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

That same evening. Longhua Road Garrison Command.

Chen Zijun sat at the table, with a newly delivered evening newspaper spread out in front of him.

Front-page headline: "Jiangsu Military Governor Qi Yingcai Secretly Colludes with Japan, Selling Out Shanghai's Tax Sovereignty! Young Marshal Chen Angrily Denounces: Better to Die as a Warlord in Battle than to Be a Traitorous Subject!"

The accompanying image is a black-and-white photograph captured by Moranzhi, clearly showing Zhou Qinian and Tanaka having a private conversation with their heads down.

Okay. The whole country has seen it.

Chen Zijun tossed the newspaper aside and closed his eyes.

The system panel popped up automatically in my mind.

`` `

[Unlimited Pay-to-Win System - Day 399]

Current fund pool: £3,299,836

(Sulfonamide orders continue to generate an average daily inflow of £100,000)

Real-time deposit rate: +1 pound/second (basic)

Yesterday's expenditure: £1,500,000 (German-equipped equipment for the Third Division)

New unlock module:

►Permanent Infrastructure & Coastal Defense Fortress System

►Heavy Artillery Defense - Krupp Coastal Defense Gun Series

►Available for purchase: 280mm coastal defense cannon (unit price £85,000)

►Available for purchase: Precast reinforced concrete permanent construction components (bulk discount)

`` `

Three million three hundred thousand pounds. Sulfonamides are still bringing in 100,000 pounds a day.

Yesterday, he spent 1.5 million to arm three divisions, and today the system unlocked something new for him.

Permanent infrastructure. Coastal fortifications. Krupp heavy artillery.

Chen Zijun's lips curled up slightly.

The system understands him.

But now is not the time to spend money. The framework of the three divisions has just been established, and completing their assembly and reorganization within seventy-two hours is already enough to give Shen Li a hard time. The fortress issue can wait until the location is chosen, the blueprints are drawn, and the personnel are in place.

He opened his eyes, picked up the newly replaced enamel mug, and took a sip of cold tea.

Now, we'll have to see how those foreigners react.

Meanwhile, the Shanghai Municipal Council of the International Settlement.

The conference room was filled with smoke, and seven or eight foreigners in suits sat on either side of a long table, their faces not looking too good.

British Consul General Barton sat in the head seat, with a tactical analysis report he had obtained from the naval attaché in front of him. The cover of the report bore the three large red characters: "Top Secret."

He slammed the report on the table.

"Gentlemen, I know what you're thinking. Qi Yingcai has come to us begging for justice? Asking us to stand up for him?"

Baldon took off his monocle, wiped it, and put it back on.

"I'll only say one thing."

He opened the report and pointed to a ballistic calculation table inside.

"Three days ago, Chen Zijun's troops used a type of artillery that we had never seen before on the Chinese battlefield in the Jiangyin section. Our naval attaché analyzed the armor-piercing caliber and secondary explosion pattern of the sunken ship wreck."

He paused and looked around.

"The conclusion is—those were German-made 88mm anti-aircraft guns, Flak 18 model. And not just one or two, but at least twelve firing simultaneously."

French Consul Villeneuve frowned. "Anti-aircraft guns? Used to attack warships?"

"Horizontal firing." Bardon's voice was cold. "They leveled their anti-aircraft guns and fired directly at the warships. Armor-piercing shells penetrated the hulls below the waterline, and within three minutes, two thousand-ton frigates exploded and sank in the river."

The meeting room fell silent.

American Consul Cunningham swallowed hard. "Um... Sir Barton, these cannons are no match for our merchant ships—"

"What do you think?" Barton glared at him. "A thousand-ton warship is destroyed in three minutes. How many seconds do you think your merchant ships flying the Stars and Stripes can withstand that?"

Cunningham fell silent.

Baldon stood up and placed his hands on the table.

"I've gathered you all here today not to discuss whether or not to stand up for Qi Yingcai. That fool has already sold himself to the Japanese; his life or death has nothing to do with the British Empire, not even a penny."

