usatvline Chapter 1782 The Empire Values Secretary Cheng
Chapter 1782 The Empire Values Secretary Cheng
Chapter 1782 The Empire Values Secretary Cheng
"My dog is a little scared when he sees you." Cheng Qianfan said to Lao Huang beside him, while leading the black wolfhound.
"I am also a dog lover." Old Huang said, biting a toothpick in his mouth, "It misunderstood me."
As the two were talking, they saw a patrolman and his hired workers pushing a flatbed cart out of the side door.
"I collected them last night." Old Huang sighed, "They starved to death. This is the sixth case this month."
Cheng Qianfan also remained silent. These were the ordinary people who were found to have starved to death on the street corners. There were probably even more people who had starved to death and had not been discovered.
In the years since the Chinese Concession was occupied, a large number of people have poured into the French Concession.
Because of its concentrated population, the French Concession appeared unusually prosperous.
The luxurious life of the rich is also crazy to the extreme.
Any businessman with some connections and backing could make a fortune by hoarding and speculating on goods, so he also began to spend money extravagantly. As a result, the dance hall business was particularly prosperous, and the amusement park, bookstore, cinema, Yue opera theater and drama theater were all packed.
However, the lives of ordinary people are actually becoming increasingly difficult.
The Public Concession Municipal Council issued a survey two months ago, stating that "the income of most workers in this city is not enough to support their families, and their living standards have almost dropped to the minimum."
According to a survey conducted by the organization, taking the life of workers in a spinning mill as an example, the salary income of one worker can barely support one and a half people.
A family of six needs four people to work and no accidents happen, just to survive.
About 60% of the workers in the spinning mills are unable to make ends meet.
It can be said that most workers find it difficult to maintain a basic living standard for themselves and their families.
……
"When I was in Nanjing, I noticed that the economy was in recession and that ordinary people were living in extreme difficulty," said Cheng Qianfan.
It has been half a month since he came back from Nanjing, and he has received two telegrams from Li Mingzhuan, in which Commander Li asked Brother Cheng to help raise food.
Even Wang Tianhai's First Division of the Imperial Guards was hoarding food everywhere, which shows how severe the current food shortage is.
"There are many people who scold you." Old Huang glanced at Cheng Qianfan and said.
A reporter from Shen Bao listed the top ten bullies in Shanghai who hoarded goods, raised prices, and harmed the people. "Little Cheng Zong" from the French Concession was among the top three.
Cheng Qianfan remained silent.
Old Huang really wanted to slap himself in the face. He knew that Comrade "Huo Miao" had been under tremendous psychological pressure, but he still brought up this issue. He really deserved to die.
"I want to help the poor and needy, but I can't do it." Cheng Qianfan said with a sigh.
Old Huang nodded, he understood.
If 'Mr. Cheng' becomes a kind person who helps the poor and needy, then we will be in trouble.
……
This gloomy mood was not relieved until the evening.
The Shenbao newspaper published that day reported that the 18th Army in the north launched a surprise attack on the Japanese army. There were constant gunfire along the Zhengtai Road, fighting was going on everywhere, and the Japanese army was exhausted.
Of course, in order to avoid trouble from the Japanese, Shenbao was able to print and sell smoothly, using a neutral tone to "objectively" report on the war in the north.
"Well done!" Cheng Qianfan said happily, "This is the most effective response to those who slandered our 18th Group Army."
Since the end of last year, Chongqing has begun to frequently attack the Red Army, create military frictions, and spread rumors that the Red Party's Eighth Route Army was roaming around without fighting and was pretending to resist Japan. They even attacked the Red Army for "only attacking friendly forces and not Japan", causing some people who did not know the truth to doubt the Eighth Route Army.
"Zhengtai Road is the key point for the Japanese army to blockade our 18th Army. The attack on Zhengtai Road this time is also the most critical link in our counter-mopping up operation." Lao Huang said.
Just at the end of last year, when the Kuomintang deliberately created increasing friction with the 18th Group Army, the Japanese army also began to intensify its encirclement and mopping-up operations against the Eighth Route Army in North China. Just at the beginning of this year, the Eighth Route Army had just crushed the Japanese army's multi-pronged mopping-up operations.
"I'll go see Imamura after get off work tonight." Cheng Qianfan said with a smile.
Old Huang also laughed.
……
Meng Fanyu was also reading the newspaper.
He couldn't help but become interested when he saw the report in Shenbao that the Japanese army had been attacked and sabotaged by the Eighth Route Army along the Zhengtai Road.
As the section chief of the General Affairs Department of the Military Control Commission's Tianjin District, he was naturally very clear about the importance of Zhengtai Road.
The Zhengtai Railway, which runs from Shijiazhuang, Hebei to Taiyuan, Shanxi, crosses the Taihang Mountains. It is more than 200 kilometers long and is an important transportation lifeline connecting Shanxi and Hebei.
