloading profits and shipping share of all the docks in Shanghai. I heard that this time they're even going to sell the layout map of Wusongkou to the Japanese."

Mo Lanzhi slowly turned around.

Are you sure?

"I'm sure. I wrote the invitation myself."

A sharp glint flashed in Su Guiying's eyes. "Director Mo, this is an opportunity to wipe them all out in one fell swoop."

Mo Lanzhi looked at her, and the corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

It's not a smile. It's the expression of a hunter who has spotted his prey.

"Sister Gui, I've remembered your first contribution to the Military Intelligence Bureau."

She opened the door, and the afternoon sunlight of autumn shone into the dimly lit room.

Mo Lanzhi walked out without looking back.

He was already planning in his mind how to report to the young marshal.

The three big fish—the Yellow Monk, the Sassoon, and the Japanese Writers' Association—will all be in the same pond the night after tomorrow.

This net needs to be cast wide enough.