Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 142 Li Huaishuang: "Why are you telling me you're not confident?"

The reason why Nanjing asked Li Huaishuang to come was actually to show some appeasement. After all, he was Li Jiqian's good friend, and Zheng Yi still had to give the Li family some face.

The reason why he brought soldiers here was just to express a little anger. After all, the situation on Zheng Yi's side was known to the country. Two or three hundred soldiers were not here to mutiny.

This was of course also a test. After all, the Nanyang Chinese of this period were completely different from the Nanyang Chinese of later generations. The Republic of China recognized dual citizenship. All overseas Chinese were Chinese, and Zheng Yi was a new generation of immigrants.

You should know that the Nationalist government has liaison offices overseas, and its influence on overseas Chinese is also extremely great, especially in some areas where Chinese people occupy the majority, they can really exercise a certain degree of management power.
Even more exaggerated is that in many areas of northern Myanmar, there are even formal letters of appointment and nominal superior-subordinate relationships.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Yi was so disrespectful.

He's simply a traitor.

Li Huaishuang had met Zheng Yi. When Penang really started out, it still used the steel furnace in Shijingshan. It was he who helped to get the furnace shipped from China.

In just less than five years, Zheng Yidu, who used to be very humble in his words and deeds and a junior who still needed his support, met again today, no, he hadn't even met him in person, but he had already given him a warning.

Times have changed, and things are different now. Li Huaishuang has been to Penang before. As a veteran of the Xinhai Revolution, he is very familiar with this place.

But it has only been a few years since he last saw it, and now when he looks at it again, he feels that this place is much more prosperous and lively than Shanghai, which makes him sigh with emotion.

Fortunately, Zheng Yi did not make him wait too long. He still respected these veterans of the Xinhai Revolution. Moreover, they did have a friendship before, so he did not want to embarrass him too much.

A little after six in the evening, Zheng Yi ordered someone to take Li Huaishuang to his home for entertainment. Since it was dinner time, he specially invited him to eat with him.

Zheng Yi was in the dining room of his own home, wearing only slippers and pajamas, showing no respect at all. He even brought his wife with him, who was also dressed casually, as if it was a private family dinner, without any intention of formal reception.

"Uncle Li, I haven't seen you for a long time. You look much thinner. Come, sit down."

As soon as he entered the room, Li Jiazhi came forward and greeted him proactively. Xiaohuan took out slippers for him to change into. Zheng Yi sat at the table without saying a word, just smiled at him and nodded.

Obviously, what Zheng Yi wanted to express was that the reason he met him was for the sake of Li Jiazhi and the Li family's face.

The person who came was a good uncle from his wife's family, not a so-called envoy, so people did not give him face.

"Hey~"

Zheng Yi was so tough and didn't give him, the so-called envoy, any face. He had no choice but to soften his stance and went to the table as his uncle, smiling and saying:
"Jiazhi, you have really found a husband of your dreams. Mr. Zheng, I haven't seen you for several years. You have really achieved great success in your career."

Zheng Yi also smiled and replied: "Not bad, I have finally led the Nanyang Chinese, especially those in Malaysia, to make a name for themselves. I have straightened my back and neck, and no longer have to bow to anyone or look at other people's faces.

Uncle Li, please sit down and try Jiazhi's cooking. Knowing you're here, Jiazhi rarely cooks for you herself."

She said she cooked the meal herself, but in reality, she only cut some fish and meat slices for hot pot, and all sorts of miscellaneous side dishes and food preparation were done by the maids and servants.
Li Jiazhi is also very busy now. After taking the position of director of the Labor Bureau, she has to deal with all kinds of chores almost every day.

It even felt like she was even more pressed for time than Zheng Yi himself.

After Li Huaishuang sat down, he was in no hurry to talk about business. Instead, he chatted with them about family matters while frying fish fillets in the pot. He also took the initiative to suggest drinking. After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Zheng Yi couldn't help but feel a little tipsy.

The two talked about old times for more than an hour, from the Xinhai Uprising to his helping Zheng Yi build a steel furnace. He played the emotional card until he burst into tears, and under the influence of alcohol, he changed his name from Mr. Zheng to nephew Zheng.

