noffsinger Chapter 143: Do it big
Chapter 143: Do it big
Wu Jincheng handed Zhang Wenwu a glass of boiled water, then shook his head and said helplessly: "Deputy Director Zhang, you don't know that the supplies in the military depot are almost exhausted. The supplies that were urgently transported here after the war started have been almost consumed. Just talk about the replenishment of troops. You have personally experienced how many replenishment troops were sent to your division. How could you not know that? But don't the front urge you to send the replenishment troops back every day? This is just the troops of your division. How many troops do you think need replenishment in Shanghai now? That amount of replenishment is not enough."
Wu Jincheng also had a lot of grievances in his heart. He had a closer relationship with Zhang Wenwu. As the conversation came to this point, he couldn't help but complain to Zhang Wenwu about his inner depression.
"Deputy Director Zhang, do you know how much supplies are left in the military station now?" Wu Jincheng exhaled a puff of smoke and asked Zhang Wenwu mysteriously.
Zhang Wenwu was confused. How could he know how much supplies were left in the military station? However, Wu Jincheng's question aroused his curiosity, so he quickly followed Wu Jincheng's words and asked, "How much supplies are left?"
Seeing Zhang Wenwu cooperating with him so well, Wu Jincheng nodded and said with a teachable expression, "Deputy Director Zhang, when the war just started in Shanghai, in order to cope with the losses on the battlefield, the Military Commission sent 10,000 Chinese-made rifles, 1,000 light machine guns, 500 heavy machine guns, 30 million rounds of bullets, 15,000 boxes of grenades, and 5,000 Chinese-made 75mm shells to the military depot. Up to now, only 300 Chinese-made rifles, 20 light machine guns, 3 heavy machine guns, and 30 boxes of grenades are left. The rest are gone, and this is despite the continuous replenishment of ammunition shipped in from the back every day."
After hearing that the entire military station only had such a small amount of weapons in stock, Zhang Wenwu stared at Wu Jincheng in amazement and said, "What about replenishing the troops?"
"Huh, as for replenishing troops, Deputy Director Zhang, forget about it recently. Not only your 18th Army has suffered heavy losses, but all other troops have also fought fiercely. Let's not talk about others, just take the First Army as an example. They have only been in Shanghai for a few days. Do you know how much casualties there are? Ninety percent, 90% of the officers and soldiers are gone. How many people are needed to replenish them alone? Just look at the daily battle reports. How many regiment commanders, brigade commanders, and even division commanders have been killed. Just imagine how many people below have died." Wu Jincheng's face was full of regret when he talked about these losses.
Zhang Wenwu smoked silently, and couldn't help cursing: "Fuck those little Japanese, they are all bad people."
When Wu Jincheng heard Zhang Wenwu's scolding, he sighed and said, "Hey, Deputy Director Zhang, we just need to do our best. It's much better than those who are still helping the Japanese provide supplies."
When Zhang Wenwu heard Wu Jincheng say that someone was providing supplies to the Japanese, his eyes lit up and he immediately asked, "Deputy Stationmaster Wu, what do you mean by someone providing supplies to the Japanese?"
Wu Jincheng took a look at Zhang Wenwu's shining eyes and immediately knew what he was thinking, so he quickly said: "Deputy Director Zhang, you have to calm down. Those people are influential businessmen in Shanghai and the surrounding areas. Moreover, they are all Chinese. You can't use that trick, you can't use it." He had to persuade Zhang Wenwu.
Zhang Wenwu did not respond to Wu Jincheng's dissuasion. He knew what Wu Jincheng was worried about, but he didn't care. Zhang Wenwu glanced at Wu Jincheng, leaned closer and whispered, "Deputy Station Master Wu, do you want to get rich?"
When Wu Jincheng heard Zhang Wenwu say that he could make a fortune, he couldn't help but feel a little relieved, but he didn't agree to Zhang Wenwu immediately. Instead, he stood up and walked around in the office. He had to weigh the pros and cons. After thinking for a while, Wu Jincheng said fiercely: "Let's do it, Deputy Director Zhang, how are you going to do it?"
As soon as Zhang Wenwu saw that Wu Jincheng was willing to give in, he immediately told Wu Jincheng about his plan. Basically, Wu Jincheng would be responsible for transportation and finding sales channels, while Zhang Wenwu would be responsible for finding the factories that provided supplies to the Japanese and getting the supplies back to Nanxiang Station. The military station and Zhang Wenwu would then split the profits 50-50.
Zhang Wenwu planned to take advantage of the rain in the past two days to launch a major operation to wipe out all the warehouses and factories around Shanghai that provided supplies to the Japanese. At the same time, he would also be able to get more supplies back for all the troops on the front line. Instead of selling these supplies to the Japanese at a low price, it would be better to take them back and use them on the soldiers on the front line.
