At the Tianjin Great East Asia Hotel, Shadow Akira Zhenzhao, Inuyangjian, Shiro Ishii and others were idle for a while, and they were organizing a game of cards to play mahjong. Mahjong can be said to have a long history, is a game invented by the ancient Chinese, entertainment appliances, not only shows the wisdom of the Chinese people, but also shows the cultural characteristics of the Chinese people.

The earliest mention of mahjong is the "Mahjong Sutra" written by Yang Danian in the Song Dynasty, which is similar in content to today's mahjong. As a part of Chinese civilization, it is not too much to call mahjong the quintessence of the country, but from another point of view, Chinese people are good at gambling, and it has also experienced thousands of years of inheritance.

Shadow Zo Zhenzhao, Inuyang Ken, Ishii Shiro and other devils have been in China for a long time, and naturally they are also contaminated with mahjong, and when they are idle, they like to rub a few laps together to get over the gambling addiction. Due to the bombing and sinking of the devil's fleet, he was severely held accountable by the base camp and the special high class, and the rank that was finally promoted was taken down, and the rear admiral became a big sa, and the big sa became a middle sa.

This is still lucky, at least to pick up a life, if it weren't for the outstanding ability, Shadow Zuo Zhenzhao and the others would even have to be desperately committed suicide because of their outstanding ability. So recently, these old devils have been extremely depressed, and when they have nothing to do, they gather around to discuss and conspire, and they play mahjong by the way.

Today, Kage Satsuaki's luck is particularly strong, and it is completely a bundle of three, but just as he was having fun, there was a rush of footsteps outside the door. Kagesa Zhenzhao hurriedly turned his head to look, only to see the head of the intelligence section, Hikojiro Suga, walking over with a blue face.

"Your Excellency Nakasa!" Hikojiro Suga first slammed his head at Kagesa Zhenzhao, and then bowed to Shiro Ishii's side: "Your Excellency! Seeing that Hikojiro Suga's face was ugly, Kagesashi Zhenzhao couldn't help but worry: "Suga-kun, what's wrong?" ”

Hikojiro Suga said in a solemn tone: "Li Shiqun came to report, and the eyeliner lurking in Laiyang has just sent back the news, saying that the epidemic in Laiyang is basically under control and has not spread on a large scale!" In 1938, he took refuge in the Japanese secret service as a traitor collecting intelligence, and after the Japanese army invaded and occupied Wuhan, in order to be anxious to control Wuhan, he paid money and guns, and instructed Li Shiqun to establish a traitor spy organization as soon as possible.

Li Shiqun felt that his appeal was not enough, so he invited Ding Mocun, a military commander and a double agent of the Central Command who was willing to be a traitor. Li Shiqun and others recruited a large number of military commanders and central commanders who were willing to surrender to Japan as backbones, and bribed hooligans, ruffians, and other social scum as thugs, and cobbled together the team of a traitor spy organization.

In May 1939, Wang Jingwei, who had committed treason to the enemy, came to Wuhan to prepare for the establishment of a puppet regime, and the weak Wang Jingwei immediately regarded this spy organization as one of the pillars of his puppet rule. Ying Zuozhenzhao's pupils constricted, and he asked in extreme shock, "Is the epidemic really controlled?" How is this possible? Didn't we buy all the typhoid bacillus vaccines in advance? ”

"It's absolutely impossible! This time, we put more than 50 catties of male bacterial culture medium, plus more than 100 kilograms of various materials contaminated with bacteria? Shiro Ishii also showed a living ghost, and said in a very stunned manner: "With such a large amount of input, Jiang Qiang has no targeted drugs in his hands, the epidemic will definitely spread rapidly in a short period of time, how can Yang Fan control it?" ”

Shadow Zuozhen Showa and Shiro Ishii have both been demoted, and now Jiang Qiang has been hit hard by the outbreak of the epidemic in the Shandong Group Army Defense Area, which is the only bargaining chip and hope for the two of them now. But after waiting for a few days, the good news they hoped for did not come, but ushered in the most incredible "bad news".

Hikojiro Suga said solemnly: "The news should not be fake, it is said that Jiang Qiang dispatched troops to isolate tens of thousands of people at the first time, and also burned several places where bacteriological weapons were dropped at the first time. Almost a quarter of the entire Laiyang county town was burned, and this news cannot be concealed no matter what! Although there are many cases of tens of thousands of refugees who are currently quarantined, it is clear that under strict isolation and control measures, the epidemic will never spread on a large scale.