Then he brought up the serious matter, "My dear nephew, uncle, I'm just giving you some advice as an elder. I know you're patriotic, and some media outlets in China are always criticizing you for being too close to the Japanese and taking in too many Japanese."

"But what do they know? My dear nephew, this is the real anti-Japanese war. The people you migrated from Japan are the cream of Japanese society. Fighting on the battlefield is anti-Japanese war, and digging into the Japanese's corners after the battlefield is of course also anti-Japanese war."

Zheng Yi laughed and said, "Some so-called public intellectuals are not necessarily stupid, but really bad. During the Xinhai Revolution, a large number of revolutionaries had traveled to Japan.

Even now, there are probably quite a few intellectuals in China who still harbor inexplicable expectations of the Japanese.”

Li Huaishuang: "Alas, things in China are often ruined because there are too many traitors. It's just that the country is too poor, the national strength is too weak, and the people lack confidence.

This is why some people simply place their hopes on foreigners. It is always easier for the rich to bribe the poor, and the same is true between countries.

"Really? Haha."

Zheng Yi heard this but remained silent.

Li Huaishuang only used this sentence as an opening remark and did not delve into it, but said:
"My dear nephew, your sincere heart for resisting the Japanese is now known to the world. My dear nephew, you are really generous. In just a few months, you have donated millions of dollars. You are so generous.
I'm afraid even the national finances are far behind yours. In just five years, my dear nephew, you've become rich enough to rival a nation."

Zheng Yi laughed and said, "I can't say I'm as rich as a country. It's just that the fiscal revenue is too much to spend, and I'm just a commoner, so I don't have much to spend."

Li Huaishuang: "With the achievements of my nephew today, he is no longer a commoner. But my nephew, as the saying goes, people's words are scary.

I know that my nephew has a clear conscience and a heart for serving his country. However, of the millions of dollars he donated, not a single cent went to the central government. Instead, it all went to local tycoons."

"Nanjing does have some shortcomings, and I admit that, but no matter what, it is still the head of a country.

Since the late Qing Dynasty, China has been plagued by wars between warlords for more than twenty years, turning the country upside down and leaving the people destitute.

"It is also thanks to Nanjing that through the Northern Expedition and the Central Plains War, the blood of the Huangpu soldiers on the battlefield has led to the current situation and China has finally been completely unified.

My dear nephew, you are providing such large-scale aid to those generals and warlords who still have some military power and some autonomy. In the eyes of many ignorant people, isn't this going to lead China to division again? This will inevitably lead to criticism of you.

Zheng Yi laughed and said, "I would like to support you, but you are not resisting the Japanese. In northern Shaanxi, they have long been promoting anti-Japanese resistance. If you continue to advocate pacifying the country before resisting foreign aggression, wouldn't that be equivalent to wiping out the anti-Japanese armed forces?

At least from my perspective as an outsider, what I see is not resistance to Japan, but rather you attack whoever resists Japan.”

"I'm not treating you as a reactionary traitor regime and attacking you because I understand your difficulties and have a deep understanding of justice."

Li Huaishuang: "My dear nephew, you may not know that Nanjing is not completely unprepared for the anti-Japanese war. In addition to suppressing bandits, they are also preparing for the anti-Japanese war.
As early as the end of 1934, the "Non-Gold Suppression Force Training Plan" for 60 divisions began, and it was expected to be completed by the end of 37.

Zheng Yi, however, refused to give them any face and said, "They are just a bunch of ragtag troops. Even the elite troops would find it difficult to fight against the Japanese army. What use can those landlord armed forces be?"
Your military plan for the entire year is almost entirely focused on the civil war, and the nation's main forces are deployed westward.
The so-called training is nothing more than an excuse to erode local power. Have you already eliminated General Wang of Guizhou and General Liu of Sichuan?"

Li Huaishuang said, "Nephew, you don't know this. It's not just the training of these 60 divisions. We've also made many secret preparations, but you just don't know about it."

Zheng Yi heard this and said with a half-smile, "I don't know? They simply secretly built three lines of fortifications from Shanghai to Nanjing. At the same time, they also renovated the Jianghuai fortresses in Jiangyin, Zhenjiang, Nanjing, and Madang."