His gaze swept over everyone.

"What I want to say is this: from this moment forward, all merchant ships and warships flying the British flag must reduce their speed and send friendly signals to Chen Zijun's river defense forces when passing through the Jiangyin-Ma'anshan section. No one is allowed to fly a military flag through this section. Violators will bear the consequences themselves, and the consulate will not provide any assistance."

Wei Lide opened his mouth. "This is tantamount to acknowledging Chen Zijun's no-fly zone—"

"This saves the British sailors on our cargo ship!" Barton slammed his hand on the table. "Mr. Weillard, if your French gunboat wants to test the power of those twelve 88mm guns, go ahead. But don't expect me to collect your corpses."

Wei Lide shut up.

Baldon sat down again and straightened his tie.

"Furthermore, regarding Chen Zijun's telegram exposing Qi Yingcai's treason, the official stance of the Municipal Council is—no comment. Listen carefully, no comment. We neither support nor oppose. We are here to do business, not to fight a civil war for Chinese warlords."

He glanced at everyone present one last time.

Meeting adjourned.

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor rose intermittently.

Bardon didn't move. He waited until everyone had left before whispering something to his secretary.

"Send a telegram to London. Tell the Foreign Ministry that there is currently a warlord in Shanghai named Chen Zijun, who has more than twelve German-made heavy anti-aircraft guns and is capable of sinking a thousand-ton warship in three minutes. My advice is—do not provoke him before he takes the initiative to provoke the British Empire."

The secretary paused, taken aback. "Sir, this wording..."

"Just write it like this. Don't change a single word."

Around the same time. Hongkou Japanese Concession. Japanese Special Higher Police in Shanghai.

Tanaka changed into his military uniform. In front of him were three telegrams stamped with a red "Top Secret" seal.

The most important one came from the Tokyo Naval Ministry.

He picked it up and read it again.

"Regarding Qi Yingcai's request for troops, after a joint assessment by the Ministry of the Navy and the Ministry of the Army, it has been decided to first dispatch the Third Fleet's advance deterrence formation to the waters off Wusongkou. The formation will be led by the light cruiser 'Tenryu' and includes the destroyers 'Isokaze' and 'Urakaze'. The Izumo will not be deployed for the time being. It is expected to arrive at Wusongkou in five days."

Tanaka put down the telegram, a cold smile playing on his lips.

The light cruiser Tenryu, displacing 3500 tons. Two Minekaze-class destroyers, each displacing 1200 tons. The three warships together displacing nearly 6,000 tons.

Dealing with a Chinese warlord? More than enough.

Tanaka picked up a brush and signed the telegram receipt. Then he called his adjutant.

"Send a message to Zhou Qinian, Qi Yingcai's confidant. Tell him that the Empire of Japan has accepted their governor's request. Within five days, Imperial Navy warships will appear at the mouth of Wusong."

He paused for a moment, then added a sentence.

"Tell him that the Empire's naval guns can turn that Chinese warlord's fortress into rubble in just fifteen minutes. Let Governor Qi rest assured and wait for good news."

The adjutant bowed, turned, and left.

Tanaka sat alone at his desk, his gaze fixed on the map of Shanghai on the wall. He slowly traced the Wusongkou point with his finger and nodded confidently.

Forget about 88mm anti-aircraft guns; the Imperial Navy's artillery is the best in the world. Those Chinese soldiers can't even touch a single rivet on an Imperial warship.

What he didn't know was that these words, along with the entire contents of the telegram, would appear on Chen Zijun's desk thirty minutes later.

Because in his communications officer's office, there was a bugging device that Su Guiying had arranged to be installed three months ago.

Late that night. Longhua Road Garrison Command.

In front of Chen Zijun was the intelligence that Mo Lanzhi had just delivered.

Three pages. Each page contained handwritten copies of telegrams by Su Guiying's intelligence agents in the Japanese concession.

Chen Zijun flipped through the pages one by one, then put the paper down.

