"I am a little scared when I see you." Cheng Qianfan led the black-backed wolfdog and said to Lao Huang beside him.
"Old Huang is also a dog lover." Old Huang said with a toothpick in his mouth, "It misunderstood Lao Huang."
As the two were talking, they saw a policeman taking a hired worker out of the side door with a flat cart.
"I collected it last night." Old Huang sighed, "I starved to death, this is the sixth time this month."
Cheng Qianfan was also silent. This was the common people who were found to starve to death on the street corner. Those who were not found to starve to death, probably more.
In the past few years since the Chinese world fell, a large number of people have poured into the French Concession.
Because of the concentrated population, the French Concession looks extremely prosperous.
The luxurious life of rich people is also extremely crazy.
Any businessman with some skills and backing can make a fortune because of hoarding goods, so he also squanders too much. Therefore, the business in the dance hall is particularly developed, with amusement parks, book parks, cinemas, Yue theaters and drama theaters, and every venue is full.
However, the lives of ordinary people are actually becoming increasingly difficult.
The Public Concession Bureau issued an investigation announcement two months ago, 'The income of workers in this city is mostly insufficient to maintain the life of the whole family, and their living level has almost been reduced to a minimum.'
According to the research conducted by the organization, taking the life of a cotton mill worker as an example, a worker's salary can only barely support one and a half people.
A family of six must have four people working without accidents in order to survive sloppy.
About 60% of the workers in the mills are ineffective in making money like this.
It can be said that most workers find it difficult to maintain the minimum life of dried fruits for themselves and their families.
...
"I was in Nanjing before, and I also noticed that the economy was in a recession and that the people's lives were extremely difficult." Cheng Qianfan said.
He has been back from Nanjing for half a month and has received two telegrams from Li Mingzhuan. The Commander Li asked Brother Cheng to help raise food.
Even the First Division of the Imperial Army in Wang Baihai was hoarding food everywhere, which shows how tight the food supply is now.
"There are many people scolding you." Old Huang glanced at Cheng Qianfan and said.
A reporter in the "Sheng" listed the top ten bullies who hoarded goods, raised prices, and harmed the people in Shanghai. The French Concession "Zhao Cheng General" ranked in the top three.
Cheng Qianfan remained silent.
Old Huang really wanted to slap himself in the mouth. He knew that Comrade "Flame" had been under tremendous psychological pressure. He should be damned if he didn't open the pot.
"I want to help the poor, but I can't do it." Cheng Qianfan sighed and said.
Old Huang nodded, he understood.
If ‘Mr. Xiao Cheng’ becomes a good person who helps the poor, it will be troublesome.
...
This gloomy mood was not relieved until the evening.
The "Shenbao" published on the same day reported that the 18th Army in the north launched a raid on the Japanese army. There were constant gunfire along the Zhengtai Road, and wars were everywhere, and the Japanese army was running away.
Of course, in order to avoid trouble from the Japanese, Shenbao can successfully print and sell, using a neutral tone to report the war that took place in the north.
"Good fight!" Cheng Qianfan said happily, "This is the most favorable fight against those who slander my 18th Army."
Since the end of last year, Chongqing has begun to attack Red frequently, creating military frictions, and spread rumors that the Eighth Route Army of the Red Party has been circulating without attacking, which is a fake anti-Japanese war, and even attacking the Red Army, "specially attacking friendly forces, not Japan," which has caused some people who do not know the truth to doubt the Eighth Route Army.
"Zhengtai Road is the key to the Japanese army blocking our 18th Army. This attack on Zhengtai Road is also the most critical link in our anti-sweeping." Lao Huang said.
Just at the end of last year, when the Kuomintang deliberately created more friction with the 18th Army, the Japanese army also began to increase encirclement and suppress the Eighth Route Army in North China. At the beginning of this year, the Eighth Route Army had just crushed the Japanese army's multiple sweeps.
"I will go to see Imamura after get off work in the evening." Cheng Qianfan said with a smile.
Lao Huang also laughed.
...
Meng Fanyu was also reading the newspaper.
Seeing the report on "Shenbao" that the Japanese army was attacked by the Eighth Route Army along Zhengtai Road, he couldn't help but become interested.
As the head of the General Affairs Department of the Tianjin District of the Military Intelligence Bureau, he naturally knew the importance of Zhengtai Road.
The Zhengtai Railway, from Shijiazhuang, Hebei to Taiyuan, Shanxi, crosses the Taihang Mountains, with a total length of more than 200 kilometers. It is an important lifeline for transportation connecting Shanxi and Hebei.
Since last winter, the Japanese army has stepped up the implementation of the "cage policy" of "using railways as pillars, highways as chains, and bunkers as locks".