According to intelligence speculation, at best, two or three thousand people died. "It's over! I still underestimate Jiang Qiang's means and abilities! This time we were a complete fiasco! Inukai-kun's eyes showed a deep disappointment, the two or three thousand people mentioned in Suga Hikojiro's mouth were simply worthless in his eyes.

If the plague outbreak cannot meet the expectations and the population of the Shandong Group Army defense area cannot be drastically reduced, then the planning and heavy cost of these months will be lost. "I lost my wife and broke my soldiers, what a terrible opponent!" Shadow Zuo Zhenzhao shook his head extremely bitterly, and then his eyes froze: "We can't continue to sit still, we must find a way from other aspects as soon as possible, otherwise we will bear the wrath of the base camp next!"

Inu-kun, what other good plan do you have? "Not only are we helpless on Jiang Qiang's side, but we can't further provoke them according to the current situation, otherwise he is likely to make us more dangerous." Inu Yangjian took a deep breath, and now he finally understood, why Jiang Qiang had made a great name over the years, causing a series of major losses to the Japanese Empire, and there were several Japanese generals who died in his hands!

Inuyangjian painfully realized: In the face of this terrible opponent, if you are not completely sure that this terrible opponent will be put to death, then you must not provoke it easily. Otherwise, it's just who touches and who dies! "Yaga!"

Ying Zuo Zhenzhao scolded weakly, the frontal military attack could not be done, and the bacteriological weapons that the empire had painstakingly researched had no way to deal with him, and Ying Zuo Zhenzhao really didn't know how to deal with Jiang Qiang.

At this time, Inuyoken said in a deep voice: "What you just said is completely right, we must show something to get out of the dangerous situation. Otherwise, after the news reaches the base camp, we are likely to be deprived of the opportunity to turn over the book. Ying Zuo Zhenzhao hurriedly asked: "Inu-kun, do you have any good strategy, just say, don't sell Guan Zi to hang your appetite at this time!" ”

Dog Yangjian said with a vicious face: "There is an old saying in China, called persimmon picks up soft pinch, we can't help Jiang Qiang, but we can give a devastating blow to the military command agents and anti-Japanese organizations in Wuhan!" "Shuffle!" Now there is really no way to take strong action against Jiang Qiang, and can only take the advice of dog Yangjian, Ying Zuozhen Zhao nodded heavily and said:

The advice of the dog breeder is not very clever, and no matter how beautifully it is, it cannot offset the adverse effects of the fiasco of the bacteriological weapon launch. But Kagesa Zhenzhao has been forced into a corner, like a person who is about to drown, no matter what he catches, it is equivalent to a lifesaver, and he will only hold on to it and will never let go. Because it is better to do so than to have no countermeasures at all and no results.

"Ishii-kun, Kikuchi-kun, we still have important things to deal with, and we can't continue to play mahjong with you today! I'm so sorry! "Thinking and directing action, Kagesa Zhenzhao's heart suddenly became urgent, where was he still interested in continuing to gamble money, and immediately said goodbye to Shiro Ishii and Kikuchi." Kagesa-kun, please take care of yourself! "Kagesa-kun, I wish you all success!"

Shiro Ishii and Qi Kikuchi hurriedly nodded in return, and then stood up and sent Kagesa, Showa and Inuyoken and others all the way out of the Great East Asia Hotel. "Kikuchi-kun, we can't continue to stay in Tianjin, it's very difficult for our bacteriological weapons to have a chance to fight in a short period of time!"

Looking at the backs of Kagesa Zhenzhao and others who left in a hurry, Shiro Ishii felt a strong sense of disappointment and powerlessness in his heart, and he originally hoped to become famous in the first battle, to be able to "apply what he had learned", and carry forward the bacteriological weapons that he had painstakingly studied. However, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, this time a solid planting of a big heel fight, not only did not achieve any valuable results, but got into trouble.

Ju Di Qi was naturally very aware of the situation in front of him, and nodded in agreement: "That's true, we chose the wrong enemy at the wrong time and in the wrong place!" Now the plan can only be temporarily stopped! "These two old devils are not stupid, they can know that the defeat is irretrievable when they see the rushing backs of Ying Zuo Zhenzhao and others, and they don't want to find a chance to turn the tables again in the short term.

At the same time, Shiro Ishii also suddenly realized that according to Jiang Qiang's character and strong strength, Tianjin may not be absolutely safe. So, instead of wandering around outside and being in danger, it's better to go back and avoid the limelight and wait for a new opportunity.