"The light cruiser Tenryu, and the destroyers Isokaze and Urakaze, totaling 6,000 tons. They will arrive at Wusongkou in five days."

He spoke calmly, as if reciting a menu.

Moran stood before the table, her hands behind her back. "Young Master, based on the Tianlong's speed from Nagasaki—at a cruising speed of fifteen knots—it would take about five days. If they accelerate to eighteen knots, it could take four and a half days."

"What about firepower?"

"The Tianlong has four 14cm main guns and six torpedo tubes. The two destroyers each have four 12cm guns. That's a total of twelve naval guns." Moranzhi's tone was as calm as if she were reading an instruction manual.

Chen Zijun leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the table.

There was no Izumo-class destroyer, no Kongo-class destroyer. Just one light cruiser with two destroyers.

The Japanese didn't take him seriously at all. Three ships were enough? They couldn't even be bothered to send the Izumo over?

Chen Zijun's lips curled slightly.

Excellent. Underestimating the enemy is his favorite enemy.

The door was pushed open, and Shen Li ran in, panting, his military uniform covered in sweat.

"Young Marshal! The vanguard of the newly formed Second, Third, and Fourth Divisions of Zhejiang has already departed from Hangzhou! The train is expected to arrive in Jiaxing early the day after tomorrow and enter Shanghai on the morning of the third day. The first batch of key officers has been drawn from the Tenth Division and the Tax Police Regiment, and the roster is being compiled overnight."

"Okay." Chen Zijun nodded. Then he stood up and picked up the military cap on the table.

"Come on, come with me to Wusongkou."

Shen Li was taken aback. "Now? In the middle of the night?"

"Now."

Chen Zijun put on his military cap, his eyes reflecting the light of the kerosene lamp on the table.

"Five days, Shen Li. The Japanese warships will arrive in five days. Before that, I want to turn Wusongkou into a meat grinder where even warships can't get in."

He turned and walked out.

Shen Li quickly followed.

In the dead of night in Shanghai, the river breeze is blowing fiercely.

A military truck carrying Chen Zijun and Shen Li drove north along the Bund, heading straight for Wusongkou.

Forty minutes later. Wusongkou.

The Huangpu River flows into the Yangtze River here, and the river surface suddenly opens up. Under the moonlight, the dark river flows silently eastward.

Chen Zijun stood on the mudflats, the river wind making his military overcoat flutter.

He raised his hand.

The system panel in my mind lit up.

This time, he directly clicked on the newly unlocked module.

`` `

【Permanent Infrastructure & Coastal Defense Fortress System】

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

►280mm Krupp coastal defense cannon

Range: 38,000 meters | Armor Penetration:

Unit price: £85,000 (including gun mount and ammunition load)

►□150mm Coastal Defense Cannon

Range: 22,000 meters | Armor Penetration:

Unit price: £35,000

►□ Reinforced concrete permanent fortifications (Class A protection)

Resistant to direct hits from 203mm naval guns

Price per set: £12,000

►□ Artillery Observation Post + Fire Control Command Center

Includes optical rangefinder + communication system

Unit price: £25,000

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Current funds: £3,299,836

`` `

Chen Zijun's eyes lit up.

280mm Krupp coastal defense cannon. Range: 38,000 meters. Armor penetration: 320mm.

What does that mean?

The thickest part of the armor on the light cruiser Tianlong was less than 60 millimeters.

One shot could take it from bow to stern.

Shen Li leaned closer; he couldn't see the system panel, but he could see the expression on Chen Zijun's face.

"Young Marshal, are you going to spend money again?"

Chen Zijun did not answer.

He gazed at the dark, moonlit river, his eyes filled with icy killing intent.

Five days.

enough.

"Shen Li, order Yang Yanzhao to bring all officers of the artillery regiment to Wusongkou first thing tomorrow morning. Also, have Mo Huixin prepare the inspection checklist."

His voice was carried away by the river wind.

"This time, I'm not going to sink their warships."

"I'm going to make sure that the entire Japanese fleet can't even get into Wusongkou."