"Oh, and you also had Zhang Zhizhong set up a secret operations center in Suzhou, plotting an attack on Hongkou, fighting in downtown Shanghai, and eliminating the Japanese troops stationed in Shanghai, right?
Isn't it just about sending spies to the Japanese concession area in Hongkou to investigate the Japanese army's firepower deployment points? Well, that should be it, is there anything else?"

Li Huaishuang's eyes popped out: "You...you...how did you know?"

Zheng Yi only knew about the construction of the defense line.

After all, it was a major project. Although it was said to be built in secret, if someone wanted to investigate, with Zheng Yi's financial resources and his relationship with various warlords, it would be possible to find out that they were carrying out large-scale construction.

But how did he know about what happened in Suzhou?
He didn't know about this. He was told about it secretly before this trip.

The Nanjing side believed that although Zheng Yi was disrespectful to the central government and refused to obey discipline while overseas, and was indeed a bit difficult to control, he was probably genuinely patriotic and just had some misunderstandings about the Kuomintang government.

So they asked him to specifically tell him the news about the National Army's secret map of Shanghai in order to clear up the misunderstanding and, by the way, seek Zheng Yi's support on this matter.

But before he could even say it, Zheng Yi said it first.

How did he know?
No more than 100 people in the government knew about this strategic goal! "Mr. Zheng, could it be that among the top officials in the government, there is also your..."

Zheng Yi: "No, I learned it from the Japanese."

"Japan... Japan... Japan??"

Zheng Yi: "I don't have anyone in the high-ranking government, but I do have people in the high-ranking Japanese military. You know, I have some connections in Japan."

Li Huaishuang was dumbfounded when he heard this. He had originally planned to say a series of words to Zheng Yi, but now his mind was blank and he had forgotten everything.

"Japan... How did the Japanese know?"

As early as 1932, after the January th Battle of Shanghai, the Nationalist government and Japan signed the Shanghai Armistice Agreement. The Wusongkou and Lion Grove Forts were demolished, and Chinese troops were not allowed to be stationed east of Anting.

So for so many years, the East District Concession has actually been under the actual control of the Japanese. Over the years, they built a very strong fortress in the East District and had a large number of Japanese navy.

Once the war breaks out, the Japanese can go up the river from here at any time, fight directly from east to west along the Yangtze River, and use the Yangtze River waterway to transport supplies.

During the war, the most difficult beach landing for the attacking side was completed as early as 1932. The Yangtze River estuary in Shanghai is definitely the best landing point on China's long coastline, without a doubt.

Zheng Yi couldn't help but sneer and said: "During the Battle of Shanghai, there shouldn't have been any bullshit armistice agreement signed. The Japanese's wolfish ambitions were so clear.
After the September 18th Incident, we should have fought them with determination, not giving up an inch of territory and fighting to the death. If we had been able to mobilize the entire nation's military to fight them, the Japanese might not have been able to land in Shanghai."

"In 1932, you didn't fight, allowing them to come over, station troops, and build fortresses. But now you're thinking about how to drive them out, and are even preparing to mobilize the entire country's troops to drive them out. What's your thinking?"

"They have been waiting for so many years. What they are waiting for is the transformation of militarism, waiting for large-scale industrial production, waiting for more artillery shells, bullets, warships, and fighter planes. What are you waiting for?

Four years have passed, and these four years can be said to have been a complete transformation for Japan, especially after the February 226th Incident, when all industrial enterprises in society transformed and began producing military products.

"And you, four years later, how much stronger have you become than you were four years ago? It's an agricultural nation versus an industrial nation, and I don't see you having any intention of vigorously developing industry. The longer you have to prepare, the greater the advantage they'll have. Don't you understand this principle?"

Li Huaishuang: “…………”

What Zheng Yi was talking about was naturally the famous Battle of Shanghai.

He has no spies among the high-ranking officials in Japan, but as a time traveler, he is naturally more foresighted about some things.

Although the Battle of Shanghai highlighted a series of mistakes, such as chaotic command, unclear strategic objectives, and a messy battle layout,

However, Zheng Yi also acknowledged the cruelty and even heroism of this battle. To a certain extent, this battle did bring out the spirit of Chinese soldiers.

But damn, this was a battle that should have been fought in 1932!
Don't underestimate the short four years. The original time period was five years, but during these five years, Japan was truly reborn. Even though it was only a primary industrial country, the global economic crisis allowed the Japanese to buy American scrap steel at will.

