Chapter 464: The Great War is coming

At the beginning of April of the 32nd year of the Republic of China (1943), the grain market in Myanmar finally collapsed.

Although the Japanese side is trying to control the scale of the grain sale in order to avoid causing panic in the entire market, if hundreds of millions of dollars of funds are to be withdrawn in just a few days, can this move be successful? On the day when the Siamese grain merchants sold their grain, the American and British grain merchants led by Jack and others found out, which immediately triggered a panic in the entire market.

In just three days, food prices in Myanmar have been on a rollercoaster ride, soon falling below the original price of 2 cents.

By April 10, the price of grain in Myanmar had fallen to 1 cent per 5 catties, and at this time, the vast majority of grain merchants had sold all the grain they had hoarded in their hands, and they could no longer repay the bank loans and usury owed, not to mention that with such a plate in Myanmar, it would be wishful thinking to sell nearly 50 billion catties of grain.

From the very beginning, these grain merchants came for the great drought in southwest China, and now that Japanese experts have made it clear that it is impossible for a major drought to break out in southwest China in the first half of this year, what is the point of hoarding this batch of grain in their hands? Is it in vain to provide high interest to Nanyang Bank and Du Yuesheng and others?

At this moment, the hundreds of grain merchants gathered in Myanmar were really about to jump off the building, including the Siamese grain merchants controlled by the Japanese side.

Due to the tight time and the Burmese plates, the Japanese-controlled Siamese grain merchants had no chance to flee at all, and Lieutenant General Anda 23's estimate was still too optimistic, in fact, the Japanese government returned less than a few hundred thousand dollars from this speculation, and at most could only buy back two kilograms of gold.

At this moment, the headquarters of the expeditionary force is lively, and it can really be described as a noisy city.

The reason is obvious, the population of Myanmar is so much, more than half of them are Chinese immigrants, and more than a million are expeditionary officers and soldiers, and the amount of food consumed by this huge group is still quite staggering, so grain merchants from all over the world are desperately moving, begging grandpa to tell nǎinǎi, begging the Chinese expeditionary force to eat the food hoarded in their hands.

In order to move Yue Weihan, commander-in-chief of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, grain merchants from various countries can be described as full of tricks, not only learned the method of inviting Chinese people to eat and drink without a teacher, but even dug out their hearts to find various sè beauty NV from all over the world, hoping to vote for Yue Weihan's favor, no rut, who made Yue Weihan's reputation for being a good "good sè"?

However, in recent years, it is not only these grain merchants who have frequently come to visit Yue Weihan.

Avril and other Western media reporters also came forward, hoping that the Chinese expeditionary force would lend a helping hand.

Stilwell also euphemistically said that if Yue Weihan can take action to stabilize the grain market in Burma, it will help improve the influence and status of China's political government and the Chinese expeditionary force in the world, and even Churchill, who is far away from the ocean, sent a telegram, hoping that Yue Weihan will put the overall situation of the World Anti-Fascist Alliance first and not go too far.

Churchill's words have some threatening elements, the British still can't adapt to their new horns, this is also human nature, after all, the British have been the world hegemon for nearly two centuries, although at this time it is already declining, and it is not easy to speak, but the arrogant tone of speech is difficult to change all of a sudden.

In addition to Western media and dignitaries, Chinese compatriots also came to visit.

To be honest, Yue Weihan does not have a good impression of Du Yuesheng and other green and red gang bosses, in Yue Weihan's view, the underworld is the underworld, no matter how righteous and patriotic it is, it is also the underworld, and the officers and soldiers are absolutely on the opposite side.

However, Du Yuesheng is Zhao Youting's master after all, so he still has to give face.

Du Yuesheng euphemistically mentioned to Yue Weihan that although the Americans had not done anything bad to China, the British had done all the bad things in the past 100 years, not to mention the two Opium Wars, and the losses caused to China by organizing the Eight-Nation Alliance to burn the Old Summer Palace were simply astronomical, so I didn't care about the lives and deaths of the British.

Of course, this is just a high-sounding statement, Du Yuesheng's original intention is still for the high interest rate of usury.

As long as the Chinese expeditionary force does not make a move, Du Yuesheng can swallow all the British grain merchants who borrowed his usurious loans, and this is Burma, there is no need to worry about the patrol house of the Ministry of Industry in the concession to interfere like in Shanghai, although this barbaric land in Burma is not as prosperous as Shanghai, but it is better than the Chinese themselves to run the house.

