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

4:03 AM.

The desk lamp in the study has been replaced.

Huixin had it brought up, saying the old bulb's buzzing filament was interfering with the conversation. The new bulb was brighter than the previous one, illuminating the wrinkles on Sun Yun's face and the stubble on Chen Zijun's chin clearly.

The two had been talking for almost an hour.

The tea was changed three times.

Sun Yun's cough flared up twice more, but he managed to suppress it each time.

"Tell me your terms," ​​Sun Yun said, leaning back in his chair, his gaze calm yet sharp. "The whole package."

Chen Zijun held up three fingers.

"First, I have full authority to handle the military and political affairs of the four provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui that I occupy. The South will not interfere in any way with the organization, equipment, taxation and diplomacy."

"Second, provide the Southern Headquarters with no less than £200,000 in military supplies and financial support each month. I'll cover the guns and ammunition for the Northern Expedition."

"Third, my army's designation will be changed to the Southeast Front Army of the National Revolutionary Army, directly under Mr. Sun. But there is one condition."

He lowered his hand.

"This army only fights foreign enemies, not civil wars. I will never obey orders to fight the Chinese."

Sun Yun stared at him for a full five seconds.

Then, the leader of the Chinese revolution made a move that Chen Zijun did not expect.

He stood up.

I walked to the window with my hands behind my back and glanced at the bluish-green horizon outside.

"I have been involved in revolution for thirty years. I overthrew the imperial system, established the Republic of China, negotiated peace between the North and the South, launched the Second Revolution, fought against Yuan Shikai and protected the country, and participated in the Constitutional Protection Movement... I fought countless battles, traveled countless times, and many people around me died."

His voice was very soft.

"In the end, the fate of 400 million Chinese people was still in the hands of foreigners and warlords. Factories belonged to foreigners, railways belonged to foreigners, customs belonged to foreigners, and even our own country's capital had to be at the mercy of foreigners."

He turned around and looked directly at Chen Zijun.

Do you know why I agreed to your request?

"Speaking."

"Because you were the first to bring out something real."

Sun Yun's voice suddenly rose by half a beat.

"Others talk to me about revolution with their mouths. You talk to me about revolution with your cannons. You have 170,000 soldiers, but you didn't use them to seize territory. You have tanks and artillery, but you didn't use them to fight the Chinese. You sank the Izumo and drove 50,000 Japanese troops into the sea. Out of 400 million Chinese people, only you have accomplished these things."

He walked back and slammed his hand heavily on the table.

"In my entire life, I, Sun Yun, have never misjudged people. You, Chen Zijun, are the knife I've been searching for. Not a knife to cut our own people, but a knife to cut foreigners!"

Chen Zijun's eyes welled up slightly.

It wasn't just being moved.

It's a kind of heaviness that's hard to describe.

The old man before him, dragging his nearly lifeless body, was still burning with passion for a country torn apart.

Historically, this fire would have been completely extinguished in less than a year.

This time, at least he can make this fire burn more worthwhile.

"Mr. Sun." Chen Zijun stood up and bowed slightly. "As long as the Chen family army is in Shanghai, the Japanese will not be able to set foot in Wusongkou."

Sun Yun nodded.

"Okay. It's settled then."

He took out a private seal from his pocket and placed it on the table.

"This seal is my personal badge. After we go north, I will use my presidential authority to issue a nationwide telegram officially appointing your father, Chen Yuhe, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Southeastern Army of the National Revolutionary Army, giving him control over all military and political affairs in the four southeastern provinces. Your qualifications and status are not yet sufficient; it's time for your father, Houshan, to make his name known!"

He paused.

"But this matter was not put into writing. No electricity was invented. It was only based on oral instructions and this seal."

Chen Zijun took the seal.

The seal is small, but extremely heavy.

The inscription on it reads: "The world belongs to all."

"I understand," he said. "Hidden pieces are more useful than revealed pieces."

Sun Yun chuckled, but then coughed halfway through his laugh.

"You little rascal, you're thinking the same thing as me."

……

4:30 a.m.

