Canteen System Assistance Notes

This was not what the Central Committee wanted to see, nor even what Chiang Kai-shek wanted to see. In this respect, the two sides finally had a common enemy—although this consensus "did not involve any coordination or joint action at all, and the latter was completely unaware of the former's intentions."

In addition to being a member of the "Yongcheng Gang" of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang financial group, Mr. Hu is not only a top student who graduated from Columbia University in the United States, but also a wealthy insurance tycoon.

A shipping industry tycoon with connections in the United States, the then-President of Life Insurance

The general manager was one of the few people in Shanghai at that time who had spare money and channels.

Therefore, when Siming Bank, which was originally founded by the "Yongcheng Gang" and later forcibly controlled by the Kong family, fell into a bad debt crisis, Guo Su immediately went to find Mr. Hu for help, asking him to provide money and manpower to acquire and take over the Shanghai branch of Siming Bank.

Mr. Hu thought about it for a day and agreed.

Through the connections he had made at the Shipping Bureau, he contacted a Chinese shareholder of the American Flag Chang Trading Company. Then, through the Chinese Magic City Insurance Amateur Association, which he co-founded, he joined forces with the Far East entity of this Chinese shareholder to conduct fund lending. He then invested in Siming Bank, which was already full of bad debts, successfully took control of the bank's Shanghai branch, and began to sort out the account books and collect debts.

After all, his contact, Liu Xiao, head of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee, told him that Siming Bank's account books were relatively accurate, its scale was smaller, and it also had Vietnamese rice that was being shipped to Shanghai. Having the rice on hand would be useful both in providing relief to the people and in supporting the war of resistance.

That's right, Mr. Hu Yongqi is a "deep sea".

At that moment, Comrade "Deep Sea" looked around in the shaking rickshaw and said slowly, "Okay, thank you, let's stop here." He got out of the car, paid the rickshaw driver, and walked towards the Shanghai Christian Youth Church.

Hu Yongqi was invited here today. Wan Molin, another big boss in Shanghai, invited him to come and "chat".

As for reminiscing about the past... Mr. Hu thought about it and basically understood: this chairman of the Shanghai Rice Industry Association, "the most popular man in front of Du Yuesheng", "the one who can recite 100 phone numbers" and the one who loaded opium for Boss Du" not only used the rice in his hands as collateral for investment in futures speculation during the previous turmoil, but also lent money to others at high interest rates to make a profit. Now, not only did he owe a lot of debts in the Du family's own Commercial Bank, he also owed a lot of money in Siming.

As expected, Hu Yongqi and his insurance manager Liu Xiao had just sat down in the glass garden on the roof of the YMCA. After a round of meaningless flattery,

Wan Molin's words began to move directly towards his own loan.

past.

"Shanghai's banking and insurance industries have always been closely connected. This time, the banking industry encountered temporary difficulties, and Chairman Hu, on behalf of the insurance industry, stepped in to help Siming out of dire straits. On behalf of both the banking and rice industries, I, Wan, would like to express my gratitude. "I'm taking the liberty of inviting you today, but I'd also like to ask Chairman Hu to do me a favor and, as a gesture of friendship, lend a helping hand to resolve this urgent situation."

Mr. Hu was truly a scoundrel. From a formal financial perspective, the Commercial Bank of China wasn't even a bank at the time. It was more like a hub for the Du family's money laundering, drug trafficking, and corruption. But he couldn't betray his current role as a creditor. Leaning back in his chair, Mr. Hu said slowly, "President Wan, why didn't you come to me before you started speculating?"

"Chairman Hu, if you need me to do anything, just tell me. I may not be very talented, but I'm willing to do it for you at all costs."

"President Wan, why don't you be frank? What can I do for you?"

Wan Molin half straightened up from his chair and whispered, "Chairman Hu, I'd like to ask you to extend the loan under Wan's account for one year." Hu Yongqi frowned, scratched his face, and shook his head, "I can't do this.

"I'm not the sole decision maker when it comes to taking over Siming. Among the shareholders are Chinese Americans and British companies. Even if I'm willing to extend the lease, will those foreign shareholders agree?" "Chairman Hu, what do you need? As long as I can convince those foreign shareholders, I'll be willing to pay anything."

"President Wan, this is not a question of persuasion or not. There are many things in this world that are like this. One is one and two is two." Hu Yongqi played with the pen in his hand. "Do you know Mr. Martin, the US Treasury Commissioner? Mr. Martin came to Shanghai to investigate economic crimes. This speculation incident has damaged the interests of all shareholders in the banking industry. Even if someone fled abroad, how could he escape the US pursuit?