Wu Jincheng looked at Zhang Wenwu with some concern and said, "Deputy Director Zhang, isn't this a bit too big of a deal?" What he meant was that it would be enough to just deal with one or two factory warehouses. If things got too big, he was afraid that something big would happen. After all, these people were still Chinese. He was afraid that these people would find some newspapers and say that they allowed their soldiers to plunder civilian supplies or something like that. That would be a big deal.
Zhang Wenwu felt that Wu Jincheng was worrying too much. It was one thing to do one business or many businesses. Besides, they were all materials prepared to be provided to the Japanese, so no one would feel any burden. As for newspapers, that was even less of a problem. Zhang Wenwu was going to take the initiative. From the day he started the action, he was going to publish all the information about these factories and the bosses behind them in newspapers in Shanghai and across the country. As for finding a gunman, who wouldn't be able to do it? Besides, he was on the right side. The voice of public opinion would definitely be on his side. Who would dare to speak for those traitorous businessmen? Whoever said so would be a traitor and a traitor, and he would be labeled a traitor.
After listening to Zhang Wenwu's analysis and preparation, Wu Jincheng found that it was indeed as Zhang Wenwu said. From this perspective, this thing can really be done, and it is also a contribution to the fight against the Japanese.
So the two of them studied the details again, and then Zhang Wenwu called Mr. Xu in Shanghai and asked him to help find out who was providing supplies to the Japanese and where the factories and warehouses were.
For an old hand like Mr. Xu, it was very easy to find out all the information. After Zhang Wenwu wrote down the names and factory warehouse addresses that Mr. Xu mentioned on the phone, he immediately returned to the temporary camp. He asked Li Houcai to go back to the division headquarters immediately to report to Chief of Staff Zhao Dong on what he was going to do. For this kind of thing, he had to inform the chief officers of the troops first, so that the officers could be mentally prepared.
At 9 o'clock in the evening, the freight train to Suzhou returned to Nanxiang Station with Wang Mazi's company of officers and soldiers. Zhang Wenwu had asked Wu Jincheng to send people to deliver the food to the platform. When Wang Mazi arrived, he asked all the officers and soldiers and drivers to eat quickly. While everyone was eating, he told everyone what he was going to do next.
Wang Mazi and the brothers in his company are so excited now. It is such a relief to rob the Japanese of their supplies. This is a task arranged according to their interests and hobbies. What's more, Zhang Wenwu also gave rewards to everyone, which made everyone feel it was worth it.
Each of the three train drivers received five dollars, and Zhang Wenwu also promised that after the job was done, each of them would be rewarded with ten dollars. The three were very happy and thanked him repeatedly, and promised to drive the train to wherever Zhang Wenwu wanted to go.
That night, Zhang Wenwu took Cao Huaguo and Wang Mazi's company of brothers to start a pleasant journey of collecting supplies. After Wu Jincheng talked about this matter with the stationmaster of the military station and obtained his consent, he asked He Qin and his cousin to take a company of military police to block the outermost platform of the station to ensure the safety of the transported goods.
The next day, major newspapers in Shanghai began to publish reports exposing traitorous businessmen. The newspapers cursed these people's ancestors for eight generations. The literati did not even use dirty words when scolding people, but after reading it, you will be so angry that you will go and reunite with your ancestors. When these businessmen wanted to find someone to write a few articles to fight back, no one dared to take the job. No matter how much money they offered, no one would do it. At this time, who would dare to do it? The saliva of the common people could drown them.
Zhang Wenwu didn't care about what was in the newspaper. He led his men to raid factories and warehouses one by one according to the addresses given by Mr. Xu. Zhang Wenwu also knew what it meant to plunder everything in a desperate situation.
Wang Mazi and his gang are indeed professionals. They will search for the places where you hide money in the warehouse or factory and they will find it accurately. As for the workers in the factory, Zhang Wenwu gave them a lecture and told them that they were now making supplies for the Japanese and that they were indirectly helping the Japanese to bully the Chinese. Then the workers in the factory were all filled with righteous indignation and expressed their support for the army's actions. They also led Zhang Wenwu and his gang and directed them to the locations of other warehouses in the factory. More people spontaneously helped Zhang Wenwu and his gang to transport the supplies to the train not far away.
The task Zhang Wenwu gave to Cao Huaguo was to get all the safes in every factory and warehouse onto the train, and then Cao Huaguo would be responsible for opening them one by one, because Zhang Wenwu liked the feeling of opening a blind box.
At the same time, Wu Jincheng also tried his best to contact all the big businessmen in the rear, indicating that he had all kinds of raw materials they needed. If they needed, they could send people to inspect the goods. If they bought them, he could also be responsible for sending a train to deliver them to the nearby station. As for the freight, that was of course calculated separately.
This operation was not stopped until the sky cleared three days later. It was not that Zhang Wenwu did not want to continue, but he considered that after the weather cleared, the Japanese army would start attacking the Chinese army's positions again, and the officers and soldiers of his company would have to go to the front line to participate in the battle. Moreover, as soon as the weather improved, Japanese planes would come over for reconnaissance and bombing, which would also pose a great threat to the train.