Period drama: Old Cao's carefree life

Chapter 32 They're too bold!

Ono Oda unsurprisingly approved of the deal, which naturally didn't surprise Cao Wei Da, who had ample reason to be suspicious.
After speaking with Nakamura again, Cao Weida approached Zheng Chaoyang and arranged a meeting time with him.

In the middle of the night, Cao Weida cautiously entered a house. This was a safe house that Cao Weida had rented specifically for private meetings with people he needed to meet but couldn't meet in person.

"Brother Chaoyang, here is the details of this transaction. Please take a look."

Zheng Chaoyang took the paper from Cao Weida and gasped as he looked at the details.

"One thousand Type 38 rifles, two basic loads of ammunition; thirty Type 91 light machine guns, three basic loads of ammunition; five Type 92 heavy machine guns and five 75mm mountain guns?! Also equipped with two basic loads of artillery shells."

At this point, he was at a loss for words. The more he read, the wider Zheng Chaoyang's eyes widened. He never expected that this time the stakes would be so high!

Did they empty out the armory?!
"Brother Cao, is there an extra zero in the number above?"

"Don't worry, I've checked it repeatedly, there's definitely no extra writing." Cao Weida shook his head. Actually, he hadn't expected there to be so many supplies.

If this batch of equipment were purchased according to the procurement standards of the Jin-Sui Army, the price would at least double, and it would be impossible to get it for less than 30 silver dollars.

All I can say is that Ono Oda and his men are incredibly audacious; this is the equipment configuration of an entire reinforced regiment!
Take the 75mm mountain gun as an example. In the famous anti-Japanese war TV series "Bright Sword", it was actually the French-made 1897 75mm field gun. It had its own advantages and disadvantages in performance compared to the 75mm mountain gun on the list.

Although inferior to Italian guns in terms of power and rate of fire, the Japanese 75mm mountain gun was more suitable for the Communist Party in terms of mobility, as it was far superior.

If Li Yunlong got his hands on these supplies, he wouldn't just be able to take over Ping'an County; he'd even dare to attack Taiyuan!
When he saw the list, he was shocked by Nakamura's "generous spending".

"The price will remain the same as last time. Brother Chaoyang, see if you can afford to eat them. If it's too much for you, just let me know and I'll find someone else to help."

"Yes! Definitely! It's definitely possible!" Zheng Chaoyang's eyebrows practically jumped up and down as he said "yes" three times in a row.

Although the battlefield between China and Japan is now locked in a stalemate, and the living conditions of the Communist Party have improved somewhat, they are still struggling to make ends meet.

On the surface, the Kuomintang (KMT) formed a united front with the Communist Party (CCP) in the War of Resistance against Japan, but in reality, it never relaxed its vigilance against the CCP, especially after seeing the dawn of victory, this attitude became even more obvious.

Not to mention the blockade of various supplies, the persecution of the underground Communist Party members never stopped.

In the TV series "Bright Sword", we clearly saw Li Yunlong and his men fighting to the death with the Yamazaki Brigade. As allies, shouldn't they have helped them out?

On the contrary, the National Army was ordered not to take action, under penalty of military law!
This alone shows that the KMT and the DPP have never been of one mind.

The Red Party's territory was mostly in rural areas. Not to mention industrial facilities, the bullets and grenades produced by those so-called arsenals were even worse.

Now that such a large batch of equipment has suddenly become available for purchase, how could he possibly let it go, knowing full well the severe shortage of military supplies for the Red Party?!
They wouldn't give up a single bullet to anyone else!
Cao Wei Da smiled wryly; he had already guessed the outcome, so he wasn't surprised at all.
"This batch of goods will arrive in about five days. Once it arrives, I need to sell it within three days. The price will be the same as last time. Is that alright?"

Zheng Chaoyang immediately replied, "Of course, no problem."

At 80% of the prices on the black market, the Communist Party has already made a huge profit. More often than not, the painful thing is having money but not being able to buy anything.

Once you have the tools, money isn't actually that hard to come by. Just crack down on a few traitors and wicked landlords, and you can confiscate a lot of money.

"Master Cao, you're incredibly resourceful, could you perhaps help me get some more anti-inflammatory medicine?"

"You know our situation; we desperately need these supplies."

Now that Cao Wei had guessed his identity, he no longer bothered to hide it.

Since the last successful transaction, Luo Yong informed him of the organization's decision that he should cease all dangerous intelligence gathering unless absolutely necessary, and instead focus on in-depth cooperation with Cao Weida.

Compared to intelligence, which doesn't affect the overall situation, the procurement of supplies is obviously more important.

This is not only to protect Zheng Chaoyang, but also, more importantly, to protect Cao Wei Da.

After all, intelligence gathering carries the risk of exposure. Once exposed, even if Zheng Chaoyang is a staunch revolutionary, he cannot guarantee that he can withstand torture.

If Cao Wei Da were to be exposed, the Red Party would lose the source of supplies that it had worked so hard to find, a loss that the Red Party was unwilling to bear.

Cao Weida rubbed his temples and said with a wry smile, "You guys have really given me a tough problem. Anti-inflammatory drugs are strategic items that are even more strictly controlled than arms."