"So, how much money do you need?"

"well....…"

Hu Yongqi sighed. It seemed that the two of them were not on the same page. "President Wan, this isn't about money. In this special city of Magic City, there are many things that can't be done with money. I previously founded the 'Star 2 Dinner Party' just to invite colleagues in the insurance industry to have a small chat. But it led to my best friend being assassinated by the Japanese. I sought help everywhere, but no one helped me.

I participated in the Magic City Relief Association and donated money to buy food to help the victims.

Things you can do with just one move...

Chairman Wan, you made a fortune in the grain business and had the protection of your superiors. I can't compare to you. But now you've lost money and are in debt, and you want me to help you convince the foreigners to extend the loan for you and the rest of the Du family for one year? "You don't even respect me and won't call me 'Mr. Hu.'"

"No, no, no, this time is different from the past, this time..."

Wan Molin didn't pay any attention to the rejection in Hu Yongqi's words, but came up and whispered,

"This is a really big deal."

Wan Molin pointed around and looked at the colleagues the two men had brought in. He first instructed his followers to go outside the Sky Garden.

So, the insurance manager, Liu Xiao, also walked outside the glass door. Avoiding the others, he quietly tapped his own ear. Sure enough, a voice soon emanated from the wireless earphones in his ears. "Mr. Hu, Mr. Hu, Mr. Hu."

This was Wan Molin's voice. He shouted three times and then said slowly: "According to reliable intelligence, the red-headed people in northern Shaanxi did the falling grain prices. They are the only ones who did it.

In such a market, they will not make money but drag us down.

water.

"So, all we need to do is push for a regime change, and the rising grain prices will definitely return to normal! Just give me a one-year extension, and not only will you not lose your principal, you'll also earn several times the compound interest and penalty interest. Isn't that a great thing?"

………·-…-…-

"Well, yes, this is also what Boss Du meant."

Chapter 267: Spy (8) Project Bo

In addition to the Kuomintang, Communist Party, puppet and Western forces operating underground, there is another force that cannot be ignored in the country on the other side of the secret battlefield - the Japanese.

Because the historical commander Tada Shun was sent to the Kwantung Army, and the commander of the North China Army was replaced by former intelligence officer Itagaki Seishirō, the Japanese army's intelligence activities in North China received direct support and reliance from the commander, with more sufficient funding and more proactive actions.

Although Itagaki's theory of "the national army is in the front, the communist army is in the back, the national army obtains supplies for the communist army, the communist army clamps down on the powerful for the national army, and cooperates to resist the imperial army" is very weird

And full of wishful Japanese logic, but as an intelligence dealer

His natural sensitivity allowed him to grasp a key position in the North China situation. From the perspective of hindsight, this was indeed a point where he could focus his efforts to achieve a breakthrough in the Japanese army's chronic death situation.

That is Yan Baichuan, also known as Yan Laoer, who likes to feed people millet.

"Yan Baichuan actually went to a meeting in Yamashiro some time ago and just returned recently. According to intelligence, he and Jiang had a very unpleasant argument. So, it's not that Yan changed his mind. We still have a chance, Oya-kun." "Hey, I understand, Mr. Shirai. Previously, when the headquarters issued the operational plan for the Bo Plan, we really couldn't imagine that such a plan full of wild imagination and creativity would succeed..."

"No, no, I'm no longer your Excellency. I'm just a wealthy executive director (assistant to the director) who's here to provide you with financial support."

After leaving the meter-gauge Tongpu Railway, the Japanese army's cars followed the Shanxi Army's cavalry, turned west, and headed towards a small village beside the Yellow River.

"Previously, your First Army Liaison and Intelligence Department seized the opportunity, contacted Qu Xianchun, and established a relationship with Yan, which was a good thing. During this period, Yan's army was facing a financial crisis. Chiang's government hoped to replace Yan's position in Shanxi Province and restricted the amount of funds he could receive from the budget. The Eighth Route Red Army expanded into his sphere of influence, weakening his control over the countryside. Meanwhile, the warriors of the Imperial Kingdom captured Jinyang City and the Zhengtai Railway, eliminating the last of Yan's pockets."

This Datsun Type 16 sedan was swaying on the dirt road. In addition to the driver, there were two bigwigs in the Japanese intelligence community in North China sitting in the car.

"The timing you found was very clever. This has greatly advanced the implementation of the Bo Plan." Shirai Yukiyuki first praised the First Army's intelligence chief.

