Chapter 112: 110, German Arms Advisory Group, Mercedes-benz 170, Officers’ Bar
In the room, Fang Wen was thinking about how to reply to Shanghai via telegram.
“Have arrived in Berlin.” He first wrote down these four words.
His thoughts turned again to this trip to the Weimar Republic.
Without any assistance, it would be very difficult to achieve the goal of procuring a military production line.
In France, it was with the help of Taishan Airlines dividend shareholders and the assistance of the Paris Consulate that it was carried out.
The purchased f.220 was also under the guise of converting military to civilian use, said to be brought back to China as a large commercial transport aircraft for Taishan Airlines.
Only then could it fly back domestically from Kolkata.
But where was the assistance here?
He remembered something: the National Army seemed to have a German-equipped division.
To train the German-equipped division, officers were probably hired from the Weimar Republic.
This was a direction; if he could get them to send radio waves over to make an introduction on his behalf, that would be a way.
Immediately, Fang Wen drafted the telegram message and sent it back to China.
Outside Shanghai Airport, Fang Residence.
Kuang Mingzhu, who had studied telegraph skills for a few days, was trying to receive a telegram for the first time.
Shopkeeper Liu was listening on the side with another pair of headphones, translating Morse code on both sides at the same time, so even if Kuang Mingzhu made a mistake, there was no need to worry.
Telegram sounds came through the special frequency, and the two translated simultaneously.
After it ended, Shopkeeper Liu looked at the telegram message written by Kuang Mingzhu and nodded in satisfaction: “Young Mistress, you are gifted and have already learned it.”
Kuang Mingzhu was overjoyed; finally, she could communicate with her husband via telegram personally.
She looked at the telegram message.
【Have arrived in Berlin, but no connections. Domestic German-equipped division should have Weimar Republic military advisors; contact them to see if they can show the way.】
Kuang Mingzhu thought for a moment and understood the meaning of the concise telegram.
It seemed her husband’s trip to Berlin was not going smoothly, and he wanted to take the German-equipped division route.
As for the army, in Taishan Airlines, apart from Shao Sishen who had been in the Guangdong Air Force, the others had no connections, so this path would be hard to take.
She thought of one person: Yue Jinping in Nanjing.
The next day, Kuang Mingzhu brought her maid Chun Cao, accompanied by Fang Shouxin, and took a China Airlines airplane to Nanjing.
The three found Huo Duanyang in Nanjing, and after several twists and turns, Huo Duanyang located the Revival Society.
Yue Jinping came out to meet Kuang Mingzhu, but brought bad news.
January 16th.
Fang Wen, who had temporarily found no connections, did not venture out rashly.
There was noise outside last night, and Fang Wen saw the chaos on the street from the third-floor room.
Berlin police, Nazi Stormtroopers, and gendarmerie all appeared on the streets.
Some Stormtroopers were even equipped with weapons, confronting the authorities.
Although no large-scale conflict occurred, the chaos outside was no longer suitable for foreigners to wander around freely.
Unless he had a car and relied on mechanical perception to drive it, Fang Wen would not feel safe.
Before getting a car, he decided to stay in the guesthouse and wait for a reply from back home.
Meals were also handled here.
At noon 12 o’clock, Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang went downstairs and talked with the guesthouse female boss.
Lin Shuiwang asked in German: “Can we get meals here?”
“Yes, but cannot pay with marks,” the female boss replied.
Ultimately, at a price of 10 US dollars per month, he covered meals for the two.
This sum of money was equivalent to half the rent, a nice source of income for the current guesthouse, and the female boss happily went to the back kitchen to get busy.
After a while, she brought out food.
One portion per person.
A few slices of black bread, half a sausage, potato soup, and one peeled cooked potato ball.
Although very ordinary, it was enough to fill up.
Fang Wen took the black bread, dipped it in the slightly meaty potato soup, and chewed slowly.
The little girl on the side was leaning on the table watching.
She looked like she really wanted to eat it.
Fang Wen forked up the sausage with knife and fork to hand it to the little girl, but was stopped by the female boss.
The female boss pulled her daughter to her side: “She can’t eat guests’ food; we have our own.”
Hearing Lin Shuiwang’s translation, Fang Wen smiled slightly: “I’m not hungry; give it to her.”
The little girl looked up at her mother, then stared at the half sausage.
After her mother nodded, she happily took it and nibbled at it in small bites.
The mother picked up her daughter and put her on her lap, showing a happy smile at the sausage offered by her daughter but shaking her head to refuse.
Watching this warm scene, Fang Wen sighed; actually, regardless of East or West, many things were the same.
He had Lin Shuiwang translate and started talking with the shop owner.
“How do you run the guesthouse alone? Where is the child’s father?”
