Quartermasters can also fight the devils

Chapter 114 July 7

At Zhenjiang Railway Station, all the people who came to take the train today were surprised to find that there was a platform with many soldiers in military uniforms standing on it, and some people who were obviously officers were directing the soldiers to be on guard.

At 11 o'clock in the morning, a train emitting black smoke slowly drove into Platform 3 of Zhenjiang Railway Station. As the train entered, all the soldiers on the platform took off their rifles. This made people on other platforms confused and they thought some important person had arrived.

As soon as the train stopped, Zhang Wenwu jumped off and said to Lei Dong who was waiting on the platform, "Hurry, these three carriages are full of our supplies, hurry up and move them."

Wang Gui, the company commander of the first company of the special forces battalion, also trotted over and directed the soldiers to escort the supplies. He then asked the porters who had been hired to quickly move the supplies from the carriage to the platform, and then another team of porters moved the supplies to the trucks that had been waiting.

Captain Bao of the transport company also came over with a smile on his face and asked Zhang Wenwu, "Deputy Director Zhang, what good things have you got for our division?" As he spoke, he subconsciously handed Zhang Wenwu a cigarette.

Zhang Wenwu pulled him to a place far away from the supplies, then took the cigarette from Captain Bao's hand and said with a smile, "Well, we did get some good stuff back this time, including some British canned food. When Captain Bao comes to the quartermaster's office, I'll get you two boxes of canned food to try."

When Captain Bao heard that there were canned foods from foreigners to eat, his face immediately broke into smiles and he thanked Zhang Wenwu repeatedly.

Zhang Wenwu followed the first batch of trucks carrying supplies back to the division headquarters. As soon as he entered the operations hall, he saw Division Commander Huang Jinxian walking in from the door. Zhang Wenwu quickly stood at attention and greeted him.

When Huang Jinxian saw that it was Zhang Wenwu, he hurried over with a bright smile on his face, and took Zhang Wenwu into the office of Chief of Staff Zhao Dong.

"Wenwu, you have made a great contribution this time. You have provided so many weapons, ammunition and medicines to the troops." Huang Jinxian patted Zhang Wenwu's shoulder and praised him with a smile.

Chief of Staff Zhao Dong also came over from behind his desk and said with satisfaction: "Yes, Wenwu is simply the God of Wealth of our division. Commander, we must reward this little God of Wealth of our division. We can't let him run away. Haha."

After hearing what Chief of Staff Zhao Dong said, Zhang Wenwu also expressed his humility for a few words, and then immediately reported: "Division Commander, Chief of Staff, I have negotiated with the British. In a few days, I will be able to buy at least five Bofors 75mm mountain guns and some shells from them. They will be transported by train when the time comes."

"Swish" Division Commander Huang Jinxian had just sat down on a chair. After hearing Zhang Wenwu's report, he immediately stood up excitedly, walked up to Zhang Wenwu and said, "Wenwu, is this true? Can you get five cannons from the British?" This news really made him extremely excited. He had been worrying about the artillery battalion during this period of time, but he had run to the military headquarters so many times, and Commander Luo had also submitted several reports, but the Military and Political Department did not approve it, saying that there was no artillery stock. This made Commander Luo helpless. He did not expect that Zhang Wenwu could bring him such a big surprise and solve the artillery issue.

When Zhang Wenwu saw that Commander Huang was so excited, he quickly reported the details and said that he would definitely buy the artillery back successfully.

After resting in Zhenjiang for two days, Zhang Wenwu returned to Shanghai again and found Smith to ask about the artillery. Smith immediately called Rick at the British Embassy to inquire about the matter. Rick said that he had collected six Bofors 75mm mountain cannons and 600 artillery shells for Zhang Wenwu, and the transaction could be carried out in Shanghai at the latest the day after tomorrow.

On the morning of the third day, Zhang Wenwu, led by Smith, conducted the handover of the artillery in a British trading company in Shanghai. Zhang Wenwu received a total of 23,000 pounds in profit from the two transactions of fake antiques. This time, the artillery and shells cost Zhang Wenwu 21,600 pounds. However, Zhang Wenwu didn't care about that. He only had eyes for the pile of artillery parts boxes in front of him.

When Zhang Wenwu returned to the 102nd Division with the purchased artillery, he immediately asked Lei Dong to tell those business partners that they would only accept silver dollars and gold bars as profit sharing in the future. At the same time, he went to find Mr. Xue Si and exchanged most of the French currency in the Quartermaster Department for silver dollars. He knew that after a few months, when China and Japan officially went to war, the French currency would depreciate at a terrible speed.

On May 28, 1937, the new British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain came to power, and European appeasement reached its peak. Japan accelerated its preparations for aggression against China.

At 1 o'clock in the evening on July 3, 8, when the Japanese army was conducting exercises near the Marco Polo Bridge, 29 kilometers southwest of Peiping City, they used the excuse that a private named "Shimura Kikujiro" from the 37th Squadron, 110rd Battalion, 219st Regiment, Hebian Masaaki Brigade of the 3th Division was missing, and they needed to enter Wanping County that night to investigate. However, they were flatly refused by the rd Battalion, th Regiment, th Brigade, th Division of the th Army of China. Subsequently, the Japanese army opened fire on Wanping City and the Marco Polo Bridge, and the Chinese defenders launched a counterattack.

