Spy Wars: Red Shopkeeper

Chapter 147 Firearms
The cabinet was indeed very wise; within just one day, Hasegawa called Gu Yansheng.

"Haha, the cabinet has made its decision! The liaison officer in Shanghai will be Vice Admiral Tsuda Shizue, and the army is completely out of the running!"

Gu Yansheng chuckled as he held the phone, "Isn't this our Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

Hasegawa chuckled on the phone, "The Navy is fine too, as long as it's not the Army. In fact, it's better for the Navy to serve as a liaison officer than for us in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

If the navy were to take on this role, it would create a check and balance with the army. However, if we were to take on this role, we would have to consider the interests of both the navy and the army, which is quite difficult.

It's not about anything, it's about being the top leader. After all, there's a cabinet above Shanghai, with military priority, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs doesn't have that much say.

"Lieutenant General Tsuda's plane will arrive in Shanghai tonight. If there's enough time, throw him a welcome dinner tonight, and you can come along."

"Are you implying that Vice Admiral Tsuda is not the naval commander in Shanghai?"

"No, he had already been assigned to the reserves, but now he has been reinstated. The cabinet feels that the interests of current military personnel are biased and their networks are complicated. Retiring like this would actually simplify his interests."

"Okay, then I'll have the other city government officials prepare it together."

Gu Yansheng hung up the phone and thought for a moment before going to find Chen Mo for coffee.

Chen Mo was one of Du Yuesheng's most prized disciples, and he lived in a large villa in the foreign concession.

"Why did you come all the way here today? You could have just called me." Chen Mo served coffee.

"I'll need to see Zhang Xiaolin later, it's just a side matter." Gu Yansheng took a sip of coffee and glanced at him, wondering if the organization had made contact with him yet.

"Getting down to business, Vice Admiral Tsuda Shizue of the Japanese Navy will be arriving in Shanghai tonight."

Chen Mo's eyes flashed. "You want me to assassinate him? What time will you arrive? Do you have a specific route?"

Gu Yansheng waved his hand: "No assassination. I have a use for this person. However, after the experience of the two times the military police commanders came to Hong Kong, there were always accidents whenever a banquet was held. I think it can be a tradition of the Military Intelligence Bureau to make some kind of move to welcome any Japanese general-level officer who comes to Shanghai to take office."

As for the candidates, they don't necessarily have to be people close to him; any prominent pro-Japanese figure will do. That way, the Japanese can't guard against them all, and it will also create a deterrent effect.

Chen Mo thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay, I understand. I'll pick one to take care of tonight."

"Be careful, don't act recklessly. If things get dangerous, just kill a few Japanese people at will."

"knew."

After finishing with the miscellaneous matters, Gu Yansheng asked, "How's the sale going?"

"It's already underway. Director Dai's idea is that Wan Molin can't come back for the time being. He's quite badly injured and will probably need to be treated in Hong Kong for a while. His smuggling route is temporarily inconvenient, so it's very important to supplement our smuggling route."

Didn't Zhang Xiaolin and his group choose Hangzhou and Suzhou?

We'll borrow a passage to open up this area in Anhui first. The Japanese and the New Fourth Army are fighting in southern Anhui, and Zhang Xiaolin and his group don't really care about these marginal places. They're perfect for the combined strength of our small gangs.

Once Anhui is captured, it will be very close to the Kuomintang-controlled areas, making it convenient to transport any supplies.

"Let's get it set up first to minimize the losses from Wan Molin's absence."

Anhui was chosen no matter what.
As far as Gu Yansheng knows, he and Lu Bowen's smuggling route must be to Anhui, because of the New Fourth Army.

Ding Mocun also chose Anhui, which was used for transporting medicines overland to the Kuomintang-controlled areas.

Chen Mo has now also chosen Anhui.

The local faction in Anhui is about to be riddled with bullets.

As they enter the process of seizing territory, a portion of the local Anhui faction will definitely be purged.

But it's good, because then there will be people in Anhui, both overt and covert, who can help transport goods.

After saying goodbye to Chen Mo, Gu Yansheng went to find Zhang Xiaolin.

