Canteen System Assistance Notes

Several artillery observers adjusted their periscopes' magnifications, using a 16x magnification to peer at the distant railway, hoping to identify any Japanese soldiers hiding there. But, apparently, they were unsuccessful. "Those Japanese soldiers from the Fourth Division are incredibly cunning. Squad leader, it's been days, why haven't they come out?"

"These Japs are no good! They don't fight with all their heart!" the observer squad leader commented. "The first time they attacked, as soon as they heard their air force couldn't arrive, they immediately retreated twenty miles, retreating into their previously built fortifications. Our comrades who were ambushing us waited for ages in vain.

"After that, they only dared to send small troops to attack our mountain secretly. After being beaten back several times by us, they even rarely came here."

"So we're just going to spend all day here staring at them?" the man asked unwillingly, flexing his arms. "If these little devils don't come out, we

I haven't called back for a while, it's been several months..."

"These little Japs are probably just waiting for us to get complacent before attacking! We only rotate for a few days at a time. When I was fighting in Shanxi Province, I hid in the mountains for almost ten days to save my comrades from the Seventh and a Half Corps!" The squad leader scolded him and then locked his eyes with the periscope. "Anyway, when the Japs come, we don't have to charge in front. The artillery shells of our comrades back there have eyes, so they're so accurate at hitting the Japs... Hmm?"

The squad leader uttered a long sound, and immediately, everyone in the shelter became alert. They all moved quickly and took their positions in tacit understanding.

"The devils are coming!

"Why are there only two cars? How dare they drive on the main road?" "Huh? There's a red cross on the front of the car?"

The squad leader's eyes were glued to the periscope guard, and he uttered an incredulous sound: "There's a banner with Chinese characters on the roof of this carport!" He slowly distinguished: "Eighth Route Army soldiers, don't fire!"

"Battlefield trade, exchanging what's available? What the hell is that?"

Chapter 539: New Horses of the Grassland Cavalry

Bald, bald, bald.

West of Zhangbei Grassland, a two-year-old bay horse shook its head, snorted, and then raised its head slightly: it heard

- a series of familiar footsteps. Then, the sound of the two-legged beast came into my ears, chirping.

La, keep talking.

"Brigade Commander! Why are you here?"

"I came to see the new horse and feed my little shopkeeper. It's not much, just a carrot." "Okay! The horse is inside..."

The young shopkeeper, or rather the bay horse, couldn't quite decipher the meaning of the biped's strange roar, but he did recognize the strange notes of the word "carrot" (ren), as well as words like "brigades commander" and "hey"—this tone, this intonation, probably meant the mobile carrot dispenser was coming!

The keyword was triggered, and its ears stood up like an African fox's.

Diliuliu, diliuliu, carrot, carrot, you can go out and play.

The young shopkeeper happily circled the stables, drawing some disgruntled panting from the other horses. But he paid no mind, finding the fence nearest the stable gate, stretching his neck and tilting his head, smacking his lips and beginning to lick the cold, hard, and twisted "Iron Tree Power."

Anyway, as long as this thing falls off the door, the fence gate will open, and I will have freedom, play, and carrots. Sure enough, as the horse's flexible mouth pulled up the iron latch on the door, there was a creak, and the feeling of stagnation under my neck disappeared instantly - the door was open!

"How are these horses?"

"Not bad, Brigade Commander. If you ask me, this horse is much better than the one in our previous cavalry regiment. Especially this young shopkeeper usually...Oh my god! This ancestor! He opened the door by himself again! Shit, shit, shit!" Well, the door was opened, but there was no fun and no carrot.

The commander of the Suiyuan Military Region Cavalry Brigade, the bipedal Ma Renxing, clasped his hands and carrot behind his back, and watched with great interest the harmonious and friendly interaction and sweet words exchanged between the administrator and the young shopkeeper. As the former commander of the Jizhong Military Region Cavalry Regiment, he had seen all sorts of horses. While there were some with violent temperaments, most could be tamed by the cavalry using various methods.