Zhang Wenwu did not rest that day. He moved a chair into the yard and sat facing north. Although he could not see Wanping City and Lugou Bridge, nor hear the sound of gunfire, he just sat there. Only by sitting like this facing the north could he try to calm himself down.

At twelve o'clock in the evening, the phone in the Quartermaster Office rang. Lei Dong got up from the bed and answered the call. After listening to the content of the call, Lei Dong hurriedly shouted in the yard: "Deputy Director Zhang, the Chief of Staff wants you to go to the operations hall for a meeting immediately." But Zhang Wenwu was no longer in the yard.

The moment the phone rang, Zhang Wenwu immediately stood up, put on his military cap, straightened his military uniform, and walked quickly to the operations hall of the division headquarters. He knew that the wheel of history had finally come to this critical day.

In the operations hall of the division headquarters, all the officers in the division headquarters had gathered together. Except for Zhang Wenwu, the others did not know what had happened. Everyone asked each other about the situation of this emergency meeting.

After everyone arrived, Division Commander Huang and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong walked into the operations hall solemnly. Deputy Division Commander Qi was not in the army at the moment because he had gone to the Lushan Officer Training Corps for training some time ago.

Everyone looked at Commander Huang Jinxian quietly, waiting for him to tell them what was going on.

"Brothers, just now, I received a telegram from Commander Luo of the military headquarters. At 29 o'clock in the evening, the Japanese launched an attack on Wanping City where the 102th Army is stationed. This is intolerable. The Japanese are going too far. This is a contempt for us Chinese and a humiliation for our generation of Chinese soldiers. Commander Luo has ordered that all officers and soldiers of the nd Division cancel their leave and be ready to go to the front line to participate in the battle at any time. All officers and soldiers who fail to return to the team on time will be treated as deserters." Commander Huang spoke the matter out in indignation. When the officers in the hall heard that they were going to go to war with the Japanese, they were immediately excited. Everyone had been holding back for a long time, and they also wanted to fight the Japanese, but without orders from above they had no way to do so.

Now, some officers immediately shouted to kill the Japs, some shouted to drive the Japanese out of China, and some northern officers shouted excitedly to recover the Northeast. When Commander Huang saw this scene, he did not stop everyone from venting their emotions. He and Chief of Staff Zhao Dong felt that this was a good situation. At least the military spirit was high and morale was high.

Following the order from Commander Huang, the entire 102nd Division was mobilized. Zhang Wenwu also directed Lei Dong and Li Houcai to distribute the necessary supplies in an orderly manner to the officers from various units who came to collect the war preparations.

On the morning of July 219, the Japanese army sent reinforcements to try to surround Wanping City. The 219rd Battalion of the 219th Regiment stationed in Wanping City fought desperately under the command of Battalion Commander Jin Zhenzhong, and sent a request for help to his superior, the 3th Regiment Commander Ji Xinwen. At the time of the incident, the th Regiment Commander Ji Xingwen was leading the st and nd Battalions stationed in Changxindian, while Jin Zhenzhong's rd Battalion was responsible for stationing Lugou Bridge and Wanping County.

That afternoon, the Japanese Third Battalion attacked Longwang Temple and the nearby railway bridge. There were only two platoons of the 29th Army guarding the bridgehead. After a heroic and tenacious resistance, they were ultimately outnumbered and more than 60 soldiers died heroically.

After receiving Jin Zhenzhong's request for help, Ji Xinwen urgently led his troops to Wanping City for rescue.

At twelve o'clock that night, Ji Xingwen personally led a suicide squad of 150 people, carrying rifles, grenades and swords, and rappelled down from the city wall of Wanping City under the cover of night, sneaking along the Yongding River to the railway bridge, unexpectedly appearing in front of the Japanese army, and wiped out a squadron of Japanese garrison troops on the railway bridge, successfully recaptured the railway bridge and the Dragon King Temple, which greatly boosted the morale of the Chinese defenders.

The gunshots at Lugou Bridge and Wanping City immediately ignited anti-Japanese sentiment across China. The streets were filled with workers from various schools and factories marching, shouting slogans and mobilizing everyone to donate. Usually, the recruitment offices of various military units in Monroe were crowded with young students who wanted to sign up to join the army.

Zhang Wenwu also took some time to visit Fourth Master Xue. He told Fourth Master Xue to move all the industries and personnel to the west as soon as possible, as Zhenjiang City would probably be unstable in the future. Fourth Master Xue said that after listening to Zhang Wenwu's advice last year, he had gradually moved all the industries to Chongqing and established connections with the local Pao Brothers. He was also planning to take his whole family and men to Chongqing in a few days. He also left his address in Chongqing to Zhang Wenwu, asking him to come to Chongqing to find him if he had the chance.

On that day, the person above sent a telegram to Song Mingxuan to order that Wanping City should be defended firmly and not retreated, and that all personnel should be mobilized in case the situation escalates.

On July 26, the Military Commission of the Chinese government ordered the whole country to prepare for war, and ordered the four divisions of the 4th Army led by Sun Lianzhong and others to be under the command of Song Mingxuan, and to go to Baoding and Shijiazhuang to support the 29th Army in combat.

(Thanks to : Fu Ming of Yiyuyidong for the gift support! I changed the name overnight, everyone can take a look.)