Chapter 257: Upheaval In North China
Ino Yusuke was startled, “Uncle, you mean Mr. Chen wants to take action against Colonel Yoshida.”
“How? He can’t make a move?” Minister Suzuhara’s face carried a hint of mocking amusement, “Since ancient times, power struggles have always been like this,”
“The transportation dominance in the hands of the South Manchuria Railway is the capital that Mr. Chen has always yearned for.”
“From the transportation situation over this period, it can be seen that Yoshida’s ability has reached its limit, and Mr. Chen hasn’t made a move yet,”
“I dare guarantee that this time, Yoshida is dead.”
Ino’s face changed drastically, even his right hand holding the tea cup began to tremble slightly.
A Vice Minister of Transportation wants to get another Vice Minister killed.
Yoshida is no small fry; he is the Vice Minister of Transportation with the South Manchuria Railway background and colonel status, a top-tier elite, and Chen Yang says he’ll deal with him just like that? Where does he get the confidence?
“Your brain isn’t exactly the sharpest, but that’s fine,” Minister Suzuhara smiled faintly: “People who are too smart always have too many ideas. Since you’re not that smart, just remember to find the right position for yourself.”
“In this world, effort doesn’t always pay off, but choosing wisely certainly does!”
“Find the right position for yourself, and someone out there will naturally shield you from the storms!”
“Moreover, Mr. Chen is a smart man. As long as you wholeheartedly help him with his work, even if you don’t participate in anything, he will find a way to share some merit with you and help you climb up.”
“In the end, Mr. Chen is Chinese. His identity dooms him to not gaining too much power in personnel matters.”
“You’re different. You’re a top graduate of the Army Officer Academy, fully qualified and capable of climbing higher. As for how far you go, that depends on your luck.”
Ino wasn’t that stupid; he immediately understood and nodded repeatedly: “Uncle, I get it.”
Minister Suzuhara nodded. This was the good thing about Ino—he knew he wasn’t smart enough, so he listened to advice.
Ino Yusuke took a sip of tea, looked at the letter paper beside Minister Suzuhara’s hand, and asked curiously: “Uncle, how exactly did you figure out that Mr. Chen wants Yoshida’s life?”
“Of course, from these materials!” Minister Suzuhara pushed the letter paper in his hand toward Ino and said slowly: “Compressing three months of materials into one month for sale—besides Mr. Chen wanting to cash out on a large scale, another purpose is to use overloaded materials transportation to put pressure on Yoshida.”
“As material supplies keep piling up layer by layer, Yoshida’s pressure will grow bigger and bigger..”
“Mr. Chen is boiling the frog in warm water, gradually tightening Yoshida’s nerves. Under this kind of high pressure, if materials transportation experiences large-scale loss of control, guess what will happen?”
“Yoshida’s confidence, body, and willpower will all collapse instantly. Even if he makes it alive to the hospital, he won’t leave it alive.”
“Even if he doesn’t want to die, he must die in the hospital due to suffering a major psychological blow during work hours, mental exhaustion, and failed rescue efforts.”
Ino’s face changed drastically: “No way, Yoshida has the South Manchuria Railway behind him.”
“South Manchuria Railway, hmph,” Minister Suzuhara sneered with a grin: “Believe me, if Mr. Chen kills Yoshida, the South Manchuria Railway will have to thank him.”
Ino was even more baffled upon hearing this!
Minister Suzuhara sighed, “Such a big incident in materials transportation means someone has to take responsibility,”
“Yoshida dying suddenly at his work post is an honor in itself; even the greatest responsibility stops there.”
“If Yoshida stays alive, the South Manchuria Railway would have to compensate for all losses, and with losses this huge, they would definitely investigate the cause. Mr. Chen resold so many materials; they could always find some traces, and then things would spiral out of control.”
“So, as soon as Yoshida dies, Mr. Chen immediately takes over transportation dominance and smooths out the transportation lines.”
“Next, he can use【Colonel Yoshida’s diligent work and sudden death at his post】 as the pretext to apply for glory for Yoshida, blaming all recent mistakes and problems on him.”
“Yoshida does have faults; it’s his ability that’s the issue. If he dies at his workstation, that proves his attitude was fine.”
“After headquarters weighs it, they won’t pursue it further. The South Manchuria Railway can save a huge compensation payout, just symbolically offering a little, and they can still retain headquarters’ trust.”
“Meanwhile, Mr. Chen not only gets transportation dominance but can also lead everyone to make money.”