Yue Weihan's original intention was to raise enough food at zero cost to survive the famine in the southwest, but there was still a certain amount of room for maneuver in specific work, if Yue Weihan's hands were wider, the grain merchants of various countries would still have a way to live, and if Yue Weihan's hands were tighter, then they would wait for the family to be ruined and the family to be destroyed.

It can be said that the life and death of grain merchants from all countries are all in Yue Weihan's thoughts.

In the end, Mr. Rong Desheng suggested to Yue Weihan that he should leave a line in everything, and that convenience with others is convenience with himself, so Yue Weihan let go of grain merchants from all over the world and ate them all at a low price of 1 cent and 5 catties, just exchanging all the nearly 100 million US dollars obtained from this grain speculation into grain, totaling more than 49 billion catties.

In this way, the Chinese Expeditionary Force did not spend a penny, and obtained nearly 50 billion catties of grain for nothing.

In other words, grain merchants from various countries contributed nearly 50 billion catties of grain to the expeditionary force, and in this way, these grain merchants still have to be grateful to Yue Weihan, and even British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also told his cronies and officials in private that Yue Weihan is an international friend with high morals and a good friend of the British.

…………

The grain speculation of the Chinese Expeditionary Force in Burma finally came to an end, and the results were not bad, but the plan of the Japanese Central China Front for the Battle of the Southwest, which was aimed at destroying the national government, was not affected in the slightest, and Okamura Ninji was still intensively preparing for this general battle despite the resolute opposition of the Japanese army base camp.

Because the Japanese army did an excellent job of secrecy work, and the Central China Front Army and the Southern Army belonged to two different strategic groups, Nanzao Yunzi did not get any news in advance, and Yue Weihan naturally did not know, until the time entered early May, when the Japanese army in Central China began to move frequently, and the New Fourth Army discovered the abnormality and urgently reported it to Yan'an.

…………

Nanjing, Central China Front Headquarters.

Lieutenant General Hiroshi Nemoto, chief of staff of the Central China Front, was standing in front of the map and briefing Okamura Ninji on the latest troop deployment: "Your Excellency, as of this morning, the main force of the Third Army Corps has secretly assembled nine field divisions and five independent mixed brigades on the Yichang and Xiangpan lines, and the main forces of the Fifth Army Corps, seven field divisions and four independent mixed brigades have assembled along the Huaihua and Hengyang lines. ”

In Okamura Ninji's plan, the main force of the Third Army Corps would be personally commanded by him to take Chongqing along the Yangtze River, and at the same time send a partial division to attack Hanzhong from the north road to cut off the retreat route of the Nationalist Government to escape to the northwest, and the Fifth Army Corps was commanded by the Japanese general Okabe Naosaburo to attack Guizhou from Xiangxi and cut off the retreat route of the Nationalist Army into Burma as quickly as possible.

The three-way army attacked almost simultaneously, and at that time, the national government had no choice but to wait for help, and then there was only one way to defeat and flee Kangzang.

If the national government is stubbornly defended, it is to be defended to death, and if it is defeated and flees to Kangzang, it will be completely reduced to a local government such as the Yan'an Border Region and the Sichuan-Shaanxi Pacification Office, and it will not be enough to compete with Wang Jīngwei's Nanjing government in terms of weight and appeal, and the national government will officially perish in law.

"Yo Si." Okamura Ninji said happily, "Nemoto-kun, your work is very out-of-the-box, and the people of Shina are completely unaware of it!" ”

"Hello." Nemoto bowed his head abruptly and said, "It is the honor of the emperor to be loyal to the empire and serve His Majesty the Emperor!" ”

Okamura Ninji thought for a moment, and then said, "Nemoto-kun, how are the troops of the Tenth Army and the Imperial Alliance Army deployed?" ”

"Most of the ministries have already moved into designated positions." Genbo bowed his head abruptly and said, "As long as His Excellency the Commander gives an order, you can launch an attack on the six major base areas of the New Fourth Army in China at the same time. ”

"Yo Si." Okamura nodded happily, and then said, "Gengen-kun, I will fly to Wuhan this afternoon, and Nanjing will leave it to you." ”

"Hello." Nebo bowed his head suddenly.

…………

Yangon, Expeditionary Force Headquarters.

When Yue Weihan strode into the xiǎo conference room, Stilwell and Deng Chengcheng were swallowing clouds and spitting fog on their seats, Wei Lihuang, Zuo Zong, and Huang Jie were standing by the window xiǎo discussing something, seeing Yue Weihan come in, Stilwell and Deng Gong quickly got up, and Wei Lihuang and the other three also walked to the conference table.

The atmosphere in the conference room was a little solemn, which Yue Weihan had clearly felt.