However, this group of war horses, which were bred in the base's horse farm and are said to be a hybrid of Soviet Don horses and local horses from Qinghai Province, seem to have become "spiritual" one by one.

They were just over two years old, and some had strange tastes. They would only eat the grass and refuse the fine feed even though they were given both grass and fine feed. Some were shy and would get along well with the soldiers, but would ignore everyone else. There was even worse, like the "little shopkeeper", who had mastered the skill of using the latch to open a door. Not only did he do it himself, he also often taught other horses: wherever this guy was in the stable, a bunch of horses who could open doors would soon appear.

However, although these first-generation mixed-breed horses have strange temperaments, once they form a cooperative relationship with their humans, they will have an extremely tacit understanding. Their endurance, speed, and obedience are all excellent, comparable to the military horses bred by the Japanese, and they are first-class "good horses".

Ma Renxing held up a carrot, causing the "little shopkeeper" to prick up his ears, smack his lips, and pant like a dog. After proving their prowess in battles and duels with the Japanese cavalry, many cavalry soldiers became attracted to these new horses.

However, the Japanese...will probably have to rely on these silent comrades in the future.

As a new military region established after the Suiyuan Campaign, the Suiyuan Military Region shouldered many heavy tasks.

Organize the masses to produce, count the enemy's assets, and investigate the local environment in detail... The most important thing is to prevent the Japanese army's counterattack - although the Mongolian garrison has been eliminated in a practical sense, the headquarters and several rear offices in Zhangyuan City have not been eliminated after all. The Japanese army can still stubbornly say that the Mongolian garrison still exists, and rely on the original framework of the Mongolian garrison to fill in new forces to harass the Eighth Route Army's new base.

Among them, cavalry is the main force.

These troops were collected by the commander of the North China Front Army, General Okamura Yasuji, and settled on the Bashang grassland with Zhangbei as the core. The cavalry from the "Xing'an Army" of the puppet Manchukuo Army, the cavalry from the remnants of the "Special Mixed Mechanized Unit", and some remnants of the puppet Mongolian Army formed two Xinmian cavalry brigades. While supporting the northern defense line of Zhangyuan City, they strengthened the defense in Duolun-Guyuan Kangbao, eliminating the possibility of the Eighth Route Army infiltrating Rehe through this route.

They even wanted to launch a sudden attack on Shangyi County, north of Xinghe County, and close the gate to the vast Bashang grassland.

Under such circumstances, Ma Renxing led the Suiyuan Military Region Cavalry Brigade, which had just been formed and was still undergoing contract training, to launch a counterattack against the Japanese army and drove the Japanese army out of Shangyi.

During that battle, the comrades of the Cavalry Brigade Training Regiment, displaying the meticulous and formalized cavalry style, brought along sufficient radios and reconnaissance equipment, conducted effective pre-war reconnaissance, and guided the Air Force's fighter squadron in Jining to bomb the Japanese;

The Ili League Mongolian cavalry of the 2nd Regiment, armed with cavalry rifles, moved around the flank of the Japanese army, firing and throwing grenades, destroying several Japanese cavalry artillery positions.

The 3rd Regiment of the Cavalry Brigade, formed by part of the former 129th Division Cavalry Regiment and the Luxi Independent Cavalry Battalion, put bulletproof armor on the horses and cavalrymen, and carried submachine guns. After the air raid, they directly ran into the Japanese cavalry formation, opened fire and dispersed them.

The former Jizhong Military Region Cavalry Regiment, now the First Cavalry Brigade, wasted time preparing to dismount and fight, and could only watch in amazement as friendly troops charged fiercely after concentrating their firepower. Finally, they only drew their sabers during the pursuit phase, charging the enemy from behind and cutting down many of the puppet Mongolian cavalry who had no time to escape.

All in all, the victory was won, but it was a somewhat chaotic one. The coordination between the various units was quite problematic; each fought independently, with little coordination. This resulted in unnecessary waste of firepower and casualties. After the battle, Ma Renxing apprehended several cavalry commanders and gave them a thorough scolding, accusing them of winning only because the enemy was weak; otherwise, they would have suffered a crushing defeat.