The Zhengtai Railway is one of the important pillars of the Japanese army's implementation of this policy.
The Japanese army built solid strongholds near towns, stations, bridges and tunnels along the railway, each guarding with dozens to hundreds of troops, and often sent armored trains to patrol.
There are key points ten to fifteen kilometers on both sides of the railway, and there are also a line of peripheral strongholds.
At that time, the newspapers in Pingjin were very acclaimed by the Japanese army's "cage policy" along the Zhengtai Road, believing that the Zhengtai Railway was an area that was "inaccessible to the Turkish Eighth Route".
With the "cage policy", we can rely on Zhengtai Road to isolate the Eighth Route Army headquarters and the Taihang Anti-Japanese Base Area of ​​the 129th Division to achieve the goal of trapping the 18th Army.
Meng Fanyu was not very interested in the battle between the Eighth Route Army and the Japanese army on Zhengtai Road, because he thought of others.
The Red Party is best at propaganda. This time, their army took the initiative to attack the Japanese. I believe the Red Party will naturally promote it to win the hearts of the people.
Meng Fanyu thought that with the nature and habits of the Red Party, the Shanghai Red Party will inevitably strengthen publicity work.
One day, one day, you can see the anti-Japanese propaganda slogans posted by the Red Party on the streets and alleys.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was reliable. He had nothing to do with Shanghai. It was naturally not easy to discover the traces of the Red Party with his own strength. However, this war that happened in the north gave him a glimmer of hope.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content behind!...
"The attack on me, Masato Route Army, has actually been going on for three or four days." Imamura Hitaro glanced at Kentaro Miyazaki and said.
Cheng Qianfan nodded. He was not surprised that the report of "Shen Bao" was naturally delayed.
"The Eighth Tu Route Army overestimated its abilities. This time, it dared to take the initiative, which gave the empire the opportunity to annihilate them." Cheng Qianfan said in anticipation.
"No, Kentaro, you were wrong." Hitotaro Imamura shook his head, "This time, it was us who suffered the loss."
Although the Imperial North China garrison troops have always attached great importance to the enemy troops in the occupied areas, especially the "destroy" target with the Red Party Eighth Route Army.
However, the empire has always had a cognition before, that is, it is believed that the Eighth Route Army has limited combat effectiveness and can only fight guerrilla or ambush, and its strength is not enough to take the initiative. Therefore, compared with the tense atmosphere of the front battlefield and the Kuomintang army, the imperial army squatting at the stronghold was not very prepared.
The Red Party seized the hidden danger of the dispersed troops of the imperial garrison along the Zhengtai Line and weaker garrisons, and adopted the tactic of simultaneously dispatching and dispersing attacks, which made the imperial army unable to extricate itself and unable to take care of each other in chaos.
From the telegram with his classmates from Peking, he learned that the Eighth Route Army of the Red Party suddenly organized such a large-scale attack war, which completely caught the Empire off guard. Some imperial soldiers were shot dead before they even came out of the barracks.
Even on the night when the war broke out, whether it was the North China Front Army Command, the various armies, divisions, brigades, and corps, communications were basically interrupted, either the phone could not be reached or the radio could not be answered, so that the people in the General Staff had no idea what had happened.
Some bunkers were even captured by the Eighth Route Army of the Red Party and the higher-level units only found out after three days.
...
"The Eighth Route Army of the Red Party actually had such a great threat!" Cheng Qianfan heard what Imamura Hitaro said, his heart was sweeter than eating honey, but his face showed shock.
"Yes, the development of the Red Party army in rural North China is shocking. Many people in the empire had underestimated them before." Imamura Hitaro said, "There are the Eighth Route Army in the north, and the New Fourth Army in our side."
He said to Kentaro Miyazaki, "The war in the north has already reminded us of it, which has aroused the alertness of Lord Shitta."
"What the teacher said is very much." Cheng Qianfan nodded, "The New Fourth Army of the Red Party indeed poses a threat to the empire's control in Jiangnan, and we should find a way to completely eradicate them."
Imamura Eitaro's mouth is Shinda, who is the commander-in-chief of the 13th Japanese Army.
The 13th Japanese Army was affiliated with the Japanese dispatched troops in China, which was mainly responsible for the security, sweeping and combat tasks in Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other places.
Just in April this year, after the establishment of the Wang Puppet Government, the Japanese army "appeased the capital" to maintain the security of the Yangtze River waterway, expand the occupied areas, and launch a spring mobilization of the New Fourth Army in southern Anhui.
The New Fourth Army fought eleven consecutive days, killing and wounding thousands of Japanese troops, defeating the Japanese army's large-scale mobilization in southern Anhui.