Oya Masaharu said, but then changed the subject, "But, here

At this time, you directly proposed that Yan and Wang’s governments unite to completely draw a clear line between themselves and Chiang’s government - this is too hasty.

You see, when Yan went to the mountain city for a meeting, he didn't even let his contact, Zhao Chengshou, get in touch with you—in Mandarin, he was just hanging us out. As the intelligence chief of the First Army, you didn't control your impatience and sense of proportion. This is a dereliction of duty."

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Shirai."

"I've already told you not to call me Your Excellency."

————-----

As the head of the Japanese army's intelligence in North China and also a member of the Japanese Communist Party, Shirai Yukiyuki could see intelligence from two aspects. Coupled with his deep understanding of the identities of all parties in the situation in North China, he naturally had a very comprehensive understanding of Yan Xishan, even better than his boss, "China expert" Itagaki Seishirō.

After arriving in Jinyang from Sijiucheng, he quickly connected with the Eighth Route Army. Here, the Tongwen Academy intelligence line, originating from "Mr. Xuewen," arranged a new method for him to transmit intelligence: Shirai Yukiyuki simply had his typist type out the weekly intelligence summary and send it to Itagaki Seishirō regularly using standard Japanese military code.

As for how he obtained information and instructions, he did so by monitoring the Fushi Radio station's intelligence officers, who would summarize and report the broadcasts to him daily. The play "The Pirate King vs. the Reactionary Army" served as his instructions and information. After all, Shirai was an intelligence officer, so it was natural for him to have his intelligence officers monitor "enemy stations" for him.

As for the matter of inducing surrender and dividing Yan Laoxi, the instructions he received were also very simple: in order to ensure his hidden safety, the Central Committee did not need him to destroy the plan, he only needed to carry out it normally and report the progress regularly; the Central Committee even provided him with some intelligence about Yan Laoxi.

"So, Oya-kun, you must always remember that Yan Baichuan is a warlord, a daimyo who longs for land. We, the Red Army, and the National Army are the three armies in the Battle of Sanfanggahara, and he is just an egg on the battlefield. Now, neither the National Army nor the Red Army can tolerate him. It is inevitable that he will approach us in order to survive - we are the ones who have the initiative."

The car stopped and someone knocked on the glass outside the window with the curtains drawn.

"Okay, from now on, I'm a member of the North China Development Corporation. You can call me as you would a subordinate and don't worry about these details." "Hey, Shirai...-san."

—-―-----

Yan Laoxi'er's Kenan City, nestled on the banks of the Yellow River, served as the nominal command center for the Second World War. This mountain terrace, bordered on three sides by the river, was a rather treacherous location. To express his resolve to "Jing Nan Conquer the Dilemma," he not only designated this small village, originally consisting of only a few households, as "Kenan City," but also established sites such as the Martyrs' Shrine, Zhaoyi Hall, and Victory Courtyard to motivate himself in expelling the Japanese invaders and recovering the country.

As for now, in these places named after their resolve to resist Japan, representatives of Lao Xi'er are discussing with representatives of the Japanese devils about "friendly exchanges, sharing of resources, and mutual cooperation to jointly resist foreign enemies." How ironic.

In addition to Yan Xishan himself, Zhao Chengshou, who was in charge of this matter last time, also attended the meeting as a representative of the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army; in addition to him, Liang Yanwu, secretary-general of the Party and Government Branch of the Second War Zone, also participated in the talks.

Historically, the peace talks between Yan and Japan have always gone very smoothly. Yan Baichuan even declared to those around him, "In the future, the success or failure of the Kuomintang, the Communist Party, and the Wang Puppet regime will depend on the Communist Party accounting for three-sixths, the Wang Puppet regime accounting for two-sixths, and the Kuomintang only has one-sixth of hope. Because the Communist Party has abandoned us, if we do not surrender to Japan, we will have no choice but to surrender to the Wang Puppet regime." If the Pacific battlefield had not started in December 1942 and the US military had not joined the war,

The two sides will formally implement the already signed "Basic Agreement between the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army and the Japanese Army".

However, at this point in 1939, the Zhongtiaoshan area of ​​Shanxi Province had not been lost, and the strength of the First War Zone was still quite large. Yan Laoxi still had many thoughts of "dancing with eggs". He proposed a lion's price to the Japanese through two negotiating representatives:

First, Japan would have to withdraw from certain occupied areas and hand them over to the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army as a sign of good faith. Second, Japan would have to provide him with financial support and transfer the agency rights for Japanese products sold in Shanxi Province to the Shanxi-Suiyuan Army to combat the increasingly rampant influence of "Northern Goods" and save the value of the "Shanxi Notes," which were even lower than the legal tender.

