The reception rooms in Cuifeng Village, sometimes double as conference rooms, with strong signal shielding and regular inspections to ensure that no bugs or surveillance have been installed.

As soon as Cang Hao and Serchenko entered the reception room, Serchenko said: "I have contacted my old subordinates in the past, and they have rummaged through some old archives and found some very important information. ”

"What?"

"Things have to start from the beginning, during World War II, there were many Dongying soldiers who were captured by the Soviet army......" Serchenko looked at it and made sure that there was no one else in the conference room, and then continued: "These Dongying prisoners are not very used to the living environment of the Soviet Union, and then many of them choose to commit suicide......"

After all, Serchenko is a native of country E and has his own national dignity, so many things will not be said too bluntly, but will be brushed aside.

In 1945, the Soviet Union fulfilled the Yalta Agreement and dispatched 1.5 million troops, commanded by Marshal Vasilevsky, to launch an attack on the Kwantung Army entrenched in northeastern China.

This was the final battle of World War II, the Far Eastern Campaign, in which 80,000 people were annihilated and nearly 600,000 were taken prisoner.

These prisoners of war were not repatriated to Dongying, but were sent to the Far East and Siberia of the Soviet Union, and some were even sent to the banks of the Volga River to become cheap labor in the Soviet Union.

In many Soviet areas that were preparing to accept prisoners of war, the local people showed great enthusiasm and waited at the train station several days in advance after receiving the news.

When the POWs arrived, the locals rushed up to them as soon as they got out of the car and gave them a warm hug, while snatching all the supplies they had with them.

From cheap everyday items, such as soap and pillows, to more valuable watches and cameras, the Soviet people were all brought back to their homes.

In World War II, the living conditions of the Kwantung Army were relatively good, but in the blink of an eye, these Dongying prisoners of war were so poor that they couldn't even wear pants.

Next, these prisoners of war endured the harsh climate, ate poor food that barely ate their stomachs, and engaged in all kinds of heavy physical labor.

Deaths and suicides of all kinds were common in the camps, but the exact number of deaths is still debated.

The Soviets were not prepared to accept so many prisoners of war, so they did not make adequate preparations, accommodation and the like were secondary, and the most important thing was food.

It was difficult for the Soviets to feed themselves, let alone feed the prisoners of war, and a hundred Dongying prisoners could only get food for fifty people.

Whether to let everyone eat a little and go hungry, or only to feed only fifty of them and be able to work, the Soviets did not hesitate to choose the latter.

There is a joke that the Soviets will strafe with machine guns before the official dinner, kill 50 people, and then let the remaining 50 people eat, as for the authenticity of this passage is no longer reliable.

Because country E knew that it was ashamed and refused to make the file public, and there was no way for the Dongying side to conduct a detailed investigation, anyway, only 470,000 of the 600,000 prisoners of war returned to Dongying.

In this case, as long as the brain can still think normally, people will think of pretending to be sick, not only to eat sick meals, but also to avoid labor.

That's what the prisoners of war did, but the Soviets weren't stupid, the Soviet military doctor would check the thickness of the flesh on the prisoners' bodies, and the thinnest flesh could be treated well, and the thickest meat was good enough to continue working.

Serchenko has a lot of first-hand information about this past, and many of the things he knows may be the truth that Dongying has been looking for.

However, Serchenko refused to say it easily, and Cang Hao did not ask any further, anyway, it has nothing to do with the current situation.

Cang Hao just asked, "What if you commit suicide?"

"These suicides are all on different parts of the body, but all of them are not easy to be seen by others, and a small tattoo ...... was found" After a pause, Serchenko continued: "When it comes to the Yamaguchi group of Toei, many people think of tattoos all over their bodies, but in fact, the mainstream of Toei society is still relatively rejecting tattoos. Especially during World War II, the Dongying army had very strict requirements for soldiers, so it was strange that these suicides had tattoos on their bodies. What's even more bizarre is that these tattoos are exactly the same, they are all a chrysanthemum with water lines underneath......"

Cang Hao nodded: "Go on!"

"Prisoner of war camp administrators fear that these prisoners of war may be secretly colluding to prepare a riot, and these tattoos are the mark of a secret organization within the camp. Then the investigation was carried out, and of course, as you can imagine, this kind of investigation is not a gentle ......" Smiling a little awkwardly, Serchenko continued: "At the beginning, there was no progress in the investigation, and the other prisoners of war really didn't know what these tattoos were, so no matter how they were interrogated, they couldn't say why. Next, the POW camp administrators went to great length, conducting physical examinations on all prisoners of war to check who still had tattoos on them. It is conceivable that as long as the person with the tattoo is a member of this secret organization, he must know something. But just the night before the investigation, all the people with tattoos committed suicide, so the clue was completely cut off. ”

"But you found out anyway. ”

"Yes. Serchenko nodded proudly: "The people who run the prisoner of war camps are some vulgar soldiers, and later, the KGB, the predecessor of the Federal Security Service, intervened in this matter and sent personnel into various prisoner of war camps to investigate all the people around the suicides." The KGB intends to start with the identity of the suicide victim, and perhaps find a lot of commonalities that can determine the formation process of this organization, and the people around him must have some understanding of the suicide person. As a result, all the suicides really have one thing in common, most of them are from wealthy merchant families, belong to fairly good families, or are the descendants of samurai. ”

