Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 206: Medical Soldiers and Arts Soldiers, Butterfly Wings
Penang First Hospital's senior ward.

"Hello, Mr. Ke. I've heard a lot about you. You are the pride of us Fuqing people."

In the ward, Zheng Yi personally brought gifts to comfort a middle-aged man lying quietly on the bed. At the door, local Penang, American and British media were frantically wasting film to record the moment when the two people shook hands.

The foreign reporters didn’t feel much, but the local reporters in Penang were extremely excited.

The power of the Fuqing Gang has grown again.

"Compared to your achievements, Mr. Zheng, I am truly like a firefly compared to the bright moon. I have truly admired you for a long time."

This person was naturally the Fuqing overseas Chinese leader, Ke Quanshou, who was exchanged for 200 tons of gasoline.

This man was originally a doctor in the Dutch East Indies. He had studied in the Netherlands and built a hospital in Jakarta specifically to treat poor Chinese. He often provided free medical treatment and had a very high prestige among the Chinese in Jakarta.

After the outbreak of the domestic war of resistance, he had been in Jakarta to raise medicines for the domestic war, and personally formed four medical teams to raise medicines. It is said that the total value of medicines he raised and donated exceeded 5000 million Hong Kong dollars.

When the Japanese army began to attack the Dutch East Indies, he formed a medical team to serve as a medical team for the Dutch.

What he never expected was that the 100,000 Allied forces from Britain, the Netherlands, the United States and Australia surrendered without even a decent resistance when faced with the 30,000 Japanese troops landing on the beach.

He and a group of overseas Chinese who had originally planned to follow the Dutch were all taken away by the Japanese and thrown into concentration camps.

This is also thanks to the existence of Zheng Yi in this time and space. You must know that in history, the Chinese in Indonesia were even more miserable. Even the Indonesian Chinese leader Zhuang Xiyan was captured by the Japanese army.

After all, who could have imagined that the Dutch, who were always so arrogant, would behave so poorly when facing a truly powerful enemy?
After the Japanese discovered that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation was willing to exchange gasoline for prisoners of war, they did not think much about it, or perhaps they did not care about political influence under the military tension. As long as Zheng Yi gave gasoline, anyone could exchange with him.

So much so that today in Palembang and Jakarta, no business is as popular as the prisoner exchange business, and only a small part of this prisoner trade is exchanged for gasoline.

Most of it was actually exchanged for Japanese Yen, cigars, high-end red wine, and even fucking European luxury cars.

You should know that European luxury cars are rare in the United States now. It is difficult to get them without special connections, but because of this, the prices are really super expensive.

Zheng Yi also requisitioned second-hand luxury cars from Penang and sold them to them in exchange for prisoners of war.

Not only Chinese prisoners of war, but also those from Britain, the United States and Australia were exchanged.

There is no need to change the Dutch. Both the European headquarters and the Asian branches of the Netherlands have been destroyed. They are indeed useless. Moreover, their reputation is too bad. Having a good relationship with them will not be conducive to friendly relations with its neighbor Indonesia in the future.

As to whether this prisoner exchange deal is profitable or not, that is a matter of opinion.

For Zheng Yi, as the head of the Chinese overseas community, he has always had relatively little contact with the Chinese overseas in the Dutch East Indies. Exchanging some Chinese overseas prisoners of war will help improve his legitimacy, especially among the Chinese overseas in the Dutch East Indies, which can greatly enhance his personal prestige.

The British, American and Australian prisoners of war can be sent back to their home countries to improve their diplomatic favorability. At the same time, they can also be arranged to appear on radio programs to tearfully denounce the atrocities of the Japanese army. Zheng Yi also filmed a documentary about them, accompanied by some shocking photos purchased from the Japanese army.

At least it makes Americans and Australians more angry with the Japanese.

What was quite surprising was that the exchange of these prisoners of war caused Ke Quanshou's prestige to soar again.