The private meeting has ended.

Chen Zijun personally escorted Sun Yun downstairs to her guest room on the second floor to rest. Ms. Song was already waiting in the room. When she saw Sun Yun's expression, she frowned slightly, but didn't ask anything.

Chen Zijun left the guest room and closed the door.

In the corridor, Shen Li was leaning against the wall waiting for him.

"Young Marshal, that attendant surnamed Cheng has been loitering in the corridor. I had someone keep an eye on him all night."

"I know," Chen Zijun said calmly. "Let him in."

Shen Li was taken aback. "Let him...in?"

"Yes. Tell him to come to the study. Tell him I need to speak with him."

Three minutes later.

The attendant in the gray Zhongshan suit—Cheng Shaowen—was led into the study.

He still wore that "honest and loyal follower" expression on his face, and as he walked, his eyes would inadvertently sweep over the arrangement of the documents on his desk.

Chen Zijun sat behind his desk, one leg crossed over the other.

He didn't even look up at Cheng Shaowen.

"Your little notebook, in the left pocket, with a blue cover. It has the locations of six firing points, the shift changes for three sentry posts, and the routes of two communication lines recorded in it. There's also a sentence, four words—'Never go to war.'"

Cheng Shaowen's face turned pale instantly.

It felt like being slapped across the face.

He instinctively covered his left pocket.

But then he realized that this action was tantamount to admitting everything.

"you……"

"What about me?" Chen Zijun finally raised his head and glanced at him.

That look in his eyes.

Cheng Shaowen's legs went weak, and he almost lost his balance.

That wasn't anger, nor was it murderous intent.

It's that kind of nonchalant attitude that comes from seeing through everything, someone who could crush you at any moment but feels it's unnecessary.

"Sit down," Chen Zijun said, gesturing to the chair opposite him. "Don't stand. It doesn't look good to have your legs shaking like that."

Cheng Shaowen swallowed hard and mechanically sat down.

"Cheng Shaowen, Captain Staff Officer of the Second Division of the Southern Military and Political Department, one of Chiang Kai-shek's men." Chen Zijun read as if reciting a file. "Your mission is to accompany Mr. Sun's team, assess the combat strength of the Chen family army, and then submit a detailed report to Chiang Kai-shek upon your return. Is that correct?"

Cheng Shaowen opened his mouth.

"Don't rush to deny it." Chen Zijun waved his hand. "I won't kill you, nor will I arrest you. You quietly continue north with Mr. Sun, and when you return, report everything you saw to Chiang Kai-shek truthfully."

"Don't change a single word, don't omit a single number."

He leaned forward slightly.

"You're already so scared by just armored vehicles and heavy machine guns. Go back and tell him that I also have tanks, heavy artillery, and 380mm coastal fortress guns. What you saw with your own eyes is only one-tenth of my strength."

He smiled slightly.

"Then tell him to carefully consider whether it's worth it to go against me."

Cheng Shaowen's forehead was covered in sweat.

His lips trembled several times, and in the end he managed to squeeze out only one sentence.

"Commander Chen... I just..."

"I understand you were just following orders." Chen Zijun leaned back in his chair. "That's why I let you go. If it were someone else who didn't know any better, they'd be drowning tonight."

He waved his hand.

"Alright, go back to sleep. We still have to accompany Mr. Sun on his journey tomorrow."

Cheng Shaowen stood up, his legs still trembling. As he walked to the door, Chen Zijun's voice came from behind him again.

"By the way. When you were measuring the sentry positions in the corridor, my men took seventeen photos of you. If Chiang Kai-shek tries anything funny when we get back, these photos will appear on the front page of every newspaper in the country."

Cheng Shaowen paused for a moment.

Then he quickened his pace, almost fleeing the study.

The door closed behind him.

Shen Li poked his head in from outside.

"Young Marshal, should we let this man go?"

"Hmm. A living one is more useful than a dead one." Chen Zijun took a sip of cold tea. "A terrified messenger is more effective than ten spies."

……

At the same time.

The basement of the headquarters.