Of course, as a warlord, Japan needed to provide arms to expand his army to 30. On the Japanese side, Oya, the negotiator, proposed several responses from Japan:

You can withdraw from certain occupied areas, but the specific areas are another matter. If the Communist Party takes over after you withdraw, then your army will do as you please. As for money, no problem. The company representative next to me can quickly provide you with legal tender. As for arms, I can't do that for now, but they can be converted into legal tender, and Yan's army can find a way to obtain them.

"Hi, Mr. Yan, I can quickly provide you with one million yuan in French currency cash, three in French currency and one in new currency (Wang puppet banknotes) to show our sincerity.

"When it comes to money, Bai Jing half bows to Yan Xishan, avoiding the arms fire.

"From now on, for example, when setting up a business organization, please take care of our business, Mr. Yan."

Anyway, the legal tender was given by Commander Itagaki and was originally intended to be spent. It was said that it was scraped from the Bank of Tianjin. Shirai Yukiyuki thought, I heard that the Intelligence Department is still organizing people.

Study the templates and materials left by the Kuomintang government and prepare to print legal tender on your own.

Ah, if they really printed it themselves, the Intelligence Department would be losing money soon, right?

"Haha, that's natural!"

Yan Laoxier, who was sitting next to him, was very happy to get the money. He clapped his hands, picked up his mug, and drank a sip of orange peel water. Suddenly, he put down the mug again. "But if it is to show sincerity," he thought for a moment.

"I think it would be better if both armies retreated a step and temporarily ensured that they wouldn't attack each other. This way, while each side was taking action, they wouldn't cause any worries for the other side." Hmm?

Bai Jing keenly noticed that something meaningful flashed in Yan Baichuan's eyes in front of him.

Chapter 268 Eight Roads of White

In the small lecture hall on the fourth floor of the cafeteria, representatives from the three intelligence systems, two security systems and the party, government and military of the border area gathered. Chairman Zhou Gong and General Zhu, Chen Da Guanjia, Wang Da Zhengwei, Minister Deng and Chairman Lin Zuhan were all present. Even Chen Shijun, who was far away in the Suzhong cafeteria branch, joined the meeting through the high-speed network between the cafeterias - he was now displayed on a TV screen in the venue.

It can be said that this was a rare "three-court trial" since the canteen was established, which represented that something very important had happened.

In addition to the "Hu Wan Conversation Recording" sent back by the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and the "Yan-Japan Negotiation Record" sent back by the Tongwen Academy, the three intelligence systems have recently collected a lot of information.

In the summary of the intelligence system opened by the Prime Minister, Minister Deng and Li Zetian

After analysis, many seemingly unrelated pieces of information began to gradually become connected and intertwined, and began to point in one direction.

For example, recently, the chief of the food department of a Kuomintang army unit in southern Shaanxi actually approached local bandits and bribed them, hoping that they would mobilize their troops to attack a certain military supply warehouse, and he would assist the insider - the reason was that "the superiors are investigating urgently recently, and the troops need it urgently, so they can't hide it anymore."

For example, the national army in a certain place began to recruit people everywhere to serve as "horse substitutes" for the troops, to serve as "human traction" for the horse-drawn carts that had no horses. As for where the horses went, they were probably used to transport food some time ago and died of exhaustion.

Of course, there was also more direct intelligence. Underground party comrades in various places and troops, and even in Mr. Hu Qinzhai's secretariat, worked hard to send a series of copies of command documents back to the border area - even if it was not transmitted by radio.

"The 1st and 78th Divisions of the 1st Army of the 34th Group will each leave their respective garrisons and arrive in Yaoxian and Changwu within 15 days." "Order the Temporary 2nd Cavalry Division to remain stationed and not return to Qing (province) for the time being."

"Your newly formed 26th Division and 7th Cavalry Division are required to complete assembly and training within 10 days and await instructions from the theater headquarters."

There was a sand table in the center of the meeting room, and the staff officers were standing beside it, inserting small flags on the sand table; the projection on the wall displayed the many unit numbers summarized from the current intelligence.

Finally, the long list of numbers of the National Army was finally drawn to the end - the 1st Division and the 78th Division from the 1st Army of the 34th Group Army, the 28th Division and the 53rd Division from the 9th Army, the two reserve 3rd and 1st Divisions from the 16th Army, and the intercepted Qingma Temporary Cavalry 2nd Division, plus 3 security brigades without formal numbers.