“This is called wrapping the truth in glory—even if someone suspects it, they won’t dig deeper.”
“After all, the man’s gone; who would bother arguing with a dead man over those things…”
This roundabout logic had so many twists and turns.
Ino’s eyes looking at Minister Suzuhara were instantly filled with admiration…
Time came to Showa 14（1939） late summer…
The North China plain should have been the season for crops to head and nurture life, but instead, it was filled with the stench of scorched earth and blood mixed with the aura of death.
Due to the tight Nomonhan Incident, almost all strategic materials were forcibly transferred north. The already supply-short North China Area Army units fell into an unprecedented predicament.
Soldiers’ ammunition quotas were cut, rations supplied intermittently, and medicine extremely scarce.
Facing this dire situation, the new North China Area Army Commander General Tada Shun, instead of trying to appease the troops and seek normal supply channels, proposed at a high-level military meeting an extremely brutal operational plan aimed at “sustaining war with war” and completely destroying the resistance forces’ survival base.
“Gentlemen! Imperial Holy War resources are limited, the North Manchuria warfare concerns the nation’s fate and cannot be lost! Maintaining order in North China requires another approach!” General Tada Shun stood before a huge North China map, “Since we can’t get sufficient supplies from the rear, then the food and materials we need—we’ll procure them locally from these ‘bandit areas’!”
“All villages daring to resist or hide materials will be deemed bandit collaborators and subjected to thorough ‘cinders annihilation operations’!”
“Burn everything, kill everything, loot everything! Make every village supporting resistance fighters pay an unbearable price!”
“Turn Taihang Mountains and Yimeng Mountains into no-man’s-lands, deprive the local Eighth Route Army of all recruits and granaries! Use these absolute means to ensure ‘stability’ in the occupied areas!”
This order was like opening the gates of hell.
Japanese Army units, especially the lower-level officers and soldiers already corroded by militarism and turned irritable and brutal by material shortages, saw this order as a license for burning, killing, and looting.
Wherever the iron hooves went, villages turned to scorched earth, thick smoke blotting out the sky.
Villagers who couldn’t escape in time, regardless of age or gender, were mercilessly slaughtered; the scene was like human purgatory.
Food, livestock, any valuable goods were looted clean, wells filled in, houses burned down, creating swathes of uninhabitable “vacuum zones.”
The Japanese Army’s “Three Alls” policy indeed brought unprecedented survival pressure to the North China anti-Japanese bases.
Deep in the Taihang Mountains, in the hidden valley of Red Faction headquarters, the atmosphere was as heavy as a storm about to break.
In a command post converted from a natural rock cave, the oil lamp flickered dimly, illuminating the leaders’ stern faces.
Special Commissioner Zhang Jianliang, who had rushed from Shanghai, looked at the intelligence on the table, his eyes filled with anger and worry.
The intelligence summary on the table was shocking: multiple fringe villages bloodbathed, base area compressed, food reserves plummeting, wounded dying continuously from lack of medicine.
“Comrade Jianliang,” from behind the table, the leader with a weathered face but still sharp eyes spoke: “The Japanese devils’ ‘draining the pond to catch the fish’ move is extremely vicious!”
“They want to starve us to death, trap us to death! Frontline troops are bleeding, rear masses are suffering, and we… our ammunition, medicine, food are almost bottomed out!”
“Comrade Jianliang, headquarters has decided, after study, to assign you an extremely arduous and crucial mission: at all costs, quickly procure a batch of urgently needed weapons and medicine, and secretly transport them into the base!”
“Focus on rifle ammunition, grenades, machine guns, sulfanilamide powder, surgical instruments, and gauze. Quantity… the more, the better!”
Zhang Jianliang stood up abruptly, straightened his back, his voice hoarse from the heavy responsibility: “Rest assured, Leader! I will find a way to complete the mission! Even if it costs my life!”
“Your life is important and must be used where it’s most critical.” The leader walked up to him, patted his shoulder firmly, “The organization trusts you, that’s why it’s assigning this important mission to you,”
“Once back in Shanghai, quickly handle the materials procurement. Whatever you need, Comrade Hanyan will mobilize all available forces to support you.”
“Remember, the enemy is like mad dogs now, sniffing everywhere. Our action must be absolutely secret, channels absolutely reliable!”
Zhang Jianliang stood up sharply, saluted: “Rest assured, Leader. Mission guaranteed.”