Yue Weihan's gaze fell on Deng Gong's face for the first time, and asked, "Old Deng, what's the situation?" ”

Deng Gong put the cigarette butt into the ashtray and snuffed it out, and then said in a solemn tone: "Zhongshu, the Yan'an side has just transferred General Ye Ting's urgent telegram, the New Fourth Army has discovered the frequent movement of the Japanese army in Central China, although the news has not been confirmed, and the information reflected from all sides is also very good, but the facts are basically clear, the Japanese army will make a big move!" ”

"Huh? Will the Japanese army in Central China make a big move? Yue Weihan subconsciously asked, "What kind of action will it be?" ”

"It's hard to judge for the time being." Mr. Zuo shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Judging from the troop allocation of the four major strategic groups of the Japanese army, the Central China Front Army has only 500,000 people, which is the strategic group with the least number of troops. ”

"Could it be that Okamura Ning will go south to Guangxi and cooperate with the Southern Army to attack Burma?" Huang Jie said suddenly.

"It can't be." Yue Weihan said categorically, "If you want to gnaw us, the Japanese army still lacks a good tooth, and Okamura Ningji is not so stupid." ”

"I judge that Okamura Ninji is likely to attack Chongqing along the river." Deng Gong's voice suddenly sounded, Wei Lihuang and Huang Jie's faces immediately changed, Yue Weihan was shocked and admired, Deng Gong was not a pure political cadre, in the early years in Guangxi, Deng Gong also led an armed uprising, and he can be regarded as a military cadre.

"Attack Chongqing? Can't you? Stilwell was the first to object, "Although Chongqing's national government is extremely corrupt, Peanut still has nearly 2 million armed forces in his hands, and how can such a huge armed force be dealt with by a mere 500,000 Japanese troops?" What's more, it is impossible for all the 500,000 Japanese troops in Central China to be transferred to the front, and it would be good to have 400,000. ”

"General Stilwell, I'm afraid you don't quite understand the dilemma that the Central Army is facing right now." General Wei Lihuang sighed and said in a solemn tone, "Although the Central Army still has 2 million people, it is short of food, salary, and ammunition. ”

Huang Jie hesitated for a moment, and said to Yue Weihan: "General Seat, do you want to transfer the 1st Group Army back to Chongqing?" ”

The 11th Group Army of the Expeditionary Force was reorganized, and before Huang Jie was transferred to the headquarters of the Expeditionary Force, the 11th Group Army was originally a descendant of Chairman Jiang, and Huang Jie was absolutely loyal to Chairman Jiang.

Since Yue Weihan set up a class of generals and generals, the generals of the Huangpu department have lost their absolute control over the troops.

After the arrival of the political commissar sent by the CCP from Yan'an, the control of the Huangpu generals over the troops has been greatly weakened, and now it is impossible to pull a whole group army back to China, even if it is impossible to pull a regiment back to China, when it comes to troop movements and military operations, although the political commissar does not have the right to decide, he has the right to know!

In this case, how can you pull the troops away without telling the commissar?

You can't carry out a surprise attack and kill or lock up all the political commissars of units at all levels, right? If anyone really lacks the heart and eyes to plan to do this, without waiting for him to do it, the plainclothes of the operations department or the soldier king of the special operations division will definitely kill mén at the first time, the CCP's infiltration ability is famous, who dares to assert that there is no latent CCP underground party around him?

"No, the 1st Army can't return home!" Stilwell did not hesitate to veto Huang's proposal.

After a pause, Stilwell added: "It's okay for the 1st Army to return home, but before returning home, you must leave all the U.S. weapons and equipment, and you are not allowed to take a single bullet with you!" ”

Huang Jie rolled his eyes when he heard this, and let the 1st Army go back with his bare hands? It's a shame that this old American man can say it.

However, the grudge between Stilwell and Chairman Chiang has been going on for a long time, and it is already known that Stilwell is not accustomed to Chairman Chiang and the various ways of the Nationalist Government, and unless the Allied Headquarters dismisses Stilwell from his post as chief of staff of the Southeast Asian Theater, the Chinese Expeditionary Force really does not want to return home with equipment.

Even if Yue Weihan agreed, Stilwell had the right of veto.

Yue Weihan also fell into a dilemma, Chairman Chiang and the Nationalist Fǔ were destined to withdraw from the stage of history, but they should not die at the hands of the Japanese army and Okamura Ninji, an old devil, and if the Nationalist Fǔ perished at this time, it would only be bad for the entire Chinese War of Resistance and no good, but what made it difficult was that Stilwell resolutely opposed the expeditionary force returning to China to help the war!! ~！