This unit of six infantry, one cavalry and three security guards, as well as some troops that were originally stationed here but were not mentioned in the intelligence, all turned into a string of black flags (red for our army, blue for the Japanese army, and black for the national army) and were planted on the northern edge of the Guanzhong Plain.

On the other side, three flags from Ma Shaoyun of Ning Province also began to move: the 168th Infantry Division of the 81st Army, the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Brigades of Ning Province. However, as of now, except for the 168th Division starting to move north, there have not been many changes.

To the north of the base area, in the north of the Ikh Ju League, the newly formed 26th Division and the 7th Cavalry Division under He Jingzhou, responsible for Yellow River defense, were also ordered to assemble and stand by, ready to move south. River defense would be handled by local security forces for the time being. Simultaneously, orders were issued to Deng Yu and Ma Xiufang in Tuocheng, as well as Fu Yisheng in Suiyuan, requesting they also mobilize their forces to provide assistance.

Among them, there was even an order requiring Ma Xiufang to "join forces with Tao Jichang to intercept the Red Party Railway Security Corps convoy as appropriate."

"This time, Principal Jiang's speed is not slow, and his spirit is also very bold and heroic!"

The Chairman's expression remained cheerful, but when he pinched the cigarette butt, the filter was crushed to pieces. "On the surface, there are almost 18 divisions and brigades of troops. Classmate Hu Qinzhai still has several divisions in his 34th volume, so there are a total of 20. Even that 'Number One Division' has come out. It's very aggressive!"

The Chairman pointed to the "1st Division of the 1st Army of Volume 34" on the number. It was marked in red and marked with the logo of "Direct Central Army". This unit, which became famous in the Central Plains War, was led by Hu Qinzhai, "the best student in the world" of Huangpu. It had defeated Feng Huanzhang's main force many times and brought victory to Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang Kai-shek even ordered other troops to falsify numbers in the warlord melee to deter the morale of the other side. Since then, because its vacancy rate was lower than that of other national armies, it was better equipped with complete machine guns and artillery, and it had caused trouble to our army many times during the Long March. It has always been regarded as the core combat force by Chiang Kai-shek.

"Although we were prepared for Chiang Kai-shek's desperate actions when we first planned the economic campaign, we never expected him to pull such a tactic this time. In recent years, we've been able to wipe out entire regiments of Japanese invaders, and yet he still dares to show his hand to us? We were able to defeat Hu Qinzhai's First Division, known as the best in the world, in 36!"

"Alas! Accountant Chen, our main force is fighting the Japanese in the east!"

General Zhu grabbed the laser pointer and pointed at the map of North China on the other wall: "Of our four divisions, more than three have been sent to the front. The only one left in the border area is the 165th Division.

It is still a left-behind office, squatting on the side of Huinong.

What we have to face is the garrison corps of our border area. The regular establishment is only 6 regiments, less than 30,000 people, and they are scattered in multiple directions.

"Chang Kai-shek has already assembled over 200,000 men, including his ace First Army. Even if he underestimates the enemy and doubles our numbers, 200,000 versus 60,000, a ratio of 3.1, I'm afraid he's still brimming with confidence!"

-―-—-—-—

Zhu was right. The Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region's publicly advertised armed forces were vastly different from their actual capabilities. Officially, the Border Region Garrison Corps, a unit not requiring Chiang Kai-shek's payroll, was arbitrarily formed. However, the Communist Party, in order to "consider the overall goal of a united war of resistance," simply organized six regiments.

These troops, plus the three public security regiments responsible for suppressing bandits and maintaining public order, total nine regiments. But what is the actual situation? How much real strength is hidden in the intelligence black hole of the border area?

That is of course not the case at all.

The six regiments of the border garrison, although only six regiments on the surface, are actually more like a "Ship of Theseus". They have become the main vehicle for cultivating and training talents in the border area.

A few years ago, when the border region still had relatively sufficient manpower, the six-regiment garrison corps often served as a "training unit," providing infantry training for qualified soldiers who had undergone the "June New Training" and the rotation training troops in various base areas. At that time, the border region could supply new recruits to the major base areas at a rate of one regiment every two months. Even among the major military powers today, these exported recruits would be considered to be of excellent standards. By the standards of the National Army, they would be roughly at the level of "Whampoa Excellent" officers.

As for now, because the conscription rate in the border areas has approached the upper limit set by the Military Commission, the garrison corps' training function for new recruits has been weakened. In response to the central government's need to establish a field army and train technical troops, while maintaining the size of the force, the garrison corps has transferred instructors and drill sergeants who were previously assigned to platoons to reorganize two regiments and six battalions of technical training camps.