"Then it's clear that there really is a secret organization. ”

"That's what the KGB thinks, but judging from the time of tattooing, it should have existed for a long time, so this organization should have existed since the surrender of the Dongying army, and may even have been established in Dongying itself. In other words, the secret organization was not formed in the prisoner of war camp, so it would not threaten the management of the prisoner of war camp, so the investigation was shelved......" Taking a deep breath, Serchenko said slowly: "My subordinates told me that the real turning point in the investigation was after the return of the prisoners of war from Dongying. At that time, Dongying was already an outpost of the Cold War between the East and the West, and the KGB hoped to spy more on all aspects of Dongying society and definitely cultivate a group of spies against Dongying, and these prisoners of war were the best candidates. The KGB used coercion and inducement to determine which prisoners of war were closer to the Soviet Union, and then to improve their food and win their allegiance. Then they were ideologically educated, which was gradually translated into Soviet service. In this process, layers of screening and continuous assessment were carried out, and finally a group of spies were cultivated. You must know that the KGB is very good at doing this, and in the years of the Cold War, there were KGB spies in all countries in the world, and it was impossible for these Dongying prisoners not to give in. When these spies returned to Dongying, they became traitors, and then began to give intelligence to the Soviet side, and it was at this time that the true meaning of the tattoo emerged......"

Cang Hao was attracted by this historical secret: "Go on!"

"In post-war society, there were a large number of veterans who had participated in the war, and they formed various organizations. You can also think of it with your toes, there must be some people who also have that tattoo who did not become prisoners, but survived......" Serchenko said this, even more proud of the KGB's intelligence capabilities: "It was through these veteran organizations that the KGB spies figured out that this tattoo is called the Kikusui coat of arms, which is the symbol of the Kikusui Society. ”

"Jushui Society?" Cang Hao was slightly stunned: "It's the first time I've heard of this name!"

"It's the first time I've heard of it, don't forget, I'm the former head of the Federal Security Service, and I wouldn't have known about these things if it wasn't for ......the old files," Smiling, Serchenko continued: "Because the existence of the Jushui Society is too secret, and the history is quite old!"

"So it's still an old secret organization!"

"Yes. Serchenko nodded: "Let's talk about the meaning of the chrysanthemum coat of arms first, the symbol of the Dongying royal family is the chrysanthemum, and the chrysanthemum and water are the highest honor symbols of the Dongying, and they are also the symbols of dedication to the royal family." At the end of World War II, a series of suicide attacks by the Toei army were named 'Kikusui', and several suicide attacks by kamikaze forces were named Kikusui Special Attacks. The super battleship Yamato led eight destroyers to form a special team and launched a decisive blow against the navy of country M, also known as Operation Kikusui. However, although the chrysanthemum coat of arms represents the spirit of sacrifice, the main members of this organization are all people who are afraid of death. ”

"You just said that the Dongying prisoners of war who committed suicide are all wealthy families, so the main members of the Jushui Society should be capitalists. ”

"You're shrewd. Serchenko nodded approvingly: "The Jushui Society gradually appeared with the modern Dongying capitalist revolution, and a group of capitalists united with others to expand their business, which was originally just a corporate alliance, just like the Mitsubishi Riyo Society. However, the history of the Mitsubishi Nikyokai is too young, and the members of the Kikusui Kai are all veterans of various industries in Toei, and they realize that Toei has a small territory and a limited market, and in order to make more profits, it is necessary to open up overseas markets. ”

This kind of thinking is not new, and the series of invasions of China at the end of the Qing Dynasty were essentially the efforts of the Western powers to open up the Chinese market. Cang Hao said meaningfully: "The assumption of the Western powers is that China has such a population, even if everyone just buys me a box of matches, then how much money do I have to make." However, the Qing government's policy of closing the country to the mainland, coupled with the serious corruption of the bureaucracy and its stubborn refusal to integrate with the world, made it impossible for Western companies to open the Chinese market through normal channels. The British sent a mission to meet Qianlong, hoping to sell the four-wheeled carriage and Western-style musket to Huaxia, but Qianlong and his ministers disdained it, how could the four-wheeled carriage have the size of a sedan chair, the Western-style musket was not as good as the bow and crossbow, and the things of Westerners were all miraculous skills. Later, under the influence of a series of internal and external factors on all fronts, the Western powers decided to resort to the means of war. After a series of invasions, the Qing Dynasty's national doors were opened little by little, and all kinds of local indemnities, all kinds of extraterritoriality, and all kinds of concessions came out. In fact, everyone could have done business on an equal footing, but the Western powers gained privileges through war, so it was impossible to do ordinary business in the future, but developed into economic plunder. It is also said that Western-style muskets, after the Chinese lost the battle, they found that Western-style muskets were really good, so they began to purchase in large quantities, which could have been sold normally according to the market price, but after being defeated by others, they had to pay a high price and accept various additional terms. ”

"The success of the Western powers inspired the Toei people, who decided to repeat this pattern, and this is the evolution of the Kikusui Society, from a corporate alliance to a financier of wars of aggression. Serchenko said word by word: "Dongying has become aggressive since modern times, and it has launched a full-scale war of aggression from a little aggression, which is directly related to the secret promotion of the Jushui Society. ”