Bearing headquarters’ heavy trust, Zhang Jianliang set off swiftly, sneaking back into the crisis-ridden Shanghai.
At this time, though Shanghai was called an “isolated island,” under the tight control of the Japanese Army and No. 76 secret agents, it was equally tense and precarious.
Large-scale procurement of weapons and contraband medicine was like taking chestnuts from the fire.
French Concession, Foch Road, White Elephant Tree Coffee shop.
Shen Qingyao wore a simple qipao, her features delicate and beautiful, but her brows carried the sharpness, decisiveness, and a hint of hidden toughness forged by the ups and downs of commerce.
In just over a year, Shen Qingyao had shed the immaturity of her Shanghai University days,
Her originally slim figure had gradually become voluptuous over time, that surging appearance seeming like a second development, her eyes and brows exuding a capable and competent air that perfectly matched her businesswoman persona, the whole person radiating confident glow.
Ding ling ling, ding ling ling,
A gust of wind blew through the street, stirring the wind chimes at the eaves, producing bursts of crisp ringing.
Hua la la, the coffee shop door was pushed open, Zhang Jianliang entered the coffee shop, then quickly walked up to Shen Qingyao.
“One black coffee.” Zhang Jianliang instructed the waiter.
“Comrade Qingyao,” while the waiter delivered the coffee and turned to leave, Zhang Jianliang skipped pleasantries, cut straight to the point, and detailed the dire situation in the Taihang Mountains base and headquarters’ procurement needs…
“The situation in the mountains is like this now. The Japanese devils are doing ‘Three Alls’; to survive, to fight, we must have ‘food’ and ‘medicine’.”
“This mission is extremely difficult, extremely risky. After careful consideration, the organization believes only you, using the Shen family business network and connections, can possibly procure this batch of materials in a short time.”
Shen Qingyao listened quietly, her slender fingers tightly clutching the handkerchief, knuckles white from the grip.
She seemed to see the warriors fighting bloodily on Taihang Mountains, the helpless eyes of villagers under the Japanese blades.
Taking a deep breath, Shen Qingyao said slowly: “I understand. Taihang Mountains isn’t fighting alone; its difficulties are our difficulties.”
“Whatever you need me to do, just command. The Shen family still has some face in business circles and knows some… people with methods.”
“Good!” A flash of approval in Zhang Jianliang’s eyes, “What we need is large quantity, highly sensitive. Must proceed separately, multiple channels, and fast!”
“You handle materials and medicine, I’ll handle weapons. Do you see any problem?”
Shen Qingyao said softly: “Rest assured, Comrade Special Commissioner.”
“Our Shen family is somewhat prominent in the French Concession. My father isn’t in the Green Gang, but he’s well acquainted up and down the Green Gang.”
“Materials shouldn’t be a problem. I’m more worried if you can complete your mission.”
Zhang Jianliang frowned slightly; he knew Shen Qingyao was speaking the truth.
Shen Qingyao’s father was Shen Xing Shan; his public identity was a business firm boss, but secretly he dealt in opium trafficking.
He was a Bagudang leader, a prominent figure in the underworld.
It was because of this identity cover that Shen Qingyao could stand firm in Shanghai’s business circles.
Of course, more importantly, Shen Qingyao’s direct contacts included not only Zhang Jianliang here, but also Lin Xueli on Hong Kong Island, Chen Yang’s elder brother.
They procured materials from outside and transported to Shanghai; Shen Qingyao’s business firm was their best disguise point.
After much thought, Zhang Jianliang said slowly: “I can’t say how much confidence I have, but I do have some connections in Shanghai,”
“Hope I can pull it off!”
Shen Qingyao stirred her coffee, took a small sip, “Comrade Special Commissioner, have you thought of asking Vice Minister Chen for help?”
“His fees are high, but the upside is he guarantees delivery right to the spot!”
Zhang Jianliang pondered briefly: “I’ll first try my own channels. If I can’t gather what we need,”
“Miss Shen, I’ll have to trouble you to approach Minister Chen.”
“On price, we have a batch of crude oil from Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia oil fields. From last year to now, about 40,000 barrels left!”
Shen Qingyao’s eyes lit up upon hearing this.
“With oil, it’s easy. Minister Chen only cares about two things: Wusha Mine and crude oil.”
Zhang Jianliang raised his hand: “Trading with oil is absolutely no problem.”
“Even the price can be slightly lower than international crude oil rates. The only condition is he must transport it himself…”