Since last winter, the Japanese army has stepped up the implementation of the "cage policy" of "using railways as pillars, roads as chains, and bunkers as locks."
The Shotai Railway was one of the important pillars for the Japanese army to implement this policy.
The Japanese army built strong strongholds near towns, stations, bridges and tunnels along the railway, each guarded by dozens to hundreds of troops, and often sent armored trains for patrol.
A first line of outposts were also built at key points ten to fifteen kilometers on both sides of the railway.
At that time, newspapers in Pingjin applauded the Japanese army's "cage policy" along the Zhengtai Railway, believing that the area along the Zhengtai Railway was "inaccessible to the Eighth Route Army."
By relying on the "cage policy", the Zhengtai Road can be used to isolate the Taihang Anti-Japanese Base Area where the Eighth Route Army headquarters and the 129th Division were active from the Shanxi-Chahar-Hebei Border Region, so as to achieve the goal of trapping the Eighteenth Group Army.
Meng Fanyu was not very interested in the battle between the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese Army on Zhengtai Road itself, because he was thinking of other things.
The Red Party is best at propaganda. This time their army took the initiative to attack the Japanese. I believe the Red Party would naturally make a lot of publicity to win the hearts of the people.
Meng Fanyu thought that given the Red Party’s nature and habits, the Shanghai Red Party would certainly strengthen its propaganda work.
Who knows, one day at dawn, you may see anti-Japanese propaganda slogans posted by the Red Party on the streets.
The more he thought about it, the more reliable it seemed to him. He had no connections in Shanghai, so it was not easy for him to find the Red Party on his own. However, the war in the north gave him a glimmer of hope.
……
"The Red Party's Eighth Route Army's attack on our Zhengtai Road has actually been going on for three or four days." Imamura Heitaro glanced at Miyazaki Kentaro and said.
Cheng Qianfan nodded. He was not surprised. The report in Shenbao was naturally delayed.
"The Eighth Route Army overestimated their own capabilities. This time they actually dared to take the initiative to attack, which gave the Empire a chance to annihilate them." Cheng Qianfan said expectantly.
"No, Kentaro, you are wrong." Imamura Heitaro shook his head, "This time, we are the ones who suffered the loss."
Although the Empire's garrison troops in North China have always paid more attention to the enemy troops in the occupied areas, especially the "suppression" target of the Red Party's Eighth Route Army.
However, the Empire had always believed that the Eighth Route Army had limited combat effectiveness and could only fight guerrilla warfare or ambushes, and was not strong enough to take the initiative to attack. Therefore, compared with the tense atmosphere on the front battlefield and the Kuomintang army, the Imperial Army stationed in the strongholds did not have a strong sense of defense.
The Red Party took advantage of the fact that the imperial garrisons along the Zhengtai Line were dispersed and poorly guarded, and adopted the tactics of simultaneous and dispersed attacks, which plunged the imperial army into a chaotic battle, unable to extricate themselves and unable to take care of each other.
He learned from a telegram to his classmates in Peking that the Red Party's Eighth Route Army had suddenly organized such a large-scale raid, which completely caught the empire off guard. Some imperial soldiers were killed before they even left the barracks.
Even on the night when the war broke out, communications were basically cut off for the North China Front Army Headquarters as well as the various armies, divisions, brigades, and regiments. Either the phone calls were not connected or no one answered the radio, so that the people in the staff had no idea what was going on.
In some cases, the higher-level units did not know about the capture of bunkers until three days later after the Red Party and the Eighth Route Army had captured them.
……
"The Red Party and the Eighth Route Army are such a big threat!" After hearing what Imamura Heitaro said, Cheng Qianfan felt sweeter in his heart than eating honey, but his face showed shock.
"Yes, the development of the Red Army in the rural areas of North China is shocking. Many people in the empire had underestimated them before." Imamura Heitaro said, "In the north, there is the Eighth Route Army, and here we have the Red Army New Fourth Army."
He told Kentaro Miyazaki, "The war in the north has alerted us and aroused the vigilance of Lord Shakuda."
"Teacher, what you said is very true." Cheng Qianfan nodded, "The Red Party's New Fourth Army does pose a threat to the Empire's control over Jiangnan. We should find a way to completely eradicate them."
The Shakuda mentioned by Imamura Heitaro is Shakuda Hisashi, the lieutenant general commander of the 13th Army of the Japanese Army.
The 13th Army of the Japanese Army was affiliated with the Japanese Expeditionary Force in China. It was mainly responsible for security, mopping-up and combat missions in Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places.
In April of this year, after the establishment of the Wang Puppet Government, the Japanese army launched a spring sweep against the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui under the pretext of "pacifying the capital", maintaining the safety of the Yangtze River waterway, and expanding the occupied area.
The New Fourth Army fought for eleven consecutive days, killing and wounding thousands of Japanese soldiers and defeating the Japanese army's sweep of southern Anhui.