The darkest corner in all of Shanghai.

As Moranzhi descended the last three stone steps, her feet touched a puddle of water.

To be precise, it was a puddle of water that had spilled from the interrogation table.

A person was tied to the interrogation table.

The only Japanese assassin captured alive in that massacre was a man in his early thirties, a Special Higher Police squad leader, codenamed "Arrow".

His clothes were completely soaked. The wet cloth covering his face had just been removed, and his mouth was wide open as he gasped for breath like a fish thrown onto the shore.

Water torture.

It draws no blood, leaves no scars, but can make the world's toughest mouth open in fifteen minutes.

Moranzhi pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him.

"Are you done talking?" Her voice was very soft, as if she were asking a friend what they had eaten that day.

Arrow's body was still trembling violently.

He's already said it. He's said everything.

The code name of the assassination attempt on Mr. Sun, the source of funding, the contact information of the superior, and how many spies the Special Higher Police Shanghai Station has planted in the concessions.

But the last piece of information changed Mo Lanzhi's expression.

"You mean...it wasn't just assassination?"

"Arrow" nodded frantically, as if trying to spill everything it knew.

"Shanghai Station... is just a punch. The real... trump card... is in Nanjing..."

He took a breath.

"Four flour mills. All secretly acquired by the Japanese. And... three people in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce... are helping them stockpile grain and cotton cloth..."

"Stockpiling food?" Moranzhi's eyebrows furrowed. "How much?"

"They've already acquired... 30,000 shi of rice... 2,000 bolts of cotton cloth... and it's still ongoing... They say... they want to establish a... complete logistics base in Nanjing..."

Moranzhi tapped her fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair.

Thirty thousand bushels of grain.

This is not a small-scale infiltration. This is a stockpiling of supplies at the level of strategic reserves.

They are preparing for the next invasion.

Moreover, the place they chose was not Shanghai, but Nanjing.

That empty city that Chen Zijun deliberately used as bait to throw out.

It turns out the Japanese have their eyes on it too.

She stood up, folded the record sheet, and put it in her bosom.

"Live well. You still have some use for life."

Then she turned and went upstairs, walking twice as fast as she had come.

……

5:10 a.m.

There was a knock on the study door.

Chen Zijun opened his eyes; he had only dozed off in the chair for less than ten minutes.

Mo Lanzhi pushed open the door and came in, holding a stack of record sheets in her hand, the corners of which still carried the damp smell unique to the basement.

"Young Master."

She placed the confession in front of Chen Zijun.

"This group of Japanese wasn't just after assassinations. They were also buying up grain and cloth around Nanjing on a large scale. Four flour mills and three chambers of commerce were their moles."

She paused for a moment.

"They stockpiled war supplies in Nanjing. They wanted to plant a seed in Nanjing as well."

Chen Zijun picked up the confession and read it through.

On the surface, he remained calm and composed.

But the fingers gripping the paper slowly tightened.

Nanjing.

He originally thought that the empty city was just a bone left for the southern warlords to fight over.

Unexpectedly, the Japanese went much further than he had imagined.

"Four flour mills. Three from the chamber of commerce." He put down his statement. "And their names?"

"They're all inside."

Chen Zijun stood up and walked to the window.

Outside the window, it was already dawn. The outline of Shanghai Bund gradually became clear in the morning light.

"Notify Su Guiying," he said. "Have Night Owl activate the intelligence network in Nanjing immediately. I need all the details about these four flour mills and the three traitors, including their bank accounts, warehouse addresses, and contact lists. Get them to my desk within three days."

"Yes."

"Also," he said, turning around.

"Tell Zang Keping to draw an reinforced battalion from the newly formed Second Division and prepare for a possible southward advance."

Mo Lanzhi blinked.

"Is the young marshal going to attack Nanjing?"

Chen Zijun gave a cold laugh.

"I'm not in a hurry to take Nanjing. But I need the traitors in Nanjing and the granaries of the Japanese right now."

He looked out the window at the gradually brightening sky.

"They built nests on the bones I threw out. So I took the nests too."