"Mr. Zhang, how much did you earn this time?"

"Hahahaha." Zhang Xiaolin greeted them with a loud laugh. "Everything is good, the rice is good, the price is good, it's just that it sells too slowly, and we have to hide it."

"As long as there's some profit, that's fine. How much did you collect?"

"More than 12,000 tons."

"That's enough."

Gu Yansheng sat down, and Zhang Xiaolin had tea served.

Gu Yansheng asked, "How's the operation going? A high-ranking Japanese official is coming to Shanghai, and I might need to report on that."

Zhang Xiaolin said, "The advance is being carried out simultaneously in Hangzhou and Suzhou. These two places are quite formidable. The local forces are very stubborn. The local Japanese troops may have received benefits from them and have provided assistance, but they are very lazy. They have advanced about halfway, but they are holding on to the remaining territory. It will take more time."

“They’re moving too slowly. The Japanese don’t have that much patience. It’s taken them this long to take two places that are so close together. When will they be able to expand to the entire occupied territory?” Gu Yansheng thought for a moment and asked, “How much do you estimate the monthly revenue would be if we took both of these places?”

Zhang Xiaolin calculated, "Both places are rich, and the monthly income from both places should be at least 150 million silver dollars, and 200 million shouldn't be a problem."

"I'll think of another way to urge the Japanese on this matter."

"That's great. If the Japanese are wholeheartedly helping us, we'll definitely be able to take it down. The sooner we take it down, the sooner we can make money."

Gu Yansheng hummed in agreement. "I'll do it as soon as possible. Oh, by the way, there's something else I need to do today. Do you know any arms dealers? Introduce me to a couple."

I don't know how things are going with Chen Mo, so Gu Yansheng is just paving his own way.

"We definitely know each other. What happened that made you need to buy weapons?"

“It’s a small matter. We’re doing some grain business. The people below say that we’re getting our grain from Anhui and Jiangsu. The harvest is bad, and there are a lot of people robbing people on the roadside. We need to buy some guns to protect the grain for them.”

Zhang Xiaolin chuckled and said generously, "You just want a few pistols, right? I thought you were going to buy something big. Director Gu, just tell me how many you want, and I'll give them to you."

Gu Yansheng chuckled lightly, "Then I'm sorry, I can buy them myself. I don't need many. Fifty should be enough for just a few dozen people." Zhang Xiaolin sneered even louder, "Director Gu, you really don't understand the market. You want 50 guns? Just give Sassoon a call, and he can take care of it for you."

"Was Sassoon's arms business very large?"

Gu Yansheng never expected that this matter would somehow involve Sassoon.

"He has official British connections and sources his weapons from arms factories in Germany, Britain, and Austria. He's a top-tier underground arms dealer in Shanghai."

As Zhang Xiaolin spoke, he got up, picked up the phone, and dialed, "Hey, Sassoon, get me 50 German Mauser C96 pistols, yes, brand new ones, with 10,000 rounds of ammunition, and four Browning pistols. You can add some ammunition too. Send them to me. Okay, thanks."

"It's just a phone call." Zhang Xiaolin smiled casually, sat down and said, "The subordinates carry Mauser pistols, while the leader carries Brownings. That shows the difference in status. Director Gu, when the goods arrive, you can just take them."

"How much?" Gu Yansheng smiled. Finding the right person made getting a gun so easy.

"Why bring up money? Aren't you trying to embarrass me?" Zhang Xiaolin's face hardened. "A new gun sells for $100 on the black market, which is just over $5000 in total. Even with the bullets, it's only $7000. If I, Zhang Xiaolin, give Director Gu something, do you think I'd charge you over $7000? If this gets out, I'll lose all face. If Sassoon finds out, he'll laugh himself to death."

Let's not even mention Gu Yansheng; every little bit saved counts.

Take this opportunity to inquire about this business.

Is the arms trade profitable right now?

"It's so easy to do business." Zhang Xiaolin got excited when talking about business. "Think about it, what sells best in this chaotic world? Guns!"
When the Japanese attacked China, Chinese weapons were inferior; any foreign arms were better than those produced in China.