“He’s an officer in the border troops and hasn’t come back for a long time,” the woman complained.
Fang Wen did not follow this topic but asked about some common knowledge needed in Berlin.
He took out 10 one-US-dollar banknotes, paid the current month’s meal expenses, and asked:
“Sorry, I want to know why no marks?”
“Because I’m afraid; you’re foreigners and didn’t experience the currency devaluation 10 years ago. My parents went bankrupt because of it.”
“Then what’s the exchange rate for US dollars to marks? I’m planning to exchange some marks for daily use.”
“1 US dollar equals 4.2 Reichsmarks, fixed exchange rate.”
Fang Wen was stunned; the German mark’s value was actually quite strong, not as fragile as he had imagined.
It seemed that ten years after World War I, Germany had recovered quickly.
Chatting to this point, Fang Wen stopped the conversation; with an ordinary guesthouse boss, there was no need for more exchange—she couldn’t provide the resources he needed.
Immediately, he got up and called Lin Shuiwang to go back upstairs together.
But Lin Shuiwang did not move and replied in Chinese: “I’ll stay downstairs for a bit.”
Fang Wen noticed that Lin Shuiwang’s gaze at the boss had some meaning; he understood.
A sailor who made the world his home—it was understandable to have such temperament.
If it was something both parties were willing, he wouldn’t interfere.
Then he went upstairs alone.
In the upstairs room, he waited until 2 p.m., then promptly took out the telegraph machine to receive signals.
After recording the telegram, Fang Wen looked at it.
【There is indeed a Weimar advisory group, known for combined infantry-artillery tactics and point-to-area strikes. They oversee German-equipped troops under the 5th Army’s 88th and 87th Divisions, which also fought in the January 28th Incident. Now the advisory group has rushed with the 17th Army to the Great Wall to assist the Great Wall defending troops in combat and is not in Nanjing. Also, your confidante suggests not to get involved with them; the Presidential Palace is particularly attentive to the advisory group.】
Fang Wen felt regretful; this line was no longer viable.
It made sense; the advisory group was official military guidance brought in under the name of national arms sales.
And what was he? A private anti-Japanese element; if he went through this channel for weapons bought back, they would probably be confiscated by the National Government upon return.
Fang Wen gave up this unrealistic idea.
But he didn’t know where to start next.
Since there were no leads, he would find a way to go out and take a look around.
He went downstairs.
Downstairs, Lin Shuiwang and the boss were getting along hot and heavy, chatting and laughing.
Fang Wen went over and said: “I’m planning to buy a car for getting around, to make it convenient to go places.”
“Buy a car? It’s very troublesome for foreigners to buy cars in Berlin. Lena’s husband has a car, right in the garage; why not rent it? It would also help solve her economic problems.”
This guy had gotten so familiar with the boss already.
Fang Wen also thought this suggestion was good; buying a brand-new car wasn’t cost-effective, better to rent.
He had Lin Shuiwang negotiate with boss Lena.
The other party was of course willing upon hearing it.
She took the two outside.
The auto guesthouse was a sloped building, with half a basement below the first floor, perfectly converted into a garage.
But the garage hadn’t been opened for a long time; the door lock was rusted, and it took a while to open.
Lena pulled open the garage door, and a musty smell hit them.
Cough cough cough, she coughed and stepped back.
“Sorry, I don’t know if the car inside can still run. Here’s an idea: I’ll give you the keys, you try it; if it runs, then we’ll talk rent.”
After saying that, she handed the garage door key and car key to Fang Wen together, then took her daughter upslope back to the guesthouse.
Fang Wen covered his nose, entered the garage, and saw an electric light nearby, then found the pull-string switch.
The light still worked, and the brightness let Fang Wen see more clearly.
A car was quietly parked inside, covered in spider webs, with some shelves nearby holding various tools.
Fang Wen and Lin Shuiwang cleaned the dust and spider webs off the car, took out the seat cushions and patted off the dust, then began checking if the car could start.
Sitting in the pilot seat, Fang Wen inserted the key and started it.
No response.
Probably the gasoline had evaporated.
Fang Wen got out, found a well-sealed bucket of gasoline in the garage, and poured it into the car’s fuel tank.
He tried starting it again.
The car body shook, and a roaring sound came out.
Fang Wen, with mechanical perception, immediately detected the problem inside.
The oil line was somewhat clogged right at the fuel tank connection—probably some impurities had condensed and blocked the oil pipe during gasoline evaporation.
Everything else was fine.
He shut off the engine, found tools in the garage, used the jack to lift the car body, skillfully removed the fuel tank cover, and cleaned the oil pipe.
Lin Shuiwang on the side was stunned: “Mr. Fang, you know how to repair cars too?”
