A special meeting on how the new Second Division should respond to the rapid deterioration of the Songhu battle situation in the next step was held for a whole day and one night.

Colonel Zhang Ying, chief of the operations section of the General Staff Office of the New Second Division, first expounded the divisional viewpoint on the training and defense priorities of the New Second Division in the next stage, and then the military commanders and staff officers of the brigades and regiments spoke enthusiastically and expressed their views on the entire battle situation and the challenges faced by the New Second Division. After the eventually, Zhang Ying synthesized the opinions of the military commanders and staff officers of the brigades and regiments and worked out a more detailed training and combat plan.

Then, it's time for tactical discussions.

Under the guidance of Wu Ming's idea of mutual exchanges and flexible application, the participating generals and colonels considered some special tactics in light of the characteristics of their respective units, and everyone spoke freely at the meeting and conducted comprehensive and meticulous exchanges.

Once the Japanese army chose to land on the north shore of Hangzhou Bay, either Zhapu directly faced the threat of the Japanese army, or the Zhajia defense fortifications guarded by the new second division became the primary attack target of the Japanese army after landing, so as to ensure the safety of the flank.

Whether it was an anti-landing operation or a positional defensive battle, unlike the previous attack by the New Second Division on the strong fortifications entrenched by the Japanese marines in the concession, the difficulty was doubled by the threat of the Japanese large-caliber naval guns.

Zhang Fakui, commander of the Eighth Army, gave a death order that if the Japanese army landed at Zhapu, the new Second Division could not take a step back. But Wu Ming didn't want to be like the Chinese defenders along the Yangtze River, just blindly using his life to bear the artillery fire of Japanese warships and the bombardment of aircraft.

The generals' discussions were fruitful, this one said to create a kind of elastic fortification, the other said to lead the assault team to fight the Japanese counter-charge if necessary, and entangled with the Japanese army with the advantage of melee firepower, and the Japanese army was caught off guard, and some people were even more enthusiastic to discuss how to evade the Japanese artillery fire and make full use of mines to continue the defense

The discussion was very lively, and there was only one purpose, that is, to fully avoid the bombardment of the Japanese army's powerful warships and aircraft, and at the same time give full play to the superiority of our army's melee firepower to fully tap the movement and surprise attacks in defensive warfare.

In the conference room, gossiping and talking freely, in the eyes of other orthodox soldiers, this is a manifestation of no rules, but Wu Ming doesn't care, in Wu Ming's heart, such a warm atmosphere of the meeting can fully play the enthusiasm of every officer.

At the end of the meeting, the divisional staff office summed up all the opinions and bound them into a booklet and distributed them, urging all officers and men to pool their wisdom and efforts and do everything possible to deal with the landing operation that the Japanese army might launch at any time.

Time passes.

In mid-September, the 3rd and 11th Divisions and the 9th, 13th, 16th, and 101st Divisions of the Japanese Army, together with the puppet troops transferred from the Korean Peninsula and the northeast, successfully seized a territory of about 50 kilometers in front and about 20 kilometers in depth on the left flank of the Songhu battlefield on the south bank of the Yangtze River, crushed the resistance of the Chinese army, and initially consolidated the land advance base.

However, the fighting continued until late September, and the two sides remained in a stalemate and attrition phase due to the courageous resistance of the Chinese army.

In the continuous battles, due to the huge damage of the Chinese army's unconscionable artillery and rocket launchers, the Japanese army lost more than 200 tanks, and the casualties of the troops were about 50,000, and almost a quarter of them lost their combat effectiveness.

After returning to Toshio Nishimura, who had been sent by the Japanese General Staff Headquarters to Shanghai to inspect the war situation, he gave the following answer to a reporter's interview: "First, the enemy's resistance is really stubborn, and he will never retreat regardless of whether he is shelled or surrounded; Secondly, the enemy's first line has about 200,000 troops, and the second line has nearly 300,000 troops, with a total strength of more than 500,000 troops, forming a two-to-one superiority over us. Thirdly, the Chinese inhabitants had an extremely strong hatred for the Imperial Army; Fourth, due to the dispatch of warships to transport the urgently mobilized troops, the rear of the dispatched troops could not be helped, and the front-line troops fell into a serious and bitter battle. ”

In order to offset the superiority of the Japanese army's increase in troops, troops from all over the country were continuously invested in the Songhu front, including the 8th, 9th, 13th, 15th, 16th, 32nd, 44th, 59th, 60th, 77th, 90th, 159th, 160th, and 66th Army Teaching Brigades. These newly transferred troops are no longer limited to the central lineage, but include troops from many other local systems.

