Chapter 146: 145, Taishan Volunteer Army Action Summary Meeting, Intelligence Analysis
South of the Luan River is the defensive line of the National Army’s 57th Army.
This unit is the Northeast Army’s troops inside the Passes, partially reorganized and combined into one army.
After withdrawing from the Northeast, the morale of this army has been extremely low. For these Northeast Army soldiers, without territory, they have no foundation; wherever they go, they are children without milk.
But they still dare to fight the Japanese.
Therefore, they were entrusted with the heavy responsibility of building fortifications for defense south of the Luan River to block the Japanese Army’s 8th Division from advancing south.
Behind them is Tianjin; the responsibility is not light.
May 10th, around 3 a.m.
A flash of fire erupted on the north bank of the Luan River.
The fire grew increasingly fierce, reddening half the sky. The 57th Army, unclear of the situation, realized something was happening and immediately sent a reconnaissance squad across the river to investigate.
After the reconnaissance squad crossed, they returned at dawn.
They reported to the army commander at the command headquarters and the 4 division commanders:
“Our squad swam across the river last night and followed the flash of fire to investigate. We discovered three Japanese army barracks, with the middle one engulfed in a massive fire. The blaze was enormous and unrelenting; no matter how the Japanese tried to put it out, it was futile.”
“How big was the fire exactly?” the 108th Division commander asked curiously.
“From our previous reconnaissance, that camp was occupied by the 6th Division’s Hiraga Brigade, with about 3000 men,” the reconnaissance squad captain replied.
A camp of 3000 men is not small.
Everyone present was experienced in leading troops and camping outside, so they knew the scale well.
A permanent camp for 3000 men requires dormitories, restaurants, shooting range, training ground, etc., plus safety distances, green areas, buffer zones, and other factors—about 30 mu in size.
For a temporary camp, 3000 men need at least living space where buildings aren’t too close to prevent fires, plus open areas for assembly, and places to store military equipment and military vehicles.
Thus, 10 mu in size is also necessary.
10 mu is over 6000 square meters; such a large area was completely set ablaze.
How big a fire must it have been to achieve that?!
“Who set the fire?”
“What was used to burn it?”
The 4 division commanders couldn’t help asking.
Commander He stood up directly and went to the sand table to look.
“If the middle barracks is on fire, the Japanese are disconnected head and tail and in chaos. If we don’t attack now, when?”
The others nodded in agreement but showed no intention of moving immediately.
“Commander, our orders are to hold the south bank of the Luan River dead and not let the Japanese cross.”
“If we cross to fight the Japanese, it would be disobeying orders. What if superiors blame us?”
“We are no longer the Northeast Army; the designation was revoked and changed to National 57th Army. We take orders from the National Government. If we defy orders, we won’t lose our positions, but the tight shoes are inevitable.”
“Better send a telegram to the Beiping Military Division and ask their opinion.”
The Beiping Military Division is the National Government Military Affairs Commission’s Beiping branch, the decision-making command center for the Great Wall Campaign.
Commander He agreed with this opinion and immediately had the telegraph operator send the telegram.
After the telegram was sent, the Beiping Military Division replied.
【 North of the Luan River has no friendly forces; according to your report, it’s impossible. 】
【 Where did the combustibles come from? Who carried out the operation? How did they avoid the Japanese to burn the entire barracks? 】
【 It’s very likely a ploy to lure troops; do not act rashly. 】
With this telegram, the 57th Army could only hold position.
They watched the big fire burn until the afternoon before it extinguished.
Afterward, another reconnaissance squad swam across to probe enemy intelligence but brought back a major situation.
The Japanese suddenly disappeared.
Except for the middle barracks still smoldering, the barracks on both sides were empty; the 6th Division’s Hiraga Brigade was nowhere to be found.
May 10th.
f.220 entered storage.
All members involved in the action returned home.
Even Shunzi went home for a good sleep; tomorrow Pan Jiafeng would send him back to Xiangxi Airport.
Fang Wen also slept well, from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m.
After getting up, Kuang Mingzhu brought sweet soup: “Mister, have some silver ear and lotus seed soup.”
Taking the sweet soup, Fang Wen finished it in three gulps: “Any news from the north?”
“Not yet. If there’s news, it will be sent from the city,” Kuang Mingzhu replied.
Yes, as a premium intelligence buyer, Fang Wen was highly regarded in Shanghai’s intelligence dealer circles and even got package-like service. As soon as intelligence arrived, he could get the catalog and decide what to buy.
No news now means truly no news.
After all, theater intelligence was bought by these people from both the National Government and the Japanese Army.
Fang Wen stood up, stretched, “I’m hungry. Let’s go out to eat and take a stroll.”
“Mister, wait for me.”
Kuang Mingzhu went to the inner room to dress up.