The last batch of anti-inflammatory drugs was drawn from the system by him, and now he only has twenty boxes of penicillin left.

Zheng Chaoyang was somewhat embarrassed. He knew that his request was indeed a bit excessive. Last time, Cao Weida had given away so many anti-inflammatory drugs for free, and the Red Party already owed him a considerable favor. But he had no choice. The organization was in dire need of anti-inflammatory drugs. He had served in the army and fought in battles before, and he knew all too well how much pain those wounded and injured suffered without anti-inflammatory drugs.

Whenever he thinks of his former comrades and veterans who didn't die on the battlefield but died painfully from illness, his heart aches terribly.

After a moment of silence, Cao Wei Da said, "I can only say I will try my best; I dare not say whether it will succeed."

Zheng Chaoyang quickly said, "I understand. Just do your best. I won't force you. I'm already very grateful that you have this intention."

"Well then, I know you're having a hard time. I have a few boxes of penicillin left, I'll bring them to you in a couple of days. As for the rest, we'll just have to wait for news."

I originally intended to keep twenty boxes as spares, but thinking of the Red Party predecessors who fought bloody battles and risked their lives to fight the Japanese, I felt guilty if I were too stingy.

Those are the most adorable people!
Well, one shouldn't be too selfish. Anyway, it's just for backup. If something really happens, having three or five boxes should be enough.

If that's still not enough, we should be able to find a way to get a few more boxes from Ono Oda and the others. Let's just be a little more generous.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Chaoyang was overjoyed; he hadn't expected such an unexpected gain!

Grabbing Cao Weida's hand, she was moved to tears: "Comrade Cao, thank you for your support. On behalf of those who need help, thank you!"

"Cough cough. No need, no need to be polite. I'm just doing my bit." Cao Weida was a little unaccustomed to Zheng Chaoyang's enthusiasm, mainly because he still didn't have a concrete understanding of the Red Party's current shortage of anti-inflammatory drugs.

If he had seen it for himself, he would have known just how appalling the field hospitals of the Red Army were in the absence of antibiotics.

What kind of pain and despair must those wounded soldiers with fever and infection have felt as they lay in bed quietly awaiting their fate?

Not to mention soldiers, even many leaders have sacrificed their lives due to the lack of medicine.

"For you, it may only be a small contribution, but for us, it is a great help!" Zheng Chaoyang's gratitude was absolutely genuine; he was truly grateful for Cao Weida's selfless contribution.

Little did he know that Cao Weida didn't value these antibiotics at all. In his eyes, these antibiotics were expensive, and more importantly, they weren't something you could just buy with money!
If someone gets these antibiotics, let's not even talk about how much money they can make, the key question is whether they're willing to sell them!
This could save your life!
Everyone treasures these things and is reluctant to sell them!
Cao Wei Da not only refused to sell, but also selflessly contributed to the Red Party. This friendship alone is worth more than a thousand pieces of gold!
Many people, lacking common sense, even regard penicillin as a 'panacea'! They have an extremely superstitious belief in it!

They believe that no matter what the illness, as long as penicillin is available, it can cure the disease immediately!
Modern people may not understand the importance attached to antibiotics in that era. Let me give you an example.

During the Chongqing negotiations in 1945, the third daughter of the Song family presented seven vials of penicillin to Chairman Mao as a gift, which shows how precious penicillin was and how much people valued it!

Cao Weida had previously sent a lot of anti-inflammatory drugs and a full twenty boxes of penicillin, totaling four hundred vials!
This friendship is more precious than mountains!

Zheng Chaoyang was filled with emotion, his eyes even a little moist. "You may not know, but the batch of medicines you sent last time saved the lives of many kind-hearted people at critical moments. These are lives!"

"I know this request is indeed somewhat unreasonable, but I have no other choice."

The sky was dark, and even the moon seemed to have hidden itself away.

At this time, Beiping was equipped with streetlights. Streetlights were gradually introduced into Chinese cities starting from the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China.

As a historically significant capital city, Beiping began installing streetlights as early as the beginning of the 20th century.

However, they are mainly distributed in the main roads of the city, commercial areas and important places.

Although Beiping was under Japanese occupation during the War of Resistance against Japan and urban construction was affected by the war, basic lighting facilities were still maintained to a certain extent.

However, the streetlights at this time were dim and yellowish, with limited brightness, which prevented passersby from going blind.

Instead of taking the main road, Cao Wei Da took a shortcut along the side road to get home.

At this time, apart from some entertainment venues that were still brightly lit, almost every shop on the street had its doors closed.

A week has passed, and the Japanese sympathizers from before have still not been caught. The Japanese, who were initially on high alert, have gradually relaxed their search of Beiping after causing chaos and destruction among the people.

Despite this, the night patrols continued.

A row of Japanese soldiers carrying Type 38 rifles led a patrol of collaborators past the main road. Cao Weida merely glanced at them and planned to leave immediately.

But just as I was about to turn around, my attention was drawn to two figures staggering forward, supporting each other.

(End of this chapter)