At this time, a nationwide anti-Japanese upsurge appeared, and the anti-Japanese national united front based on the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was formally formed, and the unprecedented anti-Japanese upsurge in the whole country gave a powerful impetus to Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang to carry out the war against Japan with a more positive attitude.

On 22 September, the Central News Agency of the Kuomintang promulgated to the whole country the "Declaration of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for the Promulgation of Kuomintang-Communist Cooperation," which was handed over by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to the Central Committee of the Kuomintang; the next day, Chiang Kai-shek issued a speech recognizing the legal status of the Communist Party of China; following the order issued by the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government on 22 August to appoint Zhu De and Peng Dehuai as the chief and deputy commander-in-chief of the Eighth Route Army of the National Revolutionary Army, in late September it promulgated an order to reorganize the Red Army guerrillas in the southern provinces into the newly organized Fourth Army of the National Revolutionary Army.

In order to cope with the increasingly grim situation, Chiang Kai-shek adjusted the leadership groups of the various group armies, Zhang Zhizhong, who had borne the blame for Chiang Kai-shek's stupidity, was replaced by Zhu Shaoliang, and Chen Cheng's left wing army was deployed east of the Hutai Highway, north of Yunzaobang, east and west of Liuhe, west of Luodian, Guangfu, Liuhang and Gujiazhai, mainly attacking the Japanese troops advancing westward and southward from Chuanshakou, Shishilin, Baoshan, Wusong Town and other places.

The Central Combat Army under the command of Zhu Shaoliang was deployed in the area east of the Shanghai-Tai Highway, south of Yunzaobang, and between the north and south of the Shanghai-Nanjing Highway, and its main forces were distributed along the Huangpu River in the new urban area and the northern and eastern areas of the public concession to resist the Japanese army's landing operations.

The right-wing army under the command of Zhang Fakui continued to guard the Pudong area to prevent and attack the enemy who landed and attacked from the north shore of Hangzhou Bay, and with a part of the army, it was responsible for guarding the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay and Ningbo, Zhenhai, Yuyao, Cixi, and other places in eastern Zhejiang.

In the evening of that day, after attending a meeting of division-level generals of the group army personally convened by Zhang Fakui in Jiaxing, Wu Ming took his adjutant Cheng Yuan to board a car and drive towards Songjiang County.

There were potholes along the way, and the car swayed back and forth, which made Wu Ming's eyes dizzy, but Chengyuan closed his eyes and pretended to be sleeping, which made Wu Ming's teeth itch.

The car crossed the Huangpu River at the Zhangzhuang Railway Bridge, and after entering Songjiang County, the car turned left and right for a while, and drove into an alley after the most lusty, and stopped in front of a large archway, and there was a plaque hanging on the archway, flaunting that this family had won two Jinshi. The torii used to be a deep mansion with two large stone lions at the door. After getting out of the car, Wu Ming looked left and right, and the house and the surrounding houses revealed an antique charm.

At this time, a group of people walked out of the house, and the leader in front of him was Zhang Dongning, chief of staff of the New Second Division, who was followed by many people, several old men in long shirts, and young people in suits and ties, who greeted Wu Ming together.

Zhang Dongning came to Wu Ming's side and briefly introduced the old man beside him.

It turns out that this house is the famous old house of Zhang Xianghe, Zhang Xianghe is a Jinshi in the Jiaqing period, once did the Ministry of Works, and the old man in front of him is the descendant of Zhang Xianghe, the current patriarch of the Zhang family.

Wu Ming smiled and thanked the old patriarch, this time Zhang Dongning convened the leaders of Shanghai factories and enterprises, and specially chose to hold a meeting in Zhang Xianghe's old residence to discuss the acquisition in the name of Maoliangwu Chamber of Commerce.

At this time, out of the crowd came out of a spirited old man in a long robe, wearing a hat, bowed his hand respectfully to Wu Ming, and said in a crepe manner: "Master Wu is concerned about industry, which is really a fortunate thing for our national industry."

Wu Ming turned his head and looked at Zhang Dongning suspiciously.