“I can repair airplanes too.” Fang Wen came out from under the car, lowered the jack, and said to Lin Shuiwang: “Have Lena bring her daughter out; we’re going for a drive.”
Lin Shuiwang was immediately delighted and trotted back to the guesthouse.
After a while, Lena, slightly dressed up, came down holding her daughter’s hand.
She was very excited: “I haven’t gone out in a car for a long time, nor has little Lena.”
Little Lena was her daughter; the mother and daughter depended on each other, with matching names.
Then, she and her daughter sat in the back seat, Lin Shuiwang in the co-pilot.
Before setting off, Lin Shuiwang asked: “What kind of car is this?”
“Mercedes-Benz 170,” Fang Wen replied.
The long-idle car started and drove on Berlin’s streets.
Lin Shuiwang was the translator, Lena the guide, Fang Wen the driver.
Throughout the drive, Lena indicated the directions, Lin Shuiwang translated for Fang Wen, and then Fang Wen drove.
At first, this method was very inconvenient; Lena didn’t know how to express it and always blurted out everything she knew.
For example, to go to the Brandenburg Gate, she would list a string of place names, leaving Lin Shuiwang’s translation unintelligible to Fang Wen on where to go.
Finally, Fang Wen made a decision.
“Let’s buy a map first.”
Then, the car drove to the Berlin Municipal Library, where tourist maps could be bought.
Fang Wen picked a notebook marked with a Weimar Republic full-territory tour, costing 10 marks.
With this, when Lena said where to go, she had to point it out on the map first, allowing the very map-sensitive Fang Wen to smoothly find the way.
The car wound around Berlin city district.
Went to the food market to buy several large bags of food, then to Berlin Cathedral, where Lena and her daughter went in to pray.
Sitting in the car waiting, Fang Wen looked at the pedestrians outside and said:
“Things are about to change here; we’ll wait for the time of change to come. Then power and interests will be exchanged, and those unwilling will cash out their last bit of power.”
Lin Shuiwang didn’t understand: “Then what do we do?”
“Make friends. There will always be friends who bring us good luck.”
“How to make friends?”
“Isn’t Lena’s husband an officer? Go ask him what places he frequented in Berlin for leisure.”
“Oh, I get it.” Lin Shuiwang nodded: “I guarantee results by tomorrow.”
Fang Wen looked at Lin Shuiwang oddly: “What are you going to do tonight?”
“Do what I’m good at.” Lin Shuiwang chuckled.
“You…” Fang Wen didn’t know what to say; everyone was different, and hadn’t he himself succumbed to Yue Jinping’s temptation back then?
Just then, the mother and daughter returned after praying.
The car drove back to the guesthouse.
Early the next morning, there was a knock at the door; Fang Wen got up to open it.
Outside was Lin Shuiwang, looking refreshed and very smug.
Fang Wen thought of something.
“What about her daughter?”
“Sent to her parents’ place to play last night. Mr. Fang, don’t worry; I know my limits and won’t get trapped in a gentle trap,” Lin Shuiwang replied.
“I know you won’t; when you leave, leave some money, don’t mistreat her.”
“Got it. Last night I found out.” Lin Shuiwang shared the information he got.
In East City District of Berlin, there was a bar that was a frequent gathering spot for National Army officers.
Lena’s husband went there often.
Of course, the bar wasn’t only for officers; there were regular customers too.
This information was perfect for Fang Wen; he decided to go check it out.
Night of January 17th.
Fang Wen put on his trench coat, donned a wide-brimmed hat, and went out with Lin Shuiwang.
In the cold wind, the two headed to the downslope garage, got in the car, and drove toward East City District.
East City District had many old buildings, operating various industries.
Among them was one industry most welcomed by citizens at night.
Beerhouse.
Berliners loved drinking beer.
After work and dinner, people from different professions would come to their familiar beerhouses to drink and chat.
Therefore, beerhouses were not just for drinking but also combined catering, entertainment, meetings, and gatherings.
The car stopped in an alley; Fang Wen took the key and prepared to get out.
Lin Shuiwang asked: “Is the car safe parked here?”
“I don’t know, but I can guarantee no one else can drive it away.”
Fang Wen smiled, bent down, fiddled under the seat, and directly pulled off the spark plug wires.
This way, even if someone tried to steal it, it wouldn’t start.
After doing this, he closed the car door and entered the beerhouse called “Frontbierstube” with Lin Shuiwang.
Frontbierstube was a transliteration; in German, it meant: Frontline Beerhouse.
According to Lena, in the early days, it was a gathering place for World War I officers; later, after the Weimar Republic was established, it became a spot for National Army officers to gather and relax.