After returning to the Mei Agency, the first thing Ying Zuo Zhenzhao did was to call and call Xi Yixian, Qingqi Qingyin, Li Shiqun, Ding Mocun, and others for a meeting, ready to let go as quickly as possible. An hour later, the Japanese military police stationed in Wuhan, agents of the Mei organ, and Japanese puppet spies poured out of their nests and frantically arrested several strongholds of the Central United Army and branches of the Red Organization that they had already mastered.

The fire at the city gate affected the pond fish, and the people who were eager to find the field seemed to have turned into mad dogs, roaring day and night in the streets and alleys of Wuhan, and the whole Wuhan was once again made to fly. As a result, after more than ten days of frenzied purges, the Wuhan secret service of the Nationalist Government suffered extremely serious damage, and strictly speaking, it was almost devastating.

As many as 200 agents were killed, several contact points of the Red regime were destroyed, and many agents and anti-Japanese patriots were arrested. Among them, the main culprit belongs to the traitor spies, most of these people are the Green Gang ruffians and hooligans, they are extremely familiar with every corner of Wuhan, and under the strict orders of the Mei organ, these dogs and traitors naturally all did their best.

"The little devil of the dog day, he suffered a big loss from Jiang Qiang and poured his anger on us! I ordered the dead agents to give generous compensation to their families, and all the Wuhan station hoe teams went underground to keep silent, and did not start operations for the time being! Dai Li, who was far away in Chongqing, soon received the news, and he was immediately angry, and in just a few days, the military command station that had been painstakingly run in Wuhan almost suffered a devastating blow.

When establishing the military command, Dai Li not only used the traditional Chinese concept of loyalty and righteousness, but also used traditional ethics to repay virtue with virtue, and united agents to introduce Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary ideas. Dai Li, who paid funeral expenses to the parents of the deceased military commanders, took care of their orphans and widows, and deliberately shaped the military command into a benevolent unit. No matter how busy he is, Dai Li, in every training class, will be the head teacher with the chairman of the committee, just like the chairman of the committee is for the Whampoa Military Academy.

From the very beginning, Dai Li combined the strict discipline of the military command with the ideology of the Three People's Principles, thus creating a special political and cultural atmosphere. The Japanese army did not even dare to blatantly make trouble about the transportation of refugees, but only greatly reduced the transportation capacity, which could have been completely completed around December 13, but according to the current rhythm, I am afraid that it will have to be delayed until the end of December. Jiang Qiang knew very well about the little devil's abacus, but he was afraid that Jiang Qiang would be idle and would start a crazy war against the surrounding Japanese-occupied areas.

However, now that the weather is cold in the deep winter, it is not conducive to the combat of mechanized troops, and it is not very convenient for Jiang Qiang to use troops even if he wants to, so he simply climbs along the pole and continues to develop obscenely. Over the past few days, through prevention and treatment at all costs, the sequelae of the bacteriological weapons dropped by the devils have been brought under control. Although the cumulative number of people who have fallen ill is as high as more than 10,000, the number of deaths is only more than 300, and more than 2,000 people are in the stage of isolation and medical treatment, and the treatment and recovery effect is generally optimistic.

On December 15, Jiang Qiang welcomed a special guest, U.S. military attache to China, Joseph Stilwell. "Oh, dear old friend, we finally meet again!" After disembarking from the boat and going ashore to Yang Fan, Stilwell walked over briskly with a smile on his face, and when he came to him, he stretched out his arms and begged for a hug. "My old friend, I'm so glad to see you again!"

Stretching out his hand not to hit the smiling man, Jiang Qiang was very cooperative and stepped forward to hug Stilwell warmly, and then opened the door of the Lincoln luxury car and said: "Please get in the car, I have prepared a table of reception banquet in Zhaoyuan to welcome old friends to visit." ”

"Thank you very much! It is also a great honor for me to be able to see you in Huaxia in a luxury car in our country! Stilwell bent his body and sat in Lincoln's luxury car, and after Jiang Qiang sat beside him, he said with a smile: "I am about to return to China to take up my post, so I will come to visit my old friends before returning to China, and by the way, I will feel the majestic military posture of the Shandong Group Army." ”

Jiang Qiang replied with a smile: "Welcome! Thank you for your help many times, if you have any needs, please feel free to ask, I will never shirk what I can do! Stilwell did help Jiang Qiang a lot, and at first Meng Wuan and his party were able to take a hitchhiker to reach New York safely, and Stilwell made a great effort.