It turned out that when he was in the concentration camp, although Ke Quanshou was tortured every day, he still insisted on taking care of other injured inmates every day and actually saved many lives.

The light flickering in the darkness will naturally be more conspicuous than usual.

Zheng Yi would naturally let various international media report this matter extensively. No matter what, in the eyes of those foreigners, Ke Quanshou is also a Southeast Asian Chinese, which would increase their favorability.

This naturally also made Ke Quanshou's already high prestige even higher.

This person is not a tycoon, nor is he a rich man, but the situation of the Fuqing Gang is indeed special, and they do not lack a tycoon to lead them.

How big a tycoon can be bigger than Zheng Yi himself?
There is no way Koh Chuen-shou will escape the position of Director of the Health and Medical Department. As a Fuqing native in Penang, this time he is really given an added advantage.

Because he was tortured by the Japanese almost every day during his detention, Ke Quanshou's body was covered with bruises.

So after the man was rescued, he was not asked to do anything in a hurry. Instead, he was admitted to the hospital for comprehensive recuperation and treatment.

Of course, it was not just him. Most of the prisoners in the concentration camp were in hospitals or temporary hospitals. Zheng Yi also used this as an excuse to bring in many experienced and skilled medical teams from the United States.

Needless to say, those Chinese who were less seriously injured had already recovered and were fighting against the invaders, preparing to go to the front line in Alor Setar. Those who were seriously injured were gritting their teeth, determined to kill the Japanese and take revenge after their injuries healed.

Their cries and experiences also served as a very good internal propaganda: either win or the whole city will die in battle, Penang will not surrender, and in the most extreme case, they will never surrender even if they learn from Zhang Xun to defend the city!
It would be better to die than to surrender to the Japanese.

It was impossible to allow most of the American, Australian and British prisoners of war to return.

After all, transportation capacity is so tight now that it is impossible to transport people back to the United States. As for the UK, transportation has been cut off long ago, so people can only be transported to Australia.

Australia is also at war now. Anyway, we are fighting the Japanese everywhere, so we might as well stay in Penang.

Each of these people is a professional soldier, and their combat skills are actually quite high.

When the Japanese attacked them in the past, they had no desire to fight and only wanted to surrender.

Now, although they were all injured, they were all full of fighting spirit and were determined to fight the Japanese army to the death. They believed that only the blood of the Japanese could wash away the shame they had suffered.

This is actually a fatal weakness of militaristic countries such as Showa Japan: forcing the enemy who could have surrendered to fight to the death.

What a great ability! They want to imitate Genghis Khan's tactics. In Genghis Khan's time, the Mongolian cavalry had a crushing advantage over most of their opponents. Where does Japan get the confidence to think that it can have an advantage against the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, Australia, France, China and the Soviet Union if they join forces?
Of course, although refined oil was not the bulk of Zheng Yi's prisoner exchange, he still had to sell more than 3,000 tons of oil to the Japanese army in exchange for so many prisoners.

It did indeed greatly increase the strength of the Japanese army.

"Recover from your injuries and don't overthink it. I've received accurate intelligence that the Japanese army will soon attack Alor Setar. The decisive battle between the Southern Alliance and the Japanese army is imminent."

"I plan to establish a temporary medical school in Penang to train a large number of medical personnel and form a field medical corps. These tasks are all waiting for you to do. I have requested a thousand experienced medical personnel from the United States."

"This is a rare opportunity. We must use this opportunity to train our own medical team. In the future, I hope each of our companies will have a medical squad. After the war is over, we can also have as many modern hospitals as possible."

Ke Quanshou said, "Thank you, Mr. Zheng, for your trust. Don't worry, I'm fine. I can be discharged after a couple of days of rest. I'm just a doctor. I have no money and can't even handle a gun. All I know is how to heal illnesses and save lives."