From Imamura Hitaro's mouth, Cheng Qianfan keenly captured a message:
Due to the war in the north, the Japanese army's vigilance towards the red army has been raised to a higher level, and it is very likely to carry out a new round of sweeping the bases and guerrilla areas of our New Fourth Army.
...
"You went back to Nanjing some time ago, how is the situation there?" Imamura Hitaro asked Kentaro Miyazaki.
"The operation of the Wang Baihai regime has become normal, or it has already begun to take shape on the surface." Cheng Qianfan thought for a while and said, "However, there is a situation that has attracted my attention."
"What's the situation?" asked Hitaro Imamura.
"Nanjing has a shortage of grain, and Li Mingzhuan, the commander of the First Division of Wang Baihai, even sent me a telegram to ask me to help raise the grain." Cheng Qianfan said.
"Are you raising military rations or reselling military rations?" Imamura Hitotaro glanced at his student and asked, "As far as I know, after the establishment of the Wang regime, they still have no shortage of material reserves."
"It should be that there is indeed a shortage of food." Cheng Qianfan said.
Imamura Hitaro shook his head. It was because of the shortage of food that reselling military rations would make greater profits.
"I will talk to Mr. Shikita..." said Imamura Hitaro.
"Teacher." Cheng Qianfan quickly persuaded, "Li Mingzhuan was the first general of the former Nanjing Reform Rebellion won over by Wang Baihai. This person is very important."
Imamura Hitaro looked at his student and frowned slightly.
"Teacher, Li Mingzhuan is in good terms with me." He said to Imamura Hitotaro.
Hitaro Imamura still shook his head slightly. These reasons could not convince him to turn a blind eye.
"If necessary," Cheng Qianfan gritted his teeth and said, "I can convince Li Mingzhuan to get closer to the empire."
Imamura Hitaro nodded, "Since you are your friend, you must maintain your good friend relationship."
"Student understands." Cheng Qianfan said quickly.
...
After Kentaro Miyazaki left, Kogoro Imamura said while packing the tea set, "Sir, Kentaro is really good. He is very honest with you and will never hide anything."
Li Mingzhuan sent two telegrams to "Cheng Qianfan". Although Iwai Mansion did not know the content of the telegram, he knew about it.
When Kentaro Miyazaki faced Hitotaro Imamura's question, he did not hide such a secret situation, which naturally made Hitotaro Imamura satisfied.
"Have you found out the information leak in the previous episode?" asked Hitotaro Imamura.
"It is difficult to check the first leak. The second leak is said to have found some evidence from the military police headquarters." Kogoro Imamura said.
Imamura Hitaro nodded slightly, nodded, and said, "This time the Imperial Army decided to launch security operations around Shanghai, southern Anhui and eastern Zhejiang. You have communicated with You Iwai. Please help our intelligence department."
"That's great." Kogoro Imamura said, "This is a good opportunity for the mansion to show off."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content later! Iwai Mansion has been established for many years, but in the intelligence department in Shanghai, the presence is not actually too strong.
If this time, if it can show its skills in the military operation of the Imperial Army's public security sweep, it will greatly enhance the importance of the Iwai Mansion. At the same time, this is also the first time that the mansion has coordinated with the Imperial Army, which can be said to be of "historic significance".
...
"This time, you personally lead the intelligence room to carry out this mission." Imamura Hitotaro said to Imamura Kogoro.
"Hayi." Kogoro Imamura said seriously.
Then he looked at Hitotaro Imamura, "Sir, I have a request."
"explain."
"I requested Kentaro to be sent to join this mission." Kogoro Imamura said.
"Kentaro?" Imamura Hitotaro was slightly surprised. He did not expect that Imamura Kogoro would make this request.
This made Imamura Hitaro a little wild.
"You have to know that Kentaro's identity is very important and cannot be easily exposed." said Hitotaro Imamura.
"Sir, I mean, please ask the Wang Baihai regime to agree to the participation of "Secretary Cheng" to provide necessary assistance to the Empire's military operation." Kogoro Imamura smiled and said, "Cheng Qianfan is a senior general of the Wang Baihai regime. He is also a land tiger in Shanghai. He has a considerable influence and energy. It is reasonable for the Empire to invite him to participate in it."
Looking at Imamura Hitotaro, Imamura Kogoro paused for a moment and continued, "And I believe that whether it is Wang Baihai, Chu Mingyu, or Wang generals like Li Mingzhuan, they will be happy to see Cheng Qianfan being needed and trusted by the empire."
Imamura Hitaro did not answer this question from Imamura Kogoro. He thought for a while before nodding slightly, "Okay, I agree. How to do it in detail, you should consider it before operating, and don't arouse Wang's suspicion."
"Hayi."
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Chapter completed!