Zhang Dongning smiled knowingly and introduced Wu Ming again. Wu Ming then learned that the old man in front of him was called Rong Zongjin, and his family was mainly engaged in flour, cotton spinning and other industries, and was the leading figure among the capitalists in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Wu Ming frowned slightly, and glanced at Zhang Dongning a few times unhappily. The main targets of this acquisition are those machinery and chemical enterprises, and the equipment of these factories is transported to Maoliangwu and other places, and with a little transformation, it can be quickly transformed into military enterprises. The Rong brothers are mainly engaged in light industry, although they have the reputation of "cotton yarn king" and "flour king", but it is not helpful to promote the military industry level of Mao Liangwu.

The industrial development of the Republic of China was extremely uneven, and most of the light industries had little investment, short cycles, and quick results, but most of the capitalists who had made achievements were concentrated in the field of light industry, such as the flour mills and cotton yarn mills run by the Rongshi brothers. Wu Ming is not too enthusiastic, after all, the Maoliangwu Chamber of Commerce already has a similar industry, once the Japanese army occupies the coastal area and blocks water and land transportation, it will be idle and inactive as the raw materials are cut off.

Rong Zongjin seemed to see Wu Ming's thoughts, and complained to Wu Ming first, it was nothing more than the Mao Liangwu Chamber of Commerce transporting the goods produced to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and other places, seizing his market share.

Wu Ming looked entangled, laughing with him at first, but after a while, he became impatient. Rong Zongjin was an old man, and when he saw Wu Ming's absent-mindedness, he and his younger brother moved their family to Kaihua County, and at the same time planned to buy land in Fang Village, west of Maoliangwu, and move the family property over.

Rong Zongjin also wanted Wu Ming to match up and let the Rong family become a member of the Maoliangwu Chamber of Commerce.

Although Wu Ming was a little reluctant, the Rong family had a huge influence in Songhu and Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and they couldn't afford to offend, so they had to nod and agree, which made Rong Zongjin feel big, took Wu Ming's hand, and introduced other capitalists one by one.

Entrepreneurs involved in the machinery and chemical industries in Shanghai have basically come, including the Lin Kee Battery Factory that produces batteries, the Ruichang Machinery Factory that produces professional machine tools, the Hongchang Machinery Shipyard that imitates diesel engines, and the Beiyang Xinli Machinery Iron Factory that produces water pump boilers...... sprinkled with two hundred people, and shook hands with Wu Ming one by one, which made Wu Ming's eyes dazzled, and he soon couldn't recognize who was who.

Now that the national disaster is at hand, seeing that the industry cannot be done, the way to save life is the way. Most of these capitalists have a sad face, on the one hand, because the Mao Liangwu Chamber of Commerce represented by Wu Ming gives little money, only one to two percent of the original assets of the factory enterprises, and on the other hand, because the future is bleak and they do not know what to do after selling the factory.

However, seeing that the situation in Shanghai is becoming more and more critical, most capitalists still choose to sell their enterprises to the Maoliangwu Chamber of Commerce, and many people see the business leader Rong family to open a new factory in Maoliangwu, and they also respond to the call and accompany Mr. Rong to re-establish the factory in western Zhejiang.

This result made Wu Ming very happy, after all, eating alone is hated by people, if these factories and enterprises can move to the hinterland of Qianligang, it will undoubtedly prosper the market and bring a large number of people, especially the urgently needed skilled workers.

The group came to the compound of Zhang Xianghe's old mansion and officially started trading.

After a brief negotiation, Wu Ming took the initiative to buy more than 60 factories and enterprises, involving a series of industrial categories such as bearings, nuts, measuring tools and cutting tools, machine tools, motors, water pumps, and motors.

Seeing the capitalists pressing the red handprints with a wry smile, Wu Ming was very happy, and Maoliangwu's ordnance enterprises would usher in a period of great development.

After signing the papers, the capitalists returned to Zhang Dongning's side, and received checks from the Bank of Communications of China and foreign banks in Britain and the United States for a large amount of transactions, and issued fiat currency on the spot for a smaller amount.

Due to the good preparation work of Zhang Dongning and Jiang Jingguo in the early stage, the main work today is to sign the contract and settle the account, so the whole procedure is carried out quickly.

Just in the middle of the busyness, an energetic old man in a long robe walked in outside the door, surrounded by bodyguards and masters, standing at the gate as if no one was around, observing the situation in the courtyard.

Rong Zongjin saw it in a daze, jumped up in surprise, and greeted loudly: "Brother Mingjun, you are here." I thought you were going back to Nanjing."

After speaking, Rong Zongjin stepped forward, grabbed the old man, and took him to Wu Ming's side to introduce it in detail, almost without shocking Wu Ming's jaw.