Whether modern or future, the iron rule that women must dress up to go out doesn’t change.
After twenty minutes, Kuang Mingzhu, changed into a qipao and carrying a handbag, took Fang Wen’s arm and walked out the door.
The two strolled on the streets outside the airport.
This street bustled because of the airport, from just one small tavern at first to now many businesses.
These new shops were all bought by Taishan Airlines and rented cheaply to staff families to open, all for safety to avoid Japanese infiltration.
It was precisely this arrangement that prevented the Japanese from planting spies several times.
As Fang Wen and Kuang Mingzhu walked on the street, people greeted them from time to time.
“Hello, General Manager.” “Hello, General Manager’s wife.”
They stopped at a thriving stir-fried dish restaurant.
Fang Wen said, “Let’s eat here.”
“Okay, I’ll order some dishes.” Kuang Mingzhu went straight to the back kitchen to order; the daily home meals weren’t all made by her, and she knew well what dishes were good here.
After ordering, Kuang Mingzhu returned and continued chatting.
“Mister, how big a fire did you set up north this time?”
Outsiders wouldn’t understand this, but the couple knew.
Fang Wen thought and replied, “Bigger than here, almost all burned.”
“That big?!” Kuang Mingzhu was very surprised: “Won’t that burn a lot of ants?”
“Yes, so I really want to know the situation now,” Fang Wen replied.
At this time, the dishes were ready.
The stir-fried dish shop owner personally brought the dishes.
“General Manager, try my skills: pickled vegetable braised yellow croaker, beef stir-fried vermicelli, scallion oil shredded radish.”
（Home-style dishes from Republic of China newspapers）
Fang Wen picked up a chopstick of scallion oil shredded radish, “Tastes good. If you don’t want to run a stir-fried dish shop anymore, come to Taishan Airlines; the canteens at airports everywhere need chefs.”
The stir-fried dish shop owner was overjoyed: “General Manager, you must keep your word. I run this shop to make ends meet; working at Taishan Airlines is an iron rice bowl. Just nod, and I’ll report to the company tomorrow.”
“Yes, I keep my word. Tomorrow find Fang Shouxin and have him arrange it,” Fang Wen nodded.
“Thank you, General Manager.” The shop owner happily returned to the back kitchen.
Kuang Mingzhu said helplessly, “Mister, the company gains a chef, but our home dinners lose variety.”
“No problem, switch to more places. Or shall I have them find a spicy dish master at Wuhan Airport?” Fang Wen laughed.
At these words, Kuang Mingzhu immediately fell silent.
Last time at Xiangxi Airport, eating chili-fried cured meat was really tough for a Guangdong person—those who get it understand.
The couple finished eating and strolled the streets to digest.
At this time, Shopkeeper Liu hurried over.
“General Manager, I went to the city today and brought back the items.”
Everything mentioned today related to the north; Fang Wen immediately understood that Shopkeeper Liu couldn’t sit still and directly fetched the intelligence from the city.
He took the bundle, “Go tell the others; we’ll have a meeting tonight.”
The first action summary meeting of the Taishan Volunteer Army’s anti-Japanese operations was held.
Except for Sun Debiao in the north, and Huo Duanyang and William in the southwest, everyone else attended.
The meeting was held in Fang Wen’s living room; everyone sat in a circle with tea cups on the nearby table.
Kuang Mingzhu, who sent Chun Cao and Qiu Ju out to play, personally brewed tea for everyone.
Fang Wen cut open the bundle’s seal with scissors and took out the documents inside.
He read aloud.
“According to Japanese military internal news, the Japanese Army’s 6th Division Hiraga Brigade’s camp 5 kilometers north of the Luan River was bombed by unknown forces. The enemy used a new type of weapon that causes sustained combustion. Bomber type unknown, suspected to be a heavy bomber. Moreover, highly skilled bombing techniques were employed, causing huge losses.”
“The Japanese side suspects this was a long-premeditated military bombing with inside help. Otherwise, it’s impossible to conduct precise and large-scale bombing at night.”
“The Japanese side suspects it was new-type bombers from Soviet army military airports in Siberia, with cooperation from National Army troops. Additionally, the Japanese had inside help cooperating.”
Hearing Fang Wen’s words, everyone burst into laughter.
Shunzi smugly stood up and gestured: “Little Japanese can’t even tell southeast from northwest. We came from Siberia.”
His words and actions made the atmosphere even more lively.
Shao Sishen asked, “How much damage did our action cause the Japanese Army?”
This was what everyone wanted to know.
Last night’s fire was so massive that everyone suspected no one in the camp escaped.
Fang Wen took out the second intelligence report.
“This is from the Japanese Army headquarters’ intelligence source. According to the Kwantung Army report, the 6th Division Hiraga Brigade suffered huge losses.”
“The brigade commander was hit by a bomb immediately after the air raid.”