Of course, Stilwell has no less benefits in Jiang Qiang, and the wealth he has obtained so far is enough for him to be chic for a lifetime. Stilwell hurriedly shook his head and smiled: "Old friend, you are so polite, it's not so much that I have done you a great favor, but that you have done me a great favor!"

The president has specifically mentioned you when I am summoned to return to China, and asked me to pay an official visit to you once when I go back, no matter what, and try to see you for a long time! "Paper can never contain fire, Jiang Qiang has always been making a fortune in a muffled voice, low-key obscene development, but a series of advanced weapons and equipment, military technology, and industrial technology cannot be completely hidden.

It not only attracted the attention and covetousness of the Japanese devils, but also attracted the attention of the Nanjing government, the Soviet Union, Britain, the United States, France and other countries, but how could Jiang Qiang easily share these things that were ahead of his time? No matter who comes, except for the red regime, which has given a lot of sweet benefits, everything else is a nose to ashes.

Hearing Stilwell's intention, Jiang Qiang said with a smile: "Old friends come naturally to get good food and wine, and when we are full of food and drink, we can talk about other things slowly, how about it?" "Alright! Guests are as they are pleased, and I will listen to them! ”

As a senior Huaxia expert, Stilwell naturally heard Jiang Qiang's words, and at the same time, he also knew that this young general was not so easy to fool. And the success or failure of this trip depends on Jiang Qiang alone, so although Stilwell is very anxious, he can only be patient and interact with Jiang Qiang at this time.

After happily eating the reception banquet, Jiang Qiang drove Stilwell around the city of Jinan and looked around, focusing on letting Stilwell feel the people's livelihood and the overall atmosphere of Jinan. "Even, it's incredible! General Jiang, I now finally understand what is the ancient Chinese saying that it is better to read 10,000 books than to travel 10,000 miles!

I have been in China for 12 years, and I have traveled almost all over China, but today is a real eye-opener. My God, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would not have believed that there was such a magical land in the land of China. The degree of prosperity and civilization here is not inferior to that of Washington, USA! ”

After a few hours, Stilwell was dumbfounded, although he had known a lot of information through many channels before, but hearing about it and seeing it with his own eyes were completely different things. What's more, under the impetus of Jiang Qiang's vigorous urbanization construction regardless of the cost, the Shandong Group Military Defense Region can be said to be changing with each passing day, and various supporting facilities and engineering projects are constantly being launched, and a few months is enough to make people feel refreshed.

"Where, the United States of America is the most developed and powerful country in the world today, and we are only a small place here, where can it be compared with your capital!" Jiang Qiang raised his eyebrows proudly, but he was very modest and obedient, and then asked with a smile: "I heard that you have been inspecting Shanxi, Henan, Chongqing and other places in the past few months, I don't know what the result is?" Have you come up with any encouraging conclusions? ”

In early September 1938, the Wuhan Garrison Headquarters was disbanded, and Stilwell ended his temporary duties as a staff officer of the headquarters, and soon afterward, he went to Shanxi, Henan, and Chongqing to investigate. He then spent some time at the Shanghai Legation until Stilwell was recently reappointed back to the United States as commander of the 3rd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division.

"No, no, no, I'm telling the truth, and I admire you from the bottom of my heart, not a deliberate compliment!" Stilwell shook his head, and then sighed gloomily: "General Jiang, I have indeed been traveling around for the past few months, but unfortunately there are no exciting conclusions, and there are many frustrating discoveries, do you want to hear it?" ”

Looking at Stilwell's depressed expression, Yang Fan could already guess what Stilwell wanted to say, but he couldn't see through it and nodded with a smile: "Good medicine is good for disease, and good advice is good for deeds." You are an old friend of our Chinese people, and we would all love to hear your discoveries! "Yes! Mr. Stilwell, we're all listening! "Mr. Stilwell, please speak your mind!"

Stilwell sighed: "After the Battle of Wuhan, the Sino-Japanese war entered a phase of stalemate, and it stands to reason that the pressure on the frontal battlefield of the national army has been greatly reduced. The national army has plenty of time to replenish and even retrain, so the combat effectiveness of the national army should be greatly strengthened in a short period of time. ”

The Nationalist Government had sufficient war resources, and at the same time, a large amount of military equipment and other military supplies were flowing in from abroad, which was sufficient to wage a protracted war with the Japanese army. Therefore, as long as sufficient time is given, the Nationalist Government will definitely be able to quickly build up more elite troops, and the Japanese side has already shown fatigue, and Japan's domestic economy has declined sharply. ……”

In November 1939, the Chinese army launched a winter offensive in various station areas like the invading Japanese army. The winter offensive lasted for more than four months, and the Chinese army deployed about 1.48 million people in 192 divisions, with more than 550,000 troops in 71 divisions directly participating in the battle, and fought 1,340 battles against the Japanese army, including 1,050 active attacks.