"Our comrades come from different units and previously had their own tactics and habits. Now that we're all together, we have to focus on more than just fighting on our own. A hero needs three helpers, so you have to coordinate well with your comrades from other units!" He said, "We're all used to riding horses, and a good cavalryman needs to have a tacit understanding and cooperation, right? Our cavalry brigade also needs to cooperate with each other and develop a tacit understanding."

As a result, apart from anything else, I actually raised a restless horse. I don’t know where the “understanding” between this little ancestor and me has gone.

Watching the shopkeeper, who shook his head and chewed the carrots with a crunching sound, Ma Renxing felt a mixture of emotion and self-mockery. Next, the cavalry brigade must not only focus on training, but also receive new equipment, learn new tactics, and, once they have established a firm foothold, find a way to expand their forces: the vast Bashang grasslands cannot be lost to the Japanese, and a route to infiltrate the Rehe region must also be opened...

Just as he was thinking about it, the administrator suddenly spoke from behind him.

"Hey, Political Commissar Li? Did you guys make an appointment for today? The Brigade Commander just arrived, and you, Political Commissar, are here right after..."

Ma Renxing turned around and saw a short, but heroic woman approaching. She was wearing a green military uniform, jodhpurs, cavalry boots, and a coiled horsewhip. "Comrade Li Lin, hello!"

"Is Commander Ma here too?" she replied, responding to Ma Renxing's greeting. "Yes, I came to see the new horse and to bond with Tiaotiao. Look! I brought him some carrots."

"Okay, I'll help you pull it out."

But just as the administrator finished speaking and before anyone moved, a tall and strong black horse let out a long neigh.

It was seen galloping from the distance of the stables, neighing loudly, and then, under the stunned gaze of the crowd, it leaped over a fence more than half a man's height. Then, the big black horse stuck out half of its tongue, shook its head, and walked towards Li Lin with a dripping sound.

"Oh, damn! Ancestor! How...how did you just jump out by yourself?"

The administrator's desperate voice floated out from the grassland.

Chapter 540: North China Cannon Hunters

With a loud bang, a 305mm shell fell to the ground, killing some weeds, a bundle of wheat stalks, a few sparrows, and digging a hole big enough for a person to stand in the field after the wheat was harvested.

The sound of firecrackers rolled around, spreading outwards before quickly fading. One minute, two minutes... ten minutes passed, and then one or two green fireworks floated up from the distance, making a crackling sound. Then, several heads popped up from the broken water vats at the village entrance, from under the stoves, and from the wells. After observing for a moment, a few people emerged.

Soon, the big gong at the entrance of the village began to bang, and the loud voices in the village also started to roar.

"The devils are closing their stalls! The devils are closing their stalls!"

"Huh—finally they're gone!"

Now, the hatches of the tunnels leading to each household in the village finally opened, and a stream of people emerged. Several village militiamen led the way, ensuring the area was safe before leading the villagers out. Everyone stretched their muscles, gazed at the still-smoking pit in the fields at the village entrance, and engaged in a casual conversation.

"The village secretary was right. The 'Big King of Hell' really exploded much louder than that little devil. The little devil's cannon only made a tiny crater when it landed on the ground, barely enough for a person to hide. But this time, the King of Hell's cannon made a massive crater." Someone, somewhat familiar with artillery fire, expressed surprise. "I heard the muzzle of this cannon is as thick as my water jar. If it landed on a house, it would flatten it!"

"It's a good thing it didn't fall on my land this time. It would have been so difficult to fill such a big hole." After sighing, some people had a strange thought, "But whose land is that? Is the shell casing going to belong to them?" "Ignore! How can you be so ignorant? The shell casing is a good material. It's going to be used to make bullets to fight the Japanese."

"That's all I'm saying..."

Yes, it’s another “peaceful” day in a village near Dezhou along the Jinpu Line.

Since August 1942, in order to delay the further decline of the North China Front Army on the battlefield and prolong the complete transfer of strategic initiative, Okamura Yasuji resorted to the vile tactic of "terrorist attacks".