"As long as you trust me, Mr. Zheng, I will do my utmost to build the medical and rescue system for the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation. Give me two years. As long as you trust and support me, I have the confidence to bring the health and medical field of the Southern Association for Regional Cooperation to the forefront of the world."

Zheng Yi: "Okay! Okay! Mr. Ke, you should take good care of your injuries first. I won't bother you anymore. We are all from the same hometown. If you need anything in Penang, just tell Mayor Wen."

Zheng Yi patted his hand gently and said goodbye.

He is indeed extremely busy all day long, otherwise, he would really like to have a good chat with this fellow villager.

Of course, the show must be put on, and condolences must be given to the other prisoners rescued together, and a few polite words must be said, especially to those from Britain, the United States and Australia, emphasizing that the friendship between the allies is stronger than gold.

It took more than three hours in total before Zheng Yi came out of the hospital and ordered the driver to go home.

He was busy discussing the counterattack plan with the United States last night and was busy until very late.

The United States had been asking him to go there in person, but he had indeed received clear intelligence from multiple sources that the Japanese army was about to launch a general attack on him. Although he didn't know exactly how many troops there were and how the attack would be carried out, he could be sure that the scale was definitely not small.

Zheng Yi was a little afraid that Penang would lack a backbone without him, so he refused and only communicated with them via telegram.

Due to the time difference, Zheng Yi naturally had to accommodate others. It was impossible for others to accommodate him. This resulted in him almost not being able to sleep well last night.

Damn the American army, the contradiction between the army and the navy is actually no smaller than that of Japan. The navy and the army have huge differences in the formulation of the counterattack plan. It is better to say that they are asking Zheng Yi for support as an ally rather than looking for Zheng Yi to discuss.

But the problem is that Zheng Yi dares not offend anyone.

In addition, this was a telegram after all, and it was not like chatting on QQ in later generations, so the efficiency was really low, so much so that he really felt like he had not slept all night and had wasted his time.

"Ah~~"

As soon as he got in the car, Zheng Yi couldn't help but yawn loudly.

"Go home and get some sleep. I'm a little sleepy now."

"Okay, but your family... today is the weekend."

"Huh? Is it the weekend?"

Zheng Yi was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly with some helplessness.

To set an example, Penang's tycoons vacated their luxury villas.

Some were used as temporary offices and command centers, some were used as temporary schools for children, some were used as temporary hospitals, and some were even used as pilot training bases.

Then, all the tycoons and their families moved into their house.

This big house of more than 2,000 square meters is now as crowded as a dormitory, with everyone sleeping on the floor.

It's okay for adults, but the key is that there are a lot of children. It's okay if they go to school during the day, but since it's the weekend, there are so many children playing at home, chirping and chattering that they can almost tear the house apart.

The adults at home are not at home yet, and Zheng Yi can't take care of the children.

"Then this is really..." "How about...you come to my place and have a rest for a while?" Li Lili whispered beside her, with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Zheng Yi couldn't help but be stunned, and his heart was slightly moved.

Although I'm not sure if Li Lili has any improper intentions, this is indeed a good idea.

However, Zheng Yi only swayed slightly, then immediately shook his head and said, "No need, forget it, let's go back to the office, I just need to wash my face."

He already has three women, which is actually quite a lot.

These three women can't live in harmony. There are a lot of forces behind them, which makes it feel like a palace fight. He has no intention of provoking the fourth one.

"Oh, okay."

Li Lili also understood what Zheng Yi meant. In fact, she had been a secretary for several years after all, so it was clear to her what Zheng Yi was thinking.

If he didn't like her, she might have tried harder.

The problem is that she can actually clearly sense that Zheng Yi must have a good impression and feelings for her.

If Zheng Yi was just an ordinary small boss, or even the tax farmer in Penang, the two of them might have been in bed a long time ago.

People with different identities naturally do things differently.

Today, Zheng Yi is no small figure worldwide. His every move represents the image of Chinese people globally and represents the division of the pie among different political factions domestically.