The Japanese army in 1932 and Japan in 1937 are really completely different!

Five years, five years! Do you know how Japan survived these five years?

Of course, China was not ready five years ago.

But five years have passed, are you ready?

After all, the Chinese at this time had no idea how huge the war potential of a primary industrial country was through its so-called large-scale industrial production after completing war mobilization and war preparations.

However, now that things have come to this, it is meaningless to argue about who is right or wrong. Whether we should fight or not, the enemy's fortresses and fortifications have already been built.
Since Zheng Yi knew about this plan through Japan, why are you still keeping it a secret? He couldn't help but ask:

"Mr. Zheng, this is a serious matter. I dare to ask... I dare to ask... Do you know how the Japanese knew this? Could it be that there is... there is... there is a traitor within the high-ranking officials of the Nationalist government?"

Zheng Yi: "The Executive Yuan's Chief Secretary, Huang Jun, is now a genuine Japanese spy."

"Huang Jun?"

Li Huaishuang's face turned green. He was the chief secretary of the Executive Yuan. You have to know that although this kind of position cannot be said to be a high-ranking official, there is almost no correspondence that he cannot handle.

On the eve of the Battle of Shanghai in history, the Kuomintang government had a plan to sink the river, that is, to mobilize civilian ships to sink to the bottom of the Jiangyin River, and then pour sand and gravel into the river to completely block a section of the Jiangyin waters.

The Japanese warships and marines in Wuhan and other places were unable to enter or exit, catching them in a trap. At the very least, they were unable to support the Battle of Shanghai.

This confidential information was passed to the Japanese army through Huang Jun. As a result, the warships and Japanese residents were evacuated overnight before the national army sank into the river.

Li Huaishuang: "This person... this person is Wang's confidant, how could he..."

Zheng Yi couldn't help but laugh: "Yeah, so you think people with the surname Wang are good people?"

"No...it can't be."

Zheng Yi shrugged his shoulders when he heard this, saying, "Believe it or not."

Anyway, he reminded me.

In fact, just pointing out this one person may not be helpful. After all, if one Huang Jun falls, there are thousands of Huang Juns waiting in line behind him.

It is relatively easy for a strong country to attack a weak country, or a rich country to attack a poor country, to infiltrate and bribe them. After all, there are a large number of high-ranking officials of the Nationalist government living in Japan, so it is impossible to guard against them at all.

Especially in the early stages of the war, when the brutal face of militarism had not yet been fully exposed, some people who became traitors might have thought they were quite noble.

Li Huaishuang: "I understand, but Mr. Zheng, I want to tell you that the Nationalist government is very determined to resist Japan and has made many corresponding preparations.

Mr. Zheng has a deep patriotic heart and is willing to support the motherland's war of resistance. I and most knowledgeable people in China express our deep admiration for him."

"Thank you."

"No matter what, Nanjing is also the head of a nation. This is a national war. Mr. Zheng is willing to donate money and materials, but it should be donated to Nanjing, and the central government should fully coordinate, rather than letting the branches become strong and the trunk weak, each fighting on its own, until it becomes a mess."

After saying that, Zheng Yi threw down the towel and went upstairs.

I'm so busy that I really don't want to waste any more time talking to him.

However, Li Jiazhi smiled and said:
"Uncle Li, Yilang was too busy during the day and may be a little tired. I hope you can forgive me for my impoliteness. However, I also think that the anti-Japanese war should be done in action rather than in words.

So far, even I don't know whether your government, as the central government, has any say in this matter. Yilang often told me that the pro-Japanese people in the upper echelons of the government are like ministers crossing the river.
It was even higher than it once was, unbelievable. Who knows whether you want to fight or surrender? If you really want the supplies from Penang, please take some concrete action.

Li Huaishuang: “…………”

He originally wanted to persuade Zheng Yi and show the National Government's determination to resist Japan.

How come he didn't show any determination at all while eating a meal, and instead seemed a little shaken by what Zheng Yi said?

Huang Jun is a spy?
Is Wang, the man behind Huang Jun, also a spy?
Is there such a high-level spy?

This is too much.

(End of this chapter)