By using the railways to mobilize artillery and firing at the villages in the base area from preset positions, the Japanese army did cause considerable casualties to the military and civilians in the base area, and even dealt a heavy blow to some local troops who could not contain their emotions and launched attacks on the Japanese army.

For a time, people along the Jinpu Line near Dezhou and the Jinshan Line in eastern Hebei were terrified. They shuddered at the mere mention of artillery, ran at the mere sound of a gunshot, and were terrified of trains, severely impacting daily life and production. Some puppet army spies even spread rumors such as, "The cannons were equipped with telescopes, capable of revealing a person's true form from dozens of miles away, specifically designed to bomb communist collaborators," and "Japanese soldiers who worshipped the Emperor received protection; those who refused would be bombed."

In response to this situation, the military sub-districts of the Hebei-Shandong Border and Hebei-East base areas came up with many solutions.

First of all, it is natural to strengthen propaganda so that the masses will not be too afraid of the shelling - the Japanese artillery bombardment can only rely on map work, shelling fixed targets such as villages, and must rely on fixed positions or prominent landmarks. The preparation time is long and the accuracy of the shelling is poor. As long as you pay attention to prevention, you can avoid losses.

Secondly, the two bases began to incorporate the "advanced experience" of the Hebei-Central base, digging anti-artillery holes and tunnels, organizing mass anti-artillery drills, and even using explosive points to simulate artillery impacts. As a result, the masses understood the lethality mechanisms of artillery and defensive measures, successfully reducing losses through various means, and finally, the masses no longer feared sudden Japanese artillery attacks.

At the same time, the spy-hunting system, already based on the Children's Corps, grassroots militia, and grassroots organizations, was given a new task: identifying those puppet regime spies who had infiltrated the base areas and spread rumors. Suddenly, many slicked-back, rumor-mongering, and inciting trouble were apprehended and, after screening, brought to justice. They likely spent a long time sewing uniforms and chest piercings at the clothing factory.

However, emergency defenses can't permanently solve the problem. Whether it's a passive response or a proactive attack, a set of procedures is always necessary. And while one person's shortcomings can be overcome by many, mobilizing the wisdom of the masses in this area is naturally a Communist Party specialty.

The first to react were the Jizhong base areas. A firecracker factory, converted into an ammunition factory, quickly came up with a solution: they used broken glass and barbed wire to create a simplified fire-pulling tube, then encapsulated it in a paper firecracker tube, creating an ultra-cheap, disposable signal flare. This way, when the village joint defense team was monitoring the railway and saw a train carrying a cannon, they could set off a signal flare from a distance, sending an alert to the village.

After all, in the flat North China Plain, placing signal trees on hilltops wouldn't work, and equipping every village with telephones and radios was even more impossible. This device quickly spread along the Jinpu Road, becoming standard equipment for village defense teams standing guard. It was easy to produce, inexpensive, even cheaper than a signal gun, and even illiterate people could use it with ease.

At the same time, people from the Wuqiao area combined the local popular juggling skills with handheld flares - they found children with good eyesight and nimble hands and feet, and erected climbing poles in convenient places and large and small woods. Whenever they heard the sound of a train, the clever children's group would climb to the top of the pole and look out for the Japanese troops several kilometers away, greatly expanding the distance of visual observation and alert.

For a time, whenever the Japanese stopped their trucks at a certain location and began to build a temporary platform, fireworks of a certain color would inevitably rise up around them, triggering more fireworks to continue. The Japanese army did try to pursue them, imposing martial law and clearing the area, but the act of pursuing the fireworks releasers itself was a demonstration of intent, and without the surprise of the bombardment, it would be difficult to kill or injure the civilians.

Moreover, the small Japanese troops that left the railway and took the initiative to enter the base area would often fall into a passive situation and lose the initiative they had.

As a result, the cost-effectiveness of the continuous deployment was really bad, and the Japanese artillery gradually became tired. The scale of their shelling of the village became smaller and smaller.

The frequency is also getting lower and lower. From the beginning, the division artillery battalion attacked as a whole, to

Later squadrons were dispatched, and finally they just picked up a few guns and opened fire as usual.