This was the first nationwide counterattack launched by the Chinese army since the Japanese invasion of China, and it was also the largest counterattack launched by the Chinese army against foreign invading troops since the Opium War. The winter offensive killed two lieutenant generals and two major generals of the Japanese army, and the Chinese army suffered 780,000 casualties, rewriting the history of the Chinese army basically being beaten passively for a hundred years.

Against the international background of the invincible and unstoppable German and Italian fascist armies, the Chinese army was able to perform such an offensive in winter, which impressed the people of the world. The Winter Offensive dealt a heavy blow to the Japanese army, and the Japanese admitted that "the sacrifices paid in this operation were unprecedented in previous battles." However, the direct losses were secondary, and the greater losses were the postponement of the Japanese plan to move south.

At present, Southeast Asia and South Asia are the colonies of Western countries dominated by Britain and France, and due to the outbreak of World War II, Britain, France, and other countries have taken care of their own homeland and have actually adopted a policy of abandoning their colonies. Therefore, the Japanese government is extremely eager to reduce the number of Japanese troops invading China from more than 800,000 to more than 500,000, so as to free up troops to invade Southeast Asia and South Asia.

However, the winter offensive broke the wishful thinking of the Japanese army, so that the Japanese army was not only unable to reduce its forces from China for a while, but had to expand the front and launch the Battle of Yichang in central China. For most of the six months since the Battle of Wuhan ended, I don't know much about the national armies in other theaters, but the combat effectiveness of the national armies in the first and second theaters has declined beyond imagination, and many phenomena are really shocking. ”

Wu Rongbang asked rhetorically, "For example?" Can you give an example? Stilwell noticed the change in Wu Rongbang's expression, and asked with a smile: "Governor Wu, as far as I know, your Shandong Group Army and the Nationalist Government have always been subordinate to each other because the well water does not interfere with the river water, so why is your tone very biased towards the Nationalist Government?" ”

"Ahem, this shouldn't be the focus of the problem, right? In any case, I am an authentic Chinese person, and I naturally hope that the national army can become stronger and stronger quickly, and we can join forces to drive the devils out of China as soon as possible! Wu Rongbang's old face was slightly red, fortunately he was Jiang Qiang's most trusted person, and his loyalty would not be doubted, otherwise he would be suspected of "being in Cao Ying's heart in Han" just by asking like this. "That's not bad!"

Stilwell nodded and smiled, did not continue to ask, and then added: "There is an old saying in Huaxia that brothers are outside the wall to resist their insults, it stands to reason that the Japanese are the number one enemy in China, and all forces should be sincerely united, right?" But I found out that the national army would join forces with the Japanese army and the puppet army to encircle and suppress the guerrillas of the Eighth Route Army, can you believe it? ”“……”

Jiang Qiang smiled and said nothing, he naturally knew this very well. "What did you say?" "The national army and the Japanese puppet army joined forces to encircle and suppress the Eighth Route Army?" "Wouldn't it? Aren't the Eighth Route Army and the National Army allies? "Yes, how can you join forces with the enemy to encircle and suppress your own friendly forces?"

Wu Rongbang and the others changed their faces greatly, and it was the first time they had heard of this relatively secret information, and they felt extremely stunned and unacceptable for a while. Yes, even a foreigner knows what it means to be "a brother outside the wall to resist his insults", but how could the Nationalist Government stab a knife in the back during the arduous stage of all-out resistance against Japan? "Hehe, what is this? There are even more outrageous! ”

Stilwell snorted coldly, and said with great pain, "The national army is now engaged in saving the country with a curve, and many generals of the national army have clearly marked the price, as long as the Japanese puppet army can afford the price, they will take the troops into the enemy camp." In addition to these, such as planting and selling large cigarettes and secretly reselling arms are even more common, and it is no exaggeration to say that opium in the Kuomintang is more hard currency than legal tender, which is completely equivalent to currency! Let me put it this way, the national army of the first theater and the second war, now everyone wants to get rich, or simply sell themselves for a high price, and no one really thinks about fighting the invaders! ”