You're talking about Browning.

Zhang Xiaolin beckoned, and his men brought one over to show Gu Yansheng.

"High-ranking Kuomintang officers loved wearing Browning glasses, and they gave Browning glasses as gifts. They used genuine imported from Belgium. If you ask a Belgian, do you know how much they cost?"

"how much is it?"

"30 silver dollars would have been enough before the war."

"So cheap?" Gu Yansheng asked in surprise. "You mean you're talking about buying it directly from Belgium?"

“Yes.” Zhang Xiaolin nodded. “The official purchase price is this price, but with the war, guns can’t be procured through normal channels. If you want to buy this new gun on the black market right now, it won’t be less than 300 silver dollars.”

"Ten times." Gu Yansheng murmured and nodded.

Zhang Xiaolin chuckled: "The key is lightness. How heavy are guns? How many guns can you carry when a ship of goods is transported from overseas? As long as Sassoon's goods are not stopped by the Japanese at Wusongkou, the patrols at the docks of the International Settlement are practically nonexistent to him."

To transship a ship full of goods, wouldn't that start at several hundred thousand US dollars?
If you're bringing something big, like a Czech light machine gun, it costs 3000 silver dollars on the black market—outrageously expensive, and often out of stock.

Now, people in Yan'an want guns, people in Chongqing want guns, gangs want guns, and even people in the countryside want to have one.

In other words, we're not qualified to deal with them; otherwise, I'd also like to do this business.

Gu Yansheng nodded slightly. It sounded like a good business opportunity. What difference did it make what kind of business he was doing for the organization?

Arms trafficking has always been an indispensable source of funding for an organization's military operations.

Zhang Xiaolin smiled and said, "Let me tell you something funny, Director Gu. Do you know how many people are selling guns on the black market in Shanghai?"

"A lot of people?" Gu Yansheng glanced sideways.

"There aren't many people, but it's interesting. When the Kuomintang was in power, they sold things. Now that the Japanese have come, they're selling things."

"Japanese people sell it too? How do they sell it?" Gu Yansheng asked curiously.

"Come, come, let me show you my collection."

Zhang Xiaolin warmly led Gu Yansheng upstairs.

"Take a look, my firearms collection."

Looking at the guns displayed in the collection room, Gu Yansheng thought, "Good heavens, it's turned into a gun museum."

"Hanyang rifle, Zhongzheng rifle, Type 38 rifle."

Gu Yansheng picked up the Japanese military rifle.

Zhang Xiaolin explained, "The Japanese soldiers themselves sold them for only 80 silver dollars each."

"So cheap?" Gu Yansheng was surprised. This is a rifle, after all.

Zhang Xiaolin sneered: "There's no fighting here in Shanghai, so they don't need these guns. I asked the Japanese soldiers who came to sell guns about it."

Every now and then they would go outside the city to practice shooting with the Loyal and Patriotic Army and some bandits. Afterwards, they would say that their guns were damaged or lost, pay the quartermaster ten or twenty silver dollars to register, get a new gun, and then give it to us, making 60 silver dollars, which was equivalent to several months' salary for them.

Japanese soldiers were extremely poor; a regular soldier only received 6 to 8 yuan a month.

If someone dies on the battlefield, we can take their guns and sell them to us along with the captured bandits' guns for free.

However, these dealers who do secondhand business don't actually like to accept these guns.

This gun is different; it doesn't have much of a market around here.

Secret agents prefer small guns; who would carry such a big thing out for an assassination? You wouldn't be able to sell many of them.

The people in Yan'an wanted it, but they were poor and couldn't afford it.

Moreover, this gun is too big, making it much more difficult to transport out of the city than smaller guns. If it weren't for some Japanese soldiers trying to force us to sell it for money, we wouldn't have accepted it long ago.

"This is fucking surreal," Gu Yansheng thought as he examined the gun. "If there were enough guns, with 80,000 silver dollars he could get 1000 guns, and with 800,000 silver dollars, the entire New Fourth Army could be equipped with one."

(End of this chapter)