Even though Okamura Yasuji shipped a 7-year-old 305mm howitzer from Tianjin's Tanggu Port to the south in order to increase the so-called "terrorist deterrence", and then unloaded it from the Magic City and transported it north to Quancheng (Jiaoao Port had become an isolated city), the Japanese army's moral kidnapping-style shelling of villages finally began to look like a paper tiger, and only a bluffing trick remained.

"However, as the saying goes, a thief can steal for a thousand days, but you can never be on guard against thieves for a thousand days. I wonder when our army will be able to catch those damn Japanese devils and blow up those cannons that are causing harm to people?" When the village was gradually returning to normal life, someone looked towards the south of the village.

"Our army arrived a long time ago, but those Japs were too cunning. They pulled the artillery on a train and ran away. It was so easy to catch them!"

The artillery fire just now came from that direction and landed in my own field. I heard that the shells, which were "as thick as a water tank", left a huge hole in the field.

It's like a huge scar on my heart.

"Our army must wipe out those devils! I heard that this thing killed over a hundred people in the north! When we catch the devil firing the cannon, we must kill that son of a bitch!" "Kill him, it's too easy for them..."

Everyone cursed the incompetent Japanese soldiers, but soon someone shouted, "Look! Look! It's exploding! It's exploding! The Japanese artillery is firing!"

What exploded?

In the distant sky, where the shells had come from, a huge mushroom-shaped cloud rose. Blue-gray and pitch-black smoke, mixed with flashes of orange fireballs, gathered together and flew towards the sky. After a long time, a sound like a pig's bladder popping was heard.

"Bang—bang—"

Chapter 541: "Small Goals" on the Battlefield

(Update: This chapter may involve some economic concepts)

The wisdom of the masses was brought into play in the mass struggle, giving rise to a wide variety of tactics and group defense methods. These things not only greatly weakened the effectiveness of the devil's terrorist attacks, but also laid a solid foundation for the troops to hunt down Japanese artillery.

However, not all battles on the battlefield are accompanied by gunfire and explosions. Sometimes, the most high-end and mysterious battles require a smokeless approach to reveal their unique charm. For example, on the battlefields of Shanghai's "Island", which are filled with the "stench of money".

"Have you finished with the things in this cabinet?" "Yes, I have backed up everything, boss."

The middle-aged man in a suit did not reply. He picked up the pile of documents from the cabinet and placed them next to the incinerator.

Next, he personally operated the hand-cranked shredder, crushing the documents into long, thin strips, which formed a small mountain of paper. The secretary at the incinerator grabbed a stack of paper from the pile, rubbed and twisted it vigorously to loosen it, and then dropped it into the incinerator. Finally, he pulled the bellows, allowing more air to flow into the small incinerator, increasing combustion efficiency and destroying the papers laden with "incriminating evidence."

In the small confidential room, two "financial practitioners" who usually have slicked-back hair and well-dressed clothes were covered with paper dust and looked extremely dirty, just like porters carrying heavy bags in the port of Shanghai.

Oh, it has to be this way. Gunik, oh Gunik, you are not at all decent now.

The middle-aged man checked his watch. It was 6:48 PM, the start of Shanghai's nightlife. From the Guohua Building on the banks of the Wusong River, the Western music that embodied the Bund's decadent life could already be heard. In a moment, the 7 p.m. bell would chime from the rooftop of HSBC, heralding another revelry in the Far East's "city that never sleeps."

Ah, of course, for those who are feasting in the club, these things have nothing to do with the "punk" who is starving on the street. So, it's okay for us to help these "punk" make a little money for you, right?

Gu Nick sighed inwardly and ordered, "Wen San, I have to go to the Garden Hotel at 7:30 PM to cut wine and find customers. I can, Yiten, call Bu Chouzi and Gran Gaoboi. (So, please help me call a car, and I'll leave this place to you.)"

