Sword: Heart of Iron

Chapter 201 Conquering the world is easy, governing it is difficult
5 month 30 day.

Two o'clock in the afternoon.

Instead of going to the government offices in the city, Wang Feng found a room with a mahogany table in the military camp, cleaned it up a bit, and began to deal with the trivial matters that had occurred after entering the city.

"Dong Dong Dong~"

A soft knock sounded on the door.

Zhao Fangyuan strode in: "Sir, the abducted civilians have been found!"

Wang Feng jumped to his feet: "Found it?"

"over there!"

Zhao Fangyuan sighed and handed over the documents: "We found 154 people in the prison, but only 130 survived. The remaining 24 were all dead by the time we arrived."

Wang Feng: "Dead?"

"How did you die!"

The Japanese soldiers abducted women for what they wanted. According to the locals, only seven or eight days have passed since this happened, so how could so many people have died?
Zhao Fangyuan pulled a stack of photos from his pocket: "Sir, these are photos I took at the scene. Without exception, all the girls who died in these accidents met a tragic end. Lang Shaohua personally performed the autopsies, and the specific causes of death are..."

Wang Feng hurriedly asked, "What was the cause of death?"

Zhao Fangyuan: "They suffered severe abuse before their deaths, with multiple external injuries, mostly closed wounds. Some also died from high fever caused by infection and inflammation, given the environment in the dungeon."

As the Chief of the General Staff of the entire army, in addition to participating in the formulation of military decisions, he also had to liaise with the subordinate combat units on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief. Over time, he became familiar with various professional terms.

Wang Feng slammed his fist on the table: "Damn those Japanese devils, all those young girls they kidnapped were sent to be comfort women?"

Zhao Fangyuan shook his head: "It shouldn't be. It seems like it was done by one person."

Wang Feng frowned: "Alone?"

"The Japanese battalion commander?"

Zhao Fangyuan nodded.

Wang Feng: "Have all those Japanese soldiers' corpses been disposed of? Go tell Zhang Hu to dig out the body of the Japanese battalion commander!"

Zhao Fangyuan: "News came from the other side of the city wall that all the Japanese officers were blown to bits. Our men only found some uniforms and fragments of collar insignia at the scene."

Wang Feng waved his hand dismissively: "Collect them all and hang them on the city wall!"

"We must give the people an explanation for this matter!"

Zhao Fangyuan stood at attention: "Yes, sir!"

Wang Feng: Is there anything else?

Zhao Fang glanced out the window, and only felt relieved when he saw the patrolmen walk by: "Sir, we've discovered a large quantity of opium in the city!"

Wang Feng raised an eyebrow: "Opium?"

Zhao Fangyuan nodded: "I did a rough count, and it's about a ton!"

Wang Feng was somewhat surprised.

So much opium?
More than a ton.
If this happened in my previous life, the anti-drug department would have probably dedicated five minutes of their evening news broadcast to reporting on it.

This can be considered a major case nationwide.

Zhao Fangyuan: "Heze is near the Yellow River, so I estimate the actual number is probably far more than this!"

"Sir, what should we do?"

Wang Feng thought for a moment and said, "It must be banned! I don't care about other places, but as long as it's within my jurisdiction, no opium or smoky shall be allowed to circulate in the market!"

Zhao Fangyuan said with some concern: "Sir, simply banning the sale is probably not a cure!"

“Heze is not far from Lanfeng. We saw it when we came here. Even though there were Japanese activities, there was a constant stream of merchants coming and going. Now that it’s banned, I’m afraid that after a while, people will still be trading in private.”

"After all, this kind of thing is tacitly allowed to be sold in other places."

"The root cause is the Nationalist government. While it officially prohibited the sale of opium, it secretly supported such activities."

"Sir, as far as I know, opium and narcotics sales outlets are now spread throughout major cities across the country, forming a fairly large trade network. Promoting a ban in only a few cities, no matter how hard we try, will not yield much result."

"It must be banned! Others may ignore it, but we cannot. If we continue to allow opium to run rampant, I fear China will have no soldiers left to fight and no army to defend against enemies!" Wang Feng paced back and forth on the ground.

"Just like in Changzhi, we should conduct strict inspections every now and then, increase the penalties for opium traffickers, and execute anyone who sells more than one jin (500 grams)!"

"That's the only way."

Heze is different from Changzhi. Changzhi is a mountainous plateau region, and as long as checkpoints are set up at various transportation routes, 90% of the opium inflow can be prevented.