“Subsequently, all members of the brigade command headquarters died in the air raid.”
“This air raid caused 1600 casualties in the 3000-man camp, plus over 700 casualties among peripheral soldiers fighting the fire.”
“Due to heavy losses and the complete death of brigade command personnel, the 6th Division Hiraga Brigade fell into chaos and ultimately chose to fall back to the division headquarters to await a new commander.”
This intelligence represented the huge success of Fang Wen and their air raid action.
Not only major Japanese casualties, but also wiping out their command headquarters.
The 6th Division Hiraga Brigade without a command system was just a sitting duck without power to fight back.
Pan Jiafeng puzzled asked, “Why didn’t our army cross the river to attack the Hiraga Brigade?”
“Yes, such a big fire, even a blind man could see it,” Shunzi chimed in.
Fang Wen was also puzzled; why pass up such a good opportunity?
If they had annihilated the entire Hiraga Brigade intact while it was in chaos, that victory would be a huge stimulus for the Great Wall Campaign.
He thought about it, but Fang Wen didn’t want to affect the Taishan Volunteer Army’s morale over this.
He spoke out: “Battlefield situations change rapidly; we can’t consider everything. What we do is bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb the little Japanese out of China. Now, two important matters to announce. First, everyone must pay attention to secrecy; don’t leak the bombing externally. Second, after this bombing, the Japanese will definitely investigate. Don’t get careless just because their intelligence judges it as Soviet army; maybe it’s to lull us. Therefore, procurement of napalm supplies must be dispersed; no more buying all from Shanghai. For the second point, does anyone have good suggestions?”
The atmosphere immediately became serious.
Fang Shouxin, who had been at Xiangxi Airport for a while, was more familiar with this situation.
He spoke first.
“Building materials are no longer short; if needed, they can be obtained via water transport and ox carts. The main issue is the bomb factory; the tin ore for bombs can be bought from Gejiu, Yunnan—they ship by water, ultimately via Yangtze River and Pearl River to southeast provinces. We can have them deliver and pick up midway. The trickiest are chemical raw materials and gasoline.”
These two: the former is highly specialized, not easily bought anywhere.
The latter is expensive; domestically no production sites. Without an airline company, this stuff really can’t be afforded.
If these two problems are solved, the Japanese will have a hard time tracing the bombs.
Fang Wen looked at everyone, hoping for good suggestions.
Kuang Mingzhu spoke: “Currently, most domestic gasoline is imported from abroad. But domestically there’s some; Shaanxi has a Yanchang oil mine.”
Shaanxi has oil? Fang Wen was surprised.
The others heard it for the first time too.
Kuang Mingzhu explained: “I heard from my brother; he went to Shaanxi to play and passed by by chance, then I knew. I specially had someone check the situation there. It was once leased to American Mobil Oil Company for exploration, but they said the surface sandstone layer is too thick, not suitable for accumulation.”
American Mobil Oil Company’s exploration didn’t confirm reserves?
Everyone was somewhat disappointed; what was needed was directly usable oil, not an oil mine with uncertain reserves.
But Kuang Mingzhu continued: “I sent people to investigate; it can produce 100 to 200 tons of oil a year, enough for local use after refining.”
Kuang Mingzhu’s channel was viable; considering Japanese naval blockades, land-based oil was safer.
But Fang Wen, from the future, saw deeper.
Domestic petroleum foundation was very weak; only after liberation did it develop vigorously.
That bit of oil now was far from enough; spending effort for 100-200 tons of crude oil held no meaning for Fang Wen.
Not to mention later, the central plains might be occupied by the Japanese Army.
He thought of the last Persia in Iran: Pahlavi dynasty; that was currently the world’s second largest oil producer, from where rich gasoline resources could be obtained.
The Pahlavi dynasty side had Indiana; he could ask him to contact for fuel purchases.
Also British-controlled India area; various chemicals could be bought there too.
And ports in South Asia and Indochina Peninsula; oil shipped from Pahlavi dynasty could unload in Indochina Peninsula, then transport domestically.
This way, Xiangxi Airport would gain another function, connecting South Asia.
Then, via large transport aircraft, South Asian gasoline and chemical raw materials could be directly shipped to Xiangxi Airport.
He couldn’t spare time to go there now, but the Kuang family had people in South Asia.
He exchanged with Kuang Mingzhu.
“Mingzhu, does your family still have industries overseas? My idea is to open a supply procurement channel via your family’s overseas connections, through South Asia directly to Xiangxi Airport.”
Kuang Mingzhu replied: “Originally my father wanted to retire and sell the family’s overseas industries to relatives and friends. Your mention of cinchona bark last time piqued his interest again; he partnered with old friends to stockpile. Because of that, his employee and shopkeeper guys in South Asia all went to do this.”