The Magic City, the most developed industrial and commercial city in China at that time, had many nicknames: because of its prosperous economy, active trade, and extravagant life, it was called the "Paris of the East"; because of the numerous concessions, intertwined gangs, and frequent occurrences of various vicious crimes, it was called the "Land of the Devil", and even the western part of Shanghai was called the "Evil Land"; because there were many "red-headed Indians" wearing headscarves here, it was even given the nickname "Little Mumbai of the East".

Of course, this is also a speculative city, overflowing with gold and silver, offering both wealth and death to all. For speculators, it is Asia's forex trading center, far surpassing Mumbai, Tokyo, and Manila, with annual foreign exchange trading volume even exceeding that of San Francisco on the US West Coast. Yet, financial regulation here is riddled with loopholes and is lax and shabby.

This kind of city of absolute freedom, even excessive freedom, naturally has an inexplicable attraction to speculators from all over the world, including those from the United States, Britain, Germany... countless noble, despicable, ambitious people who want to make a fortune have come to this paradise in the Far East, looking for opportunities.

Among them, according to the people, there are Jews, red-headed Indians, and white-haired people driven out by the red-haired people... According to the nationality, there are British, French, Americans, Dutch, and a large number of Japanese. Of course, Gu Nick is also considered one of the businessmen in Shanghai.

Gu Ni Ke had a Chinese name, Gu Weicheng. His family gave him this name, presumably to encourage him to be honest and trustworthy and maintain good character throughout his life. Over the years, he had indeed lived up to this. Following the organization's arrangements, he operated openly in the Shanghai concession, running a business for a mysterious "director" of the overseas branch, earning funds for the organization's activities and operations.

He performed his duties admirably. Under the guise of the international trade and investment company "Moyu Investment," he quietly handled the sales, procurement, and smuggling of supplies for the commercial organizations of several surrounding New Fourth Army bases. To better carry out his work, Gu Weicheng even followed the advice of his overseas comrade and adopted a name that blended Chinese and Western elements, typical of a "returned Chinese," to conceal his identity.

Now, his work is basically coming to an end. He has to stand his last shift and finish the last wave of 'business*'. He walked out of the confidential room, began to change his clothes, tidy up his appearance, and prepare to meet tonight's 'guests'.

Since the Battle of Shanghai, the influx of wealthy refugees has replenished the city's capital, leading to a paradoxical prosperity for the military and economically isolated city of Shanghai. This prosperity has fostered vibrant trade and consumption, but because Shanghai itself cannot produce enough to meet its own needs, it must import large quantities of various materials to meet its needs. Consequently, under such intense import and export demand, Shanghai's foreign exchange transactions have flourished, but the city has long been in a state of foreign exchange shortage and trade deficit.

At this time, according to normal foreign exchange market rules, Shanghai's local currency (also known as legal tender) should be in oversupply and depreciating, while foreign currencies like the British pound and the US dollar should be in short supply and appreciating. Consequently, officially quoted foreign exchange naturally fell out of favor, and a black market for foreign exchange flourished in Shanghai.

But the outrageous thing is that in order to maintain the stability of the black market exchange rate, the Nationalist government, despite having almost no value to the country's foreign purchases, persisted in injecting precious pounds and dollars into the black market in Shanghai to maintain the stability of the black market exchange rate, and even went so far as to borrow high-interest equalization loans from British and American banks.

This kind of blood transfusion behavior has caused the foreign exchange value of legal tender in the isolated island of Shanghai to be inflated: the devalued legal tender that is not worth much can be exchanged for more foreign currencies with strong value here! In other words, as long as someone can obtain legal tender in the country and then bring it to Shanghai to exchange for US dollars, they can make more than 30% profit out of thin air.

(Historically, even the Kong family, one of the four great families, openly opposed this practice. However, the Song family, which controls the Bank of China and the Stabilization Fund, has always insisted on it, which is also strange.)

Speculators went wild, European and American banks stayed, and the Japanese joined in. They used fake government banknotes and military notes to plunder legal tender in the Japanese-occupied areas, then shipped them to Shanghai to exchange for US dollars, which they used to purchase supplies internationally to keep their war machine running.

However, no one knows when such "good days" will suddenly end.