The terrain is rugged, with only a few traversable paths, making it easy to navigate.

Heze is different.

In the vast plains, setting up checkpoints at major transportation routes using the same method as in Changzhi would have minimal effect.

If the main road is impassable, then walk on the grassland!
Where isn't a road?
As long as you want to go, there are roads in all directions.

Wang Feng did not believe that those opium dealers were incapable of doing such a thing.

The opium trade was extremely profitable, and driven by greed, people were willing to risk everything, even the deaths of a few people, let alone forging a path through the wilderness.

Zhao Fangyuan nodded: "Yes!"

Outside the city wall.

The people temporarily lowered their guard, and the once deserted streets were now crowded with people, but not lively.

There was even a deathly stillness to it.

People hung white mourning clothes in every household, and as they walked down the street, the sound of sobbing could be faintly heard, and the air was filled with the smell of burning paper.

"The Japanese officers have all been killed in the bombing, and their uniforms have been hung on the city wall by the soldiers. Everyone, go and take a look!"

"The Japanese officers have all been killed in the bombing!"

"Bombed to death? Where?"

"On the south city wall!"

No sooner had Zhang Hu and his soldiers hung it up than the news spread throughout the entire city.

Upon hearing the news, the woman, who had been sobbing with her head down, immediately wiped away her tears and hurried away, mingling with the crowd heading towards the south city wall.

--------

South city wall.

Zhang Hu took a small stool and sat down in the shade under the city wall. The smell of blood from the fierce battle, mixed with a faint stench of corpses, permeated the air and lingered for a long time.

The soldiers had gotten used to the smell, and taking advantage of this spare moment, they pulled out white steamed buns from their pockets and wolfed them down.

Zhang Hu lit a cigarette, and a gentle breeze carried away the smoke he exhaled.

E Yi: "Sir, if we stay here and keep watch, nothing should happen, right?"

Zhang Hu cleared his throat: "Who knows? The people hate the Japanese to the bone. As long as it's not too extreme, we can just turn a blind eye."

E Yi nodded and looked up ahead: "Sir, the people are coming!"

At the end of the road, a large crowd of people surged toward them, their heads moving about, but the noise was not loud; only the dense, heavy footsteps could be heard.

Zhang Hu looked up, then threw away the cigarette in his hand.
"Nine out of ten houses in China are empty, and every household is dressed in white mourning clothes."

"Damn those little devils!"

E Yi also sighed:

"The Commander-in-Chief is right, we're too late."

While the two were talking, the crowd had already reached the foot of the city wall.

The people stared wide-eyed at the blood-soaked fragments of the Japanese uniform nailed to the wall, their eyes bloodshot. They looked as if they wanted to rush up and tear it to shreds.

The widowed women began to weep again, covering their faces.

"The soldiers have avenged you, so you can rest in peace."

"Daughter."

Zhang Hu sighed, "Have all the Japanese soldiers' corpses been disposed of?"

E Yi glanced at the time: "The first batch has already been burned, and the second batch should be done soon."

Zhang Hu: "Take the people over there and take a look. Be careful, just in case something goes wrong."

E Yi saluted: "Yes!"

------

Inside the military camp.

Wang Feng switched to an overhead view, gazing at the people at the foot of the city wall, and murmured softly:
"War is a nightmare for ordinary people. No matter which side wins, how much of the fruits of victory will the ordinary people ultimately enjoy?"

"Sir, the civilians have all gone over there. Zhang Hu is overseeing things, so there shouldn't be any problems." Zhao Fangyuan walked over and handed over a document. "The preliminary post-war population statistics are in."

Wang Feng responded and took it, glancing at it briefly.

Zhao Fangyuan explained from the side, "Sir, these population data are compiled from local county records and past statistical data, and there may be considerable errors compared to the actual situation."

Wang responded and opened the file book.

The urban population of Heze County was approximately 3 two years ago. According to his observation, the population of the old urban area is now probably only around 2.

The surrounding rural population is roughly between 15 and 20.

In other areas, such as Cao County and Yuncheng County, the population is around 30 to 40. If we estimate based on 8 counties, the local population is between 200 million and 240 million.

Population equals war potential!

Zhao Fangyuan: "Sir, there's more good news!"

Wang Feng closed the file book and raised an eyebrow: "What's wrong?"

Zhao Fangyuan handed over a telegram: "Good news from the First Vehicle Factory: our first experimental light tank has been produced!"

(End of this chapter)