Mr. Zheng is now an influential world-class politician. Some of his personal petty desires can be overcome with a little restraint.

Of course, it is actually because the feelings are not that big. He is not the Suga N next door who sleeps with whoever he likes and has more than 200 mistresses in his life. Even if the CIA makes a pornographic film of him to threaten him, he can still share the pornographic film with leaders of other countries to show off his power.

If a man wants to have sex with every woman he has a slight attraction to, what's the difference between him and an animal in heat?
"I heard that most of those who used to make movies in Shanghai are now in Penang?" Zheng Yi suddenly asked.

"Ah? Ah, yes, it is." Li Lili said quickly.

Today, Penang has comprehensively and systematically seized all the opportunities that originally belonged to Hong Kong Island in history, without any blind spots.

Zheng Yi: "I plan to set up a cultural and arts bureau and, under the name of SAARC, establish a film, television, and performance company. How about you take charge?"

Li Lili: "Ah? Me? I'm not your secretary anymore?"

Zheng Yi: "Can you still be a secretary forever? You'll have to go out and do some work. Don't underestimate movies and art performances. They'll have a huge impact in the future, but for now."

"A few days ago, Kodak contacted me and told me that thanks to the film base materials I provided, their laboratory has developed a highly practical color film. From now on, it will be the era of color movies."

"I've thought about it. With the war on, other forms of entertainment are inappropriate. Movies are the only form of entertainment that's suitable for the entire nation at this time. After all, we can't just let people dance in dance halls anymore."

"Besides, filming a movie doesn't necessarily have to be about romance. The crew has accumulated a lot of footage recently. If the movie is well made, it can also inspire people and boost morale."

"For soldiers on the front lines, it's both convenient and a great way to relax and watch a few open-air movies during their free time."

"Of course, we can also have dance troupes and singing girls, as well as Cantonese opera, Minnan opera, and even acrobatics. However, the dancers and singing girls of our Nanmeng officials are naturally different from the nightclubs that capitalists run to make money and serve the powerful. They are mainly used to entertain the troops and express their condolences."

"Whether they are Cantonese opera performers or these singing and dancing girls, they are all awarded the same military rank, that is, art soldiers. It depends on their popularity and the number of performances they perform. You can give them the rank of major at your discretion."

"Right now, the decisive battle between our Southern Alliance and the Japanese invaders is imminent. Let's contribute as much as we can. Those who can carry guns, carry guns. Those who can sing, can sing too."

Zheng Yi squeezed his temples as he spoke, "Recently, there have been many more female workers in the factory than usual."

"Anyway, I'll leave this matter to you. Everyone in Penang knows you're mine. You can't be my secretary forever. I still hope that one day, you can truly become my right-hand man."

Li Lili: "Then, who do you plan to hire as your new secretary?"

Zheng Yi: "I've already decided. My eldest brother's son, Li Jianqiao."

"Li Cambridge? Oh, okay, I see."

[So they're not even going to use a female secretary anymore...?]

Lee Jianqiao is the eldest son of Lee Hsiao-shih and his ex-wife Duolun. He is actually 24 years old this year. Originally, he should have been studying in Cambridge, but since the war broke out, he returned to Penang and the Lee family found a teacher to study at home.

He's a pretty good young man, and he's a distant relative of the British royal family. It doesn't matter who we use, he's one of our own after all.

Of course, the most crucial thing is that Wang Qiaoyun's power has expanded a bit too fast in recent times, and Qian Qiwen is also quite unwilling to be lonely. The Fuqing Gang will definitely be more powerful after Ke Quanshou joins.

In comparison, Li Jiazhi, the main wife, seemed a little weak.

Of course, if it was just jealousy, Zheng Yi would not bother to care about them at this time, but Li Jiazhi did have a big family behind her after all.

Because of the special relationship between Zheng Yi and the Li family, the Li family is the actual in-laws of the Southern Alliance. Several important positions are controlled by the Li family. Zheng Yi himself has no relatives, and he really trusts the Li family.