Cheng Qianfan keenly caught a message from Imamura Heitaro:
Because of the war in the north, the Japanese army's vigilance against the Red Army has reached a high level, and it is very likely to launch a new round of mopping-up operations against our New Fourth Army bases and guerrilla areas.
……
"You went back to Nanjing some time ago. How was the situation there?" Heitaro Imamura asked Kentaro Miyazaki.
"The operation of Wang Tianhai's regime has become normal, or in other words, it has begun to take shape on the surface." Cheng Qianfan thought for a moment and said, "However, one situation has caught my attention."
"What's going on?" asked Heitaro Imamura.
"There is a food shortage in Nanjing. Li Mingzhuan, the commander of Wang Tianhai's First Division, even sent me a telegram personally, asking me to help raise food." Cheng Qianfan said.
"Are you raising military rations or reselling them?" Imamura Heitaro glanced at his student and asked, "As far as I know, after the establishment of the Wang regime, they still had no shortage of supplies."
"There must be a real shortage of food." Cheng Qianfan said.
Heitaro Imamura shook his head. It was precisely because of the food shortage that reselling military rations could bring greater profits.
"I will talk to Mr. Shakuda..." said Heitaro Imamura.
"Teacher." Cheng Qianfan quickly persuaded, "Li Mingzhuan is the first general of the former Nanjing Reform regime that Wang Tianhai recruited. This person is very important."
Imamura Heitaro looked at his student and frowned slightly.
"Teacher, Li Ming Zhuan and I are good friends." He said to Imamura Heitaro.
Heitaro Imamura still shook his head slightly. These reasons were not enough to convince him to turn a blind eye.
"If necessary." Cheng Qianfan gritted his teeth and said, "I can persuade Li Mingzhuan to get closer to the empire."
Imamura Heitaro nodded and said, "Since he is your friend, we must maintain our friendship well."
"Students understand." Cheng Qianfan said quickly.
……
After Miyazaki Kentaro left, Imamura Kogoro said as he packed up the tea sets, "Sir, Kentaro is really good. He is very honest with you and never hides anything."
Li Mingzhuan sent two telegrams to Cheng Qianfan. Although the Iwai Mansion was not clear about the contents of the telegrams, they knew about this matter.
In response to Imamura Heitaro's questions, Miyazaki Kentaro did not hide anything about such a secret situation, which naturally made Imamura Heitaro satisfied.
"Have you found out about the previous intelligence leak?" asked Heitaro Imamura.
"The first leak was difficult to investigate, but for the second leak, it was said that the gendarmerie headquarters had already found some clues," said Kogoro Imamura.
Imamura Heitaro nodded slightly and said, "This time the Imperial Army has decided to launch a security operation in the vicinity of Shanghai, southern Anhui, and eastern Zhejiang. Lord Chida has communicated with Lord Iwai. Please ask our intelligence department to provide necessary assistance."
"Great." Imamura Kogoro said, "This is a great opportunity for the mansion to show its prowess."
Iwai Mansion has been established for many years, but its presence is not very strong in the intelligence departments of Shanghai.
This time, if the Iwai Mansion can perform well in the Imperial Army's security and mopping-up military operations, it will greatly enhance the importance of the Iwai Mansion. At the same time, this is also the first time that the mansion has cooperated with the Imperial Army, which can be said to be of "historic significance."
……
"This time, you will personally lead the intelligence room to carry out this mission." Imamura Heitaro said to Imamura Kogoro.
"Hai." Imamura Kogoro said seriously.
Then he looked at Imamura Heitaro, "Sir, I have a request."
"explain."
"I request to transfer Kentaro to join this mission." said Kogoro Imamura.
"Kentaro?" Imamura Heitaro was slightly surprised. He didn't expect that Imamura Kogoro would make this request.
This made Heitaro Imamura a little hesitant.
"You have to know that Kentaro's cover identity 'Cheng Qianfan' is very important and cannot be easily exposed." Imamura Heitaro said.
"Sir, what I mean is to ask the Wang Tianhai regime to agree to Secretary Cheng's participation and provide necessary assistance to the empire's military operation." Imamura Kogoro said with a smile, "Cheng Qianfan is a senior military officer of the Wang Tianhai regime. He is also a local tyrant in Shanghai and has considerable influence and power. It is reasonable for the empire to invite him to participate."
Looking at Imamura Heitaro, Imamura Kogoro paused and continued, "And I believe that whether it is Wang Tianhai, Chu Mingyu, or Wang's generals like Li Mingzhuan, they will also be happy to see Cheng Qianfan being needed and trusted by the empire."
Imamura Heitaro did not answer Imamura Kogoro's question immediately. He thought for a moment and then nodded slightly, "Okay, I agree. You should think about how to do it and don't arouse Wang's suspicion."
"Hai."
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