Li Xiaoshi is usually responsible for diplomatic work. Recently, he has been communicating with Zheng Yi in the United States and is not in Penang. In other words, at least on the surface, Li Jiazhi's biggest backer is not there.

For the sake of stability and unity in Penang and even the entire South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, and to prevent some people from not being able to distinguish between the big and small kings and having any inappropriate thoughts, Zheng Yi used his eldest nephew at this time, which can be regarded as a small political tactic.

Just take it as a precaution. He doesn't want to be Liu Bang, and he doesn't want Li Jiazhi to be Lu Zhi. The most important thing is that no one should be smart enough to get the wrong signal and mistake Wang Qiaoyun or Qian Qiwen for Concubine Qi.

Li Lili nodded slightly. The incident happened a little suddenly. She didn't know whether Zheng Yi acted on impulse, had planned it in advance, or both.

I let out a long sigh and felt that this was pretty good.

To put it bluntly, if she is sent out now, she will be a frontier official, and such an opportunity will only be available in the current wartime, and probably not in normal times.

Literature and art, movies, these things are her old professions, she really understands them, and she herself actually likes them. This is different from when she was a female star in the past who was at the mercy of others.

Since she already understood Zheng Yi's intentions and it was impossible for her to be the fourth wife of the Southern Alliance, it would be better for her to be sent out to work in a department with real power.

The two returned to the office. Zheng Yizhen asked her to pour him a basin of cold water, wipe his face with a towel, and then he planned to devote himself to the construction work of Wenshan Jianhai.

Suddenly, Li Lili took two telegrams from the second secretary in the secretary's office next door, ran over in high heels, and said, "Mr. Zheng, something happened."

"Bad or good?"

"Mr. Tao sent a telegram saying they successfully blew up the Japanese oil depot, captured the commander of the Japanese 5th Division, Matsui Taikuro, alive, and wiped out at least one regiment of the devils."

Zheng Yi was stunned. "Captured alive? The Fifth Division? This is the ace elite division of the Japanese Army. How did they do it?"

"It wasn't in the telegram."

"What are the casualties?"

"General Tao said...Final Note, the eight hundred warriors have been completely wiped out."

"Is that so... ah~"

Zheng Yi had naturally anticipated this. After all, the 800 people who stayed behind were basically going to die, and it was almost impossible for them to survive.

Li Lili: "General Tao said that he had obtained intelligence through interrogation that the Japanese army was about to launch a large-scale attack on Alor Setar. The commander was Yamashita Tomoyuki, with a total of five Japanese army divisions, one Indian division, and one Malay division. However, this was a feint."

"The Japanese army's main attack direction is Burma. The commander is Seishirō Itakane. The number of troops is at least 200,000, and it may even exceed 300,000. These troops have already been assembled in Thailand, and they also include the Chrysanthemum Army."

Zheng Yi: "Two hundred thousand or even three hundred thousand? Yamashita Tomoyuki's five divisions are all considered feints?"

For a moment, Zheng Yi couldn't help but rub his temples hard.

[Did I... cause too much harm to the Japanese army?]

What about Coach Mai? Did he just ignore it?

Am I more important to the Japanese than General Mai?
"This news is very important. I did expect the Japanese army to attack Burma, but I never thought they would deploy so many ground forces."

"Well, you should immediately send a telegram back home requesting reinforcements, especially a separate one to General Long. Just in case Chongqing has diplomatic issues... Never mind, there's no need to explain. I believe he understands. Just send him a separate telegram to ask about his well-being."

"Okay, I understand. I'll go and tell the telecommunications team in a moment."

"Um...anything else?"

"Well, there's another telegram from England."

"what's up?"

"Iran is about to send troops to Saudi Arabia to seize the Ghawar oil fields."

"Uh...ah??? Pahlavi is going to attack Saudi Arabia?"

(End of this chapter)